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Romans et Contes: Texte etabli sur l'edition de 1775
in12. Broché.
671 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1748
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About the author
Voltaire
9,427 books4,942 followersComplete works (1880) : https://archive.org/details/oeuvresco...
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 19, 2023
Voltaire rend facile à lire, direct comme Hemingway, mais avec une logique française supplémentaire. Candide ou l’Optimisme J'ai enseigné de nombreuses fois dans les enquêtes éclairées du monde occidental (voir ma critique Goodreads).
The short novel Zadig or Destiny is new to me, about the lover of the widowed queen of Babylon; also new are many short pieces like Les deux consolés, Lettre d’un Turc, Le blanc e le noir (two advisors, the African Ebene, optimistic and more thorough— as American Blacks have to be now. Also set in Kabul, heading to Kashmir [270].)
The very brief Letter from a Turk is set in India, where both the Turk and his room-mate, the Brahman Omri, drink no alcohol, but share lemonade. Hindu fakirs divide into the contemplative and the gymnosophist. They visit the latter, nude, who sits on nails with a heavy chain around his neck; many women consult him about family. Omri expects to arrive at the nineteenth level, to meet Brahma, but the famous fakir says he can’t unless he sits on nails. Omri counters that the fakir shows too much ambition; while he sits naked on nails, Omri is giving alms. So the fakir gives up his chain and nails; however, “il perdait son crédit dans le peuple”(121). Culture determines reputation; the fakir returns to his nails to attract customers.
Zadig, ou la Destinée purports to be a French translation from an Arabic translation of a Chaldean original about Babylon. Starts with the custom of quinquennial celebrations of generosity, the most generous winning a gold goblet with precious stones, though the competitors also each receive twenty thousand pieces of gold coins. One competitor gave up his fiancé to his friend; another, a soldier, had his mistress abducted by the enemy, but after he rescued her, his mother was abducted, so he left in tears to save his mom. Which done, he returned to find his mistress had died. Wanting to kill himself, he listened to his mother, and had the courage to endure life.
The King says all these actions were beautiful, but Zadig’s astonished him. The King had demoted and accused his minister Coreb, and all his other ministers said he was too nice to him, except when Zadig was asked, he defended Coreb. The King had never seen a disgraced minister defended in front of the King in anger. Zadig said the King deserved the goblet, because he did not grow angry with his “slave” who opposed him. Everyone admired the King…and Zadig.
So begin the first dozen pages of a roman three quarters as long as Candide. The story develops under short chapters about “Le Brigand,” “Le pêcheur,” “Les Combats,” “L’Ermite,” etc. The Thief values Zadig’s courage, but he steals ferociously, then gives away what he’s stolen freely, because he’s disturbed by inequities of wealth (64). The Fisherman can barely survive now— not bred to fish, he’d been a successful cheese merchant, having supplied the queen Astarte, after the King died, with six hundred cheeses. But the Queen was chased out, and the cheese-merchant lost his business, his wife and his house.
Queen Astarte did make it back to the throne, and plan to select the new king by combat and intelligence, the skill to solve n enigma. After many jousts, the final combatants included a knight in blue and gold, and one in all white, Zadig. One knight was eliminated because he was brave, but could not solve the enigma. Proposed by a magus, it ran, “Of all things in the world, what is the longest, the shortest, the quickest and the slowest, the most neglected and the most regretted, which devours all though small, and which animates all the most grand?”(83).
Zadig answers in part, “Rien n'est plus long, ajouta-t-il, puisqu’il est la mesure de l’éternité…rien n’est plus lent pour qui attend; rien n’est plus rapide pour qui jouit;…tous les homme le négligent, tous en regrettaient la perte”(84).
Twenty years after Zadig, Voltaire published L’Ingenu (at age 73), after the torture of chevalier de La Barre, accused of impiety. Here, a Huron Indian possiby impious, of his own religion, arrives in France speaking good French from his youth in Canada. Raised by a nurse, his parents probably lost in the war. Captured while fighting the English, they admired his courage, offered to return him to his parents, or the him with them across the Atlantic. He chooses the latter, partly lacking parents, but also desiring to see other places. From the locket his nurse gave him with two miniature portraits, who are taken to be relatives by the Father of Notre Dame de La Montagne and his sister Mademoiselle de Kirkabon. Hence the Huron is a nephew.
