A novel by Voltaire: Book Review by John A.

Candide is a satire about the outlandish struggles of a man and his adventures of traveling the world, questioning the philosophy of the day, which stated that everything that happens to a man is for the best.

Candide grew up in one of the finest castles in Germany. When he kisses the Baron’s mistress, Cunegonde, he is kicked out of the castle. At the beginning of his travels, he ends up joining the Bulgarian Army. Soon after, he is accused of being a criminal, and is almost flogged to death.

Throughout his further adventures, he meets up with several characters including Cacambo and Martin. Most of his adventures, however, revolve around searching for his beloved Cunegonde, whom he both meets up with and loses several times in the story.

Later, Candide sails to the Americas, where he stumbles upon El Dorado, a paradise city where there is great wealth, no laws and where everyone is happy. Instead of staying in El Dorado, Candide leaves, again in search of Cunegode. Before he leaves, however, he obtains several jewels and diamonds which will pay for his journies. After hearing that his lover is in Europe, he travels there.

After finding his old associate Pangloss—whom he thought had been hanged—Candide ends up finally finding Cunegonde in Constantinople. Ironically, she has turned very ugly since she has been overworked in the hot sun, but he still marries her. They live together at the end of the story, but are still miserable, regularly arguing about whether or not things in life happen for the best or worst for the people involved. Other than that, they sit and are bored with life.

Finally they end up talking to a man who lives a happy and simple life, just doing what he is talented at. With this new lesson learned, they all end up contributing their own talents to the house and live a nice, happy life.

I enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are short and it is fast-paced. The bad thing is that it was easy to lose track of what all was happening. The hardships that Candide had to go through throughout his whole journey sometimes left me reading with my jaw wide open. Some of the things that happen to Candide were outlandishly brutal, and made me think about the philosophy of everything happening for the best, in the face of so much hardship.

I also enjoyed this book in the way it explores how people will go to extremes for love. Candide even leaves El Dorodo to find his lover, which drove his actions throughout the story. Even at the end, when she was hideously ugly, he still married her, still clinging to the belief that everything happens for the best. Even when Martin argued that everything in the world is bad, Candide kept his good outlook on life.
I believe that reading this book can get people to thinking “what is life about?” and “Is everything for the best, or for the worst, or is it anything at all?”