Books

Candide

Voltaire tells an outlandish satire. 

My overwhelming experience of this book was disorienting silliness. I didn’t know much about it going in, except that it has long been considered a classic, and kind of as with Don Quixote, it’s shockingly goofy. 

Underneath the antics, it’s clearly roasting some Leibniz philosophical optimism position. “The best of all possible worlds” seems to stand in, in Voltaire’s eyes for something exceedingly dumb. I’ve never encountered Leibniz before, so it seems like Voltaire won the battle since the days when Leibniz was worth roasting. 

It was fun, but it didn’t make its claim to such celebrated status clear to me. 

I wouldn’t especially recommend it, but you should lean towards thinking of me as a philistine in this case probably.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

A frame tale of a man remembering some magical friends and adventures from childhood. 

It has an intense eerie energy even when its magic is not overt. It really feels like nostalgia. 

The journey from the entirely mundane world to the entirely magical world happens quickly but without any jerks or jolts. 

The climax of the book includes a pair of reciprocal sacrifices that feel like a form of interpersonal non-fantastical magic. 

This has a debatable claim to the status of Neil Gaiman’s best book. My 6yo, who has not yet read American Gods, reports it as his favorite book of all time. It’s my second favorite after AG. 

The writing, as always, is excellent. 

Highly recommended.

fond memories reading this one. only if Neil wasn't a turd