Candide by Voltaire

I had all kinds of trouble writing this review. I just couldn't decide which approach to take. The subject was so rich in matters of context, themes and associations.

I spent the last weekend overdosing on Kurt Vonnegut novels (see my previous review). One of Vonnegut's recurring themes is: how are we to act in a meaningless universe? It is the great humanist question. Voltaire had a crack at answering it in the 18th century. His answer, at least according to the character Candide, was: Il faut cultiver notre jardin - "We must cultivate our garden".

This recommendation is reminiscent of one of the parables told by Jesus, the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30). Life, then, is all about improving on the hands we were dealt at birth. For the Christian, we must do this because God requires it of us. For some humanists, we must do it because there is nothing better to do in life.

Candide is the story of the eponymous hero and the people in his life. Candide is young and enamoured of lust, love and life. He has been steeped in the philosophy of his tutor Dr Pangloss. Pangloss teaches that everything that happens in our universe is always the most desirable outcome - "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds".

Candide and company then endure the worst events that the world can throw at them on three continents: earthquakes, executions and disfigurements. Finally, they settle on a farm on the Bosporus in Turkey. While Dr Pangloss is as optimistic as ever, Candide is far less enchanted with Panglossian philosophy. "We must cultivate our garden," he says. His manservant Martin adds: "We must work without arguing ... That is the only way to make life bearable."

Publishing details: Candide by Voltaire (Penguin, London. Translation by John Butt first published 1947, pp.144.) 

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

I'm glad that when I misspent my youth I spent part of it reading Kurt Vonnegut. I liked very much his off-beat humor, his understatement and his take on humanism. Here was a guy who would not let his pessimism overcome his sense of compassion. Yes, Vonnegut was satirical; yes, he poked fun at the vanities and follies of others; but underlying it all was a will that sought to understand his fellow creatures.

How lucky I was to have recently come across a clutch of three Vonnegut novels I had not read before: Player Piano, Mother Night, and God Bless You, Mr Rosewater. I had a wonderful weekend reading them.

Mother Night (1961) is the story of Howard W. Campbell, Jr. (he appeared briefly in Vonnegut's later novel Slaughterhouse Five). Campbell is an American spy who worked in Nazi Germany, becoming one of the Third Reich's most virulent propagandists in the course of his duties. Encoded in his broadcasts was information vital to the Allied war effort.

Campbell accepted this role, knowing that there was no way he could clear his name after the war, knowing that the USA government would neither confirm nor deny that he was a double-agent. The best they can do is smuggle him back to the States after the war is over and give him a new identity. In 1961, Campbell's cover is blown and he becomes the focal point of several conflicting interest groups.  His life disintegrates over the course of 48 hours, and ...

In his introduction to the book, Vonnegut says there are three morals to his tale:

1. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be;

2. When you're dead, you're dead; and

3. Make love when you can. It is good for you.

In Mother Night, Vonnegut explores ethics.  Can a good person pretending to be evil still be good, and vice versa?  Or are we what we pretend to be and, therefore, must accept personal responsibility for our actions and their consequences, regardless of our true intentions?  Do the ends ever justify the means, even for double-agents?  This is the moral minefield that Vonnegut laid for both Howard W. Campbell, Jr and his readers.

As always, Vonnegut delivers the goods with intelligence and compassion.  Mother Night is one of his best novels, and perhaps the most thought-provoking.  Highly recommended.

Beowulf and Grendel (2005)

Beowulf and Grendel, starring Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard

I previously reviewed Beowulf, the 8th century Old English epic poem. The Beowulf poem is famously remembered for the accounts of the three great fights of its eponymous hero. Beowulf battles the monster Grendel, then Grendel's Mother - a primordial spirit - and then, when Beowulf has reached old age, a ravening dragon. Beowulf and Grendel is mainly about the first of these fights.

The makers of the movie have used the basic Grendel-Beowulf scenario from the original poem but with some major alterations. The movie explores the motivations of the monster Grendel (psychology being almost absent in the poem), and it adds a young witch as a central character. Perhaps these deviations are necessary to bring the story to life for the modern imagination?

Hrothgar is the king of the Danes. His men hunt and wantonly kill Grendel's father, but Hrothgar spares the life of the infant Grendel. Many years later Hrothgar builds a new hall, Heorot. Grendel, now fully grown, comes to the Heorot on the night of the inaugural feast. He avenges is father by killing Hrothgar's men. He spares Hrothgar.

Hearing of the king's plight, Beowulf and his band of a dozen men come to Heorot and offer to kill Grendel. Beowulf soon discovers that Grendel will not fight him, for Grendel only fights when he is wronged. So they pursue Grendel and wrong him, and the scene for conflict is set.

As interesting as the unfolding story may be, the real attraction of Beowulf and Grendel is the landscape photography. The landscape is stark (I think the movie was shot in Iceland) but beautiful (and beautifully captured), and there is lots of it.

Worth seeing. 7/10