GW2 - Voltaire: "Candide:" European Return

00:30:56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nETtvPIUWBc

الملخص

TLDRDie video bespreek die tweede helfte van die boek, waar die storie flink verminder na die karakters se terugkeer na Europa vanaf Suid-Amerika, wat 'n stadiger en introspektiewe toon het. Europa word uitgebeeld met minder aksie, wat die luister na die samelewing en kultuur meer prominent maak. Die bespreking het kritiek oor die samelewing, kuns, en die rol van literatuur. Daar is ook 'n klem op die hoofkarakter se botsing met verskeie kragte terwyl hy sy eenvoudige begeerte na liefde navolg. Die verteller bespreek verder hoe die geskrifte 'n insig bied vir kontemporêre analise en kritiese denke ingang vind in suksesvolle probleemoplossings.

الوجبات الجاهزة

  • 📚 Die boek vertraag in die tweede helfte na die terugkeer na Europa.
  • 💬 Kritieke word uitgespreek oor die samelewing en kultuur.
  • 🎭 Franse toneelstukke word as swak beskryf.
  • 🤔 Kritici word beskou as ongenadig en genoem "literêre slange".
  • 🇮🇹 Venesiese adel word hiper-krities uitgebeeld.
  • 🇫🇷 Hoofkarakter Candid gebruik as 'n spiegel vir kritiek op die samelewing.
  • ⏳ Stadig-paced verhaal in Europa in kontras met Suid-Amerika se aksie.
  • ❄️ Kanada word getipeer as 'net 'n paar akkers sneeu'.
  • 🔍 Kritiese denkwyse as waardevol aangemoedig vir sukses.
  • ❤️ Hoofkarakter se eenvoudige strewe na liefde is sentraal.

الجدول الزمني

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Die bespreking fokus op die verandering in die tweede helfte van die boek, waarin die karakters Candid en sy vriend Martin na Europa terugkeer na hul avonture in Suid-Amerika. Dit word opgemerk dat die aksie en avontuur in Suid-Amerika, wat soos 'n Indiana Jones-rolprent was, vervang word deur stadiger, meer introspektiewe en langdradige episodes in Europa. In plaas van aksie sien ons meer dialoog en beskrywing, wat 'n gevoel van verveling en draligheid in Europa skep, en die verrukking en aantrekkingskrag van die Nuwe Wêreld beklemtoon.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Daar is 'n sterk klem op die gebruik van Candid se karakter as 'n manier waarop Voltaire sosiale kritiek lewer, veral van Franse teaters en kritici. Candid se naïwiteit word gebruik om 'n objektiewe afstand te skep om die samelewing krities te beskou. Die gesprekke oor die Fordele van die teater en die sinisme teenoor kritici, wys Voltaire se persoonlike frustrasies en gevoelens oor sosiale kwessies, hoewel sommige punte dalk nie vir moderne lesers relevant is nie. Voltaire se bekommernisse beïnvloed sy skryfwerk, en hierdie gedeeltes voel soms geforseerd en onbelangrik.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    In sy kritiek van Engelse en Franse samelewings, en met sy eie blootgestelde persoonlike vooroordele, blyk Voltaire gefrustreerd te wees. Sy skeptisisme teenoor sosiale strukture en morele standaarde word beklemtoon deur sy intense kritiek op die kerk, morele pretensie, en sy gedwonge opmerkings oor 'n doodsuitvoering deur die Britse Vloot. Die narratief begin voortsleep en herhaal bekende temas. Die kritiek verskuif na 'n intellektuele Venetiaanse edelman wat 'n weerspieëling is van 'n karakter wat geen vreugde uit die lewe put nie.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Die bespreking lei na 'n oordenking oor die karakter as 'n voorbeeld van kritiek wat alle plesier verloor het weens 'n oor-geraffineerde smaak. Hierdie kritiek teenoor 'n kulturele sinikus dien as 'n waarskuwing. Voltaire bevraagteken die waarde en grense van die Verligting se projek van kritiek en die vermoë of beperking van menslike oordeel. Hy verken die spannings tussen persoonlike, idiosinkratiese waarnemings en universele waarhede, wat die boek se temas van kritiek op die menslike bestaan en Alwetendheid ontdek.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Die laaste gedeelte ondersoek die spanning tussen individuele perspektief en 'n universele siening, beklemtoon dat kritiek nie 'n alwetende krag is nie, maar bloot 'n menslike poging om die wêreld te verstaan. Die kleiner Europese episodes bied 'n teenpunt aan die grotere, universale kwessies van die vroeër hoofstukke. Dit demonstreer die beperkinge van menslikheid en ons onvermoë om die heelal ten volle te begryp. Dit wys die voortdurend stryd tussen subjektiewe en globale waarnemings, terwyl mens probeer om betekenis te vind in 'n ondeurgrondelike wêreld.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:56

    Deur 'n breër lens beskou Voltaire 'n wêreld vol chaos en gebrek aan betekenis in 'n menslike konteks. Hierdie wêreldskets toon die menslike drang om te oorleef te midde van allerlei teenstrydige magte en die soeke na eenvoudig menslike verlangens, soos liefde. Die narratief beklemtoon die belang van aanpassing en oorlewing binne hierdie chaos, en toon dat, ten spyte van al die filosofiese bespiegelings, die kern van ons aspirasies basies en universeel is.

