Voltaire is a famous philosopher of the Enlightenment, and Candide his most famous work. It's very short, less than a hundred pages, and the edition I read filled out the book with three other novellas, Zadig, Ingenu, The White Bull and a short story Micromegas. Although Candide is the most celebrated work in the book, it wasn't necessarily my favorite--but I did find it amusing. Candide is a satiric send-up of Leibniz's theory of optimism through Candide's mentor Dr. Pangloss, who believes we live in "the best of all possible worlds" even in the face of increasingly insane disasters. I thought particularly funny the "genealogy of syphilis" where Pangloss traces the lineage of his infection back in a "direct line from one of Christopher Columbus's shipmates." I also rather loved the iconoclastic and grumpy twitting of classics by Pococurante. I might not agree with his lambasting of Homer and Virgil (though I though he was dead on about Milton) but I agreed with his principle that "Ignorant readers are apt to judge a writer by his reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like nothing but what makes for my purpose."
The short story Micromegas deals with giant visitors to Earth from the star Sirius and the planet Saturn and scoffs at humans' self-centeredness. I think I loved Zadig the most though. The opening gives a nod to 1,001 Arabian Nights and tells the story of Zadig of Ancient Babylonia. He offers up a deduction early on that would make Sherlock Holmes proud and enough wisdom to make Solomon feel abashed. I loved the irreverence of Ingenu (in another edition known as Master Simple). In it a young man raised by the Huron Indians in Quebec confounds others with his reactions to things French, particularly on religious matters. Being convinced to convert to Christianity, for example, he goes about trying to find someone to circumcise him, since that's obviously what the Bible requires, then insists the only way for him to be baptized is in a river, and refuses to recognize the authority of the Pope. The White Bull is also quite fun, as involved are just about every animal who had a role in the Bible--particularly the serpent from Eden whose dialogue with a Princess seems to spoof Milton.
The stories aren't what I expected from what the introduction called "fables of reason" meant to elucidate philosophy. They're not at all dry or inaccessible and were quite fun with lots of lines I'd be tempted to quote if there weren't so many that were wise, witty and striking. These short satires reminded me quite a bit of Swift's Gulliver's Travel only with less bathroom humor and more good-natured.
