Candide

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Summary: Witty, bitter, savage... but in one word: Wonderful
Review: Initially I began reading Candide to prepare for an in class argument about theodicy and the existence of God. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It's funny and tragic all at the same time while reflecting how total optimism is truly naivety. People wondering how this book pertains to the present time, just look around. War, rape, murders, famine, suffering of innocents, disease... Voltaire reflects all those things in his work. For someone to say Candide has nothing to do with society today shows they are being blindly optomistic. Candide is great and thought provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Funny if you understand the references
Review: I had to read this book for my english class, and I did not thoroughly enjoy this one. The stories were interesting and its funny how each character goes through more and more tragedies, however, if you do not understand all the statiristic themes in this book, I don't think you will enjoy it at all. Overall, its a book you should keep on your list.

Rating:
Summary: read this book, you won't be sorry
Review: Few pieces of great literature are so much fun to read. This is a great book from start to finish--the characters and circumstances are so over-the-top that you stop taking it seriously from about the second chapter on, and just start enjoying the ride. And even with all the craziness, Voltaire still managed to put forth some great truths about human nature. For instance, the characters, searching all their lives for utopia, finally find it. But do they stay? No, what they really wanted was the journey, not the destination. The grass is always greener. And be careful what you wish for, you might get it, but too late to enjoy it. And last but not least, why do we all outdo each other when comparing misfortunes? The characters are constantly competing to see who's had the worst life. Too true. I was astonished how often I laughed out loud while reading this book, a book I thought would be in the same vein as other dry philosophical outdated pieces. But there's nothing outdated about this one.

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Summary: I once thought it greater...
Review: There was a time when a thought CANDIDE to be a masterpiece of humankind. after analysing it more carefully, I realize it isnt really a book to make us think, It is a retoric book of action which induces us to accept Voltaire's decision without really knowing WHY Leibniz argued THIS world to be the best world. It not a so easy thing to understand after you read Leibniz MONADOLOGY. Candide is great, but it is not on the top of the literary tower on the side of ODYSSEY or DIVINE COMEDY or BROTHERS KARAMAZOVI.

Rating:
Summary: Check it out
Review: In honor of Voltaire I will neither give good nor bad criticism about this book. One should read it themselves and then make their own decissions. Don't let critics tell you what is good and what is bad.

Rating:
Summary: is a interesting book
Review: i m so interesting about the character of this book, i would like to share with "you". please analyse the character with me.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I recently read Candide for a college history course and was not disappointed at all. I found it moved very well (spatially as well as dramatically) and the Voltaire's wit is everything is has been cracked up to be, not losing much to the passing of time. Overall, very enjoyable and reader fridenly. The only reason I didn't rate it higher than I did is that, due to its rapid movement of plot and action, Voltaire does not give us quite enough philosophical miles to the gallon. Too much of the novella is dedicated to the action and not enough to the thoughts and ideas of the characters involved.

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Summary: For fun and study...
Review: I've read this book three times. The first time I was on a classic literature spree at the school library (I spent two hours a day carpooling; what else was there to do but read?). The second time was for a French Lit class, so I got to read it in the original French (always fun; there are some puns and idioms that just don't translate well). The third time, I'd found it used at the university bookstore, so I finally bought myself a copy (in English, this time). Every time I read it, I find it funnier and more accurate. I've been trying to get my friends to read it, but they look at it warily, obviously thinking "Uh-oh, literature..."

Rating:
Summary: A truly great work
Review: One of the most awsome things about Candide is how so much has been crammed into so little. The short, sharp, effortlessly satirical style and wit of the work tends to distract from the scope which the work acheives. Voltaire treats his subject matter in the same way that the young boy treated the Emperor's New Clothes = the ridiculous absurdity of folk pyschology and much that passes under the guise of common sense is ruthlessly exposed for what it is. I loved the anti-clericalism, and whilst the church is such an easy target for the satirist, Voltaire's attack on ill-founded optimism (whether it be philisophical or religious) is a masterful destruction and exposition of the unquestioned acceptance of dubious truths.

Rating:
Summary: Enlightened Disturbance
Review: This books very simplistic nature of description brings home the very barbarian nature of the social and emotional crimes that exist in society.