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Roderick Random
Roderick Random (1748), Smollett's first novel, is full of the dazzling vitality characteristics of all his work, as well as of his own life. Roderick is the boisterous and unprincipled hero who answers life's many misfortunes with a sledgehammer. Left penniless, he leaves his native Scotland for London and on the way meets Strap, and old schoolfellow. Together they undergo many adventures at the hands of scoundrels and rogues. Roderick qualifies as a surgeon's mate and is pressed as a common soldier on board the man-of-war Thunder. In a tale of romance as well as adventure, Roderick also finds time to fall in love... Smollett drew on his own experiences as a surgeon's mate in the navy for the memorable scenes on board ship, and the novel combines documentary realism with great humor and panache
479 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1748
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3362 people want to read
About the author
Tobias Smollett
1,827 books95 followersTobias George Smollett was born in Dalquhurn, now part of Renton, Scotland, to a prosperous family and educated at the University of Glasgow, where he studied to be a physician. Later he joined the British Royal Navy as a surgeon's mate. He was present at the disastrous battle against the Spanish at Cartagena in 1741.
He married a British woman named Anne " Nancy" Lascelles, in Jamaica, 1747,and settled in England. In London, as a writer, he became successful. The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), a picaresque novel - like most of his books - made him a well known author. It was followed by The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle in 1751. But the failure of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753) caused financial difficulties for him. Publishing The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1762) didn't help.
Writing poems, plays, travel and history books, essays, satires, doing translations and even becoming a literary critic and magazine editor, Dr. Smollett struggled all his short life against poverty, he traveled to Italy, to regain his health, but died of tuberculosis near Livorno, in 1771. Ironically finishing his masterpiece, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, a few months before his death.
Charles Dickens was a great admirer of Tobias Smollett, even visiting his grave site.
He married a British woman named Anne " Nancy" Lascelles, in Jamaica, 1747,and settled in England. In London, as a writer, he became successful. The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), a picaresque novel - like most of his books - made him a well known author. It was followed by The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle in 1751. But the failure of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753) caused financial difficulties for him. Publishing The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1762) didn't help.
Writing poems, plays, travel and history books, essays, satires, doing translations and even becoming a literary critic and magazine editor, Dr. Smollett struggled all his short life against poverty, he traveled to Italy, to regain his health, but died of tuberculosis near Livorno, in 1771. Ironically finishing his masterpiece, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, a few months before his death.
Charles Dickens was a great admirer of Tobias Smollett, even visiting his grave site.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
July 19, 2025
A bit autobiographical by Dr. Smollett about a poor boy Roderick Random from Scotland, alone, scared, aimless, naive but boisterous who constantly puts one foot ahead of the other in his journey to salvation...he hopes....Mother dies his despondent father flees to parts unknown, the wealthy grandfather with a missing heart ignores the kid, now without a family as his greedy, hostile cousins resent him, a possible threat to their legacy, not an ideal situation for anyone. Let's be frank, Roderick has a soft soul, judgment not good any sob tale he believes to his ultimate detriment. Thus begins a story of betrayals, foolish wars, shipwrecks, prisons, duels and downright hate and a little love in the future maybe. A natural gift for medicine, nevertheless, studying under a harsh teacher, a tyrant, reluctantly realizes Random is a talented student. Finally, luck strikes, an opportunity opens if only... A dirty lowly job as a surgeon's mate (Smollett was that in reality), the British navy could lift him above penury if he lives. Roderick only friend loyal Hugh Strap he trusts and needs. However, bureaucracy raises its ugly head, even in those days, papers, more papers nothing but the rules will and must be followed as he travels the road of life. Death on a warship isn't pretty, he, his friends Mr. William Thomson, Mr. Morgan on board dodge bullets, cannon balls, falling masts and lethal flying debris,
wooden splinters which kill, bloody carnage on their shirts trying to cut limbs, patch wounds doing an impossible job as the cowardly surgeon hides, the Spanish forces from a fort in Cartagena, Columbia, relentlessly firing. Still things aren't clear the battle is a haze a killing field on water, for all. If he survives, the beauty Narcissa back in England is waiting but for how long? Even the voyage back home can be difficult, ships sink, captain's incompetent, underwater rocks unseen, storms strike, mutinies possible. The writer Mr. Smollett participated in the battle from 1741 and was not happy you can imagine, the outcome didn't help either, but the dead remained dead. An unique vision from the eye of a talented author who observed well and describe it with an unblinking perspective. Having read every one of the novelist seven books and reviewed them that is good and bad though, there are no more...
wooden splinters which kill, bloody carnage on their shirts trying to cut limbs, patch wounds doing an impossible job as the cowardly surgeon hides, the Spanish forces from a fort in Cartagena, Columbia, relentlessly firing. Still things aren't clear the battle is a haze a killing field on water, for all. If he survives, the beauty Narcissa back in England is waiting but for how long? Even the voyage back home can be difficult, ships sink, captain's incompetent, underwater rocks unseen, storms strike, mutinies possible. The writer Mr. Smollett participated in the battle from 1741 and was not happy you can imagine, the outcome didn't help either, but the dead remained dead. An unique vision from the eye of a talented author who observed well and describe it with an unblinking perspective. Having read every one of the novelist seven books and reviewed them that is good and bad though, there are no more...
November 6, 2014
Money Makes the World Go Round, and It Might Even Bring About Some Marriages
Oh, what ups and downs, what periods of joy, enthusiasm, high hopes, and then what vales of languishing interest, of gnarly monotony and wearying spirits! In case you may be wondering, I’m not yet talking of the life of Roderick Random himself, to which these oppositions may undoubtedly be applied as well, but of my reading experience of Tobias Smollett’s first novel, which nowadays goes by the title of The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748). There were nights when I would sit and devour chapter after chapter, especially after the eponymous hero has been pressed into navy service and suffers from the tyranny of a high-handed captain and an under-handed, obsequious surgeon, but then there were also nights when sleep was the more attractive option in comparison to reading about the perfections and the discretion of Narcissa and the hero’s going nuts about her.
All in all, though, I don’t regret reading this novel, which was probably one of the sub-texts Dickens had in mind when he sent Mr. Pickwick and his friends on a tour through contemporary England, because Smollett’s no-nonsense materialism is an apt counterpoise to the necessity he found himself under to pander to the sentimentalities and the sense of propriety of some of his readers. Thus, one can bear with the cardboard non-entity of Narcissa for all her blandness because, after all, Roderick is a young man that has his faults, plenty of them, as well as his more redeeming qualities and is therefore able to arouse our interest. The novel is basically about money and how important it is to secure it, and at one point in the novel Roderick is even willing to go dowry-hunting – without the first-person-narrator’s taking this as an opportunity to start moralizing and boring us to death – in order to make his fortune. Money is the root of all evil: It makes people plot against their own relations, resort to theft, embezzlement and fraud, it makes our hero degrade himself in many different ways, but – here Smollett remains realistic – it is also the basis of a life in security and comfort. Thus, whenever Roderick, who does not scruple in the least about living off the means of his rather simple-minded friend Hugh Strap, does somebody a good turn money-wise, he will make a point of mentioning this to the reader.
Roderick Random is at times very sordid in its realism, displaying his character’s obsession with material wealth and with sexual adventure, which may have helped the novel forfeit the good opinion of many a Victorian reader, and yet this is probably why it can be read as a social novel. Smollett’s criticism of the British navy and of the Literaturbetrieb, i.e. the scene of publishers and patrons, is visceral, and in the respective passages he manages to give haunting descriptions of human misery and desperation. Here Smollett heavily draws from his own personal experience. At other times (or rather, at the same time), he can also be very funny, as the following three examples may show:
Yes, even kings eat olives, probably with a view to maintaining the effects of their anointment.
