Book Notes: "Candide" by Voltaire

Candide by Voltaire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Frank McLynn's work 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World mentioned a good deal about Voltaire, as did Leo Dramrosch's Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius. This is my first Voltaire and I was surprised by how small the novella is relative to its historical impact. This has led me to purchase Edmund Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful and to take up Tristram Shandy again. Candide and Tristram Shandy were, of course, both published in 1759 so the linkages with my earlier reading are apparent, if unintended. If anything I have gained from Candide confirmation of the idea of tending one's own garden, not to mention a burning desire to remove all further naivety from my very being.



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Book Notes: "Southern Mail; Night Flight" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Southern Mail; Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


These two works cover the pioneering era of airmail. The author's experience as a pilot is obvious yet it is combined with rich imagery amidst strong characters. Nothing is missed in detailing the victory, the bureaucracy, the heroes, the futility, the drive, the loved ones, and the tragedy of flying the mail in North Africa and South America in the 1920s. A wonderful book where the magic of The Little Prince is not lost but transported to a completely different genre with relative ease.



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Book Notes: "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene

The Quiet American by Graham Greene




I really enjoyed Greene's work. This is an interesting period of history covered in this novel and I found Fowler to be hardened, cynical, and very believable. I decided to read Greene after reading Paul Theroux and I can see why Greene is held with such high regard. Whether his more recent novels carry the same weight remains to be seen, but a worthwhile venture nonetheless.



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