Lunchtime read: Candide

The search for his love is restarted as Candide escapes from France, which he believes is full of barbarians but next stop is England and it is no surprise that he finds the people there even worse.

Highlights from chapters XXIII to XXV

* Landing in England Candide is witness to an execution of an admiral who is shot for failing to kill enough of his men in a battle against the French enemy and he starts to plan his escape asking a Dutch captain to take him to Venice

* Once in Venice he looks for his old servant and the love of his life but the weeks pass by and he fails to find either and starts to depair and as result talks more to his companion Martin about happiness

* Candide bets that a woman and a monk arm in arm are happy but when they get them back to his house for a dinner it turns out they are both deeply unhappy and have tragic lives

* Next Candide is invited to go and see someone who believes themselves to be so superior to everything that he takes a peverse pleasure in disliking everythinng including great literature

The final chunk comes tomorrow...