Voltaire "Candide"

Voltaire "Candide, or Optimism" (French: Candide, ou l'Optimisme) - 1759

For the Classics Spin #35, we received #2 and this was my novel.

An interesting take on the Age of Enlightenment.

Candide is a young guy who lives in Germany. He falls in love with a girl but is prevented from marrying her because of her parents. He learns the philosophy "All is for the Best" and travels around the world with this belief.

He probably encounters as many troubles as Homer's Odysseus in the "Odyssey" and solves them almost with the same vigour.

The novel promises to be funny and indeed it is. I have laughed quite a few times during the reading. How can a book be funny and philosophical at the same time? I'm not surprised Voltaire is still such a renowned author even more than two centuries later. I am really happy #2 was pulled for this challenge because I really enjoyed the story.

This novel reminded me a little of Eichendorff's "Life of a Good For Nothing", although it should be the other way around since this one was written earlier. Other than the German novel, I could see more philosophy in this book.

From the back cover:

"Candide tells of the hilarious adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that 'all is for the best' even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by - as Candide would say - 'the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.'"

McLeod, Cynthia "The Cost of Sugar"

McLeod, Cynthia "The Cost of Sugar" (Dutch: Hoe duur was de suiker) - 1987

Cynthia McLeod is probably not much known internationally but her books have been translated into English. Being born in Paramaribo, Suriname, she writes in Duch.

This story tells us all about life in that country in the 18th century. It starts with Elza and Sarith, two half-sisters who have grown up with all the comfort and convenience of slave holders from that time. But we don't just get to know the slave holders, we also get a good glimpse of the slaves and how they live together with their masters, some kind, others not so much. A lot of the plantation owners are Jewish and that is also causes problems. And then there are the Dutch who come to settle in the country.

The big question is not how much do people pay for the sugar in Europe, the question is how much did it cost to produce that sugar, how many lives are wasted in order for us to have sweet dishes. I think this is a question we still have to ask ourselves whenever we buy something cheap from other countries where workers are exploited so we can have a good life. And then there is the still existing question why some people think they are worth more or they are more intelligent because their skin is a little lighter than that of others. Those are the ones that are the less intelligent ones.

A lively, thrilling story, fascinating, sad and enthralling. I did enjoy reading this.

I read this book in the original Dutch language.

From the back cover:
"The Cost of Sugar is the historical story of Jewish family planters and their slaves in Suriname. Now a major motion picture, The Cost of Sugar gives an engrossing account of eighteenth century Suriname at the time when the country was ruled by the Dutch. The hypocrisies behind the veneer of a respectable colonial life are revealed through the eyes of two Jewish step sisters, Elza and Sarith, descendants of the settlers of New Jerusalem of the River' known today as Jodensavanne. Their pampered existences become intertwined with the fate of the plantations as the slaves decide to fight against the violent repression they have endured for too long... Cynthia McLeod presents a frank exposé of life in a Dutch colony when sugar was king and demanded the consummate allegiance of all - colonists and slaves - regardless of the tragic consequence."

de Winter, Leon "Zionoco"

de Winter, Leon "Zionoco" (Dutch: Zionoco) - 1995

If you didn't know Leon de Winter was Jewish, you would guess after reading a couple of his books. In most of them, the main character seems to search for his Jewish roots in one way or another, which makes me think whether this is the author himself.

I love reading about those sort of topics. Only, de Winter seems to digress a lot from his original purpose. Sex is always in the way. And so, this novel is a mixture between a porn novel including the description of alcoholics and the search for an identity, for a normal life. It's a mixture of a lot of subjects, a trial to bring them all together. But in the end, the search for the Zionoco, the mountain of Zion, is just as unsuccessful as this book. I found it flat and boring. This is my second and probably last book I have read by this author. I didn't care much for "De Hemel van Hollywood" either.

Book Descripition:

"De Winter describes movingly the tragicomic search for the unattainable father. Rabbi Sol Mayer sells absolute truths in New York, but he still doubts: about God, about his marriage, and about the miracle he had experienced, which had made the bon vivant and good-for-nothing to become rabbi like his father. When he falls in love with a young singer, it does not just mess up his hormones."