Candide

 Candide

  I had a dilemma about what to write in today's post, given that the previous one was dedicated to "The Picture of Dorian Gray", I thought maybe I should choose something less "obvious". However, while making my choice, I realized that when trying to get into a discussion with someone about today's book, hardly anyone confirms that they have read it and some have not even heard of it! It's a great pity, because it's a really great, funny and valuable novel, apart from the fact that it's an absolute classic of literature (it's also quite short). Today's topic is "Candide". 

  Candide is an philosophical novel, written in the Age of Enlightment by the French philosopher Voltaire, for the first time in 1759. The work is a parody of romantic and adventure novels of its era, it is saturated with irony and often sarcasm, and is a criticism of society aimed very often at the most influential of it's parts, like monarchs, politicians, church representatives, but also religions and philosophical systems. This criticism, by the way, must have been very apt because it caused a wave of great outrage, it was accused, among other things, of blasphemy, it was even banned in some countries, but it did not prevent it from achieving great success, even ignoring the fact that it was published anonymously. The first thing that strikes one's eye is the spiteful but very elegant sense of humour that accompanies us from the very beginning. The action, although it loosely refers to the historical events of the time, also contains fantastic elements.

  The action starts in Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh's castle, where the title character, Candide, lives, and apart from him, the baroness, who weighs three hundred and fifty pounds (very important information, by the way), her daughter Cunégonde and Candide's mentor,  master Pangloss, who is a... métaphysico-théologo-cosmolonigologie teacher. One day, Cunégonde accidentally sees Pangloss in a habitual cane "giving lessons in experimental physics" to a maid. Encouraged by this show of affection, the next day she drops her handkerchief next to Candide, provoking him to kiss. For this insolence, he is cast out of the castle by the baron. Wandering around, he draws the attention of two men who are looking for recruits to the Bulgarian army, and is forcibly conscripted into the army. This is how his adventure begins, in which, wandering around the world, he will visit not only Europe, but also the "New World". Yes, it sounds ridiculous, and yes, it's just the beginning, but remember, we're dealing with a satire in which absurdity and sense of humor rules the roost.

 So what makes me recommend this book so strongly? Well, apart from the fact that it is one of the most important and brilliant works in the history of literature, a satirical, very bold criticism of reality, which, despite the passage of several hundred years, is still very actual... It's also a piece of great, incredibly well-written, with an incredible sense of humour, exciting story which (at least in my case) doesn't let itself be detached from reading even for a moment.

 Best regards, and until next time.