Showing results by author "Voltaire Voltaire" in All Categories

If we were as tiny as ants to another being, what would they make of our philosophies? The great satirist Voltaire imagines alien visitors who have opinions. Bedtime stories are narrated by the world's most celebrated voices and written with no beginning, middle, or end so you don't stay up to hear what happens next. They're interesting enough to give your mind something to focus on, but delivered in a way that encourages sleep.

These two classic coming-of-age stories by Voltaire parody the romanticism of his day with the ruthless wit that has made him the undisputed master of social commentary.

Since its publication in 1759, Voltaires Candide has been a delightful satire that pokes fun at the idea that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Written in just three days, this timeless classic has continued to bring laughter and provoke thought for generations. Join us as we explore the enduring charm and wit of Voltaires masterpiece. - Summary by Philip Littell

Candide is a sharp, unflinching critique of government, society, religion, education, and, most notably, the philosophy of optimism. Under the guidance of Dr. Pangloss, Candide and Cunegonde are taught that everything in this world happens for the best—a belief that quickly unravels as life throws its harsh lessons their way. This novel is not only brilliant and hilarious but also blasphemous, with Voltaire cleverly maintaining the mystery of authorship.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Ben Lloyd-Hughes, best known for Divergent, Me Before You and The Inbetweeners. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Michael Wood. Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man...

Candide, is a French satire written in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the finest satires ever written, this lively tale follows the absurdly melodramatic adventures of the youthful Candide, who is forced into the army, flogged, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, separated from his beloved Cunégonde, and tortured by the Inquisition. As Candide witnesses calamity upon calamity, he becomes disillusioned and discovers that all is not always for the best....

Voltaire's razor-sharp satire on philosophical optimism, Candide, is coupled here with another of the author's most celebrated works, Zadig. Both challenge the moral and philosophical orthodoxies of the day with humor and sly wit, while parodying the clichéd formulas of so many contemporary novels.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Roy McMillan, narrator of Underland by Robert MacFarlane, The Second Sleep by Robert Harris and Love is Blind by William Boyd. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Haydn Mason and is translated by translated by Theo...

Candide is a relentless, brutal assault on government, society, religion, education, and, above all, optimism. Dr. Pangloss teaches his young students Candide and Cunegonde that everything in this world is for the best, a sentiment they cling to as the world steps in to teach them otherwise. The novel is brilliant, hilarious, blasphemous. . . and Voltaire never admitted to writing it!

Candide, the illegitimate nephew of a German baron and student of eternal optimist Pangloss, is living a simple and sheltered life in "the best of all possible worlds." But when Candide falls in love with the wrong woman, his uncle's young daughter, he is exiled from the baron's castle and suffers great tragedy and catastrophe, which leaves him disillusioned and questioning the goodness of the universe.

The French Classics Collection brings together 18 of the greatest works of fiction ever written in French - here collected into one audiobook and all translated into English. Featuring grand epics of love, loss, and survival, as in Les Miserables, to tales of adventure in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, and romances such as Madame Bovary, alongside many more grand stories from 17th, 18th, and 19th century France, this collection will whisk you away into other worlds with some of the greatest characters in literature within some of the greatest novels ever written.

Candide est un jeune garçon vivant au château du baron de Thunderten-tronckh qui se trouve en Westphalie. Il a pour maître Pangloss, philosophe qui enseigne la "métaphysico-théologo-cosmolonigologie", et qui professait, à l'instar de Leibniz, que l'on vit dans le meilleur des mondes possibles.

French philosophy has been led on by three most influent thinkers, each one bordering on literature and bringing new understandings to politics, philosophy, and religion. Michel de Montaigne is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre; his style merges casual anecdotes and autobiography with deep intellectual insights. His "Essays" are among the most influential ever written; one can recognize Montaigne's direct influence on great literary figures all over the world.

What is the best way to approach an attractive lady? How do you get her attention? What should you say? How do you ask for her phone number? Some guys are so good-looking that girls naturally flock to them. Other guys, who are not as genetically blessed, have to use courage, humor, intelligence, psychology, and resiliency to attract beautiful women.

Tous les événements sont enchaînés dans le meilleur des mondes possibles : car enfin si vous n'aviez pas été chassé d'un beau château à grands coups de pied dans le derrière pour l'amour de mademoiselle Cunégonde, si vous n'aviez pas été mis à l'Inquisition, si vous n'aviez pas donné un bon coup d'épée au baron, si vous n'aviez pas perdu vos moutons du bon pays d'Eldorado, vous ne mangeriez pas ici des cédrats confits et des pistaches.

"Zadig ou la Destinée" est un conte philosophique de Voltaire, inspiré d'un conte persan. Voltaire y raconte les mésaventures et les revers de fortune d'un jeune homme né à Babylone. Ce conte se place à la confluence de trois genres littéraires : le conte de fées (mis à la mode par Perrault et les Contes des Mille et une Nuits), le roman picaresque (Zadig décrit une ascension sociale, suivie de coups du sort) et le roman sentimental (Zadig relate les tribulations de deux amants éloignés par la vie).

First published in 1752, "Micromegas" is one of Voltaire’s best-known works. It is a tale of mordant irony, and actually the original science-fiction short story. Arriving on Earth from the star Sirius, the gigantic explorer Micromegas discovers the people of Earth, so small compared to him that he first believes that no creature this size can hope to achieve any degree of intelligence; he will soon discover the ways and thoughts of these diminutive people, who clearly have an over-inflated idea of their own importance in the universe. Voltaire's extrapolations of sun-powered interstellar flight, alien civilizations, and the two moons of Mars, are designed to make us see ourselves in a new light and laugh at what we find.

In this series we listen to short stories that are NOT by perhaps the most well-known author of this type. But the many other rich talents in the volume may have treated the subject matter a little differently, or were perhaps just overlooked in the stampede to applaud the winner, but these authors are of equal merit. Each of their works is laden with talent, has purpose, and is rich and textured in this gloried niche of literature.

One of France's greatest writers, Voltaire was frequently persecuted for his ideas and as a result, spent time in the famed Bastille. He fled his native land for England in 1726, at which time he witnessed the differences between the two countries. His celebrated Letters on England was first published in that nation in 1733 and contained 24 succinct letters on subjects ranging from religion and politics, to trade, the arts, philosophy, and science.

On sait tout de Candide, sauf une chose : quel rapport l'auteur avait-il avec ses personnages ? Les a-t-il imaginés ou connus ? A-t-il partagé certaines de leurs aventures ? Est-il caché dans un coin du roman pour les observer ? Ce regard que Voltaire pouvait porter de l'intérieur sur sa création, c'est justement celui qu'au-delà des connaissances acquises, on a eu l'audace de tenter de porter sur Candide. Cette édition change l'interprétation du plus étudié, mais aussi de plus secret des contes voltairiens. Il s'y présente de façon nouvelle.