So anyone who is too clumsy but not too scrupulous to go fortune-hunting and prostitute themselves this way will end up in the government? Surely, this is jumping to conclusions. Some of these people will probably also go into Parliament.
Strange as it may sound, but it was exactly his lack of moral impeccability in unison with the spirit of generosity and his ability to feel for others that made Roderick dear to me as a reader even though I cringed at the narrator’s, and possibly the author’s, double moral standards, which exact chastity and virginity from a lady like Narcissa but at the same time allow her husband-in-spe to have a good time with many a buxom wench. Tobias Smollett was a man of his time in this and many other ways, e.g. he does not refrain from using the anti-Semitic stereotype of the Jewish usurer and lecher to entertain the reader, and he also grasps many an opportunity to polemicise against homosexuals, and although this goes against the grain, it does not dominate the tone of the novel but is restricted to some few passages.
I must say that even though Roderick behaves with little intelligence and discretion in some situations, even though he callously exploits his somehow dumb companion Strap, whom he looks down on as his inferior, even though he has a rash temper and is rather inclined to filthy lucre, which, by the way, is not so filthy after all on a rainy day, I quite like this boisterous blockhead because he is human in all these follies and does not wholly forget the benefit of other people – and so, we might not actually want to identify with him, but still we cannot deny that there is some Rodericity in all of us.
Oh, what ups and downs, what periods of joy, enthusiasm, high hopes, and then what vales of languishing interest, of gnarly monotony and wearying spirits! In case you may be wondering, I’m not yet talking of the life of Roderick Random himself, to which these oppositions may undoubtedly be applied as well, but of my reading experience of Tobias Smollett’s first novel, which nowadays goes by the title of The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748). There were nights when I would sit and devour chapter after chapter, especially after the eponymous hero has been pressed into navy service and suffers from the tyranny of a high-handed captain and an under-handed, obsequious surgeon, but then there were also nights when sleep was the more attractive option in comparison to reading about the perfections and the discretion of Narcissa and the hero’s going nuts about her.
All in all, though, I don’t regret reading this novel, which was probably one of the sub-texts Dickens had in mind when he sent Mr. Pickwick and his friends on a tour through contemporary England, because Smollett’s no-nonsense materialism is an apt counterpoise to the necessity he found himself under to pander to the sentimentalities and the sense of propriety of some of his readers. Thus, one can bear with the cardboard non-entity of Narcissa for all her blandness because, after all, Roderick is a young man that has his faults, plenty of them, as well as his more redeeming qualities and is therefore able to arouse our interest. The novel is basically about money and how important it is to secure it, and at one point in the novel Roderick is even willing to go dowry-hunting – without the first-person-narrator’s taking this as an opportunity to start moralizing and boring us to death – in order to make his fortune. Money is the root of all evil: It makes people plot against their own relations, resort to theft, embezzlement and fraud, it makes our hero degrade himself in many different ways, but – here Smollett remains realistic – it is also the basis of a life in security and comfort. Thus, whenever Roderick, who does not scruple in the least about living off the means of his rather simple-minded friend Hugh Strap, does somebody a good turn money-wise, he will make a point of mentioning this to the reader.
Roderick Random is at times very sordid in its realism, displaying his character’s obsession with material wealth and with sexual adventure, which may have helped the novel forfeit the good opinion of many a Victorian reader, and yet this is probably why it can be read as a social novel. Smollett’s criticism of the British navy and of the Literaturbetrieb, i.e. the scene of publishers and patrons, is visceral, and in the respective passages he manages to give haunting descriptions of human misery and desperation. Here Smollett heavily draws from his own personal experience. At other times (or rather, at the same time), he can also be very funny, as the following three examples may show:
”’There's a sneaking dog! I always thought him a fellow without a soul, d--n me, a canting scoundrel, who has crept into business by his hypocrisy, and kissing the a--e of every body.’ – ‘Ay, ay,’ says another, ‘one might see with half an eye that the rascal has no honesty in him, by his going so regularly to church.’” (Chapter VII)
”Thus equipped, I put on the gentleman of figure, and, attended by my honest friend, who was contented with the station of my valet, visited the Louvre, examined the gallery of Luxembourg, and appeared at Versailles, where I had the honour of seeing his Most Christian Majesty eat a considerable quantity of olives.” (Chapter XLIV)
Yes, even kings eat olives, probably with a view to maintaining the effects of their anointment.
”Baffled hitherto in my matrimonial schemes, I began to question my talents for the science of fortune-hunting, and to bend my thoughts towards some employment under the government.” (Chapter LI)
So anyone who is too clumsy but not too scrupulous to go fortune-hunting and prostitute themselves this way will end up in the government? Surely, this is jumping to conclusions. Some of these people will probably also go into Parliament.
Strange as it may sound, but it was exactly his lack of moral impeccability in unison with the spirit of generosity and his ability to feel for others that made Roderick dear to me as a reader even though I cringed at the narrator’s, and possibly the author’s, double moral standards, which exact chastity and virginity from a lady like Narcissa but at the same time allow her husband-in-spe to have a good time with many a buxom wench. Tobias Smollett was a man of his time in this and many other ways, e.g. he does not refrain from using the anti-Semitic stereotype of the Jewish usurer and lecher to entertain the reader, and he also grasps many an opportunity to polemicise against homosexuals, and although this goes against the grain, it does not dominate the tone of the novel but is restricted to some few passages.
I must say that even though Roderick behaves with little intelligence and discretion in some situations, even though he callously exploits his somehow dumb companion Strap, whom he looks down on as his inferior, even though he has a rash temper and is rather inclined to filthy lucre, which, by the way, is not so filthy after all on a rainy day, I quite like this boisterous blockhead because he is human in all these follies and does not wholly forget the benefit of other people – and so, we might not actually want to identify with him, but still we cannot deny that there is some Rodericity in all of us.
September 2, 2019
Έχω μεγάλη συμπάθεια για βιβλία αυτού του στυλ. Ανάλαφρα, με την πλοκή να ρέει συνέχεια αλλά ταυτόχρονα καθόλου επιφανειακά. Το συγκεκριμένο έχει αρκετά vibes από Ιστορία του Ζιλ Μπλας ντε Σαντιλιάν και Η ζωή και οι απόψεις του Τρίστραμ Σάντι, κυρίου από σόι.
Σε αφήνει με ένα περίεργο συναίσθημα: από την μια σε ταξιδεύει πίσω στον χρόνο αλλά από την άλλη είναι τόσο διαχρονικό που νομίζεις ότι αναφέρεται σε ανθρώπους και καταστάσεις του σήμερα...
Σε αφήνει με ένα περίεργο συναίσθημα: από την μια σε ταξιδεύει πίσω στον χρόνο αλλά από την άλλη είναι τόσο διαχρονικό που νομίζεις ότι αναφέρεται σε ανθρώπους και καταστάσεις του σήμερα...
August 9, 2013
Compared to Humphrey Clinker, RR is a bit lacking. Compared to all the world's other novels, though, it's great. As ever with the 18th century, you need to adjust your expectations: the characters are 'flat,' there's no psychologizing, the plot meanders with little internal purpose, and there's no politesse. On the other hand, there's a wonderful variety of people and voices, there are dozens of hilarious little narratives, and the little satires--particularly, here, the dancing naked philosopher-poet, who ends up in debtor's prison after getting screwed around by publishers and producers--are far more powerful than the so-called satires of our time.
