Candide

Candide, ou l'Optimisme, is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759, following a young man named Candide who lives a sheltered life indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor Professor Pangloss before undergoing slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses great hardships in the world. Characterized by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot, the picaresque novella parodies many adventure and romance cliches in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact, with Voltaire ridiculing religion, theologians and governments as philosophers of his day contended with the problem of evil. It has been widely translated, with English versions including Candidus, or All for the Best (1759), and concludes with the practical precept that we must cultivate our garden. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/