Candide and L'Ingénu (Signature Editions)

Candide and L'Ingénu (Signature Editions)

Candide  is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that -- contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss -- all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling,  Candide  has become Voltaire's most celebrated work.  This edition also includes Voltaire’s satirical novella, L’Ingenue , which tells the story of a Frenchman named "Child of Nature" who had been raised by Hurons and who has returned to his fatherland, in the French province of Brittany. Once there, he gets a glimpse of the corruption of the realm and befalls victim of it.  Voltaire (1694–1778), born François-Marie Arouet, launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which he adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote  Lettres philosophiques , which galvanized French reform and satirized the religious teachings of René Descartes and Blaise Pascal. After his release, he purchased a chateau in Geneva, where he wrote  Candide , among other works. To avoid Calvinist persecution, he moved across the border to Ferney, France, where he lived as a wealthy man for 18 years until his death.