\b0 A philosophical romance, \i Candide\i0 was published in 1759. In it Voltaire described all the mi
sfortunes of a young man who, believing in the beauty of the world and the virtue of human beings, meets with nothing but disappointments and suffering. He is only saved from total despair by the words of a Turk who advises him to \i ôforget the world as
far as possible by working in his garden.ö\i0 With an often cruel irony, a bracing pessimism, and a scathing sense of humor, the author denounces the doctrine of optimism of which Leibniz had made himself the champion. And he does so in an incisive, sp
arkling, clear, and precise style, like a fencer who scores a hit every time....\par