The French question him, each woman or man asking on top of his answer, so he tells them in his country they await the answer before a new question. He tells them the Huron words for eating and making love. Asked how many lovers he had, he says just one, whom he won by helping the woman Abacaba to the rabbit stolen by a “badly raised” Algonquin whom he clubbed. When other Huron suggested they eat the Algonquin, L’Ingenu let him free. All the French praised him for having hindered cannibalism. Sadly his lover was eaten by a bear, but L’Ingenu made the bear pay, and wore his pelt for a long time.
The priest and others are intent on his religion, wanting to convert him. He says the Huron do not change religions: there’s no Huron word for ‘inconstancy”(327). They ask whether he’s read the Bible. He says, it was not among the books on the Captain’s shelf—an English translation of Rabelais, and Shakespeare, some of which he had by heart. Mlle Kerkabon says, those “maudits Anglais,” they ignore the Bible, prefer a play of Shakespeare, plum-pudding, and a bottle of rum (331).
Mlle St Yves and the Ingenu fall in love, but after L'Ingenu goes to court expecting honors for killing English attackers, but daring to correct the King, he's imprisoned in the same cell as a Jansenist, Gordon, from whom he learns: both have wide access to great books. Gordon reflects, I've studied for fifty years, but this young near-savage has richer reflections. To free her love, Mlle St Yves abhors pleasing the powerful St Puoange who desires her. But St Yves' sophisticated friend advises her to accede since that's the way most promotions go: "Do you think heads of the provinces or even the military got there on their merits? No, thy have the prettiest wives, who the boss slept with." "La place a été donné au mari avec la femme la plus belle"(366). L'Ingenu is freed, along with Gordon, which leads to the tragic ending.
"L'Homme aux Quarante Écus" critiques wealth distribution and taxes, a century before Marx. This man has an average income, 40 ecus a year or about $1500 now. He is taxed on it, because all taxes based on farming. Multi-millionaires from investment, no taxes. A plenary finally waives his taxes and he grows richer, even marries. By 1769 reproduction was somewhat understood, so that one Father Sanchez asks, in Latin, whether Mary had God's semen (413). Men theorize humans have eggs like birds and others, so "notre oeuf est un grand oeuf qui contient tout les autres." This leads to sexist speculation, since two Dutch men looked in a microscope at seminal liquid, finding (sperm) that swim fast. From this they conclude, "les males faisaient tout, et les femelles rien"(415). The sperm do everything, women nothing. Nope, eggs I just looked up, can defend against sperm, so that childless women may have eggs with strong defenses.
Big problem, Inquisition tied to King. L'Homme witnesses a meunier racked, a carpenter. (426)
Hears his screams, his bones crack. In Angleterre, all criminals can ask the King to pardon--like Steve Banon in the U.S., King Trump (424). France has good books, but the French don't read after dinner, they play the English game, Whist (428).
Voltaire cites his own "Candide," which L'Homme reads in his chapter on Verole (smallpox), the optimism to counter plague and pox. L'Homme would only buy books published by Mar-Michel Rey, the Swiss-Dutch Heugenot who brought out the Philosophes, and Rousseau. L'Homme's small town has no attacks on women until a few military are stationed there, and a Chirurgien is needed, who cuts off limbs. He admits, against his own income gained by Pox, that rather than a war on Muslims, a war against Pox and Plague makes sense (433)
Inheriting from the death of his cousins and ancestors in Paris, L'Homme puts to satisfy his "grande passion d'avoir une bibliothèque." Reading every morning, he selects passages, then quizzes the learned at night what language Adam spoke to "notre bonne mère"(433).
The short novel Zadig or Destiny is new to me, about the lover of the widowed queen of Babylon; also new are many short pieces like Les deux consolés, Lettre d’un Turc, Le blanc e le noir (two advisors, the African Ebene, optimistic and more thorough— as American Blacks have to be now. Also set in Kabul, heading to Kashmir [270].)
The very brief Letter from a Turk is set in India, where both the Turk and his room-mate, the Brahman Omri, drink no alcohol, but share lemonade. Hindu fakirs divide into the contemplative and the gymnosophist. They visit the latter, nude, who sits on nails with a heavy chain around his neck; many women consult him about family. Omri expects to arrive at the nineteenth level, to meet Brahma, but the famous fakir says he can’t unless he sits on nails. Omri counters that the fakir shows too much ambition; while he sits naked on nails, Omri is giving alms. So the fakir gives up his chain and nails; however, “il perdait son crédit dans le peuple”(121). Culture determines reputation; the fakir returns to his nails to attract customers.
