Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

By Johnson, Samuel

Book Id: WPLBN0002950304
Format Type:
File Size: 158.79 MB
Reproduction Date: 2009

Title:	Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
Author:	Johnson, Samuel
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction
Collections:	Audio Books Collection, Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
Historic Publication Date:	1759
Publisher:	LibriVox Audio Books


Citation APA MLA Chicago Johnson, B. S. (1759). Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Retrieved from http://www.self.gutenberg.org/

Description
In this enchanting fable (subtitled The Choice of Life), Rasselas and his retinue burrow their way out of the totalitarian paradise of the Happy Valley in search of that triad of eighteenth-century aspiration - life, liberty and happiness. According to that quirky authority, James Boswell, Johnson penned his only work of prose fiction in a handful of days to cover the cost of his mother's funeral. The stylistic elegance of the book and its wide-ranging philosophical concerns give no hint of haste or superficiality. Among other still burning issues Johnson's characters pursue questions of education, colonialism, the nature of the soul and even climate alteration. Johnson's profoundest concern, however, is with the alternating attractions of solitude and social participation, seen not only as the ultimate life-choice but as the arena in which are played out the deepest fears of the individual: Of the uncertainties of our present state, the most dreadful and alarming is the uncertain continuance of Reason.” (Summary by Martin Geeson)

Summary
Electronic recorded live performance of a reading

Excerpt
Adventure, Historical Fiction, Literature, Romance, Travel