Voltaire

Average customer rating:

"You are a delight/You are tender/What pleasure I find in your arms." Immortal verse?
History comes alive.
a casual but entertaining biography
More a novel than history
Great, fun read

Passionate Minds: The Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment, Featuring the Scientist Emilie du Chatelet, the Poet Voltaire, Sword Fights, Book Burnings, Assorted Kings,
David Bodanis
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0307237206
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Châtelet, a beguiling—and married—aristocrat who would one day popularize Newton’s arcane ideas and pave the way for Einstein’s theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-old’s nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, “Why did you only reach me so late?” They fell immediately and passionately in love.

Through the prism of their tumultuous fifteen-year relationship we see the crumbling of an ancient social order and the birth of the Enlightenment. Together the two lovers rebuilt a dilapidated and isolated rural chateau at Cirey where they conducted scientific experiments, entertained many of the leading thinkers of the burgeoning scientific revolution, and developed radical ideas about the monarchy, the nature of free will, the subordination of women, and the separation of church and state.

But their time together was filled with far more than reading and intellectual conversation. There were frantic gallopings across France, sword fights in front of besieged German fortresses, and a deadly burning of Voltaire’s books by the public executioner at the base of the grand stairwell of the Palais de Justice in Paris. The pair survived court intrigues at Versailles, narrow escapes from agents of the king, a covert mission to the idyllic lakeside retreat of Frederick the Great of Prussia, forays to the royal gambling tables (where Emilie put her mathematical acumen to lucrative use), and intense affairs that bent but did not break their bond.

Along with its riveting portrait of Voltaire as a vulnerable romantic, Passionate Minds at last does justice to the supremely unconventional life and remarkable achievements of Emilie du Châtelet—including her work on the science of fire and the nature of light. Long overlooked, her story tells us much about women’s lives at the time of the Enlightenment. Equally important, it demonstrates how this graceful, quick-witted, and attractive woman worked out the concepts that would lead directly to the “squared” part of Einstein’s revolutionary equation: E=mc2.

Based on a rich array of personal letters, as well as writings from houseguests, neighbors, scientists, and even police reports, Passionate Minds is both panoramic and intimate in feeling. It is an unforgettable love story and a vivid rendering of the birth of modern ideas.

Customer Reviews:

"You are a delight/You are tender/What pleasure I find in your arms." Immortal verse?.......2007-04-18

I must thoroughly agree with the Publisher's Weekly reviewer of this book. Although it promises to deliver sensational events such as hot love affairs and outrageous behavior in addition to enlightening us about the brilliance of Voltaire and the genius of Emilie du Chatelet, this writer cannot live up to his own book's expectations or his clear attempt to pen a bestseller. What I felt I was getting was the diary entries of a peeping Tom who was busy sticking his nose into the sordid soap opera that was the "great love affair of the Enlightenment." I never had a sense that I was in the presence of a brilliant woman. Rather, Emilie comes off as a hedonistic and conflicted female, fatally insecure, and overshadowed by the even more insecure and narcissistic Voltaire. Although lots of information is imparted between the covers of this book, it never seems to gel into a cohesive or gripping whole, and I was left feeling flat, not only about the featured on-again, off-again eighteenth-century rock-star couple, but about eighteenth-century France altogether. No one seemed worth reading about. The lot of these folks apparently were stuck in their petty, class conscious, foolish ways, fawning over the court, slapping around the general population who weren't upper class, and generally being idiots. Perhaps the best I can say about this work is that it redeems science and rational thinking as well as the integrity of the individual, but only in a backhanded way. I'm afraid most readers will give up on this endless recounting of flaming passions and pettifoggery before getting halfway through. Lucky would they be too because they would happily miss the glaring and unforgivable fragment on p. 163: "But not only was the water cleaner in Cirey. There was also something more to Emilie's innovation." Editor please!

History comes alive........2007-04-05

In writing history for the masses, the author can take a major or a minor role. In the former, the history is more important than entertaining and the author has to pull the narrative along with great effort and undergo great travails to make the story interesting to the reader. In the latter, the history is so compelling and so entertaining that it defies logic, all the author has to do is tell the tale without much ornamentation nor effort.

David Bodanis, much to his credit, combined the best of both situations. The history is remarkbable to begin with, AND he put forth a valiant effort in research and sheer completeness. The story of Emilie Du Chatelet is so amazing and so very interesting that I wondered why I had not heard about her before this book. I think that it is because the story lay so deep and domant within the history of the French revolution and Voltaire's biographical details that no one lese had bothered to look it up and comprehend the importance and fun of her story.

Since the history involves two people who were lovers and partners, it is inevitable that we compare the two in terms of intellect, temperament, achievement, and personality. In my humble opinion, Voltaire came out the worse for wear on that account. Perhaps this was Bodanis' intent, perhaps it is just the charm of Emilie Du Chatelet. If I had my wish, I would much rather have an audience with her than with him, but not by much. Her achievements were astounding, she was, a natural philosopher in the finest sense of the phrase. Given the discriminatory stance of the scientific establishment at the time, her achievements were remarkable.

Far beyond that, it seems she was also the better diplomat, realist, politician, and intellect of the pair. This is not to denigrate Voltiare's prowess as playwright or provocateur extraordinaire, but his intellect seem less impressive by comparison.

The added incentive to read the book comes from the swashbuckling episodes in their lives together that was worthy of a cinematic presentation. Bodanis does an excellent job of building the suspense while also keeping the story line flowing through his fine skills. I guess the best compliment I can pay him is to say that I had to check the book cover numeorus times to ascertain that I was, indeed, reading non-fiction rather than fiction.

a casual but entertaining biography.......2007-02-10

I became interested in Emilie du Chatelet after reading a review of Judith Zinsser's biography on her. However, I ended up picking up Bodanis's book instead because it was written in a more welcoming style than Zinsser's drier account.