اعرض المزيد

الخريطة الذهنية

Mind Map

الأسئلة الشائعة

  • Hoe verander die boek in die tweede helfte?

    Die boek vertraag in die tweede helfte wanneer die karakters na Europa terugkeer, met minder aksie en meer gesprekke.

  • Waaroor gaan die kritiek in hierdie deel van die boek?

    Die kritiek fokus op Europese samelewing en kultuur, insluitend die teater en kritici.

  • Wat gebeur in die Europese soewereine state in die boek?

    Die karakters kry veral tyd in Frankryk en Italië, waar die tempo stadig is en die hoofkarakter observerend optree.

  • Watter punt maak die verteller oor akteurs en kritici?

    Daar word gespot met kritici en hul onvermoeë om iets positief raak te sien, asook die swak gehalte van Franse toneelstukke.

  • Hoe word Venesiese adel uitgebeeld?

    Venesiese adel word uitgebeeld as hiper-krities en sonder plesier in enige kultuurelemente.

  • Waarom voel die skrywer dat die verhaallyn vertraag?

    Dit lyk of die skrywer sukkel om die storielyn te laat vorder na 'n opwindende begin in Suid-Amerika.

  • Hoe word die idee van 'kritiese vaardighede' bespreek?

    Die bespreking fokus op hoe kritiese denke kan lei tot sukses buite literatuur, asook hoe die boek dit illustreer.

  • Wat is die hoofkarakter se uiteindelike doelwit?

    Die hoofkarakter se uiteindelike doelwit is om eenvoudig liefde te vind en oorleef.

  • Hoe kontrasteer hierdie deel van die boek met die eerste helfte?

    Die tweede helfte is stadiger en meer introspektief, met minder aksiebelaaide tonele as die reis in Suid-Amerika.

  • Wat is 'n opvallende aanhaling oor Kanada in die boek?

    Kanada word beskryf as 'net 'n paar akkers sneeu', wat 'n bekende uitspraak geword het.

