I have never read a book that fashions itself a satire so devoid of subtly. The concept must have been foreign to Voltaire, as aesthetics very much were. For this book is formulaic beyond belief. Voltaire shows us something he deems grotesque, immoral, unjust, and then goes on to show us that there are people who believe that "this is the best of all possible worlds". Wow, what a keen insight, Voltaire! What a salient point! Well, he must have thought it salient enough to keep repeating it for 120 pages straight. I could practically smell it while reading. It was in the air. That smell of righteous semen from all the mental masturbation. Voltaire is the type of guy to ram a stake up his ass if it somehow could demonstrate to others how virtuous of a person he is. He would try, but he could not do it, because his head is already so far up his ass, when he eats, the food gets confused by the whole loop he managed to set up. At this point, does he need oxygen to live or is the consumption of his own farts adequate enough? I suspect we will never know the answer, but we could guess decently well.