The novel Candide is today a timeless work of art and a classic. Candide, the eponymous hero, is perhaps the prototype of the antihero: gentle, timorous, and totally gullible. The secondary characters are quirky and most enjoyable. Who can forget Candide's tutor Panglos?The shorter work Zadig is the progenitor of the modern detective novel. Both works are indispensable reading. So, "let's cultivate our garden."