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.
