Candide - Literary Touchstone Classic

Book excerpt: This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader appreciate Voltaire's complex approach to the human condition.FRANCOIS-MARIE AROUET VOLTAIRE'S satiric attack, Candide, first appearing in 1759, mocked the Enlightenment notion that this is the best of all possible worlds and that suffering is merely the result of free will. Through the misadventures of philosopher and teacher Dr. Pangloss and his student Candide as they travel the world-fleeing invasions, earthquakes, pirates, and brutal executions-we learn that the true meaning of life is to "cultivate your garden."One of the world's most widely read classics, Candide is as rich and relevant today as it was when Voltaire wrote it.