Candide (version 2)

Voltaire (1694-1778) was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet, the most celebrated French writer of the Enlightenment. He wrote tragedies, histories, poems and thousands of letters, and he campaigned for religious tolerance and against injustice. Candide, or Optimism, appeared in 1759, and its attack on government, society, religion and education has kept it in circulation ever since.

The target of the satire is optimism, the philosophical claim that this is the best of all possible worlds, associated with Leibniz. Voltaire was moved to attack it in part by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, and the book is filled with echoes of real events such as the Seven Years’ War. He treats these horrors in a rapid, deadpan style, which makes their absurdity all the sharper. Many readers have noticed how the pace of the tale, with its quick turns and shocking reversals, resembles that of a cartoon.

The book was an immediate success, and was condemned by authorities in several places. It is still read widely in schools and universities, and has been adapted for stage and music, most notably in Leonard Bernstein’s operetta. The closing advice to cultivate one’s garden is much debated.

This is a second LibriVox version of the work. It has thirty-one chapters and lasts a little over four hours, read by a different volunteer from the first. If you know the story already, you may enjoy comparing the voices; if you do not, it is a fine place to begin.