Denise Bonhomme

What Voltaire Tries to Tell Us, Volume I : the Esoteric Substance of Voltairian Thought Denise Bonhomme 2nd edition

The main focus of this daring study is the veiled message concealed in the trilogy consisting of Zadig, Candide and LIngénu. Micromégas, Le Mondain and the Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon are also examined esoterically. The Voltairian contraband which is the core of those writings was too explosive for overt publication during the lifetime of the author. More dangerous to reveal than his well-known, subversive socio-political views was the spiritual source of his militancy. Accordingly, his veiled message was meant for the general reading public of the future. But it never went unnoticed by other literary smugglers. Hints and clues to the presence of hidden material are many. Zadig, for instance, is described by its author as a story that says more than it seems to say, a massive understatement. Voltaire is only one star in a spectacular constellation of similarly inspired writers. Among such luminaries are Rabelais, Vigny, Ibsen, Proust, Sinclair Lewis and Saint-Exupéry. In the words of Marcel Proust, the great writers have never done but one workLeads are given to encourage the esoteric exploration of the vast domain of esoteric literature. An esoteric Glossary is included in this book.