Candide

First published anonymously in 1759, Candide, or Optimism is Voltaire’s brilliantly irreverent philosophical tale, following a sheltered young man whose faith in the goodness of the world is tested by a succession of extraordinary misfortunes. Expelled from his comfortable home, Candide travels across Europe and the Americas, encountering war, religious persecution, natural disaster and human cruelty, while searching for his beloved Cunégonde. His tutor, Pangloss, insists that everything happens for the best, even as experience repeatedly exposes the absurdity of this comforting philosophy. Through swift-moving adventures, biting wit and startling reversals, Voltaire questions the authority of organised religion, the pretensions of philosophers and the ease with which suffering is justified in the name of optimism.

A defining work of the French Enlightenment, Candide combines the energy of an adventure story with the precision of political and philosophical satire. Written in the shadow of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and amid the conflicts of eighteenth-century Europe, it challenges abstract systems of thought with the stubborn realities of violence, injustice and grief. Voltaire’s lightness of touch makes the criticism all the sharper, allowing comedy to expose the cruelties that solemn argument can obscure. Its enduring conclusion turns away from grand theories towards practical work and shared responsibility, leaving readers with a question that remains urgent: how should we live in an imperfect world?

From the book

“That is well said,” replied Candide, “but we must cultivate our garden.”

— Voltaire, Candide

On Candide

“The novel itself remains as fresh and pertinent as ever.”

— Julian Barnes, The Guardian