Rambler 6 'Happiness not local' Samuel Johnson

The sixth of Samuel Johnson's classic Rambler essays, read by David Benson
Published Saturday 7th April 1750
FULL TEXT HERE
www.johnsonessays.com/the-ramb...

[@omarnajjarine]

David your voice recordings of Johnson are a treasure of the internet, I only wish you had recorded more. I listen to them all daily on my walks. Thank you sir.

[@DavidBensonActor]

Dear Omar, that is the loveliest compliment I could wish to receive. The Rambler recordings were a lockdown project that got abandoned. However your words make me think i should do some more. I honestly did not think anyone was interested in them! Do you have any Johnson requests - or anyone else for that matter?

[@OmarNajjarine-jv7np]

Thank you for the reply. I should have commented sooner, I’ve been repeatedly listening to them all for a year! I actually was going to record myself reading Johnson’s essays and upload them because I find them eternally pleasurable, but found you got there first! Your voice and pacing is wonderful. As I’m sure you discovered, there’s a tragic dearth of quality Johnsonia on TH-cam. As far as what I’d like more of - I recently turned 30 and have been reading classical literature for 10 years, and the only one who comes close to Johnson is Thomas Browne. The sheer aesthetic quality and wisdom of Johnson’s writings remain matchless for me. Boswell’s biography is of course deeply enjoyable, but shorter recordings are best. So more of his selected essays - The Idler, Rambler, etc. - would be wonderful. Please leave your best point of contact, I’d love to correspond more about it.

[@OmarNajjarine-jv7np]

TH-cam has been giving me technical problems

[@DavidBensonActor]

Sorry for the late reply Omar. I love to talk about Sam J and hear what people think about his writing especially, since most 'Johnsonians' , I find, are really 'Boswellians' and only know Johnson from the great Biography. There is a fallacy amongst adherents of 'Doctor Johnson' that his writings are unreadable, which amazes and saddens me. Since he apparently spoke exactly as he wrote, his essays are like spending time with the man himself, unfiltered. This is the feeling I tried to give in the recordings, of an intimate audience with Samuel Johnson. Here is my email address - please use it, would be great to talk more on this.

[@DavidBensonActor]

I think you may not have seen my message above - I put my email address at the end but have edited it out as I don't like having it too public. Please leave yours or another contact method, if you get this, and I will respond.