Emilie du Chatelet is a fascinating woman whose story needs little embelishment to be an entertaining read, but Bodanis's sense of humor and intimate approach to writing her biography do make it more intersting and readable. While he often goes out on a limb making assumptions about people's thoughts and actions that surely weren't documented, I don't think he was too unrealistic or uncalled for in doing so.

Bodanis also does a fine job intertwining the biography of Voltaire into Emilie's story, bringing to light Voltaire's little-known in science. He elegantly ties their lives into the climate of the Enlightenment and the events leading up to the French Revolution. In doing so, he introduces a tapestry of characters that played a key role in history as well as in Emilie and Voltaire's lives.

Absent from this book is anything more than a glossing-over of Emilie's scientific and mathematical contributions. Yet I can understand why this was done-- the light narrative of the book would have been bogged down by in-depth calculations and explainations that some readers may not be interested in or understand. Nevertheless, as a woman who loves math and science I was disappointed that Bodanis didn't go into greater detail here.

It's not often that I read more than one book on a particular person or subject (there are just too many interesting things to learn in this world), but now I'm eager to read more about Emile du Chatelet and will be picking up Judith Zinsser's more serious and detailed book soon. A quick and engaging read, Passionate Minds is an excellent introduction to this amazing lady.

More a novel than history.......2007-01-22

Pleasant reading but uncritical acceptance of many undocumented anecdotes about Emilie du Chatelet regarding her sentimental life and superficial description of her mathematical and scientific research. Judith Zinsser book about the same subject being in my opinion a better biograhy.

Great, fun read.......2007-01-11

I thought Passionate Minds was a great book. Well-written, a little saucy and interesting. I'd heard the author talking about the book on NPR a few weeks back and he was so enthusiastic about Emilie du Chatelet that I knew I'd have to read about her. I'm not a scientist, but I am a feminist, so it is shameful that I didn't know about her before. I loved that Mr. Bodanis presented her unapologetically: she was smart when women weren't supposed to be, she liked to have sex, she fell for bad guys, she had a bit of a gambling problem and ate when she was unhappy. Sounds like my college years.

Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West

Average customer rating:

Juicy
Not quite as dense as some might insist...
Mixed feelings
My new bible
truly "a hand grenade disguised as a book"!

Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West
John Ralston Saul
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0029277256

Customer Reviews:

Juicy.......2007-06-18

I bought this book in 1997, 10 years ago, and it was already 5 years old. It was enjoyable but a slog to get through and not all was retained in my head at the end of the read. I was left tired and I moved on. The true value of the book became apparent as the years passed - every reread of portions gave pleasure through forgotten information newly revealed, or insights that have finally sunk in, or new color to previously remembered insights. I bought one other more recent book of his, "Equilibrium", and they complement each other. The intervening years continue to demonstrate the validity of many arguments in the book, thus getting closer to the definition of a 'classic'. One of my best book purchases.

Not quite as dense as some might insist..........2007-04-17

Few books that are truly worth reading make for an easy read, and this is certainly the case with Voltaire's Bastards. Other reviewers have complained of Saul's density and have even accused him of dull, poor writing. Don't be fooled by such baseless nonsense. Saul is actually an excellent writer. He beautifully elucidates the finer, invariably ignored philosophical points of our modern political culture (which seeps through into every stratum of our lives) with grace and ease. The "density" arises when he undertakes historical narratives which lend credence to the points he makes. I'll agree that this can often make for slow, dry reading. However, his astute commentary on the modern "theology" of reason, power, secrecy, language and bureacracy more than compensate for such shortcomings. If you've ever felt inexplicably frustrated by what seems to be an amputated, purely rationalist, beady-eyed approach to politics, culture and knowledge in general, then the ideas presented within this book will likely excite you as much as they excited me.

Mixed feelings.......2006-12-31

Much has been said amongst the other reviews about the seemingly incoherent, diatribal and drawn-out nature of Saul's book. And I agree. It's far from being a masterpiece in the larger sense of the world. What's brilliant about this book is not how right the author is but how wrong (often infuratingly so!) he is. Because I found that I've learnt more from this book, including the wrong parts than I have from many books that were more coherent or right. Unfortunately this does not seem to be Saul's aim.

He begins with section 1 called "Argument". However it read like a bunch of generalisations and sweeping statements without much argument. What he seems to be saying is this: that the concept of reason has been hijacked in the last century of public life in the west. That it has come to mean a bureaucratic, elitist, undemocratic, secretive, closed approach that also refuses to take into account the realities of life. That this style of reason is fanatical in that insisting that it is always right as a dogma. And finally, that it has been the result of untold amounts of suffering because it proclaims itself as a moral system, whereas it's only a system of management. Because of this, it can and is used to inhuman ends because it is itself devoid of any values.

All this I largely agree with. Especially in terms of the last point about reason being amoral you only need to read some Hume. However this exposition of his argument comes only from his second section, where he actually gives some concrete examples. The second section is largely a diatribe that attempts to apply these arguments to concrete historical examples. I think this is the strongest section of the book in that it is actually about something. The third section is some musings on art, individualism etc. much of which was entirely disagreeable.

What then are the strengths of the book? It is a hodge-podge that speaks of everything under the sun and often misses as a result. But by speaking about everything Saul successfully expresses the extent to which things are a problem. If he were more methodical one could claim that such-and-such and such-and-such institution is broken. However this book has convinced me that the world is much more broken than even I previously thought. He just could have done it in a third of the word count. I would definitely recommend the book but not as some incredible analysis but rather as something that will provoke and engage almost every reader. It seems paradoxical but in the chaos that is criticised by so many, Saul makes some surprising observations that would have been missed if he was more careful.

My new bible.......2006-09-24

Some books are to be read once. Others, like this one are to be read many times.
I could have given it 4 stars, because there are places that are dry and repetetive. In those places, I would turn the pages.
Places like the evolution of the purpose of art, beginning with religious motivation and moving into art, for art's sake. I didn't care though.
The fact is, the details JRS includes are things I have never heard before and they are what makes this book a MUST HAVE.