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الترجمات
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التمرير التلقائي:
  • 00:00:00
    I want to talk a little bit
  • 00:00:02
    about how the book changes a little in
  • 00:00:06
    the second
  • 00:00:08
    half as the character of
  • 00:00:12
    candid and his friend
  • 00:00:15
    Martin uh returned to Europe after
  • 00:00:19
    uh after leaving South
  • 00:00:23
    America and they come back
  • 00:00:27
    and you can look at this little ction in
  • 00:00:31
    a number of different ways but I think
  • 00:00:33
    the most obvious first impression is
  • 00:00:36
    that it kind of slows down a little bit
  • 00:00:38
    you can be allowed to criticize it for
  • 00:00:41
    you know after all of the action-packed
  • 00:00:43
    episodes of South America which is
  • 00:00:47
    filled with you know uh fights to the
  • 00:00:49
    death and narrow escapes and and you
  • 00:00:52
    know uh breathtaking chases and wondrous
  • 00:00:58
    scenes when we get back to Europe things
  • 00:01:02
    slow down a little bit the chapters
  • 00:01:05
    themselves become uh kind of long with
  • 00:01:08
    the exception of the sojourn in England
  • 00:01:10
    the the the the the stay in France the
  • 00:01:14
    chapter there is kind of long the stay
  • 00:01:16
    in Venice the chapter there is pretty
  • 00:01:18
    long and England is right between it but
  • 00:01:21
    seems to just accentuate how long and
  • 00:01:24
    almost dull those passages are and plus
  • 00:01:28
    where all of South America was action
  • 00:01:30
    action action action action all of that
  • 00:01:32
    Daring Do it's reading almost like a
  • 00:01:35
    Indiana Jones movie for God's
  • 00:01:37
    sakes in France and Italy it's more of
  • 00:01:42
    and England as well to a degree it's
  • 00:01:44
    more of the character goes and sits in a
  • 00:01:47
    room and talks to people or the
  • 00:01:49
    character goes sees something and reacts
  • 00:01:53
    to it but doesn't really do anything so
  • 00:01:57
    it's you know it's a bit more of a sloth
  • 00:02:00
    and you can see in
  • 00:02:03
    this almost like and I hate to uh I I
  • 00:02:09
    hate to project my uh my conclusions
  • 00:02:12
    onto Volt's writing process here but it
  • 00:02:15
    seems almost like he is struggling to
  • 00:02:18
    like okay I had this great idea for this
  • 00:02:21
    rolicking adventure off in South America
  • 00:02:25
    uh but now where am I going with this
  • 00:02:28
    I'm just writing and writing writing I
  • 00:02:30
    don't know what to do with any of this
  • 00:02:31
    and you he seems like he's just
  • 00:02:33
    producing a lot of words which can make
  • 00:02:36
    for very dull
  • 00:02:39
    reading but I would say that if you look
  • 00:02:43
    at the Grace notes in this you know
  • 00:02:47
    dispel with the idea of the plot the
  • 00:02:51
    plot is the plot it's always going to be
  • 00:02:53
    ridiculous it's always going to be kind
  • 00:02:54
    of incidental quite frankly the The
  • 00:02:57
    Genius of works like this is in the side
  • 00:03:01
    meanings the little Grace notes that
  • 00:03:03
    they put in that they don't have to you
  • 00:03:05
    can tell the plot of this story in very
  • 00:03:08
    quick succession of events the way that
  • 00:03:12
    it is told however I think is much more
  • 00:03:14
    significant beginning with like I said
  • 00:03:17
    the slowness of it it creates a sense of
  • 00:03:23
    drudgery almost in Europe boredom in
  • 00:03:27
    Europe as opposed to all of the
  • 00:03:31
    excitement and tantalizing seductiveness
  • 00:03:34
    of the new world so that's a dynamic to
  • 00:03:38
    be aware of it's sort of glamorizing the
  • 00:03:41
    new world and exploiting that glamour uh
  • 00:03:46
    the this is the age when we were first
  • 00:03:48
    getting all these stories back in Europe
  • 00:03:51
    of you know the Americas it's where
  • 00:03:54
    these streets are paved with gold it is
  • 00:03:57
    a land of Adventure of Mystery of
  • 00:04:00
    tantalizing exoticism which we have seen
  • 00:04:03
    an awful lot of in this even as it
  • 00:04:06
    undercuts those very uh those those very
  • 00:04:10
    principles so just on that surface level
  • 00:04:13
    there is some meaning being made there
  • 00:04:16
    but also I would say the the scenes
  • 00:04:20
    themselves are significant they come
  • 00:04:24
    back to France they land in the uh the
  • 00:04:28
    town of Bordeaux
  • 00:04:31
    and ostensibly the plot is that they are
  • 00:04:36
    getting uh they return to Europe they
  • 00:04:38
    are supposed to rendevu with kako who
  • 00:04:41
    who would have by now uh uh gone and
  • 00:04:44
    found kunan and essentially ransomed her
  • 00:04:47
    uh and gotten her back out of uh back
  • 00:04:51
    out of South America and brought her uh
  • 00:04:54
    brought her back to
  • 00:04:56
    Europe and that's the plot if you you
  • 00:04:59
    will that is the goal of the action that
