UNESCO Representative Literature, Voltaire's Plays

I read Mariano Azuela's novel of the Mexican revolution, The Underdogs. It was a fairly typical novel of struggle with the unhappy ending of the death of the protagonist. I also read about 25 plays written by Arouet Le Jeune, known to history as Voltaire. The plays are not necessarily remarkable, but they are mostly inspired by classical tragedies. Reading them in quick succession means that I notice the author's fondness for springing a new relationship on characters (discovering variously a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, a childhood dear friend, etc.) Some of the plays set in, say, China, have not worn well. And interestingly, there is a play about the prophet Mohammed, entitled The Fanatics and and containing the revered figure of Islam urging a slave to murder her master, one of his enemies. I bet everyone has forgotten about this play.

I also read an issue of The New Scientist, an issue of Eclectic Reading, and an issue of The Economist.