"Jefferson, founder and patron of the University of Virginia, never allowed his university to give degrees. He considered them pretentious, irrelevant to learning and unconnected to the preparation for responsiblity. This wasn't idealism. It was the opinion of the most successful practitioner of reason. The purpose of universities has now been inverted. Learning has become a goal-oriented process aimed at winning a degree."

"Modern wine tends to be filled with sulfur, chemical stabilizers, fungicides, beet sugar and alcohol additives. These elements, not grape alcohol, are the cause of most hangovers. Contemporary wine doesn't taste anything like Henry IV's Nuit St. Georges. It is forced, matures quicker and dies faster. Like nuclear reactors, modern wine is part of the secretive promise of our society.

truly "a hand grenade disguised as a book"!.......2006-05-02

If you want to understand the world we live, then read this book. It's message is liberating. It is totally on the mark. It was published in 1992, but it fully explains everything that has happened since then. The author is brilliant. It's a citizen's survival guide to the 21st century. The book is very dense so don't expect a lazy, breezy read.

STORY OF CIVILIZATION, VOL IX: AGE OF VOLTAIRE: VOLUME IX (Story of Civilization)

Average customer rating:

ANOTHER WONDERFUL WORK BY DURANT
Durant is one of the greatest polymaths of the 20th century
What a superb series

STORY OF CIVILIZATION, VOL IX: AGE OF VOLTAIRE: VOLUME IX (Story of Civilization)
Will Durant
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0671013254

Book Description

(9th in Story of Civilization series)

Volume 9 in THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION, THE AGE OF VOLTAIRE, is the biography of a great man as well as the story of ideas and events that culminated in the French Revolution. But the revolution turned inward and set the stage for Napoleon, a disaster for Europe in general and for the French in particular. Of notable interest to the general reader is the Durants' conclusion that it was English ideas of skepticism, scientific experiment, "natural rights", constitutional government, and individual liberty -- that started the French on their road to ruin.

"A fine work of popularization...the Durants show an acute appreciation of the quality of this particular period." (The New Yorker)

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER WONDERFUL WORK BY DURANT.......2006-01-16

Durant's popularization of history, which he continues with this wonderful volume, has been and indeed, still is poopooed by many an academic. I first learned of this years ago while taking a never ending series of history courses in college. Almost to the man and woman, they, the professors, would gave collective fits if a student brought the name of Durant to class and heaven help the sudent who used a "popular history writer" to class in the form of a reference on a paper. I knew then that I had to own and read these books. I did and do now and have not regreted it one bit. Popular history, i.e. history that most of us can actually read and learn from is a wonderful thing. Few of us grow up to be accademics and works such as these open many windows for we, the common person. I have been reading and rereading this series for years and have not regreted it one bit. This particular volume of course examines the French Revolution, it's results and those involved. Durant's style continues to come through and I promise you, you will learn much in a very enjoyable fashion. Recommend highly.

Durant is one of the greatest polymaths of the 20th century.......2005-01-02

Will Durant, initially by himself and later with his wife Ariel, has written some of the most readable and interesting histories of the 20th or any other century. I found these books in the early 1980s and took five years to read them all. It was the greatest intellectual experience of my lifetime, and now I am selectively reading them again. (Fortunately I then had the habit of underlining passages I found most compelling and facinating, and this is saving me a lot of time in my rereading of the Durants.) And this is perhaps the most informative of the books, especially given our present day American obscession with evangelical Christanity. Rereading Durant makes me conscious of just how destructive have been the Christian schools that so many of our students have been subjected to since the mid 60s. I think that the Durants would call today, with the eager reelection of Geo. W. Bush and his merry men, The Age of Ignorance. Would that our students of today felt compelled to read the Durants. wfh

What a superb series.......1999-10-18

I remember seeing these sets of books in my University Bookstore in College--never read them, but picked up the whole set for .25 each at a garage sale. Little did I know what I'd been missing. I also just started teaching history in Calgary--a colleague agreed with me that they are fabulous, but said the snobby professors looked down on the Durants as "popularizers." I can't think of a higher compliment. Excellent footnotes, with quotes from primary resources, all the marks of a hallmark historian. I reading these books like steamy romance novels--and they are a lot more fun. Durrant is not afraid to comment on the sexual mores/and morality of the times. His judgments are pithy and well, history is riveting. I would have paid full price for these if I'd known how good they were!

Average customer rating:

The beginnings of nihilism
Should Be Required Reading
Great book, TERRIBLE translation
Classic Satire
Has the hand of time dulled Voltaire's rapier?

Candide (Bantam Classics)
Voltaire
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0553211668
Release Date: 1984-04-01

Amazon.com

Political satire doesn't age well, but occasionally a diatribe contains enough art and universal mirth to survive long after its timeliness has passed. Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

Book Description

Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that -- contrary to the teachings of his distringuished tutor Dr. Pangloss -- all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling, Candide has become Voltaire's most celebrated work.

Customer Reviews:

The beginnings of nihilism.......2007-06-01

Comedy or tragedy? Which makes for better literature? How about both? In fact, many of the greatest works of literature are both comedies and tragedies. Candide is probably the greatest example of such a work from a French author. Penned under a pseudonym by the great thinker, Voltaire, this work is superficially an adventure novel about the title character traveling the known world to find his love, while accompanied by Pangloss. In reality, the book is a parody of human society, culture, philosophy, and mentality. The result is a short, witty and insightful examination of the human condition. The textual level is appropriate for anyone at the high school level, but is great reading for anyone at any reading level.

All in all, one of the best works in young adult literature.

Should Be Required Reading.......2007-05-10

I have owned this book for quite awhile but put off reading it, fearing that it would be dull and scholarly. I was in for a wonderful surprise. His philosophy makes a lot of sense and he puts it forth in a simple story accessible to almost everyone. Many, many times I laughed out loud. It was fun as well as enlightening. The term "sixes and sevens" was used; what is the etymology of that expression? The violence is expressed in an absurd way, though we know awful things did and do happen.

