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Candide – Voltaire
Audiobook performed by Tom Whitworth / Digital audio narrated by Jack Davenport
4****

This is perhaps Voltaire’s best-known work. The novella follows the callow Candide as he travels the world searching for his true love, Cunégonde, accompanied by his faithful servant / companion Cacambo.

It opens with an idyllic situation, where Cunégonde, the daughter of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, and Candide, a ward with uncertain parentage, are raised together on the castle grounds, and educated by tutor Pangloss. But a war results in the death of the Baron, his wife and son, and with Cunégonde raped and captured and sold into slavery. Candide sets out to find and rescue her.

Among his adventures across the globe, he comes across Jesuits, the Inquisition, cannibals, El Dorado, pirates, an old woman, healers, merchants, etc. He frequently relies on the teachings of Pangloss to see him through, maintaining optimism in the face of adversity.

Voltaire managed to skewer virtually all “important” institutions of the day in this satirical fable. I had seen the operetta (music by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by a group of uber-talented writers including Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Steven Sondheim) before, so was somewhat familiar with the plot. I have to admit I kept picturing the most recent production I saw (about two years ago) as I listened to the audio.

I had two versions of the audiobook, a CD in my car and a digital audio on my MP3 player. The CD was performed by Tom Whitworth, while the digital audio was narrated by Jack Davenport. Both were wonderful, but I think I prefer Whitworth’s interpretation.

I also had a text copy which included “philosophical letters” after the novella. (Candide and Philosophical Letters) They range in subject matter but mostly include his thoughts, observations, and conclusions about a variety of topics, from religion (Quakers, Church of England, Presbyterians, etc) to government, and science (smallpox inoculation and Newton). I read a few of them and found them slightly amusing. They certainly give the modern-day reader a view of 18th-century issues.



LINK to my review

Glad you liked it. I've read it only in French but of course have seen the musical adaptation multiple times. I've been thinking it's time for a reread, and after just finishing James, it's moving up my list. As you can see from my review, not only does Voltaire appear in the book, but I do think that the last third is a bit of a retelling of Candide.