  • 00:05:02
    is going
  • 00:05:03
    on but there is this extended sojourn in
  • 00:05:08
    France and you get an awful lot of these
  • 00:05:11
    little conversations where again it is
  • 00:05:15
    Vol using candid as a way to reflect on
  • 00:05:20
    his
  • 00:05:21
    Society uh using candid as a vehicle for
  • 00:05:24
    criticism candid is such an open-faced
  • 00:05:27
    buffoon he just sees stuff and we are
  • 00:05:32
    asked to critique it a little bit we can
  • 00:05:35
    come at it with a little bit more
  • 00:05:37
    objectivity a little bit more irony and
  • 00:05:41
    we can be kind of confused it is using
  • 00:05:44
    Cid's gullible nature to create a little
  • 00:05:49
    objective distance for us and get us to
  • 00:05:52
    ask questions like why is the society
  • 00:05:54
    like that uh you
  • 00:05:58
    get in this
  • 00:06:00
    however a lot of and this is one of the
  • 00:06:03
    reasons I think candid was sort of
  • 00:06:05
    searching around for stuff to say a lot
  • 00:06:07
    of really idiosyncratic criticisms we
  • 00:06:10
    have moved on from criticizing you know
  • 00:06:14
    the uh The Works of God uh or even the
  • 00:06:18
    humanity or the mor the morality of the
  • 00:06:22
    human uh Human Condition and now we're
  • 00:06:25
    talking about uh the value of theater in
  • 00:06:30
    France and they have this little
  • 00:06:32
    conversation about the uh how terrible
  • 00:06:37
    most of the uh most of the plays being
  • 00:06:40
    put on in France
  • 00:06:42
    are voler was a successful play right he
  • 00:06:45
    was successful in many genres of
  • 00:06:48
    writing so this is a point that concerns
  • 00:06:51
    him but is it really as significant to
  • 00:06:54
    everybody no I don't particularly care
  • 00:06:58
    how many bad plays were produced in
  • 00:07:00
    Paris in the uh in the
  • 00:07:02
    1700s it's a matter of absolutely no
  • 00:07:05
    importance to me and if I die today
  • 00:07:08
    without learning anything more about
  • 00:07:10
    that I'll be okay with that I won't be
  • 00:07:12
    okay with dying but you know uh I don't
  • 00:07:15
    need to know that information how many
  • 00:07:17
    bad plays are produced I don't care tell
  • 00:07:20
    me sir said candid to the ABY how many
  • 00:07:24
    plays are there for performance in
  • 00:07:26
    France five or 6,000 replied the other
  • 00:07:29
    that a lot said candid how many of them
  • 00:07:31
    are any good 15 or 16 was the answer
  • 00:07:35
    that's a lot said Mar very witty very
  • 00:07:39
    clever a little back and forth using
  • 00:07:41
    dialogue a a very theatrical mode of uh
  • 00:07:45
    uh of creating uh
  • 00:07:49
    literature but it is again just this
  • 00:07:52
    silly little Grace note this silly
  • 00:07:54
    little scene that is making fun of
  • 00:07:57
    French society
  • 00:08:00
    broadly through a critique of the
  • 00:08:03
    theater culture
  • 00:08:06
    um um he takes another shot just a
  • 00:08:10
    little bit later when he uh when he when
  • 00:08:14
    he starts considering critics which for
  • 00:08:16
    a working playwright the critic yeah who
  • 00:08:18
    likes critics oh they don't know
  • 00:08:20
    anything who is that fat swine said
  • 00:08:23
    candid who spoke so nastily about the
  • 00:08:25
    play over which I was weeping and the
  • 00:08:28
    actors who gave me so much pleasure he
  • 00:08:30
    is a living illness answered the ab who
  • 00:08:34
    makes a business of slandering all the
  • 00:08:37
    play and books he hates the successful
  • 00:08:39
    ones as Unix hate successful lovers he's
  • 00:08:42
    one of those literary snakes who live on
  • 00:08:44
    filth and Venom this criticism of
  • 00:08:47
    critics seems Seems like a cheap shot
  • 00:08:50
    but it seems really important to Vol so
  • 00:08:55
    here you can see maybe maybe
  • 00:08:59
    you can start speculating well okay this
  • 00:09:01
    is a part of the book where maybe he's
  • 00:09:03
    starting to run out of gas he had this
  • 00:09:06
    great idea at the beginning and now he's
  • 00:09:08
    just not sure where he's going uh maybe
  • 00:09:11
    he is circulating chapters of it already
  • 00:09:14
    and getting lots of feedback yeah okay
  • 00:09:15
    you got to keep this going you gotta
  • 00:09:17
    keep this going you gotta keep go go go
  • 00:09:18
    go go so he's just sort of grinding it
  • 00:09:21
    out like well what else can I say in
  • 00:09:22
    there so he's getting very personal and
  • 00:09:27
    idiosyncratic and
  • 00:09:30
    he keeps up with that the supper was
  • 00:09:34
    like most Parisian suppers for silence
  • 00:09:37
    then an indistinguishable Rush of words
  • 00:09:39
    then jokes mostly insipid false news bad
  • 00:09:43
    logic a little politics and a great deal
  • 00:09:45
    of malice they even talked of new books
  • 00:09:49
    another little insight into uh dinner
  • 00:09:54
    parties essentially into the upper uh
  • 00:09:58
