I am not a philosopher. Or have read that much philosophy. And I know very little about the exact books and ideas that Voltaire is making fun of. So, this might not be the most intellectual review.
Just from a storytelling perspective, I found it to be so, so bad. So many things happening one after another, it felt like Voltaire might have wanted to touch on so many things and make fun of a lot of things, that it was just.. a lot?
and I surely got some of the satire. But the "everything sucks, everything is terrible, everyone gets either hanged or stabbed or is sold into slavery at some point" got tiring. I also didnt like that this was the opposite to "this world is perfect the way it is". (at least it felt like that) everyone was just so goddamn passive. Except for James.
and sure, coming from a 21st century view, there was antisemitism (Candide could have had a happy end with a lot of money if it were not for those damn Jews!), misogyny, racism, etc., though some opinions might have been progressive for the time.
So. Did I like it? Nope. I just finished it because it was so short. I think the only thing I really liked was the final sentence. Might come out of a desire to tend to a garden and not care about politics, and goddamn I wish I could tend for a garden, but not while the house is on fire.
Anyway. I can now say that I read some Voltaire. Give me my palazzo in Venice, and just let me sit in my library to be a hater of some classics.
I guess I will read some sparknotes and interpretations to see what I missed in my very un-intellectual review.