Zadig, ou la Destinée purports to be a French translation from an Arabic translation of a Chaldean original about Babylon. Starts with the custom of quinquennial celebrations of generosity, the most generous winning a gold goblet with precious stones, though the competitors also each receive twenty thousand pieces of gold coins. One competitor gave up his fiancé to his friend; another, a soldier, had his mistress abducted by the enemy, but after he rescued her, his mother was abducted, so he left in tears to save his mom. Which done, he returned to find his mistress had died. Wanting to kill himself, he listened to his mother, and had the courage to endure life.
The King says all these actions were beautiful, but Zadig’s astonished him. The King had demoted and accused his minister Coreb, and all his other ministers said he was too nice to him, except when Zadig was asked, he defended Coreb. The King had never seen a disgraced minister defended in front of the King in anger. Zadig said the King deserved the goblet, because he did not grow angry with his “slave” who opposed him. Everyone admired the King…and Zadig.
So begin the first dozen pages of a roman three quarters as long as Candide. The story develops under short chapters about “Le Brigand,” “Le pêcheur,” “Les Combats,” “L’Ermite,” etc. The Thief values Zadig’s courage, but he steals ferociously, then gives away what he’s stolen freely, because he’s disturbed by inequities of wealth (64). The Fisherman can barely survive now— not bred to fish, he’d been a successful cheese merchant, having supplied the queen Astarte, after the King died, with six hundred cheeses. But the Queen was chased out, and the cheese-merchant lost his business, his wife and his house.
Queen Astarte did make it back to the throne, and plan to select the new king by combat and intelligence, the skill to solve n enigma. After many jousts, the final combatants included a knight in blue and gold, and one in all white, Zadig. One knight was eliminated because he was brave, but could not solve the enigma. Proposed by a magus, it ran, “Of all things in the world, what is the longest, the shortest, the quickest and the slowest, the most neglected and the most regretted, which devours all though small, and which animates all the most grand?”(83).
Zadig answers in part, “Rien n'est plus long, ajouta-t-il, puisqu’il est la mesure de l’éternité…rien n’est plus lent pour qui attend; rien n’est plus rapide pour qui jouit;…tous les homme le négligent, tous en regrettaient la perte”(84).
Twenty years after Zadig, Voltaire published L’Ingenu (at age 73), after the torture of chevalier de La Barre, accused of impiety. Here, a Huron Indian possiby impious, of his own religion, arrives in France speaking good French from his youth in Canada. Raised by a nurse, his parents probably lost in the war. Captured while fighting the English, they admired his courage, offered to return him to his parents, or the him with them across the Atlantic. He chooses the latter, partly lacking parents, but also desiring to see other places. From the locket his nurse gave him with two miniature portraits, who are taken to be relatives by the Father of Notre Dame de La Montagne and his sister Mademoiselle de Kirkabon. Hence the Huron is a nephew.
The French question him, each woman or man asking on top of his answer, so he tells them in his country they await the answer before a new question. He tells them the Huron words for eating and making love. Asked how many lovers he had, he says just one, whom he won by helping the woman Abacaba to the rabbit stolen by a “badly raised” Algonquin whom he clubbed. When other Huron suggested they eat the Algonquin, L’Ingenu let him free. All the French praised him for having hindered cannibalism. Sadly his lover was eaten by a bear, but L’Ingenu made the bear pay, and wore his pelt for a long time.
The priest and others are intent on his religion, wanting to convert him. He says the Huron do not change religions: there’s no Huron word for ‘inconstancy”(327). They ask whether he’s read the Bible. He says, it was not among the books on the Captain’s shelf—an English translation of Rabelais, and Shakespeare, some of which he had by heart. Mlle Kerkabon says, those “maudits Anglais,” they ignore the Bible, prefer a play of Shakespeare, plum-pudding, and a bottle of rum (331).
