A cleverly crafted line of Perl is like a marvelous turn of phrase from a piece of great literature, like a lovely mysterious person smiling across a crowded room, like an inspired jazz turnaround, like...(Well, I guess those other things are great too.)
Yes, it is addictive. I never had that feeling about any other language (although I did really derive a lot of pleasure learning and using LISP many years ago.)
chas