Candide

Candide by Voltaire
Based on my last two posts, it appears I have been looking way back in the histories to find some of my reading materials. This is partly due to the fact that I am studying history. However, I do honestly love the variety and the cultural differences.
I am going to be perfectly honest with you. Voltaire is definitely more of a scholar than a novelist. Nonetheless, he created a novel that has lasted this many centuries because of his brilliance. Plus, for all I know, the story sounded much more artful in French (of course, that doesn't change the pace). It is meant to be a travel story surrounding the life of Candide. Many coincidental and impossible events seem to occur around this youngster as he journeys the world in search of happiness. It is a veritable soap opera plot in terms of complexity and impossible circumstances.
I don't have much else to say, but I will leave you with this: while it may not be the best book I've ever read, it was written by a scholar who used the novel as a way of discussing what it means to find happiness. Since it is not fully explicit in the context, I will tell you that he believes happiness is living in a world (or working in a garden) of your own creation.
If you want to get a feel for the intellectual setting of the Enlightenment in France, or you just really want to feel smart and cultured, give this book a read.