Candide by Voltaire
or Optimism
"Candide" is a satirical novel that follows the adventures of a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor. When he is expelled from the paradise for kissing a baron's daughter, he embarks on a journey around the world, witnessing the horrors of war, natural disasters, and human cruelty. Throughout his journey, Candide maintains his optimistic philosophy, despite the constant hardships he faces, ultimately concluding that one must cultivate their own garden, a metaphor for taking control of one's own destiny.
The 63rd greatest book of all time
- Published
- 1759
- Nationality
- French
- Type
- Fiction
- Pages
- 100-200
- Words
- 30,000
- Original Language
- French
- Alternate Titles
-
Optimism
Candido
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This book is on the following 37 lists:
- 11th on Our Users' Honorable Mention Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 14th on Top 100 World Literature Titles (Perfection Learning)
- 30th on The 100 Stories that Shaped the World (BBC)
- 41st on The 100 Favorite Books of the French (Lire Magazine)
- 58th on Pour une Bibliothèque Idéale (Raymond Queneau)
- 80th on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
- 91st on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 95th on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
- 99th on The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time (The Top 10 (Book))
- 115th on Our Users' Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 166th on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- Best Books Ever (bookdepository.com)
- The Graphic Canon (Book)
- The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written (Easton Press)
- Select 100 (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
- Great Books of the Western World (Great Books Foundation)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Best Non-Fiction from the NY Times Writers (New York Times)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- The Guardian's Essential Library (The Guardian)
- Inteliquest's World's 100 Greatest Books of All-Time (InteliQuest)
- 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List (1,000 Books to Read Before You Die(Book))
- William H. F. Lamont’s 100 Best Novels (1947) (archive.org)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 101 of the World's Greatest Books (1950) (101 of the World's Greatest Books (Book))
- Have You Read 100 Great Books? (The Jasper Lee Company)
- One Hundred Best Books (1916) (John Cowper Powys)
- The College Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers (The College Board, an American not-for-profit organization)
- 100 Greatest Books of All Time (Steve Donoghue)
- Världsbiblioteket (The World Library) (Tidningen Boken)
- The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written (Martin Seymour-Smith)
- ZEIT-Bibliothek der 100 Bücher (Die Zeit)
- For The Love of Books (For The Love of Books)
- The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
- Masterpieces of World Literature (Frank N. Magill)
- The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics (Book)