Candide

Candide

by Voltaire

audiobook: 4.25 hours

narrated by Donal Donelly

originally published in 1759 in French

*** About the Book ***

This is a satire of the morals, opinions, class structure, etc. of Voltaire’s time. It follows the experiences of young Candide as he is kicked out of the castle where he worked as a servant and thrust out into the cruel world. Candide had been taught to believe that “everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds” but that belief is sorely strained as he arrested, beaten, robbed, and much more during his travels. Will he survive his ordeals? Will he be reunited with his love? Will he continue to be optimistic about the world?


*** Why I Read It ***

I was somewhat certain that I’d read this in college (now I’m thinking that I only read an excerpt of it) but I couldn’t recall anything about it. I figured it was one of those books that everyone seems to know about but few have actually read. And it is part of the 1,001 Books To Read Before You Die list and therefore counts for the 1% Well Read Challenge.


*** My Thoughts ***

Listening to this book has merely cemented my opinion that satires and me just don’t get along. I had that same thought before but I gave satire another shot anyway. Alas, to no avail; we are just not meant to be.

Not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book. There were parts where I laughed out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of it, and I definitely wasn’t bored or upset by the story. I just fail to appreciate satire for what it is.


*** About the Narrator ***

I've never heard Donal Donnelly narrate before, but I like him!  He did a wide variety of voices for this audiobook and gave it that "over-the-top" feeling that the book required.


*** Your Thoughts ***

If you’ve read this – either on your own or in school – what did you think of it? Do you like satirical works? Why or why not?

Delta of Venus

Delta of Venus: Erotica
by Anias Nin
320 pages

I picked this book from the list of 1,001 Book To Read Before You Die because I liked the title "Delta of Venus" - it sounded like something out of Greek mythology or the like. Imagine my surprise when the book arrived and I found out that the entire title was "Delta of Venus: Erotica" ...

Author Anias Nin (I'd never heard of her before) is famous for her published journals. She began writing them at age 11 and continued for 60 years. According to wikipedia Nin's journals "provide a deeply explorative insight into her personal life and relationships" over her very Bohemian lifetime.

The author's introduction to the book sheds light on the stories in this book. In the 1940s, Nin and a group of writer-friends were contacted by an anonymous client who offered to pay $1.00 per page for erotica. Nin and her friends took the job, but not without a sense of humor. The wrote wild stories, thinking that their employer would be put off and cancel his order. But the wilder and less realistic the stories, the more he seemed to enjoy them.

Since this is erotica and since I don't want you to know all THAT much about me, I won't tell you which stories appealed to me the most. (You're thanking me for that, I know.) I will tell you that the language is very creative when it comes to describing the "scenes" and that this book is very hot and steamy. Most of it was very appealing but other parts were very disturbing.

Disturbing how? Well, like I said, Nin and her friends wrote some really far-fetched stories simply to see how their client would take them. Those stories include pedophilia and sado-masochism - NOT pleasant to read about, let me tell you, and it often appeared out of no where (I didn't see it coming and I was unpleasantly surprised by it). The problem is, I didn't know at the start of the story how it would turn out in the end, or else I would have skipped those particular tales ...

Fair warning: If you don't enjoy reading details about "adventurous" sexual escapades then do not read this book. On the whole (minus the creepy parts) I quite enjoyed it. And reading it certainly added some spice to my marriage over the past month ...