At one point, in this work, a character compares nature to an "assembly of blondes and brunettes," before he is admonished to stop searching for comparisons and decides to leave his mistress behind.  Another section describes the futility of the Russo-Turkish War, which is cited by the narrator as an example of man's capacity to do evil despite his short life.  Earlier, the protagonist laments tha
At one point, in this work, a character compares nature to an "assembly of blondes and brunettes," before he is admonished to stop searching for comparisons and decides to leave his mistress behind.  Another section describes the futility of the Russo-Turkish War, which is cited by the narrator as an example of man's capacity to do evil despite his short life.  Earlier, the protagonist laments that even with a thousand senses he sometimes feels a vague longing, a realization that is followed by a refutation of Father Castel's Treatise of Universal Gravitation and the arrival of two travelers on the northern shore of the Baltic.  Subtitled "A Philosophical Story," this work in seven chapters opens with a description of a young man from Sirius who is 24,000 "geometrical paces" tall.  For 10 points, identify this satire about a visit to Earth by the title giant, a work by Voltaire.
At one point, in this work, a character compares nature to an "assembly of blondes and brunettes," before he is admonished to stop searching for comparisons and decides to leave his mistress behind.  
Micromegas