Mlle St Yves and the Ingenu fall in love, but after L'Ingenu goes to court expecting honors for killing English attackers, but daring to correct the King, he's imprisoned in the same cell as a Jansenist, Gordon, from whom he learns: both have wide access to great books. Gordon reflects, I've studied for fifty years, but this young near-savage has richer reflections. To free her love, Mlle St Yves abhors pleasing the powerful St Puoange who desires her. But St Yves' sophisticated friend advises her to accede since that's the way most promotions go: "Do you think heads of the provinces or even the military got there on their merits? No, thy have the prettiest wives, who the boss slept with." "La place a été donné au mari avec la femme la plus belle"(366). L'Ingenu is freed, along with Gordon, which leads to the tragic ending.
"L'Homme aux Quarante Écus" critiques wealth distribution and taxes, a century before Marx. This man has an average income, 40 ecus a year or about $1500 now. He is taxed on it, because all taxes based on farming. Multi-millionaires from investment, no taxes. A plenary finally waives his taxes and he grows richer, even marries. By 1769 reproduction was somewhat understood, so that one Father Sanchez asks, in Latin, whether Mary had God's semen (413). Men theorize humans have eggs like birds and others, so "notre oeuf est un grand oeuf qui contient tout les autres." This leads to sexist speculation, since two Dutch men looked in a microscope at seminal liquid, finding (sperm) that swim fast. From this they conclude, "les males faisaient tout, et les femelles rien"(415). The sperm do everything, women nothing. Nope, eggs I just looked up, can defend against sperm, so that childless women may have eggs with strong defenses.
Big problem, Inquisition tied to King. L'Homme witnesses a meunier racked, a carpenter. (426)
Hears his screams, his bones crack. In Angleterre, all criminals can ask the King to pardon--like Steve Banon in the U.S., King Trump (424). France has good books, but the French don't read after dinner, they play the English game, Whist (428).
Voltaire cites his own "Candide," which L'Homme reads in his chapter on Verole (smallpox), the optimism to counter plague and pox. L'Homme would only buy books published by Mar-Michel Rey, the Swiss-Dutch Heugenot who brought out the Philosophes, and Rousseau. L'Homme's small town has no attacks on women until a few military are stationed there, and a Chirurgien is needed, who cuts off limbs. He admits, against his own income gained by Pox, that rather than a war on Muslims, a war against Pox and Plague makes sense (433)
Inheriting from the death of his cousins and ancestors in Paris, L'Homme puts to satisfy his "grande passion d'avoir une bibliothèque." Reading every morning, he selects passages, then quizzes the learned at night what language Adam spoke to "notre bonne mère"(433).
May 26, 2021
Fine selection of stories. Outstanding: the funny "Micromegas" (anthropological science fiction avant la lettre), the sophisticated philosophical story "Zadig" (still, a bit disappointing to my taste) and of course "Candide", a fine educational story. Also contains interesting pamphlets, such as "Histoire de Jenni", a treatise on classic deism.
February 11, 2017
Πολλά θίγονται και τίποτα δεν εγκαταλείπεται ασχολίαστο στα διηγήματα του βιβλίου. Γραφή ανάλαφρη, φρέσκια, σκαμπρόζικα ειρωνική και πιπεράτη. Οι χαρακτήρες δομούνται επαρκώς από φιλοσοφικής και κοινωνικής απόψεως και μόνο όσο χρειάζεται ως άνθρωποι ιδιωτικά για τον εαυτό τους. Κατά βάση ο μικρόκοσμος του ατόμου παριστά το μακρόκοσμο της κοινωνίας. O καθένας μας είναι μέρος της πολιτικής που ασκείται είτε με την πρόφαση, είτε με την ανοχή. Συχνά βλέπουμε πως η γραφή αλλάζει, γίνεται αιχμηρή και αποστειρωμένη ακριβώς με τον τρόπο που φανταζόμαστε τον ιατροδικαστή στις αστυνομικές σειρές να υπαγορεύει τα ευρήματα στο μαγνητοφωνάκι του, σα ν’ ακούμε τη φωνή επίπεδη ενώ περιγράφει με λεπτομερή αδιακρισία τα φριχτότερα εγκλήματα. Οι άνθρωποι δεν υπάρχουν απλώς για τον εαυτό τους, στέκονται ως παραδείγματα προς σύγκριση κι αποφυγή για όλους μας.
Εκθέτει τον παραλογισμό που διέπει την εικόνα της συνηθισμένης πλέον και πάντα πρακτικής εφαρμογής του άδικου και του ιδιοτελούς στήνοντας ιστορίες στις οποίες το δίκαιο και το ευγενές δεν είναι παρά η παράβαση, έτσι ώστε την εκφράζει ως το παράλογο, το εσφαλμένο, το μιαρό.
