Candide

Candide is a brilliant masterpiece, a scathingly brutal satire of overly optimistic philosophies of life.

Candide lives a secluded life with a wealthy family in a castle, and his life is so affluent that Candide has his own philosophy teacher, Pangloss.

All is well, and Pangloss' philosophies remain intact until Candide falls in love with the family's daughter and he is expelled into real life.

Real life brings an endless series of horrible events for Candide and all the people he meets, horrible events that are so inexplicably horrible that they make the life of Job appear to be quite Edenic.

Candide at last makes his way back to his homeland and, after all the horrible experiences, he is able to revise his philosophy of life to the practical: Cultivate your garden, he extols, cautiously.

Brilliant. Masterpiece. A must read.