There's also a larger point to Random's adventures. He starts off in Scotland. There's no reason for the travels that follow, except the sort of purpose no novelist could get away with now: Smollett wants to show us the depravity of the entire human species, so Random has to hang out with provincials, rurals, urbans, domestics, foreigners, men, women, nobles, peasants, workers, bosses, servants, masters, criminals, judges etc... If you can think of an opposing pair, Random meets each member of it, and they're both shitheads. Only once he's gone more or less around the world and met everyone can the book come to its comedic conclusion, in which a series of literally incredible coincidences bring Random, and his glorious sidekick Strap, love and loot. As in Humphrey Clinker, Smollett's point is: this shit only happens in novels, the world sucks, and you need to admit that. On the upside, the shit is very, very funny.
Cervantes is obviously a big influence on this book: the pointless, entertaining adventures; the lower-class sidekick (you could easily mistake Strap for Sancho); the rough and ready humor; the complete indifference to consistency in characters' psychology or actions. RR isn't quite as entertaining, but it was Smollett's first book and it's written in the first person. Given those disadvantages, it's pretty impressive. On the other hand, I can't imagine it winning many readers.
An edition that listed the chapter contents at the start would be a good idea; then it'd be easier to skip straight to the best bits. That aside, this edition is a good one--solid introduction, good notes.
There's also a larger point to Random's adventures. He starts off in Scotland. There's no reason for the travels that follow, except the sort of purpose no novelist could get away with now: Smollett wants to show us the depravity of the entire human species, so Random has to hang out with provincials, rurals, urbans, domestics, foreigners, men, women, nobles, peasants, workers, bosses, servants, masters, criminals, judges etc... If you can think of an opposing pair, Random meets each member of it, and they're both shitheads. Only once he's gone more or less around the world and met everyone can the book come to its comedic conclusion, in which a series of literally incredible coincidences bring Random, and his glorious sidekick Strap, love and loot. As in Humphrey Clinker, Smollett's point is: this shit only happens in novels, the world sucks, and you need to admit that. On the upside, the shit is very, very funny.
Cervantes is obviously a big influence on this book: the pointless, entertaining adventures; the lower-class sidekick (you could easily mistake Strap for Sancho); the rough and ready humor; the complete indifference to consistency in characters' psychology or actions. RR isn't quite as entertaining, but it was Smollett's first book and it's written in the first person. Given those disadvantages, it's pretty impressive. On the other hand, I can't imagine it winning many readers.
An edition that listed the chapter contents at the start would be a good idea; then it'd be easier to skip straight to the best bits. That aside, this edition is a good one--solid introduction, good notes.
January 26, 2020
Μέχρι σήμερα πίστευα πως η σειρά Orbis Literae της Gutenberg ήταν γεμάτη από βαριά βιβλία, γεμάτα μοχθηρούς καλογερους και φαντάσματα που κυκλοφορούν ανάμεσα από τοίχους, πολεμοχαρείς μοχθηρούς ευγενείς και αφελείς αλλά καλόκαρδους χωρικούς που είναι ικανοί να πιστέψουν τα πάντα. Ε ναι λοιπόν, οι περιπέτειες του Ρόντερικ Ράντομ, έχουν ακριβώς αυτά τα χαρακτηριστικά με μία ειδοποιό διαφορά, σε αντιπαραβολή με το Μελμώθ, τον Καλόγερο ή ακόμα και το Μόμπι Ντικ, του λείπει το γκόθικ στοιχείο, οπότε διαβάζεται χαλαρά, ανάλαφρα και χωρίς εκείνο το διαρκή φόβο που σε κάνει να σηκώνεις τα μάτια από τη σελίδα κάθε φορά που ο αέρας κάνει τις πόρτες του μπαλκονιού να τρίζουν ρωτώντας τον εαυτό σου «Και αν δεν είναι ο αέρας...»;
Ο ήρωας του Τομπάηας Σμόλετ, είναι ο Forest Gump των Σκωτσέζων, ο Δον Κιχώτης των Χάηλαντζ, ο Θούβου των μαθητευόμενων χειρούργων, δε βάζει κακό με το νού του, βοηθάει όποιον βρεθεί στο διάβα του έχοντας πάντα στο μυαλό του βέβαια πώς να πιάσει την καλή, αλλά ο κόσμος είναι κακός, και πάντα την ώρα του λογαριασμού βρίσκεται στην πλευρά του Κογιότ και όχι του Μπιμπίπ, και πληρώνει αδρά, και μαλώνει, και παλεύει, και μαχαιρώνεται, και πληγώνεται συναισθηματικά, και ταξιδεύει, και ξαναπληγώνεται αυτή τη φορά από ξίφος, και όλα γίνονται ξανά και ξανά και ξανά μέχρι πο�� στο τέλος...
Δε θα αποκαλυψω τι γίνεται στο τέλος, δεν έχει σημασία το τι γίνεται στο τέλος, ολόκληρο το βιβλίο είναι ένα ταξίδι μέσα στην καθημερινότητα της ζωής όπου η πραγματικότητα σε πνίγει αλλά η ελπίδα σε κρατάει στην επιφάνεια ώστε την επόμενη μέρα να ξαναπροσπαθήσεις με όλη σου τη δύναμη, σαν το χτες να μη συνέβη ποτέ.
Δύναμη ο Ρόντερικ, δεν το συζητώ.
Ο ήρωας του Τομπάηας Σμόλετ, είναι ο Forest Gump των Σκωτσέζων, ο Δον Κιχώτης των Χάηλαντζ, ο Θούβου των μαθητευόμενων χειρούργων, δε βάζει κακό με το νού του, βοηθάει όποιον βρεθεί στο διάβα του έχοντας πάντα στο μυαλό του βέβαια πώς να πιάσει την καλή, αλλά ο κόσμος είναι κακός, και πάντα την ώρα του λογαριασμού βρίσκεται στην πλευρά του Κογιότ και όχι του Μπιμπίπ, και πληρώνει αδρά, και μαλώνει, και παλεύει, και μαχαιρώνεται, και πληγώνεται συναισθηματικά, και ταξιδεύει, και ξαναπληγώνεται αυτή τη φορά από ξίφος, και όλα γίνονται ξανά και ξανά και ξανά μέχρι πο�� στο τέλος...
Δε θα αποκαλυψω τι γίνεται στο τέλος, δεν έχει σημασία το τι γίνεται στο τέλος, ολόκληρο το βιβλίο είναι ένα ταξίδι μέσα στην καθημερινότητα της ζωής όπου η πραγματικότητα σε πνίγει αλλά η ελπίδα σε κρατάει στην επιφάνεια ώστε την επόμενη μέρα να ξαναπροσπαθήσεις με όλη σου τη δύναμη, σαν το χτες να μη συνέβη ποτέ.
Δύναμη ο Ρόντερικ, δεν το συζητώ.
June 17, 2021
I’m wondering if there used to be something wrong with me, or perhaps if I’ve got thicker over the years, because I took great pleasure in reading Smollett’s ‘Humphrey Clinker’ when I was an undergraduate but I’ve just found ‘Roderick Random’, which I’ve been eager to read for years, a bit of a slog.