    the upper echelon of Paris Society of
  • 00:10:01
    French society broadly the
  • 00:10:06
    um
  • 00:10:09
    this
  • 00:10:11
    impatience with a life that is very
  • 00:10:17
    specific his life volta's life what is
  • 00:10:20
    his life about well he's a successful
  • 00:10:23
    playwright so that means he spends an
  • 00:10:24
    awful lot of time among theater people
  • 00:10:27
    and going to part
  • 00:10:29
    probably with a lot of theater people
  • 00:10:32
    probably with a lot of intellectuals and
  • 00:10:34
    fellow Aristocrats and all of this so it
  • 00:10:37
    is high life society that he is just
  • 00:10:40
    taking a bite out of here but still it
  • 00:10:43
    feels really idio syncratic it feels
  • 00:10:46
    like it's just compared it's just
  • 00:10:48
    relevant to
  • 00:10:50
    him he goes to England doesn't even get
  • 00:10:53
    off the boat Vol in truth lived for
  • 00:10:57
    lived in England uh for like two years I
  • 00:11:00
    think two and a half maybe so he was
  • 00:11:03
    very familiar with English society he
  • 00:11:04
    was very familiar with uh with the
  • 00:11:07
    English language uh with the culture and
  • 00:11:10
    uh
  • 00:11:11
    broadly but he uh he
  • 00:11:14
    criticizes this scene he was very active
  • 00:11:17
    in uh in in in a case of corporal
  • 00:11:20
    punishment in and I believe the Navy the
  • 00:11:22
    British Navy and he in this scene in
  • 00:11:25
    England he just comes up and he
  • 00:11:28
    criticizes that he saw a uh uh a
  • 00:11:33
    uh well he saw a somebody being put to
  • 00:11:37
    death by the British Navy uh he he saw a
  • 00:11:41
    a death penalty and he was just so
  • 00:11:43
    morally outraged by that but again it it
  • 00:11:45
    it just feels cribbed in this now very
  • 00:11:48
    short paragraph that's not developed at
  • 00:11:52
    all uh or this short chapter rather
  • 00:11:56
    that's not developed and it feels thin
  • 00:12:01
    to me it feels like he's he's he's just
  • 00:12:03
    venting at this point kind of grasping
  • 00:12:06
    around for things well I'll go to
  • 00:12:07
    England well I don't really have
  • 00:12:08
    anything to say much about England I
  • 00:12:10
    kind of like it there but you know I'll
  • 00:12:12
    I'll critique about that and he also
  • 00:12:13
    makes that one little comment about the
  • 00:12:16
    uh about the war between Britain and
  • 00:12:18
    France uh uh that had been sort of off
  • 00:12:21
    and on since the beginning of time and
  • 00:12:24
    he takes a shot at Canada where he calls
  • 00:12:26
    it a few Acres of snow because they were
  • 00:12:29
    all fighting about the new world about
  • 00:12:31
    the Americas and Canada is a fairly
  • 00:12:33
    significant chunk of that and it gets
  • 00:12:36
    dismissed in a very famous
  • 00:12:39
    quotation a few Acres of snow which
  • 00:12:42
    Canadians to this day you know have a
  • 00:12:44
    little bit of an attitude towards but
  • 00:12:46
    also a little bit of a sense of humor
  • 00:12:48
    because they're Canadians they take
  • 00:12:49
    everything in stride they're they're
  • 00:12:50
    good people those
  • 00:12:52
    Canadians from there we
  • 00:12:55
    go back to and again we're past ing over
  • 00:12:59
    an awful lot of silly
  • 00:13:04
    um silly plot stuff uh pette and and and
  • 00:13:10
    the frier just showing another sort of
  • 00:13:13
    gratuitous shot at the uh at religious
  • 00:13:16
    piety at vows of Chastity about the uh
  • 00:13:20
    the myth of the uh The Virtuous uh The
  • 00:13:23
    Virtuous girl who falls on hard times
  • 00:13:25
    and turns to prostitution maybe she's
  • 00:13:28
    just actually you know not the
  • 00:13:31
    with the Heart of Gold after all maybe
  • 00:13:33
    she's you know she doesn't have the
  • 00:13:34
    Heart of Gold uh there there is all of
  • 00:13:38
    that getting thrown in there but it's
  • 00:13:39
    stuff we've seen before like how many
  • 00:13:42
    how many more uh figures of the Catholic
  • 00:13:44
    church can we see you know going out
  • 00:13:47
    with uh with prostitutes or coming down
  • 00:13:49
    with syphilis or doing all of this it
  • 00:13:51
    just feels a little stale at this point
  • 00:13:53
    a little
  • 00:13:55
    gratuitous but they go and they visit a
  • 00:13:58
    Venetian nobleman in Venice and there he
  • 00:14:02
    just
  • 00:14:03
    starts this Venetian nobleman becomes a
  • 00:14:07
    uh or reveals himself to be a Critic of
  • 00:14:10
    pretty much everything and they go
  • 00:14:12
    through a great variety of uh European
  • 00:14:17
    culture talking about uh uh Greek
  • 00:14:21
    philosophers uh Roman writers The Poets
  • 00:14:26
    uh see uh they talk about uh Virgil they
  • 00:14:29
    talk about um
  • 00:14:32
    Horus uh they they follow through to of
  • 00:14:37
    authors uh contemporary authors uh among
  • 00:14:40
    the Spanish the French the uh the
  • 00:14:43
    English the um the
  • 00:14:46