Θεωρώ πως είναι τόσο εύπεπτα δοσμένες οι ιστορίες που μπορούν να διαβαστούν απ’ τον οποιονδήποτε. Παράλληλα η δεινότητα στην αφήγηση να παρουσιάζει τις ιστορίες σαν παιδικά παραμύθια, εκτός από γοητευτικά εθιστική είναι κι ένα τρικ καλωσορίσματος.
Κλείνοντας θέλω να εκφράσω την ευγνωμοσύνη και το σεβασμό μου για την μεγάλη προσπάθεια της κυρία Χαλκιοπούλου να κάνει όλες τις σωστές συνδέσεις και να μην αφήσει καμία παράλειψη ακόμη κι αν σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις εξηγούσε τα αυτονόητα.
Θα μου μείνουν…
Πως ο μαθητής πάντοτε θα ξεπερνάει το δάσκαλο, γιατί η εξοικείωση με την τεχνική δίνει τη σιγουριά της παράλληλης σκέψης και του συναισθήματος, επιτρέπει να δημιουργήσεις.
Πως η γνώση που δεν ακμάζει μέσω του συλλογισμού είναι ένας άχρηστος σωρός. Όπως κι η γνώση που αποκτιέται για τους άλλους, ή λόγω άλλων δε γίνεται κεκτημένο κτήμα παρά αερικός θησαυρός, ιδεατός και σαν τον αγγίξουμε πουφ δεν είναι εκεί…
Πως όλοι κάποια στιγμή πιστέψαμε ότι μπορούμε να πορευτούμε με μόνη τη λογική στη ζωή μας.
Πως το να ζούμε καλά και να πράττουμε το σωστό μπορούν να ισχύουν ταυτόχρονα χωρίς την πειθαρχία σε παράλογους άτεγκτους κανόνες της κοινωνίας ή της θρησκείας.
Πως ο ηγέτης δίνει την εύνοια του σε όλα τα αναρχικά στοιχεία εναλλάξ δίνοντας τους το κίνητρο για να γίνουν καλύτεροι ή να φαγωθούν μεταξύ τους.
Πως πολλές φορές ερμηνεύουμε την ευνοϊκή ατραπό ως κάποιου είδους θέσφατο ότι ακολουθούμε το δρόμο της αρετής ενώ δεν αποκλείεται να γινόμαστε λειτουργοί της κακίας. Και πως όταν πάνε όλα πρίμα εξυμνούμε τον εύκολο άκοπο δρόμο μας ενώ όταν όλα πάνε στραβά, εξυμνούμε τον παλιό καλό δύσβατο δρόμο.
Πως η σοφία προφυλάσσει, η ευγλωττία ωθεί στην αιχμαλωσία.
Πως τη χαρά που τη θεωρούμε υποδεέστερη κι ίσως όμως η παροδικότητα της είναι που την κάνει λιγότερο χιμαιρική, την αναζητούμε εύκολα στα μη απτά, αλλά την ευτυχία που λαχταρούμε, την ψάχνουμε μες στη ματαιότητα καθιστώντας τη διπλή χίμαιρα.
Αν μου βάλεις πάνω στο τραπέζι ένα κομμάτι χρυσού, δυο διαμάντια, τρία ζαφείρια, ένα σμαράγδι δε θα φτιάξω την ομορφότερη κορώνα, πιθανότατα δεν θα ξέρω καν πώς να τα ενώσω μεταξύ τους, πώς να λαξέψω ακμές στο κομμάτι του χρυσού, να φτιάξω κόγχες για τα πετράδια κι ωστόσο όλα θα τα θαυμάζω. Έτσι θαυμάζω, εκτιμώ, λιώνω και γονατίζω μπροστά στο Σενέκα, τον Αριστοτέλη, τον Πλάτωνα, τον Πλούταρχο. Μόνο όμως ένας κοσμηματοπώλης σαν το Βολταίρο με κάνει να βλέπω την κορώνα.
