ACZoom  ·  Archive-2016

Candide
by Voltaire

As I was listening to this book on my MP3 player, I was stunned at the story - seemed incredulous. Then I read the historical background to this story, and then it starts making sense, and it becomes a great, fantastic tale. A google search yields many reviews, many sites have the whole book online, here's one Literature Network - Candide.

Excerpts:

...
Master Pangloss ... "It is demonstrable," said he, "that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end.
...
"Now we are upon this subject," said Candide, "do you think that the earth was originally sea, as we read in that great book which belongs to the captain of the ship?"
"I believe nothing of it," replied Martin, "any more than I do of the many other chimeras which have been related to us for some time past."
"But then, to what end," said Candide, "was the world formed?"
"To make us mad," said Martin.
...

This book is also available in MP3 Audio Download format. Unfortunately, this is DRM protected and requires support for Microsoft DRM (so no Apple iPod support). Available at most Public Libraries in the US and UK. Visit your library web site to see if they offer NetLibrary downloads.