A review by riorda15
Candide by Voltaire

5.0

I often think that the nihilistic rejection of grand narratives and the detached irony is cultivates is a distinctly 20th. The Candide makes this assumption untrue. Perhaps this sentiment is a product of the enlightenment but I suspect it has been around since time immemorial. I find this idea oddly reassuring. The famous Nietzsche quote, "god is dead" is deeply foreboding as it implies that human culture entered new philosophical territory. I always interpreted it to mean that the modern culture, particularly western culture, was somehow fundamentally different from pre-industrial cultures. But this seems very similar to the self-pitying logic of many of the characters that Candide encounters. Like the old women says, everyone believes they are one of the most put upon people in the whole world. Furthermore, this book as an artifact reassured me that healthy skepticism and a desire for honesty existed long before industrialism highlighted sciences' immense power to change our lives. With this bit of philosophizing done, I believe I will tend to my garden.