Challenge Completed

Voltaire (1694-1778) - French writer and philosopher

 Earlier this year, I challenged myself to read 50 books throughout 2011. I have always set to follow the path of those who came before me - to study their wisdom, heed their advice, and learn from their mistakes - by reading what they have put down in paper. Of course, not all sages wrote books. Some of those that I read were published posthumously (after the author has passed away); others, were not received well when they were first published; while others were popular right from the beginning. 

Last night, in one of my journeys in the London Underground, I completed this challenge - as I read the closing paragraph of a satire entitled Candide (1759) by Voltaire. 

"All that is very well," answered Candide, "but let us cultivate our garden."

It is story of a young man named Candide, who was taught that all in life is good - only humans make it bad. He truly admired his teacher and accepted his philosophy wholeheartedly - but then something happened. Later, Candide found it difficult to hold on to this blind optimism, as misery and tragedy befell him and almost everyone around him - including his teacher. Fortunately, it was not a sad ending for him - but his was not a truly happy ending either. 

All these books that I read this year have been nonfiction - except the last one, Candide. This change of genre may be a sign to my future reading list. I wonder where it will take me next.

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