Τα διηγήματα της συλλογής είναι:
Ο κόσμος όπως είναι
Μέμνων
Επιστολή ενός Τούρκου
Μικρομέγας
Όνειρο του Πλάτωνα
Ιστορία των ταξιδιών του Σκαρμαντάδο
Ο άσπρος και ο μαύρος
Ο Γιαννάκης κι ο Κολίνος
Ινδική περιπέτεια
Ο άνθρωπος με τα σαράντα τάληρα
Ο άσπρος ταύρος
Ο μονόφθαλμος αχθοφόρος
Ιστορία του Ζεννί, ή ο άθεος κι ο σοφός
Cosi sancta
Υπάρχουν πάμπολλα που δεν έπιασα, το προτείνω σε όλους σας ανεπιφύλακτα.
4 αστέρια.
Εκθέτει τον παραλογισμό που διέπει την εικόνα της συνηθισμένης πλέον και πάντα πρακτικής εφαρμογής του άδικου και του ιδιοτελούς στήνοντας ιστορίες στις οποίες το δίκαιο και το ευγενές δεν είναι παρά η παράβαση, έτσι ώστε την εκφράζει ως το παράλογο, το εσφαλμένο, το μιαρό.
Θεωρώ πως είναι τόσο εύπεπτα δοσμένες οι ιστορίες που μπορούν να διαβαστούν απ’ τον οποιονδήποτε. Παράλληλα η δεινότητα στην αφήγηση να παρουσιάζει τις ιστορίες σαν παιδικά παραμύθια, εκτός από γοητευτικά εθιστική είναι κι ένα τρικ καλωσορίσματος.
Κλείνοντας θέλω να εκφράσω την ευγνωμοσύνη και το σεβασμό μου για την μεγάλη προσπάθεια της κυρία Χαλκιοπούλου να κάνει όλες τις σωστές συνδέσεις και να μην αφήσει καμία παράλειψη ακόμη κι αν σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις εξηγούσε τα αυτονόητα.
Θα μου μείνουν…
Πως ο μαθητής πάντοτε θα ξεπερνάει το δάσκαλο, γιατί η εξοικείωση με την τεχνική δίνει τη σιγουριά της παράλληλης σκέψης και του συναισθήματος, επιτρέπει να δημιουργήσεις.
Πως η γνώση που δεν ακμάζει μέσω του συλλογισμού είναι ένας άχρηστος σωρός. Όπως κι η γνώση που αποκτιέται για τους άλλους, ή λόγω άλλων δε γίνεται κεκτημένο κτήμα παρά αερικός θησαυρός, ιδεατός και σαν τον αγγίξουμε πουφ δεν είναι εκεί…
Πως όλοι κάποια στιγμή πιστέψαμε ότι μπορούμε να πορευτούμε με μόνη τη λογική στη ζωή μας.
Πως το να ζούμε καλά και να πράττουμε το σωστό μπορούν να ισχύουν ταυτόχρονα χωρίς την πειθαρχία σε παράλογους άτεγκτους κανόνες της κοινωνίας ή της θρησκείας.
Πως ο ηγέτης δίνει την εύνοια του σε όλα τα αναρχικά στοιχεία εναλλάξ δίνοντας τους το κίνητρο για να γίνουν καλύτεροι ή να φαγωθούν μεταξύ τους.
Πως πολλές φορές ερμηνεύουμε την ευνοϊκή ατραπό ως κάποιου είδους θέσφατο ότι ακολουθούμε το δρόμο της αρετής ενώ δεν αποκλείεται να γινόμαστε λειτουργοί της κακίας. Και πως όταν πάνε όλα πρίμα εξυμνούμε τον εύκολο άκοπο δρόμο μας ενώ όταν όλα πάνε στραβά, εξυμνούμε τον παλιό καλό δύσβατο δρόμο.
Πως η σοφία προφυλάσσει, η ευγλωττία ωθεί στην αιχμαλωσία.
Πως τη χαρά που τη θεωρούμε υποδεέστερη κι ίσως όμως η παροδικότητα της είναι που την κάνει λιγότερο χιμαιρική, την αναζητούμε εύκολα στα μη απτά, αλλά την ευτυχία που λαχταρούμε, την ψάχνουμε μες στη ματαιότητα καθιστώντας τη διπλή χίμαιρα.
