Voltaire sours any hope of the optimism preached by his contemporaries in
Candide and Other Writings
. Instead, he treats the reader to riveting dialogue, riotous events, and acerbic commentary. In
Candide
, for instance, he plunges a gentle young man into arduous circumstances. There, he encounters the most interesting of characters: the Pope's daughter, whose hindmost is sliced off by starving soldiers; a rich nobleman from Venice searching for happiness; and of course who can forget the two young women who escape their monkey lovers.
,
Zadig
, and
Micromanegas
are three eighteenth-century works that will leave a lasting impression on your mind.