    Italian and this guy has no time for any
  • 00:14:50
    of it and it's very obvious that they're
  • 00:14:53
    uh
  • 00:14:57
    that the critic in B is putting up this
  • 00:15:02
    kind of uber critic who has lost all
  • 00:15:06
    pleasure in everything he has refined
  • 00:15:09
    his taste to such a degree that he is no
  • 00:15:12
    longer enjoying
  • 00:15:14
    anything of culture of books of plays of
  • 00:15:20
    uh of of
  • 00:15:21
    food everything is terrible and you know
  • 00:15:25
    we all know that person who when you say
  • 00:15:28
    hey hey let's go to let's go to this
  • 00:15:30
    place over there it's a good oh I can't
  • 00:15:32
    go there it's terrible it's terrible
  • 00:15:33
    terrible okay well hey have you seen
  • 00:15:35
    this new show it's great you know I've
  • 00:15:37
    been I've been watching and streaming
  • 00:15:38
    like crazy it's really good no no no no
  • 00:15:41
    oh that thing oh it's terrible terrible
  • 00:15:42
    terrible well okay well let's go out to
  • 00:15:44
    the movies let's go see a movie big
  • 00:15:45
    screen say this you really get swept up
  • 00:15:47
    and so no that's just terrible those
  • 00:15:50
    people are sucky they horrible horrible
  • 00:15:52
    horrible who really wants to be around
  • 00:15:55
    those
  • 00:15:57
    people now again it feels a little
  • 00:16:02
    small uh voler is bringing up all these
  • 00:16:05
    authors and all of these uh all of these
  • 00:16:08
    elements of culture that perhaps he
  • 00:16:11
    likes a little bit and he's you know
  • 00:16:15
    dealing in his own little realm
  • 00:16:17
    certainly when it comes to literature he
  • 00:16:19
    is a writer after
  • 00:16:21
    all so it does have that feel to it but
  • 00:16:24
    you can see he's also trying to do
  • 00:16:27
    something else with it he's Al trying to
  • 00:16:29
    get outside of himself and just say well
  • 00:16:32
    okay I have
  • 00:16:34
    been pissing on everything for many
  • 00:16:37
    chapters now am I just becoming a
  • 00:16:41
    crank so I'll create this character of a
  • 00:16:44
    crank who can take no joy in anything
  • 00:16:47
    and just put that as a kind of a warning
  • 00:16:49
    sign and so I'll put him there and I'll
  • 00:16:53
    have
  • 00:16:54
    candid just stop short of there so that
  • 00:16:59
    the reader understands that well okay
  • 00:17:01
    there is a natural progression here of
  • 00:17:03
    crankiness but at a certain point even
  • 00:17:06
    that has
  • 00:17:07
    to stop and there I think is really the
  • 00:17:12
    uh the Cornerstone of this book the the
  • 00:17:15
    the core problem of uh of the book is
  • 00:17:20
    that it uh it is engaged in the
  • 00:17:25
    enlightenment project of criticis ISM of
  • 00:17:29
    thinking about things and trying to
  • 00:17:33
    understand them and you know judge
  • 00:17:38
    it but it's also recognizing the limits
  • 00:17:42
    of
  • 00:17:43
    that and by recognizing the limits of
  • 00:17:47
    that you're bringing that critical
  • 00:17:48
    faculty to the
  • 00:17:52
    very process of
  • 00:17:54
    criticism and you can see
  • 00:17:59
    that same tension
  • 00:18:01
    then between the realm of the ID
  • 00:18:04
    individual and idiosyncratic to the
  • 00:18:06
    realm of the you know civilization to
  • 00:18:10
    the world to the
  • 00:18:13
    universal in that same Dynamic where he
  • 00:18:17
    is dealing with all of this very small
  • 00:18:22
    stuff after dealing with a lot of big
  • 00:18:25
    stuff a lot of big questions a lot of
  • 00:18:27
    universal questions
  • 00:18:29
    about you know human morality or the
  • 00:18:33
    existence of an orderly
  • 00:18:39
    universe but is that In
  • 00:18:42
    fairness something for him to judge or
  • 00:18:45
    are all of these little chapters in here
  • 00:18:48
    back in
  • 00:18:50
    Europe
  • 00:18:54
    where you expose how the critic is
  • 00:18:59
    always another human being the critic is
  • 00:19:03
    not another God figure who can just view
  • 00:19:07
    all of creation and impose a
  • 00:19:11
    judgment but the critic is
  • 00:19:14
    within that universe and trying to make
  • 00:19:18
    sense of
  • 00:19:19
    it
  • 00:19:20
    universally
  • 00:19:22
    But
  • 00:19:24
    ultimately has to be exposed as just
  • 00:19:27
    another creature within it so the
  • 00:19:29
    smallness of these little chapters
  • 00:19:32
    stands in contrast I think with the
  • 00:19:34
    largess the universality of the earlier
  • 00:19:37
    chapters and to some degree even the
  • 00:19:39
    later
  • 00:19:41
    one because we are stuck in that mode we
  • 00:19:46
    can't be God we can't know the mind of
  • 00:19:50
    God we're all just individuals
  • 00:19:53
    struggling to make our own way in the
  • 00:19:56
    world whether we
  • 00:19:58
    understand it or not whether it's
  • 00:20:00
    logical to us or not we're all limited
  • 00:20:03
    by that and we can engage in a kind of
  • 00:20:06
