{"product_id":"candide-or-optimism-paperback","title":"Candide: or, Optimism - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eVoltaire\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003ePeter Constantine\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eDiane Johnson\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this splendid new translation of Voltaire's satiric masterpiece, all the celebrated wit, irony, and trenchant social commentary of one of the great works of the Enlightenment is restored and refreshed. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVoltaire may have cast a jaundiced eye on eighteenth-century Europe-a place that was definitely \u003ci\u003enot\u003c\/i\u003e the \"best of all possible worlds.\" But amid its decadent society, despotic rulers, civil and religious wars, and other ills, Voltaire found a mother lode of comic material. And this is why Peter Constantine's thoughtful translation is such a pleasure, presenting all the book's subtlety and ribald joys precisely as Voltaire had intended. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe globe-trotting misadventures of the youthful Candide; his tutor, Dr. Pangloss; Martin, and the exceptionally trouble-prone object of Candide's affections, Cun gonde, as they brave exile, destitution, cannibals, and numerous deprivation, provoke both belly laughs and deep contemplation about the roles of hope and suffering in human life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe transformation of Candide's outlook from panglossian optimism to realism neatly lays out Voltaire's philosophy-that even in Utopia, life is less about happiness than survival-but not before providing us with one of literature's great and rare pleasures.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA flamboyant and controversial personality of enormous wit and intelligence, Voltaire remains one of the most influential figures of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. \"Candide, his masterpiece, is a brilliant satire of the theory that our world is \"the best of all possible worlds.\" The book traces the picaresque adventures of the guileless Candide, who is forced into the army, flogged, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, separated from his beloved Cunegonde, tortured by the Inquisition, et cetera, all without losing his resilience and will to live and pursue a happy life.\u003cbr\u003e This Modern Library edition, published to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of Random House, \u003cbr\u003eis a facsimile of the first book ever released under the Random House colophon. It includes the timeless illustrations by Rockwell Kent, a twentieth-century artist whose wit and genius serve as a counterpart and compliment to Voltaire's. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVoltaire (François-Marie Arouet)\u003c\/b\u003e (1694--1778) was one of the key thinkers of the European Enlightenment. Of his many works, \u003ci\u003eCandide\u003c\/i\u003e remains the most popular. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeter Constantine\u003c\/b\u003e was awarded the 1998 PEN Translation Award for \u003ci\u003eSix Early Stories \u003c\/i\u003eby Thomas Mann and the 1999 National Translation Award for \u003ci\u003eThe Undiscovered Chekhov: Forty-three New Stories.\u003c\/i\u003e Widely acclaimed for his recent translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel, he also translated Gogol's \u003ci\u003eTaras Bulba\u003c\/i\u003e and Tolstoy's \u003ci\u003eThe Cossacks \u003c\/i\u003efor the Modern Library. His translations of fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, Harper's, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eParis Review. \u003c\/i\u003eHe lives in New York City.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 144\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.33 x 8.01 x 5.23 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 11, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccelerated Reader:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eQuiz Name:\u003c\/strong\u003e Candide\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e Upper Grades, 9-12\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e 7.3\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/strong\u003e 5\u003c\/div\u003e\n                ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41927386333319,"sku":"9780812972016","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/db1692c63e46ef0c0556433bb836ce05.webp?v=1734076878","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/candide-or-optimism-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}