Great book, TERRIBLE translation.......2007-01-08

Candide is my favorite book, and I've read it multiple times in boh french and english. This is by far the worst english translation I've come across. It makes absolutely no attempt to preserve the grammatical structure of Voltaire's original, and consequently much of the irony and wit is lost. Read Candide, but not this copy.
The Signet edition is not bad.

Classic Satire.......2006-12-12

For those who saw "Borat" and thought Sacha Baron Cohen was a great satirist, "Candide" will put everything into perspective. In less than one hundred pages, Voltaire manages to skewer religion, politics, bigotry, love, hatred, optimism, cosmopolitanism, agrarian idealization, and everything else he could get his eighteenth-century hands on. The book is not perfect (I could have done without that slight anti-Semitic barb at the very end), but is scathingly brilliant and often laught-out-loud hilarious. A must-read for anyone who wishes to be worthy of the term "cynic".

Has the hand of time dulled Voltaire's rapier?.......2006-11-12

Ouch! That hurts!

(reacting to the sorry metaphor of my subject line)

I found Voltaire's famous satire surprisingly tepid. Perhaps I've become jaded in my old age, or perhaps I should have read this in the 18th century when it caused such a sensation because of the scandalous way that Voltaire satirized the church, the clergy, and just about everybody else in any position of power or influence. Reading it now, it seems a bit tame. All the horrors and stupidities Voltaire describes seem almost commonplace considering what we have experienced since he made his attack on optimism in 1759. Today we can look back at two world wars, at the Holocaust and Hiroshima, at the war in Vietnam, at terrorism and the latest stupidity in Iraq. Nothing in Candide can compare to these real historical events that have so sorely tested human optimism. We can even look back to the French Revolution and the revolutions that followed in the 19th century, which in a sense Voltaire predicted with his devastating critique of the corrupt and degenerate European society. Or we can recall the Catholic priests and Ted Haggard from yesterday's headlines. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

It is difficult to appreciate how deliciously scandalous this was in Voltaire's time since today we are free to criticize the church and our governments, whereas in Voltaire's time such criticisms could land you in the Bastille. Voltaire's legendary reputation for rapier wit and shocking turn of phrase can be found in these pages, but much of it seems diluted because his style has so often been imitated. We have read and reread his imitators, and we have even read some who have improved upon him in some ways, people in America like Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce and H. L. Mencken. We tend to forget where they got their inspiration at least in part. An example from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (episodic in structure much like Candide, by the way) is in the rascals that Huck and Jim meet on the river, the Duke of "Bilgewater" and the "King of France," who, like the six "kings" that Candide sups with in Venice, are out and our frauds and represent the impossible, deluded aspirations of the average person.

This is the work in which we have Dr. Pangloss and his "best of all possible worlds." And this is the work which ends with Candide summing up all the philosophy he has learned in his travels with the words, "'Tis well said, but we must cultivate our gardens."

Average customer rating:

I agree, no good!
How sad that you enjoy being identified as "Silly"
What is goth?
Voltaire has the answer
Only something Voltaire could get away with

What is Goth?
Voltaire
Manufacturer: Weiser Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Projekt: Gothic

ASIN: 1578633222

Book Description

What Is Goth? is a humorous, self-deprecating look at Goth culture from the inside out. Imagine The Preppy Handbook colliding with Charles Addams. Then add a lot more melancholy and a lot more spooky.

What Is Goth? dispels the false stereotypes and reinforces the true ones surrounding Goths and Goth culture. "To the mundane," Voltaire writes, "Goths are weird, black-clad freaks who are obsessed with death; they are sad all of the time. Take a closer look at the Goth scene, however, and you will find a rich tapestry of ideas and practices and a menagerie of colorful characters. Oh, dear. I said `colorful.'"

This illustrated answer to What Is Goth? shows readers how to:

• Identify the anatomies of different kinds of Goths: CyberGoths, Rivet-Heads, Romantigoths, Goth-a-billies, and more

• Write a poem (Mad Libs style) with the Gothic Poem Generator

• Properly dance the dances of darkness: "Cobwebs in the Attic," "The Gothic Tai Chi Dance," "Pulling the Evil Taffy"

Yes, Goths are pale, wear black clothing, love black makeup (on men and women), mope, listen to real downer music, and perfect the art of living in a perpetual state of ennui and melancholy. But there's so much more to being Goth. Goths come from all walks of life. Many are teenagers who live with their parents; others are doctors, lawyers, musicians, and so on. Most Goths are highly literate and creative, but all real Goths have to dress the part. In other words, "Abandon all hope ye who enter a Goth club in khakis!"

Eerily illustrated, What Is Goth?is the perfect book for any Goth, Goth wannabe, or "mundane" who is hopelessly confused by all the gloom.

Customer Reviews:

I agree, no good!.......2007-06-17

I mean..people that belong the scene can understand this book and find it funny..but this can reforce labels that most people have, goths are just teenagers playing dressing trying to get attention..com'on, you guys!!I know is nice to say to an all-black-dressed-depressed-face-poser "smile, goth!=D", but goth it's not just this remember???I think Goth Chic is still the best book
A big label that this one brings..since when being goth is just make fun of yourself and the scene, hun???
This way the serious side of the scene will die, really..nowadays in the scene, when you try to talk to someone something serious, the only thing they can do is laugh..THE ONLY..
ps:sorry any language mistakes, my first language is portuguese

How sad that you enjoy being identified as "Silly".......2007-06-01

...and someone to be laughed at.

Yes, there are silly, silly moonbats out there who think that they are vampires (so *not* goth, ok?) as they retire to the "crypt" of mom's basement, where they will awake the next morning and eat Frosted Flakes before raking the leaves (Undead, indeed!).

But is Voltaire laughing at them? With them? At himself? Or at you?
He looks the part, he has infiltrated your world, only to mock you and profit from you.

For a true Goth who is not delusional or playing dress-up once a week at a club or school, this is offensive.