    God's eye view criticism and observation
  • 00:20:11
    and
  • 00:20:13
    Judgment of everything we see and maybe
  • 00:20:17
    that's part of what it means to be
  • 00:20:21
    human but that doesn't mean that our
  • 00:20:24
    opinions become Universal
  • 00:20:27
    too
  • 00:20:28
    instead of let's say Gods because we
  • 00:20:33
    might say that we can get inside the
  • 00:20:35
    mind of God we can read the mind of God
  • 00:20:38
    but we
  • 00:20:40
    can't and maybe by saying that we can we
  • 00:20:44
    are
  • 00:20:45
    exposing our own weakness exposing our
  • 00:20:48
    own
  • 00:20:50
    limitation so you
  • 00:20:54
    can you can
  • 00:20:57
    dismiss this work as a lot of things it
  • 00:21:00
    is I think in a lot of ways as we have
  • 00:21:04
    seen
  • 00:21:06
    uh Vol trying to you know bring this
  • 00:21:10
    plane in for a landing I uh I started
  • 00:21:13
    off riding this story and I got to come
  • 00:21:15
    up with an ending but I got to beep up
  • 00:21:17
    the middle a little first so you know
  • 00:21:19
    how am I doing I'm just going to Vamp
  • 00:21:21
    for a little while there is that
  • 00:21:24
    performative aspect of it uh but I think
  • 00:21:28
    there is a larger plan going on here
  • 00:21:31
    whether or not it was ever intentional
  • 00:21:33
    you can go and research voler and find
  • 00:21:35
    he wrote an awful lot of letters in his
  • 00:21:37
    life uh you can certainly go into his uh
  • 00:21:42
    his
  • 00:21:43
    individual uh thoughts on matters and
  • 00:21:46
    try and construct a rationale for why he
  • 00:21:48
    created all this and lots of Scholars
  • 00:21:49
    have have and you know more power to you
  • 00:21:52
    go for
  • 00:21:54
    it but I don't really care what he wants
  • 00:21:58
    I am looking at
  • 00:22:00
    this book as a whole and these chapters
  • 00:22:04
    uh uh in in the second half more
  • 00:22:08
    specifically and saying what sense can I
  • 00:22:11
    make out of them it's not the logic it's
  • 00:22:15
    my logic it's not the universal it's the
  • 00:22:19
    individual but
  • 00:22:21
    maybe my logic maybe my reading my
  • 00:22:25
    interpretation my sense of it
  • 00:22:30
    can have some validity for somebody else
  • 00:22:33
    maybe if I develop an idea about this
  • 00:22:36
    maybe I can make
  • 00:22:39
    that mean something for somebody else in
  • 00:22:43
    some other realm even now sure the uh
  • 00:22:48
    the obvious thing is here I can say that
  • 00:22:51
    well in these chapters in the return to
  • 00:22:54
    Europe voler means this and just have X
  • 00:22:57
    and and uh or the book means this more
  • 00:23:01
    the book than Vol I don't really care
  • 00:23:02
    about voler but I can say that and
  • 00:23:05
    somebody else can say you know if I
  • 00:23:07
    publish that in a paper and it gets read
  • 00:23:09
    by other academics they can come along
  • 00:23:11
    and say oh well that's very interesting
  • 00:23:13
    they wouldn't say that about me I'm an
  • 00:23:15
    idiot but maybe they would maybe they'd
  • 00:23:17
    say something like that and maybe they'd
  • 00:23:19
    riff off that and take their own opinion
  • 00:23:22
    and it would just lead to a chain
  • 00:23:24
    reaction of people developing ideas of
  • 00:23:26
    what this book or what these chter in
  • 00:23:28
    this book mean maybe I don't care but
  • 00:23:33
    more importantly much more importantly
  • 00:23:36
    is the idea that by generating these
  • 00:23:40
    thoughts by seeing how this one object
  • 00:23:45
    this story this
  • 00:23:49
    narrative is moving people is creating
  • 00:23:54
    its own little
  • 00:23:56
    world well
  • 00:23:58
    maybe other people can get ideas for
  • 00:24:01
    that
  • 00:24:02
    certainly other writers can come along
  • 00:24:05
    and saywell okay um I'm not so crazy
  • 00:24:08
    about this aspect of the book or that
  • 00:24:09
    aspect of the book but there are certain
  • 00:24:11
    things in there that I can go with and
  • 00:24:14
    maybe I'll go and just take that basic
  • 00:24:18
    logic of how he is making fun of his
  • 00:24:21
    civilization and criticizing his
  • 00:24:23
    situation
  • 00:24:25
    and transpose it to something else
  • 00:24:31
    and in doing so you can see how
  • 00:24:36
    honestly that basic operation not
  • 00:24:39
    necessarily from candid but from a lot
  • 00:24:40
    of works like candid uh
  • 00:24:45
    creates 99% of the science fiction in
  • 00:24:47
    the
  • 00:24:48
    world uh voler also gets credit as one
  • 00:24:52
    of the earliest science fiction writers
  • 00:24:54
    by the
  • 00:24:55
    way another little factoid about him
  • 00:24:58
    very prolific
  • 00:25:01
    men
  • 00:25:03
    or for
  • 00:25:05
    non-writers that ability to think things
  • 00:25:09
    through that ability to consider well
  • 00:25:12
    what
  • 00:25:13
    if this is actually a way of expressing
  • 00:25:17
    that or this is a way of thinking about
