First page of first edition of Candide Book

Information about the book

author: Voltaire
title: Candide ou l'Optimisme
pages: 120

Highlights and notes

As I read this book, I annotated the passages included in this PDF: Candide - Notes

Notes and thoughts

It’s incredible how much context is necessary to enjoy this book. If you don’t know about Leibniz or the historical context of the book, you can get lost easily and simply not enjoy the book.

The book is very funny and overall fun to read. The small chapters make it super easy to read. Although there are certain expressions and words which are uncommon in French, overall it’s easy to navigate.

Voltaire in this book makes it clear that sometimes philosophy is taken far too seriously. Certain concepts are better conveyed through simple images and examples.