Voltaire is the ultimate poseur, and look at all of the cash that you throw at him. I salute him for turning Goth into the money making venture that the rest of us could never achieve.

Voltaire my old friend, SALUTE!

What is goth?.......2007-04-11

Very funny first book by Voltaire. If you are a Voltaire fan,this is the book for you. Or if you want to read about the gothic scene from a fun perspective, I highly reccommend this book.

Voltaire has the answer.......2007-02-23

Out of the numerous times I have heard the same question asked as it appears in this book's title, Voltaire is one of the few writers who has managed to give the right answer.

A witty and intelligent read, with great illustrations.

Only something Voltaire could get away with.......2007-02-20

Loved the book...Very amusing and poking fun at oneself.:)

The Portable Voltaire (The Viking Portable Library)

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Voltaire's ideas are good but this is heavy going for a modern audience
Fast Service
Voltaire, or a tale of pessimism
Best Volume of the "Old sinner from the eighteenth century"
An excellent selection of the work of a despicable genius

The Portable Voltaire (The Viking Portable Library)
Voltaire , Francois Maria Arouet De Voltaire , and Ben Ray Redman
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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ASIN: 0140150412

Customer Reviews:

Voltaire's ideas are good but this is heavy going for a modern audience.......2007-06-16

(****) for the presentation but (**) for the contents.

If you love Voltaire then this is an excellent volume gathering together many of the highlights of his writing.

One can see why the major work in this volume "Candide" was a stunner in its time but as an entertainment for today it is woefully inadequate.
Voltaire makes his point about the "Best of all Possible Worlds" early on but then bores us silly with an idiotic plot about Candide's journey in which characters disappear, reappear, die, come back to life, etc. The book is "oh-so-clever but we don't feel that Candide has made any kind of personal journey by the end.

I bought this volume because I am a great admirer of Voltaire's ideas but like many of the "great works" the IDEAS are compelling but wading through the actual source material is heavy-going indeed.

"Candide" was turned into a opera by Leonard Bernstein in the 1950s who identified with Voltaire's humanist philosophy in reaction to the paranoia of the McCarthy era. This opera was a failure - not due to the music which is often magnificent - but due to the silly plot. Trying to turn this into an opera was ill-conceived from the start.

Judging from the other (generally glowing) reviews of "Candide" I know I am going to be vilified but I think people need to be warned that they may be in for disappointment.

Fast Service.......2007-02-16

The book arrived in great condition in a couple of days even though I had selected ground service. It's nice to get a product that was in better condition than advertised.

Voltaire, or a tale of pessimism.......2006-07-10

It is said that Voltaire never lost an argument. It is strange to note, therefore, that this brilliant author and scholar, this celebrated sceptic, philosopher, and wag, reknowned throughout the world for his views and regarded still today as one of the principal leaders of ''the age of reason'', was a prejudiced and spiteful man, a nihilist and atheist whose most barbaric and sinister attacks were often directed against those who least deserved them: specifically, the Jews.
Anti-semitism, or at least some semblance of it, was not uncommon in Voltaire's age, even among the more educated and cultured members of the elite upper class of French, as well as world, society. Voltaire's contemporary, Historian Jules Michelet, wrote ''There is no better, more docile, more intelligent slave'', than the Jew. And ''intellectual'' writer Pierre-Joseph Proudhom asserted ''The Jew is the enemy of mankind''. Yet Voltaire himself was certainly among the most vocal of anti-semites, referring to his enemies as:

An ignorant and barbarous people, who have long united the most sordid avarice with the most detestable superstition, and the most invincible hatred for every people by whom they are tolerated and enriched...still, we ought not to burn them.''

The outrageous irony, hypocrisy, and sheer imbecility of this statement are glaring: even more astonishing to note is the manner in which this splendid thinker, this savant who supposedly never lost an argument, could allow his hatred and xenophobia to stand so firmly in the way of reason, going so far as to accuse the Jews of ''barbarism'' and ''superstition'' while simultaneously overlooking the trials and witch burnings that had taken place in America only a century earlier, and which, needless to say, were perpetuated by gentiles. In describing the Jews as ''ignorant and barbarous'', Voltaire seems only to be describing himself and his fellows, giving voice to his own despicable hatred and fear towards that which he did not understand and of which he was ignorant.
Voltaire's enmity towards the Jews could perhaps be overlooked, however, were it not for the fact that it consituted such a blemish, as well as such a determining factor, in his art.
In ''Candide'', for example, one of Voltaire's sharpest satires and best known writings, the author's anti-semitism and ignorance concerning all things Jewish is given stark expression in the character of one ''Don Issachar'', a repulsive old man who is regarded as one of the principal forces of evil in the world, and who attempts to rape the heroine as part of his ''Sabbath rights''.
''Candide'', on it's simplest level the tale of an optimist who in his pursuit of happiness is confronted with the randomness of life and the ugliness and barbarity of human nature, is a brilliant and scathing, if broadly painted, self-righteous and exaggeratedly pessimistic critique of human hypocrisy, a case against the existence of God and the way in which human happiness is blunted by it's own flaws. On yet another level, ''Candide'' is essentially a catalogue of man's ills. How ironic then, that Voltaire's own íntolerance and racial bigotry make their appearance so frequently (another racially slurred moment occurs in the depiction of an evil black pirate) within his story, yet are, unsurprisingly, excluded from the number of diseases that plague mankind!
One part of ''Candide''s episodic narrative involves the accidental discovery of El-Dorado by the titular character. ''El-Dorado'' is essentially a vaguely defined utopia, a magical and beautiful dream-land in which the citizens are compassionate and gentle (though none, of course, are applied with any specific racial characteristics), the streets are paved with gold, and each day is a cheerful pleasure-fest. Needless to say, Candide benefits from this situation immensely. There is a catch, however: for Voltaire states that, once one deserts it, the magical paradise of El-Dorado can never be regained. What he overlooked, though, was that the land of ''El-Dorado'' is possible to regain, granted one sows one's life with the seeds of love, tolerance, and most importantly, racial acceptance.