  • 00:25:22
    that that analytical
  • 00:25:26
    skill is is not nothing that analytical
  • 00:25:31
    skill is the modern uh the modern skill
  • 00:25:38
    that uh will get you a job or at least
  • 00:25:42
    get you a promotion after you have a job
  • 00:25:44
    that ability to look at something and
  • 00:25:46
    say well what's really going on
  • 00:25:49
    here H if you can figure it out in one
  • 00:25:54
    realm maybe you can figure it out in
  • 00:25:56
    another if you can figure it out
  • 00:26:00
    in this book what are the Dynamics
  • 00:26:03
    what's going on what's really happening
  • 00:26:06
    here outside of all the little fuzzy
  • 00:26:08
    stuff or is all the little fuzzy stuff
  • 00:26:09
    along the way more important than what
  • 00:26:12
    is happening in the big picture is it
  • 00:26:15
    about trying to get to uh find kunig
  • 00:26:17
    again or is it about all this other
  • 00:26:19
    little stuff how much where is the focus
  • 00:26:22
    who who you know what what is the real
  • 00:26:24
    import here what is the real strategy
  • 00:26:26
    here
  • 00:26:29
    all of that can be mapped on to so many
  • 00:26:31
    other things and you can start solving
  • 00:26:34
    problems through your analytical skills
  • 00:26:37
    by just sharpening them a little by
  • 00:26:39
    reading this stuff by thinking in these
  • 00:26:41
    ways and by cracking into something from
  • 00:26:43
    a number of different angles you can
  • 00:26:45
    start to say oh
  • 00:26:49
    well maybe we could do things a little
  • 00:26:52
    differently in my
  • 00:26:55
    realm doesn't have to be literature can
  • 00:26:57
    be
  • 00:26:59
    anything doing things
  • 00:27:02
    differently uh
  • 00:27:05
    historically very
  • 00:27:07
    profitable if you come up with a better
  • 00:27:10
    way of doing
  • 00:27:15
    things well that's what the the most
  • 00:27:22
    successful people in the world do at
  • 00:27:25
    least financially
  • 00:27:28
    successful we can go into you know
  • 00:27:31
    morality and stuff on another case but
  • 00:27:33
    you
  • 00:27:34
    know people who do things better than
  • 00:27:38
    other people are generally
  • 00:27:42
    accorded success financial success and
  • 00:27:47
    so practicing that in
  • 00:27:51
    this is profitable and ultimately who
  • 00:27:54
    doesn't like profit and voler was
  • 00:27:57
    unashamed in his love of luxury in his
  • 00:28:02
    love of the good life and you can see in
  • 00:28:04
    those little uh Grace notes of details
  • 00:28:08
    and Snipes about the uh the Upper Crust
  • 00:28:12
    of Paris society and Venice society
  • 00:28:17
    and how the good life is
  • 00:28:20
    lived you can see
  • 00:28:23
    him completely at home in that world
  • 00:28:30
    both in being able to say well those
  • 00:28:32
    people are all terrible but those people
  • 00:28:34
    are also all terrible and they might
  • 00:28:36
    oppose one another but I can separate
  • 00:28:38
    myself
  • 00:28:40
    out
  • 00:28:43
    and that is a
  • 00:28:48
    broader well that is a microcosm For The
  • 00:28:53
    World At Large if he is painting this
  • 00:28:56
    portrait as he is
  • 00:28:58
    of a world that just doesn't make sense
  • 00:29:02
    of a world that is
  • 00:29:06
    ultimately
  • 00:29:09
    meaningless in a human
  • 00:29:12
    context because we cannot understand it
  • 00:29:16
    we are incapable of understanding it
  • 00:29:20
    maybe it has significance maybe it has a
  • 00:29:22
    broader meaning on a level we don't have
  • 00:29:25
    access to but since we don't have access
  • 00:29:28
    to it what does that mean for
  • 00:29:33
    us all we can
  • 00:29:35
    do is learn to operate within that chaos
  • 00:29:41
    learn to operate between all of these
  • 00:29:43
    conflicting forces and again and again
  • 00:29:45
    and again throughout this narrative you
  • 00:29:48
    see candid getting batted back and forth
  • 00:29:51
    between competing forces in the
  • 00:29:53
    beginning when he's uh in West fell he's
  • 00:29:56
    caught up essentially between opposing
  • 00:29:59
    uh opposing tribes in a civil war
  • 00:30:01
    essentially when you see him getting
  • 00:30:04
    batted around in South America again
  • 00:30:08
    between opposing forces in a kind of
  • 00:30:10
    Civil War uh he is always the guy in the
  • 00:30:14
    middle who's just trying to make sense
  • 00:30:16
    of it all and find a way to survive and
  • 00:30:19
    get what he wants which is really fairly
  • 00:30:23
    simple
  • 00:30:26
    love
  • 00:30:29
    that's what we all
  • 00:30:30
    want and these chapters show that this
  • 00:30:34
    book broadly shows that and if we can
  • 00:30:37
    appreciate it on that
  • 00:30:39
    level that
  • 00:30:43
    level then I think it's worth the hour
  • 00:30:49
    or
  • 00:30:50
    two that it takes to read this very
  • 00:30:53
    short
  • 00:30:54
    book
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