I’ve given it four stars because even though it was a little tedious to read its stance as an early novel of some importance means I’d feel rude rating it any lower.
A kind of picaresque Bildungsroman, it lacked a lot of the humour I found in ‘Humphrey clinker’, although this was one of Smollett’s earlier novels so maybe he hadn’t found his funny bone yet. I also think the later text benefitted from an epistolary format while the narration of this was rather fixed and dominant. There were times when it was all too evident that the implied narrator/Smollett had suffered the same horrors (particularly in the world of publishing) that his ‘hero’ Roderick Random undergoes.
I’m sure I’ll regret it when I’m half way through, but I’m still keen to read ‘Peregrine Pickle’ which I believe continues certain threads from Random. I’m also wondering if I should re-read Clinker to get to the bottom of whether I was mentally impaired when I last read it or if it is actually hilarious!
I’ve given it four stars because even though it was a little tedious to read its stance as an early novel of some importance means I’d feel rude rating it any lower.
A kind of picaresque Bildungsroman, it lacked a lot of the humour I found in ‘Humphrey clinker’, although this was one of Smollett’s earlier novels so maybe he hadn’t found his funny bone yet. I also think the later text benefitted from an epistolary format while the narration of this was rather fixed and dominant. There were times when it was all too evident that the implied narrator/Smollett had suffered the same horrors (particularly in the world of publishing) that his ‘hero’ Roderick Random undergoes.
I’m sure I’ll regret it when I’m half way through, but I’m still keen to read ‘Peregrine Pickle’ which I believe continues certain threads from Random. I’m also wondering if I should re-read Clinker to get to the bottom of whether I was mentally impaired when I last read it or if it is actually hilarious!
April 30, 2018
Though not into reading this likely drudge at first, it proved overtime a funny collection of foul tricks played at Roderick's expense. The language and amusing use of nicknames prevents it from being a mere harrowing account of misfortunes but turn it into a jumble of errands, sprinkled with wit!
Read in the 1958 Everyman's Library edition.
Read in the 1958 Everyman's Library edition.
December 27, 2019
Ίσως λίγο φλύαρο και αφελές για τα σημερινά δεδομένα.
October 7, 2020
3.5 stars. An entertaining, pleasant, engaging novel about the young Roderick Random’s eventful life in corrupt and violent times. I particularly enjoyed his time as an assistant ship’s medical officer. Roderick is lucky to meet a number of people who are willing to support him financially. Roderick is handsome, educated, a gambler. On occasions he finds himself in financial difficulties due to his spending habits. He isn’t adverse to marrying a woman who is wealthy.
First published in 1748.
First published in 1748.
October 30, 2013
'Roderick Random' was Smollett's first novel, and it is his best. It is a brawling, picaresque romp, like Fielding crossed with Dickens: less polished than Fielding, much coarser than Dickens, but always great fun. It is a fascinating insight into the society of its day, and demonstrates Smollett's intimate knowledge of medicine and of the navy (and of being in debt). Roderick's experiences as a ship's surgeon are horrifying to read.
Roderick is portrayed as honest and true-hearted, which is true enough – he is a likeable character - although the constant series of rogueries and seductions that he engages in (excused by his good breeding and lack of funds) indicate the degree of latitude that Eighteenth Century morality extended to its heroes, while demanding that its heroines retain their virtue at all costs.
Smollett was the kind of writer whose first book was bound to be his best, since he wrote best about what he knew best. His subsequent novels fell off somewhat – particularly those where he relied on his own invention, rather than personal experience - although he rallied strongly towards the end of his career, with the mellow observational humour of ‘Humphrey Clinker’.
Roderick is portrayed as honest and true-hearted, which is true enough – he is a likeable character - although the constant series of rogueries and seductions that he engages in (excused by his good breeding and lack of funds) indicate the degree of latitude that Eighteenth Century morality extended to its heroes, while demanding that its heroines retain their virtue at all costs.
Smollett was the kind of writer whose first book was bound to be his best, since he wrote best about what he knew best. His subsequent novels fell off somewhat – particularly those where he relied on his own invention, rather than personal experience - although he rallied strongly towards the end of his career, with the mellow observational humour of ‘Humphrey Clinker’.
January 25, 2023
Not as entertaining as some of the other novels I’ve read from this era (when a novel really was novel) but still quite enjoyable. The author clearly enjoyed Don Quixote and wanted to make his own version. It mostly works. He shares with Cervantes some actual experience in going to sea which lends an historical shade to the story.
The paragraphs are overlong and you have to wade through a kind of casual sexism and racism of the day in parts but I’ve endured much worse. There’s really only one racist episode but it is very cringey looking back through the historical lens as we are.
The paragraphs are overlong and you have to wade through a kind of casual sexism and racism of the day in parts but I’ve endured much worse. There’s really only one racist episode but it is very cringey looking back through the historical lens as we are.
February 27, 2015
My favorite character was Rourk Oregan, who begins a duel with the words, "Fire away, honey."
Aside from Rourk, sheesh. A hell of a long novel, one of those books that scampers endlessly from episode to episode. The back of my edition says, "Along with Richardson, Fielding, and Defoe, Smollett was one of the major eighteenth-century originators of the novel. Rather than advancing the structure or dignity of the form, Smollett contributed a vivid and farcical invention." Emphasis mine.
Random, highborn but disinherited by his grandfather, must make his own way in the world, and he does so utterly haplessly, a near idiot, the unsuspecting target of every schemer, cardsharp, and faux-aristocrat he meets. If he lived in modern day America, he would be falling for the pigeon drop scam every day.
The book ends happily, with Random discovering .
I've never read a novel with so much heterosexual man-caressing. Nearly every chapter involved some man or group of men "loading" Random "with caresses." I guess, like the phrase "making love," this doesn't have the connotation of today.
May 28, 2010
[These notes were made in 1983:]. Although this novel had its delightful moments, I found it rather tedious to get through, the more so since I was under compulsion. The humour is on the whole rather coarse (yes, I know I sound terribly Victorian!) and the general outlook on life a bit grim, for all that poetic justice eventually descends and RR ends up with a pregnant wife. It is the book's attitude towards money which I find most disconcerting - it seems to just keep appearing and disappearing, and no-one seems to have any control over it! I'm perfectly willing to believe that it's a narrowness in my own temperament which makes this book distasteful to me (although I disliked it less than this paragraph seems to indicate), but I don't recall being nearly so put off by Humphry Clinker (which I must re-read). Perhaps Smollett mellowed with age. This early one has something of the "corpses and snakes" mentality of Raiders of the Lost Ark!
February 9, 2010
I loved this book! The story doesn't flow very smoothly, but the humor (sarcasm and wit) makes this book very enjoyable and funny. The "autobiographical" parts are enlightening and interesting.
November 14, 2012
This book was pretty unappealing. The narrative is tried-and-true. A young man sets out in the world to find his fortune. Countless unlucky coincidences, unreliable companions and incompetent superiors beset him. Hilarious hijinks ensue. There is nothing to object to in that.
My issue was with the author’s tone. Roderick Random witnesses horrible things. There is constant violence, rape, war and death. Yet the author maintains a tone of frivolous amusement throughout the novel. Death, pain and suffering are brushed off as minor inconveniences and amusing anecdotes.
The flippant treatment of serious subject matter is not always a bad thing. “Candide” by Voltaire and “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer are examples of stories that are poignant and funny, even when they’re brutal. However, in “The Adventures of Roderick Random” something about Smollett’s point of view rubbed me the wrong way.
