Candide 2.0
All Possible Worlds is the digital extension of the New York Public Library’s current “Candide at 250: Scandal and Success” exhibition; one of the highlights is Candide 2.0, a “networked edition” of the text annotated by professors, novelists, playwrights, and translators. I’ve been having an email conversation with the curator, Alice Boone, about reading Candide as a kind of proto-science-fiction novel, which I’ve always thought it was; something between a thought experiment and a dystopia, Candide was even on my “SF, Modernity, and Empire” exam list at one point.
More than that, though, Candide is one of those books I read as a teenager and could just never forget; it’s probably one of the ten novels most responsible for building my young leftist, atheist self…
oh my god that’s so totally awesome because i’m going to be reading candide in AP english later this semester!
i’m already a young leftist atheist, so let’s see how this book influences me.
Kate
February 27, 2010 at 12:20 am
Some days it’s like the whole Internet dances just for you.
gerrycanavan
February 27, 2010 at 11:02 am
Doing this with a more contemporary text might make it more engaging. One of William Gibson’s novels—which deal with the implications of cyberspace—might yield better results.
TOG
theothergardener
March 1, 2010 at 6:30 pm
That’s true, but of course, Candide is out of copyright and Gibson is not.
gerrycanavan
March 1, 2010 at 7:37 pm