Candide by Voltaire (1759)

The best of all possible worlds, eh? Not for Candide and company. Reams and reams have been written about Voltaire's famous satire, and I don't think I'm able to add anything amusing, compelling or even a bit interesting to the mix. From a personal viewpoint, it's long (amazingly for such a short book) and episodic, and people kept appearing and disappearing at random, which I suppose is kind of funny but also kind of annoying. Why or how this was turned into musical theater is a bit beyond me (I've never actually seen it live, and only seen a bit of it on television). I don't remember Cunegonda ever saying "Glitter and Be Gay." For something written in the 18th century, it was kind of risque; those French. Martin is probably my favorite character - the precursor to Eeyore.

I did think Pangloss represented that crazy kind of fantatic that no matter what the world (God, the fates, Zeus) may throw at him to get them to move, they still remained stuck in one spot, mind closed forever to anything but black and white. So I guess I have at least one take away.