Introduction
Candide Pt 5: CerebralMix 2014-10-12
Tonight’s episode of the CerebralMix focuses on the El Dorado section of Candide. When I originally read this book this was the part that I thought dragged the most. There is very little direct action, and it actually takes on a bit more of a philosophical note. But now with the passage of time, I am better able to appreciate what Voltaire has done with this section. He is showing us that even if we were in El Dorado where everything is perfect, and in fact it is the “best of all possible worlds” it is likely that we wouldn’t want it. It’s human nature to want something that isn’t available to us. In this case Candide wants Cunegonde, and since she isn’t there this perfect place isn’t perfect even for him.
The loss of riches when Candide and Cacambo leave El Dorado seem to me to be a statement woven into the text about trying to be gluttonous. It’s obvious that they didn’t need as much as they tried to take, and nature made the point by causing the death of most of the sheep. And, of course, the Dutch Captain that stole the rest of the precious goods is a statement about the negative aspects of the world, in response to the idea that “things are always for the best”. (Note how the things that aren’t easily explained, and cause Candide the most distress happen when Pangloss is not around to twist them into a different perspective).
I won’t even start to comment on the conversation between Candide and Martin. It is very rich for interpretation and debate. The return of the single sheep to Candide does seem to indicate that the world, or possibly fate, will balance things out eventually. That is something that I would take issue with, but it is clear that Voltaire had his reasons for inserting this plot point.
Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this reading of Candide as presented on my show. I know I haven’t been talking much about the music, but really there isn’t a lot to say. The music is related on differing levels to the book, but it isn’t integral to this presentation. But hopefully you might be finding something interesting in it.
Readings
In the past I’ve reproduced the text of the poems or short pieces that I read during the show. However, with the text of Candide being much longer, I think it is better to grab a copy of the book to read along with the show if you so wish.
The reading by Ted Delorme is based on the Modern Library version from 1918. A copy of this version of the book can obtained from the Internet Archive: Modern Library – Voltaire’s Candide. This book is available in all the all of the major eBook formats: ePub, PDF, Kindle, HTML, Daisy and DjVu.
In the playlist below is a link to the LibriVox version of the audio book. The version presented in the show has been modified a bit (removed the opening and closing LibriVox credits on each chapter to make it flow better with the show, normalized the audio level, and created a stereo version from the original mono source files for streaming).
Listen Hear
Duration: 01:59:00 Published by SndChaser under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.Playlist
00:00:00 SndChaser CerebralMix: Candide 5 CC BY-NC-SA
00:00:32 Voltaire’s Candide as read by Ted Delorme Candide: Chapter 17 Pub Domain
00:08:36 Michael Peters Too Much Love CC BY-NC-ND
00:14:17 Cousin Silas and Piper Ben The Lost Language Of The Innocent CC BY-NC-ND
00:22:02 Bielebny Funny But It`s True CC BY-NC-SA
00:25:25 SndChaser CerebralMix: Candide ID Break CC BY-NC-SA
00:25:36 Voltaire’s Candide as read by Ted Delorme Candide: Chapter 18 Pub Domain
00:38:24 Park St Trio The Man Who Was Sent Back CC BY-NC-SA
00:43:20 Sp. Ace Break Free (feat. Sofia Deville) CC BY-NC-ND
00:47:36 Marco Trovatello Wash Your Feet CC BY-NC
00:52:33 SndChaser CerebralMix: Candide ID Break CC BY-NC-SA
00:52:45 Voltaire’s Candide as read by Ted Delorme Candide: Chapter 19 Pub Domain
01:03:58 all:my:faults One and other stab wounds destroying a life CC BY-NC-SA
01:08:12 Generation Skweee Men Without Women CC BY-NC-SA
01:13:16 The Fucked Up Beat Supermarket Goods Escape and Terrorize Local Shoppers (…) CC BY-NC-ND
01:16:29 Donnie Ozone All For Free CC BY-NC
01:19:49 Talk Less, Say More A Rose In Winter (Arctic Fox Part 1) CC BY-NC-SA
01:23:37 brokenkites For Loves You’ve Lost CC BY-NC-SA
01:27:23 SndChaser CerebralMix: Candide ID Break CC BY-NC-SA
01:27:35 Voltaire’s Candide as read by Ted Delorme Candide: Chapter 20 Pub Domain
01:33:11 Cloudkicker Ever Thus to Deadbeats CC BY
01:41:45 Nova Viator read true manor CC BY-NC-ND
01:46:15 mystified space is free CC BY-NC-SA
01:50:45 Emil Klotzsch everywhere is shut CC BY-NC-ND
01:57:18 SndChaser CerebralMix Outro CC BY-NC-SA