Αν μου βάλεις πάνω στο τραπέζι ένα κομμάτι χρυσού, δυο διαμάντια, τρία ζαφείρια, ένα σμαράγδι δε θα φτιάξω την ομορφότερη κορώνα, πιθανότατα δεν θα ξέρω καν πώς να τα ενώσω μεταξύ τους, πώς να λαξέψω ακμές στο κομμάτι του χρυσού, να φτιάξω κόγχες για τα πετράδια κι ωστόσο όλα θα τα θαυμάζω. Έτσι θαυμάζω, εκτιμώ, λιώνω και γονατίζω μπροστά στο Σενέκα, τον Αριστοτέλη, τον Πλάτωνα, τον Πλούταρχο. Μόνο όμως ένας κοσμηματοπώλης σαν το Βολταίρο με κάνει να βλέπω την κορώνα.
Τα διηγήματα της συλλογής είναι:
Ο κόσμος όπως είναι
Μέμνων
Επιστολή ενός Τούρκου
Μικρομέγας
Όνειρο του Πλάτωνα
Ιστορία των ταξιδιών του Σκαρμαντάδο
Ο άσπρος και ο μαύρος
Ο Γιαννάκης κι ο Κολίνος
Ινδική περιπέτεια
Ο άνθρωπος με τα σαράντα τάληρα
Ο άσπρος ταύρος
Ο μονόφθαλμος αχθοφόρος
Ιστορία του Ζεννί, ή ο άθεος κι ο σοφός
Cosi sancta
Υπάρχουν πάμπολλα που δεν έπιασα, το προτείνω σε όλους σας ανεπιφύλακτα.
4 αστέρια.
November 9, 2020
Faço minhas as sábias palavras de Jorge Luís Borges (citadas na capa da edição da E-Primatur):
“Não se ser capaz de admirar Voltaire é uma das várias manifestações da estupidez humana.”
“Não se ser capaz de admirar Voltaire é uma das várias manifestações da estupidez humana.”
September 13, 2009
I always thought Candide was overrated, and I didn't realize (before reading this book) that Voltaire had written so many other stories. Some are really worth reading. I particularly liked and recommend the tales of Zadig.
November 21, 2017
Great book!
May 2, 2024
Les écrits de Voltaire sont très inégaux : j'ai ADORÉ "Zadig" et "La Princesse de Babylone", deux petits contes qui m'ont beaucoup fait rire et dont les réflexions m'ont beaucoup plu, ou bien encore "Les oreilles du comte de Chesterfield et le chapelain Goudman" qui propose une approche théologique passionnante. Mais je n'ai pas pu finir "L'homme aux quarante écus" par exemple, qui m'a ennuyée à mourir...
J'ai aussi eu du mal avec certains passages très racistes... Je me rends bien compte que la société de l'époque était très différente de la notre et qu'il faut remettre les textes dans leur contexte, mais ça fait quand même tout bizarre de lire ce genre de mots ou de descriptions..!
J'apprécie toutefois beaucoup l'ironie qui se dégage de tous ses textes, la critique qu'il fait de la société dans laquelle il vit est très intéressante –et parfois toujours d'actualité..! Sa plume est très belle et je découvre cet auteur avec grand plaisir!! :D (3,5/5 arrondi à 4, parce que "La Princesse de Babylone" est clairement devenu l'un de mes contes préférés!!)
J'ai aussi eu du mal avec certains passages très racistes... Je me rends bien compte que la société de l'époque était très différente de la notre et qu'il faut remettre les textes dans leur contexte, mais ça fait quand même tout bizarre de lire ce genre de mots ou de descriptions..!
J'apprécie toutefois beaucoup l'ironie qui se dégage de tous ses textes, la critique qu'il fait de la société dans laquelle il vit est très intéressante –et parfois toujours d'actualité..! Sa plume est très belle et je découvre cet auteur avec grand plaisir!! :D (3,5/5 arrondi à 4, parce que "La Princesse de Babylone" est clairement devenu l'un de mes contes préférés!!)
March 21, 2025
Un cadeau de mon père, un gros recueil. Je pense les avoir toutes lues (les histoires). Je ne mets pas 5 étoiles parce que des fois c’est un peu arraché par les cheveux et j’avoue que j’aime quand c’est plutôt réaliste, mais peut être aussi que je n’ai pas la souplesse d’esprit de tout comprendre
June 4, 2017
Diversos contos, dentre os quais se discorre muito sobre valores, ironias, e intensas críticas à Igreja e ao Estado.
December 26, 2019
What I enjoyed.
Some of Voltaire’s stories were extremely well thought out, some it’s great satire I think is found on the story of Pot Pourri. Others gave me hope on humanity and helped me cope with some existential and pessimistic crisis (Los dos consolados and the story on the blind community). Others were, simply, beautifully philosophical.
