Candide

Considered by many to be one of the greatest achievements of Western literature. Candide, Voltaire's magnum opus, is a matchless satirical take-down of religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. The novella unfolds as the sheltered and privileged Candide, a young man enraptured of his facile mentor Pangloss, experiences the hardships and injustices of life, forcing him to abandon the naïve notion that "all is for the best" in favor of a practical determination that life is best lived "cultivating one's garden." Considered by many to be one of the greatest achievements of Western literature.