Discount Shopping Online :: Books Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics) : :

Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)
by: Voltaire

Amazon.com's Price: $7.95

Prices subject to change.

Used Price: $4.91
Collectible Price: $10.00
Third Party New Price: $4.08

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781593081782
ISBN: 1593081782
Label: Barnes & Noble Classics
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: January 06, 2005
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
Sales Rank: 35139
Studio: Barnes & Noble Classics

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Product Description:

Candide, by Voltaire, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:

New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

One of the finest satires ever written, Voltaire’s Candide savagely skewers this very “optimistic” approach to life as a shamefully inadequate response to human suffering. The swift and lively tale follows the absurdly melodramatic adventures of the youthful Candide, who is forced into the army, flogged, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, separated from his beloved Cunégonde, and tortured by the Inquisition. As Candide experiences and witnesses calamity upon calamity, he begins to discover that—contrary to the teachings of his tutor, Dr. Pangloss—all is not always for the best. After many trials, travails, and incredible reversals of fortune, Candide and his friends finally retire together to a small farm, where they discover that the secret of happiness is simply “to cultivate one’s garden,” a philosophy that rejects excessive optimism and metaphysical speculation in favor of the most basic pragmatism.

Filled with wit, intelligence, and an abundance of dark humor, Candide is relentless and unsparing in its attacks upon corruption and hypocrisy—in religion, government, philosophy, science, and even romance. Ultimately, this celebrated work teaches us that it is possible to challenge blind optimism without losing the will to live and pursue a happy life.

Gita May is Professor of French at Columbia University. She has published extensively on the French Enlightenment, eighteenth-century aesthetics, the novel and autobiography, and women in literature, history, and the arts.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Man creates hell for his fellow man right here on earth
This novel is very short, requiring less than 4 to 6 hours to finish, depending on your reading speed. It is a satire that attempts to explore a specific aspect of human existence - why is it that human beings suffer? This may sound simple but the answer to such a question also then evokes questions around the existence of God and whether meaning is created by mankind or given by the Creator.

The characters a two dimensional and cartoons, as they should be in a satire meant to explore concepts rather than to be a novel with fully developed characters for purposes of character analysis. Candide is the eternal optimist in love. Professor Pangloss is the eternal abstractionist, unable to see reality unless it is framed within some conceptual system. Much is made of associating Pangloss with Leibnitz. Who can say? These two have adventures after adventures experiencing the acquisition of great fortunes ... Read More

Rating:

- HILARIOUS if you understand the language!
I read this book forever ago in high school, and fell in love with it! It really is absolutely hilarious, but you have to be able to understand the language and the satire behind it. Great for school reports for your history or French Lit classes!

Rating:

- A stunning critique of rationalism
Voltaire is still recognized as one of history's greatest satirists, and after reading Candide it's not hard to see why. Two and a half centuries later, it still has the power both to amuse and to shock.

On the surface, as has often been noted, Candide is obviously a critique of the philosophy of Liebniz, and especially of the idea that this is the best of all possible worlds and everything is as it had to be in order for this to be so (in accordance, presumably, with the plans of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent Creator). Voltaire goes quite over the top in showing the misadventures and misfortunes that befall his befuddled hero, who at first whole-heartedly buys into this "optimism."

Eventually, Candide's tale concludes with his advice that we should all just tend to our gardens--the precise meaning of which has been widely (and wildly) speculated about. Many take it to be a rejection ... Read More

Rating:

- A MARVELOUS WRITER...
CANDIDE TEACHES US THAT SUFFERING MAY BE THE ONE THING THAT BRING US ALL TOGETHER.
THE MISERY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION IS NO NEWS TO ANYBODY, BUT TO BE REMINDED EVERY ONCE AND A WHILE IS NEVER A BAD EXERCISE.
WHOEVER THE CREATOR WAS, HE MUST HAVE MADE SOME KIND OF A MISTAKE, UNLESS WE ASSUME OUR SUFFERINGS AS THE ONLY AND UNAVOIDABLE PATH TO COMPASSION.

Discount Shopping Online Books and Publications

Books : Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Search the web for info about Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)

Discount Shopping Online Books and Publications

Books : Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)Books and Publications Average Rating:

Search the web for info about Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)

Books : Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics)
Books and Publications Average Rating: