The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia cover

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

by Samuel Johnson

This short novel is a satire on the philosophical stories popular at the time, such as Voltaire’s Candide. A young man is accompanied on his travels by an older wiser teacher, who explains various situations they encounter in terms of happiness or otherwise.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?