Samuel Johnson discussed in library's Brown Bag series

The praises heaped upon the writings of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) are mountainous.

Those who attended the lunchtime book group, Brown Bags and Books, offered monthly at the Saline County Library, heard Dr. Shawn Smith of the Humanities Department at Southeastern Illinois College recap "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," one of Johnson's better known books. It was published in 1759. It is a story about a fictional prince and his teacher's search for happiness. The pair starts out from Happy Valley in Abyssinia where "pleasure has ceased to please" and it dissects the many dead ends that people choose to achieve happiness. He and his teacher learn that happiness is elusive.

Philosophy, which Smith specializes in, takes a hard hit from Johnson's pen.

"While you are looking for the path to happiness, you neglect to live," is a Johnson quote on the subject.

After examining many possible paths, Rasselas and his teacher Imlac, come to the conclusion that happiness is found by living with the awareness that pain is always a part of the total picture and human frailty cannot be avoided or denied.

The last chapter is titled "The Conclusion: in which nothing is concluded." At one point Johnson labels planners of utopian societies, "speculators who endeavor to make everyone perfectly happy yet make everyone miserable."

Smith said that Johnson, a very successful writer in his time, was always sheltering unfortunates under his roof and would support them for years when necessary.

Another quote attributed to Johnson, "How a culture treats its poor is the hallmark of civilization."

Smith said that Johnson married a woman 20 years his senior and showed more interest in his literary life than in romance. Linda Clemmons said that next month's lunch gathering would consider the work of William Faulkner.