Best Volume of the "Old sinner from the eighteenth century".......2005-10-09

The portable Voltaire is the best single volume representing all his works. You don't just get the finest short novel ever written (Candide), you get Zadig, Micromegas, selections from the Philisophical Dictionary, Letters from England, and more.

This is the volume to get if you want to find out why that weird looking character was always smiling...

An excellent selection of the work of a despicable genius .......2005-09-18

Voltaire was a giant of his age, but as writer he left behind very little which is read with interest today. 'Candide' is perhaps the only work which still appeals to anyone outside the realm of scholarship.
Voltaire was the great fighter against superstition , irrationality, cruelty and oppression. Yet he himself was often superstitious, irrational, cruel and oppressive. A person of pique and of pose, and a very good hater .He certainly does not present an example of a lovable and kind human being, a good person.
His vast intellect was devoted to learning many different kinds of things most of which are outside the canon of our knowledge today. He did not really after all have a scientific education and worldview, and was much closer to being a Continental theorist than a good common - sense empiricist.
His spite and his hatred in regard to Christianity, took a specially malicious turn in relation to the Jews. Instead of sympathizing with arguably the most oppressed group in Christendom he oppressed them further.
He is a thin man, with a razor - sharp pen, and a very cutting way of describing his fellow human- beings.
If all of mankind were created to be objects of satire, then he would be the great understander of humanity.
His writing leaves a bad taste in the soul, because even when he is trying to right an injustice in it, one feels that there is no real love of people or of humanity in it.

Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom

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Light and Disappointing
Meet the Man
Well Done Biography of an Interesting Character
Learning to think
Almighty?

Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom
Roger Pearson
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000NIJ4C4
Release Date: 2005-10-13

Customer Reviews:

Light and Disappointing.......2007-05-19

Pearson's book is "accessible." It does cover all of Voltaire's life. There are some nice photographs. It is also, however, chatty and superficial. I had expected at least some exploration of the ideas and the art that gave rise to Voltaire's vast reputation. I am no pedant - a mere college undergraduate type of treatment probably would have been adequate. Alas, in Pearson's book Voltaire seems almost a dilettante, pampered and frivolous. I hope such fluff is not what one has to put up with in order to obtain an "accessible" biography of a great man. I actually got a much better notion of who Voltaire was from reading the introduction to The Portable Voltaire. This was simply unsatisfying. I am now looking to read something more substantial.

Meet the Man.......2006-02-14

I was once asked the question, "If you could have lunch with one famous person, living or dead, who would it be?"

My answer: Voltaire.

Francois Marie Arouet, (1694-1778) who took the pen name "Voltaire" for reasons still unclear, (the author lists some guesses but doesn't choose one) was the 18th century itself, distilled into a frame so thin that it appeared as though a good stiff breeze could blow him away. But not only did he live to the age of 84, he also wrestled one of the most powerful institutions in history, the Catholic Church in France, virtually to a standstill. One of the most prolific writers of all time, he is said to have churned out a million words during his life: plays, essays, letters, poetry, satire. He never wrote a novel; novels were considered trashy entertainment in his day and he never cared to write one. He isn't read much anymore, not even in France, and he is remembered today not so much as a philosopher in his own right, but as a brilliant, witty popularizer of other people's ideas. But his razor-sharp French prose style was the envy of the young Rousseau, who ultimately went on to have an even greater and more profound impact on the world.

What inflamed Voltaire's passion inflamed his need to write, and nothing did the trick more quickly than intolerance and injustice. Imprisoned more than once himself, Voltaire repeatedly put himself in jeopardy defending in print the victims of injustice and religious bigotry, a particular plague of his age, and launching one spirited attack after another on their tormentors, those in political and ecclesiastical power, which in 18th century France were pretty much two sides of the same coin.

Small wonder I wanted to have lunch with him. And small wonder that Roger Pearson has given this delightful biography the subtitle "A Life In Pursuit Of Freedom." Each chapter has a title and a descriptive summary, in the style of an 18th century novel. In lively and witty prose, Pearson takes the reader from Voltaire's inauspicious beginnings (he was an illegimate child who was expected to die) to his first clashes with the authorities, (he spent close to a year in the Bastille when still only 23) his liaisons with one woman after another, the business dealings that made him wealthy, his sojourn in England, (where he found the relatively tolerant atmosphere refreshing enough to publish a series of "English Letters") his rocky relationship with Frederick the Great, and the whole cavalcade of one of history's most colorful and brilliant lives, leading right up to his retaking by storm, in the last days of his life, the very Paris from which he had been so often banned.

As the decades running up to the French Revolution, which Voltaire helped start but didn't live to see, roll by, Pearson traces every parry-and-thrust of the life of a writer in an age and a society in which writers were closely watched and frequently harassed by the government, their works censored and sometimes burned, their personal freedom never completely secure. Observing his dartings around Europe, hopping over a border here, leaping into a midnight carriage there, in order to stay ahead of those who would imprison him again, one wonders how Voltaire ever got anything written. But write he did, compulsively, exhaustively, and on an array of subjects that would fill a dictionary. (One of his best-known works is, in fact, a "Philosophical Dictionary.") By the time of his death, while the war against intolerance and bigotry was far from won -- most likely it never will be, entirely -- nevertheless the ideals of the French Enlightenment had already borne fruit on this side of the pond, the American Revolution being in full swing in 1778, and it was possible for writers in France and elsewhere in Europe to express their ideas with much less fear of the authorities than ever would have been possible in Voltaire's youth.

Will Durant wrote in 1965, "When we cease to honor Voltaire we shall be unworthy of Freedom." Read this book. Meet the man.

Well Done Biography of an Interesting Character.......2006-01-14

One of the more interesting and amusing characters in history, Voltaire is surprisingly little known in today's world. During his time he seems to have had the ability to annoy everyone. Jailed, exiled, he kept turning up and continued to satarize the upper classes from whom he seemed to crave acceptance.

