Candide and Zadig

by Voltaire Narrated by Clive Chafer

Overview

These two classic coming-of-age stories by Voltaire parody the romanticism of his day with the ruthless wit that has made him the undisputed master of social commentary.

Candide, which is alternately titled Optimism, is a merciless satire and exposé of the ideas and institutions men live by. In this philosophical fantasy, the naïve Candide comes to witness and to suffer such misfortune that he rejects the philosophy of his tutor, Dr. Pangloss, who claims that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”

Zadig is the story of another optimist-young, rich, beautiful, and engaged to a woman he loves. When his early hopes and assets are destroyed, he embarks on a journey that will systematically explore science, religion, and the military, contributing to each, betrayed by all. Through these trials, he will eventually win the kingdom of Babylon.

Editorial Reviews

FEBRUARY 2009 - AudioFile

CANDIDE, Voltaire's 1759 novel, resembles in some ways an old Warner Bros. cartoon—in its frantic pace and zest, its wit and sarcasm, its target audience of adults, and its characters' inability to be killed by the most ghastly violence. When Dr. Pangloss proudly recounts the pedigree of the syphilis that rots him away (he traces the virus back to Columbus's sailors), Neville Jason slurps his syllables in a wonderfully cartoony way. On the whole, Jason performs this classic with the required straight face (or voice), which conforms to Voltaire's aim of using the wide-eyed, naïve Candide and the matter-of-fact narration to mask a philosophical work about suffering and human evil. ZADIG, Voltaire's 1749 novel of comparable length, lives in the shadow of CANDIDE but is also especially accessible in Jason's reading. G.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169861938
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	05/10/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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