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Read Candide in English — and understand every line.

Read “Candide” by Voltaire in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.

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Author
Voltaire
Level
B2
Original title
Candide, ou l'optimisme · 1759
Length
~35k words
Reading time
~3 h
Translation
Built-in dictionary
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CandideVoltaire · B2
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DICTIONARY

cherish
verb

TRANSLATION

дорожить, лелеять

to feel warm affection for; to hold something dear.

She cherishes the memory of her grandmother.
Она дорожит памятью о своей бабушке.

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The opening

How “Candide” begins

CHAPTER PAGE I. How Candide was brought up in a Magnificent Castle, and how he was expelled thence 1 II.

IV. How Candide found his old Master Pangloss, and what happened to them 13 V. Tempest, Shipwreck, Earthquake, and what became of Doctor Pangloss, Candide, and James the Anabaptist 18 VI.

What happened to Candide, Cunegonde, Pangloss, Martin, etc. 154 XXIX. How Candide found Cunegonde and the Old Woman again 159 XXX.

He combined a true judgment with simplicity of spirit, which was the reason, I apprehend, of his being called Candide.

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About the book

Why Candide is a great book to read in English

Voltaire's 1759 satire hurls its naive hero around the world — through war, shipwreck, and earthquake — to test the doctrine that ours is 'the best of all possible worlds'. The chapters are tiny, the irony is sharp, and the plain, fast-moving prose makes Candide a surprisingly manageable classic for an English learner.

On LangOrbit you read “Candide” with a safety net: the translation is one tap away when a sentence runs long, every word opens its meaning in context and can be saved for spaced-repetition review, and the grammar behind the trickier lines is explained right where you meet it.

Candide

Read “Candide” by Voltaire in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.

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