This new biography is written with somewhat the same attitude of irreverance. It's light and amusing while at the same time conveying both the story and the tone of Voltaire's writing, philosophy and life.

Particularly interesting is the political interplay of the times when the leaders of various countries and empires are dealing with each other to see who is going to rule. This was a time just before the American Revolution (Voltaire associated with Benjamin Franklin during his stay in France). It was a time when the seeds were being sown for the French Revolution when the world of Voltaire was turned upside down.

Learning to think.......2006-01-12

Voltaire has been part of my life for nearly a quarter of a century, ever since I picked up a copy of The Portable Voltaire at a used bookshop near my high school for one dollar. I made the purchase at the suggestion of a pretty girl who I never did convince to go out with me. I guess that's not really relevant to anyone but me, except that Voltaire does write about how heartbreak (which is what that frustration seemed to be at the time) can be a stone on the path to enlightenment.

Whether that disappointment and the many that followed inched me closer to real enlightenment over the years, I can't say. But one of the first times I ever remember feeling more enlightened than many of my peers was as it dawned on me that my familiarity with the 18th-century philosopher and writer was all but unheard of among South Floridians in their late teens (and even among most of their teachers).

I must admit I've always been puzzled by Voltaire. Despite my long exposure to his work, I cannot identify a single component of his beliefs that I have adopted as part of my core philosophies. Only a couple of his lines have stuck in my memory over the years, and even upon re-reading it as an adult I found Voltaire's seminal work Candide a bit of a slog. Yet I continue to think of him as one of the most important factors in my intellectual formation, for reasons I assumed too vague or subtle to pinpoint.

With an eye toward discovering why that is, I picked up a copy of Roger Pearson's new biography, Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom. Previous biographies I've seen were too academic or too technical to hold my attention for long. But after leafing through it, I had high hopes for Mr. Pearson's effort.

I was not left unrewarded, even though I consider the biography only a mixed success. Mr. Pearson, I think, tries too hard to overcome the weakness of most academic biographers who produce informative but utterly boring works. He does this through the use of humor that is at first refreshing but quickly becomes irritating. I don't think this biography covers any significant new ground in Voltaire's life, but many of the stories I had read or heard in the past are retold here in a mostly readable way (at least when Mr. Pearson does not try to be witty).

What is new is the way Mr. Pearson relates some of these anecdotes to what we know of Voltaire's iconoclastic beliefs. Take the fact that he refused to cover up that his birth in 1694 was the result of an illicit affair between his mother and an intellectual and songwriter called Rochebrune. While most people of his generation would seek to obscure such ignoble circumstances, Voltaire instead venerated his mother for preferring Rochebrune's "wit and intelligence" to the company of her attorney husband, who, Voltaire said, was "a very mediocre man."

Similarly, his selection of the pen name Voltaire -- he was born François-Marie Arouet -- was his unusual way of escaping the wrath of French censors. He denied authorship of works that were clearly his, and he lived most of his life in exile outside his native France.

Mr. Pearson calls attention to the fact that while Voltaire was best known as a playwright during his lifetime, and he first came into the public eye as a writer of satiric verse that his lasting value comes from his historic work. A historian, not in the sense of a chronicler of battles and kingdoms, but in his discussions about the zeitgeist of his age: art, literature, philosophy, and economics. The presentation of these aspects and his biographical details may be flawed, but they can hardly fail to entertain and inspire.

Which leads me to the conclusion Mr. Pearson's work helped me to come to regarding the personal importance of Voltaire in my own life. More than any agent of information about the Enlightenment, Voltaire's value I think comes from his ability to inspire, to stimulate readers to think for themselves -- something I think he did (and still does) for me. Not a bad endorsement, I'd say.

Almighty?.......2006-01-01

While the "Almighty" in the title goes against my grain given the book's freedom-loving, deist, and most human of subjects, this biography is well worth reading. Professor Davidson writes in a light style, which pays fond homage to that of this great figure of the Enlightenment.

Another good book on Voltaire came out in 2004, "Voltaire in Exile" by Ian Davidson. If you want a full life biography, go with "Voltaire Almighty". If you are mainly just interested in Voltaire's later life and work in advancing human rights, go with Mr. Davidson's worthy effort. Or, read both and compare.

The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present

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The Art of Historiography

The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present

Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039471962X
Release Date: 1973-09-12

Customer Reviews:

The Art of Historiography.......2004-02-08

Fritz Stern has compiled a wide-ranging collection of original source materials written by historians, ancient and modern, that illuminate the nature of history as a discipline and a process. Beginning with Voltaire and Barthold Niebuhr and progressing through Macaulay, Jaures, Turner, Trevelyan, Beard, Barzun, and ending with C. Vann Woodward, Stern focuses on different roles history has assumed over a period of thousands of years as well as the various genres and subtopics in which history has made itself a home. These topics include cultural history, economic history, literature, positivism, materialism, scientific history, relativism and others. Stern opens each chapter and discussion of a new historian with insightful preliminary and background information that helps to set the historian in a better context than if it were not to appear. Other than this, his presence is undetectable, which speaks to his ability as a historian himself to remain detached from his work.

Any university level historiography course needs this work either as a main text or as a supplementary text given its survey-like nature. Stern opens each chapter and discussion of a new historian with insightful preliminary and background information that helps to set the historian in a better context than if it were not to appear. Each featured historian presents or engages a new variety of history, as the title enunciates, and provides further evidence of the depth and breadth of history as a scholarly subject as well as a process spread out over time.

The intense and quite complex nature of the selections make this book a perfect fit for an upper level university or graduate level historiography course. Furthermore, any reader who wishes to supplement any knowledge of history would be well served by this work. High school students intending to pursue history as a major might also read this as a prelude to what lies ahead.

Candide: Or, Optimism (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
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Great Cover

Great edition; better book

Take a closer look at the cover!

