Zadig; L'Ingenu (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Francois Voltaire (Author), John Butt (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1978 | Series: Penguin Classics

One of Voltaire's earliest tales, "Zadig" is set in the exotic East and is told in the comic spirit of Candide; L'Ingenu, written after Candide, is a darker tale in which an American Indian records his impressions of France.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francois-Marie Arouet, writing under the pseudonym Voltaire, was born in 1694 into a Parisian bourgeois family. Educated by Jesuits, he was an excellent pupil but one quickly enraged by dogma. An early rift with his father--who wished him to study law--led to his choice of letters as a career. Insinuating himself into court circles, he became notorious for lampoons on leading notables and was twice imprisoned in the Bastille. By his mid-thirties his literary activities precipitated a four-year exile in England where he won the praise of Swift and Pope for his political tracts. His publication, three years later in France, of Lettres philosophiques sur les Anglais (1733)--an attack on French Church and State--forced him to flee again. For twenty years Voltaire lived chiefly away from Paris. In this, his most prolific period, he wrote such satirical tales as "Zadig" (1747) and "Candide" (1759). His old age at Ferney, outside Geneva, was made bright by his adopted daughter, "Belle et Bonne," and marked by his intercessions in behalf of victims of political injustice. Sharp-witted and lean in his white wig, impatient with all appropriate rituals, he died in Paris in 1778--the foremost French author of his day.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 30, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441263
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441260
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #668,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Zadig:, April 13, 2000

By 

"exon" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zadig; L'Ingenu (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Voltaire chooses an oriental tale as setting for an analysis of human traits and the influence of good and evil on human destiny. The essentialy good Zadig suffers setback after setback on his quest to reunite with his true love and after having almost lost all hope of finding happiness he suceeds in overcoming the evil and jealous medlings of the people around him and is able to lead a content and prosperous life. In essence the story shows how human destiny is undisputable and that the road to a fullfilled life is long and hard. "Zadig" is a nice example of 18th century French Enlightment, questioning old traditions and social structures in combination with showing new views on humanity and ideals.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hello Voltaire. Hello old friend, October 15, 2009

By 

D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zadig; L'Ingenu (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

These are two of Voltaire's more beloved short stories. Those who have read his more the more famous Candide (Dover Thrift Editions) will find many of the same traits in these stories; an efervescent cynicism, characters constantly caught in notorious Catch-22 scenarios, love stories gone awry and (most importantly) Voltaire's timeless wit.

Zadig takes place in the middle east. The title character is a well-meaning chap (in many ways he is much like Candide himself). He encounters a great many perilous situations which make his demeanor more and more melancholy. In a sort of Deus ex machina (which I'm sure was a deliberate satire in & of itself on Voltaire's behalf) he experiences a reversal-of-fortune. Voltaire singles out those who believe in astrology / fate / divine plans in gently revealing how silly those belief systems are.

L'Ingenu is an interesting story about a Huron Indian who ends up (in of all places!) France. The Huron has learned to speak French, but he struggles mightily in trying to understand French customs as well as the way the French think. L'Ingenu is called the "child of nature" as he is so oblivious to the supposed "superior" and more civilized French. Voltaire subtly points out the flaws of French society by juxtaposing the Huron who ends up being unjustly jailed by an oppressive and unjust government.

For fans of the French Enlightenment, reading Voltaire is a must. And, for that matter, most Americans SHOULD be fans of Enlightenment thinking as it helped to inspire the American revolution which threw off the yoke of British oppression. The seeds of those revolutionary ideas can be found in the writings of Voltaire. That alone should compel you to read his works (I hope?). One is bound to find Voltaire to be like a historical old friend to us all.

10 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A LITTLE BELOW PAR, May 17, 2003

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zadig; L'Ingenu (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

One of the current fads in fiction is to take a painting by some Dutch master of some nameless woman and write a book about that woman's relationship with the artist. For example, The Girl with the Pearl Earring. That was successful, so then you see dozens of the same ilk. In the late 18th century and early 19th centuries, with the publication of the Arabian Nights in translation, writers became involved in the new fad of setting their tales in the Arab world. Voltaire was not immune to it, as is evidenced with Zadig.

Much as science fiction writers sometimes mask the satire of our world in technological allegory, so Voltaire uses the setting of ancient Babylon to critique French society and beyond that, the customs of all of Europe. Zadig is young nobleman who falls into all kinds of troubles as he tries to make his way through life. He's a nice guy that doesn't deserve such troubles. For example, when his fiance is being kidnapped, he is struck by an arrow and the doctor says he won't live. When Zadig does survive, the doctor is angry at him because he survived! Then his fiance dumps him. Zadig will have to fight against treacherous kings, mages, women, thieves, actually just about everyone in the world turns against him.

The second work contained in this volume is L'Ingenu (The Child of Nature). In Volataire's time, and even in our time, Native Americans are romanticized as being closer to Nature. They didn't litter, they didnt destroy environments, etc. They were at one with the land. A lot of that is hokey. But in L'Ingenu we encounter this stereotype in the form of The Child of Nature, supposedly an Huron Indian visiting the high society of France. He ends up being the long lost nephew of the very French Abbe he is visiting. Of course, as soon as the Abbe learns this he tries to convert him to Christianity. What ensues is similar to Zadig. The Child of Nature most overcome all the lies and deceptions of the modern world in order to find his happiness.

I have to say that after reading 3 works by Voltaire, I'm not that impressed. To me, Candide was no big whoop. These two works bookend that famous work and inform it to some extent. Zadig seems to have been a warmup pitch for Candide and is equal in art to that work. In fact I would say they were interchangeable. If you've read one, you don't have to read the other. L'Ingenu on the other hand seems to go a little deeper. It criticizes the Church quite violently and actually dispenses with the comedy by its end. I've read many comedies funnier than this and tragedies more poignant. Don't come to this book expecting greatness.