The Adventures of Roderick Random

by Tobias Smollett Narrated by Peter Kenny

Overview

Tobias Smollett, in his creation of the Scot Roderick Random, exposes the sheer incompetence and injustice of the Royal Navy, as well as the snobbery and hypocrisy prevalent in English middle-class society at the time. Set in the mid-18th century, this picaresque novel follows the life and adventures of Roderick, the eponymous hero who has been shunned by his gentleman father's family on the basis of the lowliness of his mother's family. Expelled from school, Roderick falls back on his natural wit and the support of his maternal uncle. Embarking on a global voyage, hindered by his naivete and with only a few friends to help him, he pursues the rich ladies of the world in order to rise into the high society from which he was rudely ejected. He ends up twice serving on British ships, latterly a warship onto which he is press-ganged. Where will his travels take him?

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Trollope's tale about Lily Dale, and her love for the calculating Adolphus Crosbie.

From the Publisher

"This is a wonderful and important novel and its present editor who provides us with a very fine introduction is one of the great authorities on the period and author."—Gerald J. Butler, San Diego State Univ.

Washington Times - Martin Rubin

Although Smollett would write other hit novels, his first foray into fiction, The Adventures of Roderick Random, which has never been out of print, is in many ways his best, a must-read for those familiar with his other works and the place to start for neophytes. . . . [T]his superb edition . . . [contains] copious notes and introductory material, clarifying all matters biographical, historical, political and linguistic and explaining customs, manners and diction, providing the reader with everything he needs to get the most out of this not-to-be-missed treat.

Recent Studies in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century - Claude Rawson

[The Adventures of Roderick Random] comes with a crisply informative introduction and explanatory and textual commentaries which give every appearance of reflecting the distinction of the editorial team. . . . Like the other volumes in the series, it is handsomely produced and delightfully illustrated.

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era - Alfred Lutz

Among the huge number of details [in the endnotes] are enough that illuminate specific passages in Roderick Random or establish interesting biographical connections to make the reader’s effort worthwhile. . . . This is a genuinely satisfying book, handsomely produced and aesthetically pleasing, including twenty-seven well-chosen and clearly reproduced full-page illustrations.

Modern Language Review - Lee Kahan

While they spend more time on the novel’s literary context and reception, [the editors] also devote adequate space to its cultural politics, touching on an array of issues from imperialism to homophobia . . . . the editors want to define Roderick Random as a work that is ahead of its time, not a product of it—its issues ‘less political’ than ‘existential’.

New Criterion - Pat Rogers

This is certainly ‘the most elaborate scholarly edition of Roderick Random yet undertaken[.]’ . . . Smollett was a major talent who appealed to generations of readers and writers, and Roderick Random is up to the very best he ever produced.

Midwest Book Review

A reprinting of a literary classic that reflects on its place in the history of literature, The Adventures of Roderick Random is an excellent addition to any community library collection of eighteenth century literature.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940179009511
Publisher:	Naxos Audiobooks
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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