Candide: Or, Optimism (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Francois Voltaire
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143039423

Book Description

One of Western literature's most glorious and incisive satires—now in a brilliant new translation with a bold new cover by Chris Ware With its vibrant new translation, perceptive introduction, and witty packaging, this new edition of Voltaire's irreverent, tragicomic masterpiece belongs in the hands of every reader pondering our assumptions about human behavior and our place in the world.

Candide tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by—as Candide would say— “the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.” This new translation of one of Western literature's most glorious satires tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair.

Customer Reviews:

Great Cover.......2007-02-12

It was in perfect condition; no tears, rips, and a hilarious cover to top it all off.

Great edition; better book.......2007-01-01

When I imagined what 18th-century literature would be like, I figured there'd be lots of dated, archaic humor and cultural references I'd never understand. CANDIDE, as it happens, contains anything but the former, and very few of the latter.

In fact, this turned out to be the funniest book I've ever read--and I've read Pynchon, Vonnegut, and plenty of others. The absurdity of the novel and the nonchalance of its delivery are simply hilarious. Voltaire makes no attempt to conform to his time's--or even ours'--standard of decency: expect a slew of satire, an unprecedented (by 1759) dark sense of humor, and a message that the author will stop at nothing to convey. Voltaire will force his thesis down your throat, and you'll feel no desire to resist. Voltaire exposes the imperfection of our world and the fallacies of blind optimism with relentless wit and bluntness.

Penguin's Deluxe Classics edition of this is very handsome, and has laugh-out-loud material plastered all across the cover and inside flaps of the book--though watch out; minor spoilers abound!

This is a quick read, a classic, and a blast that you'll regret ends as soon as it does. Highly recommended.

Take a closer look at the cover!.......2005-11-05

I read Candide years ago; however, while looking through the shelves of the local bookstore I was stopped dead in my tracks by this new presentation. Enlarge the image of the new cover at the top of the page to be treated to a whimsical stick figure rendition of a majority of the story (complements of Chris Ware, some of his graphic novels include : The Acme Novelty Library, Quimby the Mouse and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth). However, read the book, not just the cover, for one of the smartest satires ever written.

Candide tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who steadfastly believes that "all is for the best" even when faced with the injustice, suffering, and despair of the world. Following his eviction from his home for a tryst with his stepsister, he sets out to find the "best of all possible worlds" that his mentor Dr. Pangloss cannot stop extolling. Althewhile Candide and his friends barely keep from being killed or tourtured at every turn. Controversial for its time (the 18th century) and entertaining still today; Candide is a book that is relevant even now in our society, where "the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well" prevails.

I am an avowed classics hater who could never make it through a single volume of anything in any Literature class. Never in a million years would I have picked up this book if not for a recommendation by Kurt Vonnegut in one of his autobiographical works. He highly recommended Candide, and being my favorite author, I could not help but be intrigued. I found it in the bookstore and it was short enough to read in one sitting.

The sight of this clever new edition brought a wonderful work of literature back into my mind and I just had to read it again. Beware, if you do not have a sense of humor about the human condition or do not understand sarcasm, you may not like this. Everyone else, enjoy!

Candide, Zadig, and Selected Stories (Signet Classics)

Average customer rating:

More Bang for your Buck with the Signet Classics volume
Uplifting
A highly recommended translation!

Candide, Zadig, and Selected Stories (Signet Classics)
Francois Voltaire
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451528093

Book Description

With Candide-a classic parody of the romantic, coming-of-age story-and the fifteen other stories in this indispensible collection, Voltaire derided the bureaucracies of his day with ruthless wit. His dissections of science, spiritual faith, legal systems, vanity, and love make him the undisputed master of social commentary.

Customer Reviews:

More Bang for your Buck with the Signet Classics volume.......2005-09-02

This Signet edition of Voltaire's finest works is THE Candide to buy. It has 15 other classic Voltaire works FIFTEEN!! Now that's a great deal without all the bells and whistles!

I remember first being introduced to Voltaire (1694-1778) when I was looking ahead in my history book in school, as was my "pasttime" and was one of the ways how I became a trivial nerd who can name dates and events almost like Rain Man. His picture attracted me because of that smart-aleky grin always on his face. This was a bit surprising considering everyone took serious portraits in that time.

Before long after starting to read this good stuff, you'll have a grin on your face too.

The Age of Reason is where Marie-Francois Arouet, better known by the pen name of Voltaire comes from and it is the setting of one of the most famous satires of all time.

Published in 1759, Voltaire takes apart the philisophical quote by Gottfried Lebniz (1646-1716) which states that, the seventeenth/eighteenth century was "The Best of all Possible Worlds." In Candide, the title naiive character is about to find out just how "great" an era the eighteenth century was.

Next to Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)-whom Voltaire knew and admired, Candide is the most famous satire ever written. It has the best tragical irony and is combined to make it one very memorable and funny reading experience. It seems to me that the eighteenth century was just begging, bowing, scraping, and grovelling to be taken apart by satire and parody, and who would be better to expose the woes of its society than Voltaire, Swift, Alexander Pope (1688-1744), and all the rest of those satirizing cats?!

Probably Mikhail Bulgakov and/or Nikolai Gogol, but those two cats were LATER.

That brings us to the conclusion that there was

NOBODY, THAT'S WHO!!!

Uplifting.......1999-04-23

Although, perhaps, it wasn't ment to be, Volatire's work is uplifting. Sometimes a man faces something that enraged him to such a depth, he either has to cry or laugh about it. Its good to be able to laugh about injustice, betrayal, and every other inborn, basic flaw of the pompous human race we all have the pleasure to be part of. This is one of the best satires I've ever read.

A highly recommended translation!.......1999-04-07

Candide is one of my most favorite philosophical works because of the humor, honesty, and original perspective that Voltaire brings to this story. This translation is recommended because it also contains many other excellent works from Voltaire, such as Zadig and Micromegas. The translator's notes are very helpful, and in many cases shed light upon Voltaire's intended meaning when the English is not able to convey everything.

Philosophers:

Philosophers

Philosophers