Lunchtime read: Candide

Although this is not a difficult book to read it has been a real challenge this week to find the time to squeeze it in and so it will have to be read over the weekend to get it completed in time for Monday when I fancy starting something else.

Highlights from chapters XXI and XXII

* Candide heads back to Europe and lands in France and although he expresses no interest in visiting the French capital he notices that everyone else is going that way so heads for the capital

* Once there he starts to drift from his resolution to get to Venice as quickly as he can to meet up with the object of his affection Cunegonde and after getting over a bout of illness and visiting the theatre he starts to fall under the spell of the actresses

* He tries to ingratiate himself into the social world inhabited by the actresses and after losing a huge amount of money in cards Candide seems to have their attention but is always likely to attract the wrong sort of attention with his wealth

* Sure enough a priest hearing of his love for Cunegonde tricks him into believing she is in a hotel on her way to find him in Paris and once Candide arrives he is arrested and has to use more diamonds to pay for his release

More tomorrow…