My issue was with the author’s tone. Roderick Random witnesses horrible things. There is constant violence, rape, war and death. Yet the author maintains a tone of frivolous amusement throughout the novel. Death, pain and suffering are brushed off as minor inconveniences and amusing anecdotes.
The flippant treatment of serious subject matter is not always a bad thing. “Candide” by Voltaire and “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer are examples of stories that are poignant and funny, even when they’re brutal. However, in “The Adventures of Roderick Random” something about Smollett’s point of view rubbed me the wrong way.
April 28, 2017
Dial "P" for picaresque.
October 18, 2010
The eigthteenth century saw the birth of the modern novel, from the early (actually pre-eigthteenth century) works of Aphra Behn to the later works of Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, Goldsmith, Smollett and many others. The novel wouldn't become the leading form of literature until the onset of the Victorian Age, but to follow its development from its infancy to the more modern forms is fascinating.
Eighteenth century novels are an acquired taste. They have both a far more moralistic flavour and a more salacious tone than their currently more widely read, nineteenth century Romantic and Victorian counterparts. The novels can be dry (Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, which bored me to tears), byzantine (Laurence Sterne's Tristam Shandy, which I just couldn't slog through) and humorous (Henry Fielding's Tom Jones made me laugh despite its moralistic core), but they are all factors in the evolution of the novel as we know it. Tobias Smollett is one of the lesser known authors of the period. He was mainly an author of the picaresque novel, who acknowledged his inspiration by Le Sage and Cervantes, he even published translations of the former's Gil Blas and Cervantes' Don Quichote. The Adventures of Roderick Random is his first published novel.
The Oxford World's Classics edition I own, is edited and introduced by Paul-Gabriel Boucé. The notes Mr. Boucé provides are very helpful, especially to understand some of the nautical terms and theatrical references. The introduction y Boucé and the preface written by Smollett are a bit dry, but once the story starts and gathers pace it's truly entertaining. The text is surprisingly readable. There is not as much old and obscure wordage as you might expect. The words that are difficult are often the nautical terms mentioned above or references to era-specific terms that have just fallen out of use today.
The main theme of the book is money: the possession of it, the want of it and the ways of obtaining it. And those ways go pretty far. Of course this is not surprising in an era where you were either (independently) rich, really hard-working on a living wage or poor; an obsession with money and the independence and security the possession of it brings, would almost seem natural. Roderick's greatest wish is to be independently wealthy, as he would have been if he hadn't been orphaned and disowned by his grandfather. He tries several careers, but marrying an heiress seems the easiest and surest way to attain his goals. His schemes to marry well are pretty outrageous and offensive. Consider the following passage for example, where Roderick makes a deal with one of his friends, Mr. Banter:
And a little later in the story, after Roderick has met Miss Snapper and her mother, he makes a calculated decision to pursue the girl:
Roderick, and most of his friends for that matter, is a cad, plain and simple. This is also illustrated by the way he shamelessly uses his friend Strap. Strap would share his last bread crumb with Roderick, who at one point would rather be shot of the embarrasing acquintance, until he needs someone to pay his way and he takes Strap's devotion pretty much for granted. But for all that, Roderick is still extremely likeable. The book is told in his often humerous first person point of view and as such, his less likeable actions are softened and smoothed a bit, so that the reader doesn't realise their true nature until she takes a step back from the text.
My favourite part of the book is the part where Roderick is at sea. Partly this is because I love old sea adventures and partly because for all his manoeuvering and intriguing for advancement, at sea it all comes down to what he can do for himself. It also leads to the somewhat Deus-Ex-Machina solution to the novel, which provides the "happily ever after"-ending for almost every character. But then these endings are part and parcel of the picaresque and prevalent in a lot of novels of the age.
My favourite line in the book made me giggle because it seemed an eigthteenth century "yo mama" joke:
So is there anything speculative about The Adventures of Roderick Random? No, not at all. It's a straight up picaresque novel, with some adventure thrown in. But it is still a book that deserves to be read. Both for its place in English literary history and for the story itself. It's a diverting read and while not as iconic as the works of Swift and Defoe, at least as good as and far more readable than the works of Richardson and Sterne.
Eighteenth century novels are an acquired taste. They have both a far more moralistic flavour and a more salacious tone than their currently more widely read, nineteenth century Romantic and Victorian counterparts. The novels can be dry (Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, which bored me to tears), byzantine (Laurence Sterne's Tristam Shandy, which I just couldn't slog through) and humorous (Henry Fielding's Tom Jones made me laugh despite its moralistic core), but they are all factors in the evolution of the novel as we know it. Tobias Smollett is one of the lesser known authors of the period. He was mainly an author of the picaresque novel, who acknowledged his inspiration by Le Sage and Cervantes, he even published translations of the former's Gil Blas and Cervantes' Don Quichote. The Adventures of Roderick Random is his first published novel.
The Oxford World's Classics edition I own, is edited and introduced by Paul-Gabriel Boucé. The notes Mr. Boucé provides are very helpful, especially to understand some of the nautical terms and theatrical references. The introduction y Boucé and the preface written by Smollett are a bit dry, but once the story starts and gathers pace it's truly entertaining. The text is surprisingly readable. There is not as much old and obscure wordage as you might expect. The words that are difficult are often the nautical terms mentioned above or references to era-specific terms that have just fallen out of use today.
The main theme of the book is money: the possession of it, the want of it and the ways of obtaining it. And those ways go pretty far. Of course this is not surprising in an era where you were either (independently) rich, really hard-working on a living wage or poor; an obsession with money and the independence and security the possession of it brings, would almost seem natural. Roderick's greatest wish is to be independently wealthy, as he would have been if he hadn't been orphaned and disowned by his grandfather. He tries several careers, but marrying an heiress seems the easiest and surest way to attain his goals. His schemes to marry well are pretty outrageous and offensive. Consider the following passage for example, where Roderick makes a deal with one of his friends, Mr. Banter:
'As they are both utter strangers to life, it is a thousand to one that the girl shall be picked up by some scoundrel or other at Bath, if I don't provide for her otherwise. - You are a well-looking fellow, Random, and can behave as demurely as a quaker.- Now if you will give me an obligation for five hundred pouns, to be paid six months after your marriage, I will put you in a method of carrying her in spite of all opposition.'
This proposal was too advantageous for me to be refused: The writing was immediately drawn and executed; ... (p. 323)
And a little later in the story, after Roderick has met Miss Snapper and her mother, he makes a calculated decision to pursue the girl:
During this unsocial interval, my pride and interest maintained a severe conflict, on the subject of Miss Snapper, whom the one represented as unworthy of my notice, and the other proposed as the object of my whole attention: The advantages and disadvantages attending such a match, were opposed to one another by my imagination; and at length, my judgement gave it so much in favour of the firs,t that I resolved to prosecute my scheme, with all the address in my power. (p. 333)
Roderick, and most of his friends for that matter, is a cad, plain and simple. This is also illustrated by the way he shamelessly uses his friend Strap. Strap would share his last bread crumb with Roderick, who at one point would rather be shot of the embarrasing acquintance, until he needs someone to pay his way and he takes Strap's devotion pretty much for granted. But for all that, Roderick is still extremely likeable. The book is told in his often humerous first person point of view and as such, his less likeable actions are softened and smoothed a bit, so that the reader doesn't realise their true nature until she takes a step back from the text.
