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Full catalogue / Candide, or Optimism / Japanese – English
Candide, or Optimism

Voltaire

Candide, or Optimism

Paper book: €19.99

Digital: €7.99

Original publication
1759
Pages
296
Difficulty
Medium
Genres
Philosophy, Humor
Moods
Have a laugh, Think it through, Escape it all
Translated from
French

Book summary

Brought up in a castle in Westphalia, young Candide learns from his tutor Pangloss that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”. Thrown out for kissing the lovely Cunégonde, he makes his way through war, the Inquisition, the Lisbon earthquake and the American colonies.

At every disaster, Candide repeats his master's lesson, and Voltaire mocks, with fierce humour, those who want to explain everything. His phrase about “the best of all possible worlds” has stayed in everyone's memory.

Its very short chapters and biting irony make it a tale that is easy to read in the language you are learning.

The plot

A teacher who has an explanation for everything. In a castle in Germany, Professor Pangloss finds a good reason for everything. His young pupil, Candide, believes him. But Candide must soon leave, and the world looks…

The world of the book

From Europe to South America. The book comes out in 1759. Four years earlier, a great earthquake struck Lisbon, in Portugal. All of Europe then wondered whether the world was really well made.

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