The Life of Samuel Johnson

I recently included a “bucket book” in my line-up of books I am reading. These are books I really ought to have read by this time in my life, but which, alas, I have not. This book, The Life of Samuel Johnson, was the first in this roster that I have completed. Having done so, it continues to strike me as a really good idea.

Boswell mentions near the end of the book that those who took the time to read “may be considered as well acquainted with him.” I think this is quite true, and gaining the acquaintance was genuinely rewarding. It was also a pleasure to run across so many of Johnson’s bon mots in their original setting. Despite being such a massive book, or perhaps because of it, this was a truly rewarding read.