What I disliked
The man of the 40 crowns just as last time I found the story quite dull and uninspiring, and yet I feel like I’m missing something that’s limiting my comprehension of the story.
On why I didn’t finished
The stories seemed repetitive and I felt like I was dragging rather than enjoying them.
Some changes...
Now I decided that, rather than trying to read all the stories in one or few sitting, the next time I re-read Voltaire I will rather choose a story randomly and try to comprehend it fully once I have finished, writing a full review.
Some of Voltaire’s stories were extremely well thought out, some it’s great satire I think is found on the story of Pot Pourri. Others gave me hope on humanity and helped me cope with some existential and pessimistic crisis (Los dos consolados and the story on the blind community). Others were, simply, beautifully philosophical.
What I disliked
The man of the 40 crowns just as last time I found the story quite dull and uninspiring, and yet I feel like I’m missing something that’s limiting my comprehension of the story.
On why I didn’t finished
The stories seemed repetitive and I felt like I was dragging rather than enjoying them.
Some changes...
Now I decided that, rather than trying to read all the stories in one or few sitting, the next time I re-read Voltaire I will rather choose a story randomly and try to comprehend it fully once I have finished, writing a full review.
April 27, 2021
¡Voltaire, Voltaire, Voltaire!
¡Qué personaje!
Se me han hecho un peco pesado algunos relatos, y no porque sean difíciles de leer, sino por sus temáticas reiteradas.
Lamentablemente, Voltaire, era un poco obsesivo, al parecer, ya que casi todos los cuentos tocan los mismos temas.
No está mal, pero leer todos los relatos juntos cansa mucho, la verdad.
Y sinceramente, esperaba un poco más de este escritor satírico francés; creí que llegaría a algo similar a las grandes sátiras de Diderot o Rabelais, incluso, con ilusión, esperé encontrar a un buen sucesor de Swift, pero no, se queda muy por debajo, muy, muy por debajo de estos gigantescos escritores, ni siquiera logra alcanzar la sátira del buen Cyrano de Bergerac, pero bueno, lo intentó, ¿verdad? Eso no se puede negar; además, a mi parecer, sentó algunas de las bases que, pocos años después de la muerte del mismo Voltaire, tomaría el Marques de Sade.
Aún así, no deja de ser mucho mejor que mucho de lo que hoy es, supuestamente, satírico.
¡Qué personaje!
Se me han hecho un peco pesado algunos relatos, y no porque sean difíciles de leer, sino por sus temáticas reiteradas.
Lamentablemente, Voltaire, era un poco obsesivo, al parecer, ya que casi todos los cuentos tocan los mismos temas.
No está mal, pero leer todos los relatos juntos cansa mucho, la verdad.
Y sinceramente, esperaba un poco más de este escritor satírico francés; creí que llegaría a algo similar a las grandes sátiras de Diderot o Rabelais, incluso, con ilusión, esperé encontrar a un buen sucesor de Swift, pero no, se queda muy por debajo, muy, muy por debajo de estos gigantescos escritores, ni siquiera logra alcanzar la sátira del buen Cyrano de Bergerac, pero bueno, lo intentó, ¿verdad? Eso no se puede negar; además, a mi parecer, sentó algunas de las bases que, pocos años después de la muerte del mismo Voltaire, tomaría el Marques de Sade.
Aún así, no deja de ser mucho mejor que mucho de lo que hoy es, supuestamente, satírico.
December 5, 2014
"Seríeis capaz de partir esta linda estatueta por não ser feita só de oiro e diamantes?" Ituriel compreendeu por meias palavras; resolveu até nem sequer pensar em destruir Persépolis, e deixar andar o mundo tal como está, porque, disse ele, se nem tudo está bem, tudo está menos mal. Deixaram portanto Persépolis subsistir, e Babuco ficou longe de se lamentar, ao contrário de Jonas, que se encolerizou por não destruírem Nínive. Mas a verdade é que depois de se estar três dias metido na barriga de uma baleia não se pode estar com tão boa disposição como depois de se ter ido á ópera, ao teatro, e de se ter ceado em companhia agradável.
September 28, 2013
read Zadig
July 9, 2024
De Micromégas: "Il paraît que j' ai saisi la Nature dans l'acte".
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