My favourite part of the book is the part where Roderick is at sea. Partly this is because I love old sea adventures and partly because for all his manoeuvering and intriguing for advancement, at sea it all comes down to what he can do for himself. It also leads to the somewhat Deus-Ex-Machina solution to the novel, which provides the "happily ever after"-ending for almost every character. But then these endings are part and parcel of the picaresque and prevalent in a lot of novels of the age.
My favourite line in the book made me giggle because it seemed an eigthteenth century "yo mama" joke:
She's a thousand times more chaste than the mother who bore you; and I will assert her honour with my heart's blood!
So is there anything speculative about The Adventures of Roderick Random? No, not at all. It's a straight up picaresque novel, with some adventure thrown in. But it is still a book that deserves to be read. Both for its place in English literary history and for the story itself. It's a diverting read and while not as iconic as the works of Swift and Defoe, at least as good as and far more readable than the works of Richardson and Sterne.
November 21, 2015
Having read Peregrine Pickle, the novel Smollett wrote after this one, three years ago, I kind of realised that, like with Henderson and Herzog, I'd read these the wrong way around. Smollett made his name with Roderick Random and then went on to perfect his style with Peregrine in much the same way that Bellow did, not that I find Smollett anywhere near as engaging as Bellow.
If you've ever read any picaresque novels, you've read Roderick Random. Interminable japes lead to misunderstandings, wheezes, a dice with death or two and enough characters that Dickens, 100 years later, had no shortage of inspiration. There's nothing particularly new here for the modern day reader, and if you want to distract yourself for a few hours, there's no harm in it.
But, as with Peregrine, it does tend to go on a bit, although Peregrine goes on far, far longer than Roderick does. Plus there are some satirical and historical references that may fox our understanding today. The fact that the novel does travel overseas (or at least the characters literally do) means that there are some interesting diversions on the way.
So, an important book for literature and one with some distracting adventures, but not one I'd urge you to rush out and read.
If you've ever read any picaresque novels, you've read Roderick Random. Interminable japes lead to misunderstandings, wheezes, a dice with death or two and enough characters that Dickens, 100 years later, had no shortage of inspiration. There's nothing particularly new here for the modern day reader, and if you want to distract yourself for a few hours, there's no harm in it.
But, as with Peregrine, it does tend to go on a bit, although Peregrine goes on far, far longer than Roderick does. Plus there are some satirical and historical references that may fox our understanding today. The fact that the novel does travel overseas (or at least the characters literally do) means that there are some interesting diversions on the way.
So, an important book for literature and one with some distracting adventures, but not one I'd urge you to rush out and read.
June 5, 2022
Realismo picaresco posticcio
Romanzo (a tratti) godibile e datato in cui al protagonista Roderick accadono tutte le sfighe di questo mondo; prima con una situazione familiare da telefono azzurro, poi testa calda, sempre in bolletta e dall'ormone galoppante, l'impavido scozzese viene bersagliato da ingiustizie invidie e battutacce che lo costringono di continuo a sfidare a duello qualsiasi debosciato o il malcapitato di turno. Dopo innumerevoli peripezie e perigliose attraversate degli oceani, tutti i torti subiti troveranno una giustizia terrena impeccabile, i debiti saranno saldati e il suo valore riconosciuto: il giovane Random saprà dispensare anche generosità e perdono, coronando al contempo i suoi sogni d'amore. Smollett, autore ammirato da Orwell e Dickens, non è riuscito pienamente a superare la prova del tempo; cura editoriale e traduzione da brividi gli hanno pure inflitto il colpo di grazia.
Romanzo (a tratti) godibile e datato in cui al protagonista Roderick accadono tutte le sfighe di questo mondo; prima con una situazione familiare da telefono azzurro, poi testa calda, sempre in bolletta e dall'ormone galoppante, l'impavido scozzese viene bersagliato da ingiustizie invidie e battutacce che lo costringono di continuo a sfidare a duello qualsiasi debosciato o il malcapitato di turno. Dopo innumerevoli peripezie e perigliose attraversate degli oceani, tutti i torti subiti troveranno una giustizia terrena impeccabile, i debiti saranno saldati e il suo valore riconosciuto: il giovane Random saprà dispensare anche generosità e perdono, coronando al contempo i suoi sogni d'amore. Smollett, autore ammirato da Orwell e Dickens, non è riuscito pienamente a superare la prova del tempo; cura editoriale e traduzione da brividi gli hanno pure inflitto il colpo di grazia.
February 1, 2019
I had to quit with 20 pages to go when Roderick Random becomes a slave trader and bemoans the loss of one sailor under his care, and, oh, BTW the ship lost a whole mess of negroes to fever and whatnot. And Hitler was misunderstood too!
At this point of the novel I was getting tired of the continual messes that Random got into by various fools, rogues, conmen and thieves. It always starts out with Random trusting someone and then getting ripped off. Well, call me Random because I feel ripped off in investing many hours to see how Random comes out on top in the end only to find out he is just like the rest of the assholes in the book - which Smollett did kinda do in some of the episodes where Random does the same thing that was done to him.
At this point of the novel I was getting tired of the continual messes that Random got into by various fools, rogues, conmen and thieves. It always starts out with Random trusting someone and then getting ripped off. Well, call me Random because I feel ripped off in investing many hours to see how Random comes out on top in the end only to find out he is just like the rest of the assholes in the book - which Smollett did kinda do in some of the episodes where Random does the same thing that was done to him.
August 8, 2018
There comes at least one point in everyone's life when one stops and asks oneself 'Wait a minute... why am I still doing this?'
That's what this book was for me. Not awful, not offensive by the standards of a lot of historical fiction I've read, but simply something out of which I was getting not even the slightest scrap of genuine entertainment. It's certainly not bad, and a lot closer to average compared to the assigned reading I've gotten in various high school classes - but I'm not in high school anymore, and I have no reason and no grade to motivate me to continue forcing myself through something about which I feel nothing.
That's what this book was for me. Not awful, not offensive by the standards of a lot of historical fiction I've read, but simply something out of which I was getting not even the slightest scrap of genuine entertainment. It's certainly not bad, and a lot closer to average compared to the assigned reading I've gotten in various high school classes - but I'm not in high school anymore, and I have no reason and no grade to motivate me to continue forcing myself through something about which I feel nothing.
December 10, 2025
Roderick Random has the silver spoon snatched from his mouth at birth. His father had enraged his rich and imperious grandfather by marrying a lower-class woman, and was disinherited. Left alone after the death of his mother and the disappearance of his father, Roderick is grudgingly allowed to live in his grandfather’s house and is educated at the local school. Eventually a maternal uncle shows up – a sailor – who takes Roderick under his wing and pays for him to train as a surgeon. So Roderick sets out to earn his living and to sow some wild oats…
I’ve only read one other book by Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, and enjoyed it despite it containing more bawdiness than is to my taste. This one is almost all bawdiness, desperately attempting to be funny and failing pretty badly. Roderick Random was published in 1748 and Humphry Clinker in 1771, so here’s an example of an author who clearly learned his craft as he matured. I’m led to believe, however, that Roderick Random was very popular in its time, which I feel says more about the scarcity of new novels back then than about the quality of the book. I stuck it out to about 60%, but eventually even my patriotic wish to love Scottish classics couldn’t keep me going,
The book’s main claim to fame is that it provides an eyewitness account of the naval battle of Cartagena against Spain. Smollett was there in the capacity of surgeon’s mate aboard one of the ships, as is his fictional counterpart in the book. This section, which comes roughly in the middle of the novel, is indeed much better told and has more weight than the rest. We see the horrendous conditions aboard naval vessels, crewed by a mixture of pressed men and those escaping the equal poverty of life on land, or sometimes punishment for crimes they’ve committed; and officered by a mix of sadistic bullies and effete younger sons of the aristocracy. Smollett shows the barbarism of the primitive surgery available to the wounded, and the Russian-roulette-style gamble of treatment with medicines, many of which were more likely to kill than cure. The cramped, overcrowded conditions didn’t help, with sick men stacked up in warehouse‑like holds with no fresh air and little room to move, and certainly with no attempt at social distancing! Fevers therefore ravaged crews – unhealthy diets, close proximity and poor treatment leading to huge death tolls. And he shows how the cruelty of some officers and carelessness of others meant that these lives were seen as cheap – dead bodies thrown overboard without ballast, left to float until eaten by sharks and fish.
