Candide

 If I had to choose a book to save, I would definitely save Candide written by Voltaire. If the reader understands the time period in which the book is written, many hidden satirist comments can be found under a thin veil of naïveté. This book contains unrealistic situations that always seem to ensnare the protagonist and his friends that would never actually happen. An example of such a situation is the survival through numerous ordeals that would kill any other person. For its time, Candide turned its world upside down. Voltaire attacks religious structures, both Catholic and Protestant, which are hypocritical along with the political atmosphere throughout Europe and its colonies. As the book travels from Eastern Europe to Spain and to the New World, the reader cannot help but laugh at the senselessness of the characters and events in the book. How religious superstition overcomes common sense and the obvious truth to the reader. Even the dialogue of the book is of satirist tone. Almost of the characters suffer unrealistic negative events that are so far out there, that even the most empathetic reader has to have a little chuckle.