Penguin English Library

Synopsis (Credit: www.amazon.co.uk)

Rasselas and his companions escape the pleasures of the 'happy valley' in order to make their 'choice of life'. By witnessing the misfortunes and miseries of others they may come to understand the nature of happiness, and value it more highly. Their travels and enquiries raise important practical and philosophical questions concerning many aspects of the human condition, including the business of a poet, the stability of reason, the immortality of the soul, and how to find contentment.

Johnson's adaptation of the popular oriental tale displays his usual wit and perceptiveness; sceptical and probing, his tale nevertheless suggests that wisdom and
self-knowledge need not be entirely beyond reach.

On the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List.

(Bought second-hand at the Central Library, Drill Hall, Cape Town.)

The book, famously written in one week, is an apologue: "a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson without stating it explicitly". The aim: to find out what brings about happiness.

It is a quick and easy read; enjoyable, if somewhat predictable.

I read the ebook version of this book on my mobile phone.