Unfortunately the rest of the book consists mainly of ribald and vulgar accounts of Roderick’s adventures on shore, as he moves from place to place and job to job – bedding women, treating his own gonorrhoea, mistreating his friends, and being generally obnoxious. It is called picaresque, but that always seems like such a lovely word, conjuring up light adventures in the company of an appealing, if occasionally rather disreputable, hero. So I can’t bring myself to use it for Revolting Roddy, I fear. Is there a word for the sordid adventures of a man with no morals? I was so intrigued by this question, I asked my friend Copilot AI. Like me, it couldn’t come up with an existing word, so we brainstormed new coinages, and Copilot came up with one I feel fits perfectly — it’s a squaloresque novel!
Trying hard to find other redeeming features, the best I can come up with is that it shows how Scots, in this very new post-Union world, were treated almost as second-class citizens in England, especially London, where, then as now, so many were driven by economic factors. Smollett also shows how this led to a kind of Scottish network in London, where Scots would help their countrymen and women out of a feeling of kindred. I can tell you from experience that this networking still happens to Scots newly arriving in London – the accent is enough to garner them friendship and support from Scots already there. So it was interesting to see that this has been a long-term historical trend.
The shipboard scenes and the insight into the experience of Scots in London save the book from the ignominy of a 1‑star rating — but only just! Overall I hated Repulsive Roddy and wish I thought he would get what he deserved. But I suspected he was heading for a happy ending – love and money – and I decided I couldn’t face it. Sadly, not one I can recommend. If you’re ever tempted to try Smollett, stick with Humphry Clinker – you’ll have a much pleasanter time!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
I’ve only read one other book by Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, and enjoyed it despite it containing more bawdiness than is to my taste. This one is almost all bawdiness, desperately attempting to be funny and failing pretty badly. Roderick Random was published in 1748 and Humphry Clinker in 1771, so here’s an example of an author who clearly learned his craft as he matured. I’m led to believe, however, that Roderick Random was very popular in its time, which I feel says more about the scarcity of new novels back then than about the quality of the book. I stuck it out to about 60%, but eventually even my patriotic wish to love Scottish classics couldn’t keep me going,
The book’s main claim to fame is that it provides an eyewitness account of the naval battle of Cartagena against Spain. Smollett was there in the capacity of surgeon’s mate aboard one of the ships, as is his fictional counterpart in the book. This section, which comes roughly in the middle of the novel, is indeed much better told and has more weight than the rest. We see the horrendous conditions aboard naval vessels, crewed by a mixture of pressed men and those escaping the equal poverty of life on land, or sometimes punishment for crimes they’ve committed; and officered by a mix of sadistic bullies and effete younger sons of the aristocracy. Smollett shows the barbarism of the primitive surgery available to the wounded, and the Russian-roulette-style gamble of treatment with medicines, many of which were more likely to kill than cure. The cramped, overcrowded conditions didn’t help, with sick men stacked up in warehouse‑like holds with no fresh air and little room to move, and certainly with no attempt at social distancing! Fevers therefore ravaged crews – unhealthy diets, close proximity and poor treatment leading to huge death tolls. And he shows how the cruelty of some officers and carelessness of others meant that these lives were seen as cheap – dead bodies thrown overboard without ballast, left to float until eaten by sharks and fish.
Unfortunately the rest of the book consists mainly of ribald and vulgar accounts of Roderick’s adventures on shore, as he moves from place to place and job to job – bedding women, treating his own gonorrhoea, mistreating his friends, and being generally obnoxious. It is called picaresque, but that always seems like such a lovely word, conjuring up light adventures in the company of an appealing, if occasionally rather disreputable, hero. So I can’t bring myself to use it for Revolting Roddy, I fear. Is there a word for the sordid adventures of a man with no morals? I was so intrigued by this question, I asked my friend Copilot AI. Like me, it couldn’t come up with an existing word, so we brainstormed new coinages, and Copilot came up with one I feel fits perfectly — it’s a squaloresque novel!
Trying hard to find other redeeming features, the best I can come up with is that it shows how Scots, in this very new post-Union world, were treated almost as second-class citizens in England, especially London, where, then as now, so many were driven by economic factors. Smollett also shows how this led to a kind of Scottish network in London, where Scots would help their countrymen and women out of a feeling of kindred. I can tell you from experience that this networking still happens to Scots newly arriving in London – the accent is enough to garner them friendship and support from Scots already there. So it was interesting to see that this has been a long-term historical trend.
The shipboard scenes and the insight into the experience of Scots in London save the book from the ignominy of a 1‑star rating — but only just! Overall I hated Repulsive Roddy and wish I thought he would get what he deserved. But I suspected he was heading for a happy ending – love and money – and I decided I couldn’t face it. Sadly, not one I can recommend. If you’re ever tempted to try Smollett, stick with Humphry Clinker – you’ll have a much pleasanter time!
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Read
February 9, 2025In his afterword, John Barth begins by saying that “among the pleasures of Smollett is that one swift reading does him. He wrote quickly and not too carefully and might as well be read that way…” (469). I had reached a similar conclusion, several hundred pages previous.
The novel begins entertainingly enough, but we soon get tired of the pattern:
“I leave the reader to judge how I relished this piece of information, which precipitated me from the most exalted pinnacle of hope to the lowest abyss of despondence” … next chapter: “meanwhile, my gain advanced to six guineas, and my desire of more increased in proportion, so that I moved to the higher table, where I laid half a guinea on every throw, and fortune still favouring me, I became a sitter, in which capacity I remained until it was broad day, when I found myself, after many vicissitudes, one hundred and fifty guineas in pocket.”
And so it goes I was miserable until I was happy until I was miserable until I was happy until I was miserable until I was happy and every once in a while given that the love of my life wasn't there I try to get laid by somebody else. Smollett directly alludes to Petronius Arbiter in this chapter, and it is very clear that this novel is a social satire. I just found I got tired of it after about 100 pages. It was all right to start, but it continued in that same basic up down up down up down up down up down fashion until I just wanted to put it down permanently.
