Voltaire
Candide, or Optimism: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Machado de AssisThe AlienistBack from Europe, Dr. Simão Bacamarte settles in the small town of Itaguaí, in Brazil, and later founds an asylum there, the Green House, to study madness scientifically. His criteria widen week by week: first a respected citizen, then so many residents that the asylum ends up…Same genre
Jonathan SwiftGulliver's TravelsGulliver, a doctor and traveler, journeys through extraordinary lands inhabited by beings of radically different sizes and customs. With each voyage, he discovers societies that mirror and criticize the vices of the real world. Among giants, miniature peoples, and strange…Same genre
Joseph ConradHeart of DarknessMarlow, an experienced sailor, travels up an African river in search of Kurtz, a mysterious agent of a trading company. As the journey progresses, he discovers a world marked by violence, exploitation, and moral ambiguity. The figure of Kurtz, both fascinating and disturbing,…Same genre
George OrwellAnimal FarmThe animals of Manor Farm drive out their master and set about running the farm themselves, under the banner of equality. The pigs, quickest to learn, take charge of organising the work and writing the rules. Little by little, the rules change, the memories fade, and the new…Same genre
Jane AustenPride and PrejudiceElizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters, belongs to a family of minor English gentry where marriage decides a daughter's future. The arrival of a wealthy neighbour and of his friend Darcy, thought haughty, unsettles the whole neighbourhood. Between gossip and hasty…Same genre
Herman MelvilleMoby-DickIshmael, a sailor with no ties on land, signs on at Nantucket aboard the Pequod, a whaler under Captain Ahab. Maimed years earlier by a white sperm whale, Ahab has turned the hunt into an obsession to which he bends his whole crew. The ship works its way down the oceans,…Same genre
Nikolai GogolDead SoulsChichikov arrives in a provincial town, charms everyone who matters, and calls on the landowners nearby. He offers them a peculiar bargain: to buy the serfs who have died since the last census but still stand on the registers and are taxed to their owners. From estate to estate…Same genre
Jane AustenEmmaEmma Woodhouse, young, rich and sure of her judgement, has made a pastime of arranging the marriages around her. Convinced she is working for the happiness of others, she guides a friend of no fortune and reads everyone's intentions in her own way. Her arrangements slowly turn…Same genre
Jean-Jacques RousseauThe Social ContractRousseau begins from a statement: man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. He then looks for a form of association in which each, uniting with all, still obeys only himself. From this pact he draws popular sovereignty, the general will, law as the expression of all,…Same genreSame era
Miguel de CervantesDon QuixoteA gentleman of La Mancha has read so many books of chivalry that he sets out as a knight errant under the name Don Quixote. On a broken-down horse, with Sancho Panza, a talkative and practical farmer, he takes inns for castles and windmills for giants. His expeditions end in…Same genre
Alphonse DaudetLetters from My WindmillSettled in an abandoned windmill in Provence, the narrator sends his Parisian readers stories of the country and its people. Among them are Monsieur Seguin's goat, the priest of Cucugnan, Corsican lighthouse keepers and an old couple forgotten in their village. The pieces move…Same countrySame genre
Niccolò MachiavelliThe PrinceAn ambitious ruler seeks to seize and maintain power in an unstable and dangerous world. Through concrete examples and direct strategies, he learns to manipulate alliances, anticipate threats, and impose his authority. The author lays bare the mechanisms of power, where…Same genre