{"product_id":"the-history-of-rasselas-samuel-johnson-9780486440941","title":"The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia","description":"Simply written, funny, and compulsively readable, this fine little book has been heralded as one of the finest examples of English prose and offers a compelling glimpse of Samuel Johnson's moral views. Dashed out over the course of a single week to pay for his mother's funeral, Johnson's only novel was the outcome of a lifetime's thoughts and experiences.\u003cbr\u003eA philosophical romance tracing the pilgrimage of an African prince and his companions to Egypt, \u003ci\u003eRasselas\u003c\/i\u003e ponders a number of subjects -- romantic love, flights of imagination, the great discoveries of science, and speculations about the meaning of happiness -- all of which, Johnson implies, encourage man with false hopes and unrealistic estimates of what life has to offer.\u003cbr\u003eDirected specifically against eighteenth-century optimism and, more generally, against all simple formulas for achieving happiness, \u003ci\u003eRasselas\u003c\/i\u003e has often been compared with Voltaire's \u003ci\u003eCandide\u003c\/i\u003e -- which was published only a few weeks before Johnson's work. Both novels have deservedly attained the status of classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Samuel Johnson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 048644094X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780486440941\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Dover Publications\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/04\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 99\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.27lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.42h x 5.56w x 0.27d","brand":"Samuel Johnson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43993967886591,"sku":"9780486440941","price":6.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6a07203a-eedc-485c-98ae-f8454d9abe91.jpg?v=1683327342","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-history-of-rasselas-samuel-johnson-9780486440941","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}