Nonetheless, it has a few moments. Any narrative which can recognize “the absurdity of a rational being who thinks himself highly honoured in being permitted to encounter abject poverty, oppression, famine, disease, mutilation, and evident death merely to gratify the vicious ambition of a prince, by whom his suffering were disregarded and his name utterly unknown.” (273) deserves a bit of praise. Random does recognize the way the “silly conceit [that he is being seen and applauded in society] intoxicated [him] so much that [he] was guilty of a thousand ridiculous coquetries, and [one might] say, how favourable soever the thoughts of the company might be at [his] first appearance, they were soon changed by [his] observed behaviour into pity or contempt.” (285). Similarly, this conversation, with the woman getting the whip hand, somewhat redeems some of the novel’s patriarchy:
The novel begins entertainingly enough, but we soon get tired of the pattern:
“I leave the reader to judge how I relished this piece of information, which precipitated me from the most exalted pinnacle of hope to the lowest abyss of despondence” … next chapter: “meanwhile, my gain advanced to six guineas, and my desire of more increased in proportion, so that I moved to the higher table, where I laid half a guinea on every throw, and fortune still favouring me, I became a sitter, in which capacity I remained until it was broad day, when I found myself, after many vicissitudes, one hundred and fifty guineas in pocket.”
And so it goes I was miserable until I was happy until I was miserable until I was happy until I was miserable until I was happy and every once in a while given that the love of my life wasn't there I try to get laid by somebody else. Smollett directly alludes to Petronius Arbiter in this chapter, and it is very clear that this novel is a social satire. I just found I got tired of it after about 100 pages. It was all right to start, but it continued in that same basic up down up down up down up down up down fashion until I just wanted to put it down permanently.
Nonetheless, it has a few moments. Any narrative which can recognize “the absurdity of a rational being who thinks himself highly honoured in being permitted to encounter abject poverty, oppression, famine, disease, mutilation, and evident death merely to gratify the vicious ambition of a prince, by whom his suffering were disregarded and his name utterly unknown.” (273) deserves a bit of praise. Random does recognize the way the “silly conceit [that he is being seen and applauded in society] intoxicated [him] so much that [he] was guilty of a thousand ridiculous coquetries, and [one might] say, how favourable soever the thoughts of the company might be at [his] first appearance, they were soon changed by [his] observed behaviour into pity or contempt.” (285). Similarly, this conversation, with the woman getting the whip hand, somewhat redeems some of the novel’s patriarchy:
We continued a good while as mute as before, till at length the gentleman of the sword, impatient of longer silence, made a second effort, byswearing he had got into a meeting of quakers. “I believe so too,” said a shrill female voice at my left hand, “for the spirit of folly begins to move.” “Out with it then, madam!” replied the soldier. “You seem to have no occasion for a midwife,” cried the lady. “D—mn my blood!” exclaimed the other, “a man can’t talk to a woman, but she immediately thinks of a midwife.” “True sir,” said she, “I long to be delivered.” “What of—a mouse, madam?” said he. “No, Sir,” said she, “of a fool.” “Are you far gone with a fool?” said he. “Little more than two miles,” said she. “By Gad, you’re a wit, madam,” cried the officer, “I wish I could with any justice return the compliment,” said the lady. “Zounds, I have done,” said he. “Your bolt is soon shot, according to the old proverb,” said she. The warrior’s powder was quite spent; the lawyer
advised him to drop the prosecution…
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September 1, 2023You wouldn’t think an eighteenth-century novel would make good airplane reading, but you would be… well, actually, you’d be half-right. This particular eighteenth-century novel is highly engaging, with many of the best scenes taking place on board Royal Navy ships as our protagonist Roderick becomes a ship’s surgeon, participates in the Battle of Cartagena, does a bit of privateering, and finds long-lost relations in Argentina. It’s also thick—not as thick as Pamela or Clarissa or Tom Jones, but thicker than your Daniel Defoes—so it’s a bit of an effort to hold up in a confined space while trying to keep your elbows from intruding on your neighbours. And, readable though it is, it does still take a bit more brain power than an airplane book is generally meant to. I liked it an awful lot, though. Hadn’t read Smollett since I was about seventeen, so it was nice to come back to him and find that he is indeed rather good.
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November 1, 2025What is there to say about another laborious account of a young man left to wrestle with fate? Nothing lasting or profound, unfortunately. This time it is a Scottish grandfather taking vengeance on a son who secretly wed a lowly housekeeper, a liaison sure to raise parental ire given the old man’s membership among the landed gentry. The mother dies soon after her son’s birth. The father, in despair, disappears. An afterthought to the grandfather, the child from that mésalliance found himself adrift. Left to his own resources, Roderick Random heads south to England, and then journeys abroad, with frequent returns.
I felt like I was following a cork bobbing on an ocean current; fortune and misfortune alternate in incessant contrapuntal rhythm as Roderick comes of age. A seafaring uncle, the mother’s brother, pops in and out of the plot to assist. A love interest later develops with a woman named Narcissa whose brother, empowered as a guardian, naturally disapproves of Roderick. A reunion occurs between Roderick and his father, now known as Don Rodrigo, in South America. The pair return to their Scottish homeland. I did catch an occasional humorous passage, but for the most part this was a bland slog. Eventually, Mr. Smollett needed to wrap this story, so he quickly resolved Roderick’s future, committing his main character to eternal bliss. The end.
I felt like I was following a cork bobbing on an ocean current; fortune and misfortune alternate in incessant contrapuntal rhythm as Roderick comes of age. A seafaring uncle, the mother’s brother, pops in and out of the plot to assist. A love interest later develops with a woman named Narcissa whose brother, empowered as a guardian, naturally disapproves of Roderick. A reunion occurs between Roderick and his father, now known as Don Rodrigo, in South America. The pair return to their Scottish homeland. I did catch an occasional humorous passage, but for the most part this was a bland slog. Eventually, Mr. Smollett needed to wrap this story, so he quickly resolved Roderick’s future, committing his main character to eternal bliss. The end.
January 30, 2018
This is a wonderful, rollicking story about the life of a luckless orphan up to his adulthood. His career at sea during the age of sail has such depth that Smollett rivals Melville. From humor to pathos, bravery to stupidity, elation to depression this is a life lived without sentimentality and often immersed in the sordid. I regret finishing this book because it was so damn good.
May 23, 2024
Not gonna front like I finished this one. Got exactly halfway through, but I’m gonna move on to some Fielding or Sterne soon. Lots of bed-swapping, swindles, and overturned chamber pots.
September 3, 2024
Una buena historia y bien escrita pero, si la vas a leer, no olvides que es una obra del XVIII.
October 2, 2024
A patchy affair at its best when Roderick is on board one of the ships he serves on.
It's a picaresque novel and therefore episodic, Random going from one happening to another usually displaying little sense and mistreating his loyal friend Strap.
On the whole Random isn't a particularly likeable character which in this kind of tale isn't ideal.
Still, for a book originally released in 1748 it wasn't bad and, until near the end when a shipload of slaves arrive on the scene only to be sold a paragraph or two later in very dismissive style, it was mostly inoffensive.
There are some very amusing sections but not enough for a hearty recommendation although it is an interesting historical artifact.
It's a picaresque novel and therefore episodic, Random going from one happening to another usually displaying little sense and mistreating his loyal friend Strap.
On the whole Random isn't a particularly likeable character which in this kind of tale isn't ideal.
Still, for a book originally released in 1748 it wasn't bad and, until near the end when a shipload of slaves arrive on the scene only to be sold a paragraph or two later in very dismissive style, it was mostly inoffensive.
There are some very amusing sections but not enough for a hearty recommendation although it is an interesting historical artifact.
May 6, 2025
This is a very entertaining picaresque novel written around 1750. I suppose it comes as no surprise how little our society has changed from its roots in 18th century England. People are just as greedy and flagitious and our institutions and leaders every bit as corrupt and hypocritical now as they were then. Smollett pulls no punches in this satire of the English culture, government, military, education, religion, and literary scene of his day.
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