The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Adventures of Roderick Random is a picaresque novel following the turbulent life of its eponymous hero, a spirited and often reckless young man navigating 18th-century society. Born the illegitimate son of a nobleman, Roderick faces hardship and neglect before embarking on a series of wild escapades across Britain, France, and the high seas. As a naval surgeon's mate and later a midshipman, he endures brutal conditions, encounters eccentric characters, and pursues love and fortune amid chaos. Smollett blends satire, humor, and gritty realism to critique social injustice, corruption, and human folly. A vivid, often bawdy tale of survival and self-discovery, it helped shape the early English novel and inspired later writers like Dickens and Thackeray.

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The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Adventures of Roderick Random is a picaresque novel following the turbulent life of its eponymous hero, a spirited and often reckless young man navigating 18th-century society. Born the illegitimate son of a nobleman, Roderick faces hardship and neglect before embarking on a series of wild escapades across Britain, France, and the high seas. As a naval surgeon's mate and later a midshipman, he endures brutal conditions, encounters eccentric characters, and pursues love and fortune amid chaos. Smollett blends satire, humor, and gritty realism to critique social injustice, corruption, and human folly. A vivid, often bawdy tale of survival and self-discovery, it helped shape the early English novel and inspired later writers like Dickens and Thackeray.

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The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Adventures of Roderick Random

by Tobias Smollett

Narrated by Finian Silverwood

Unabridged — 18 hours, 18 minutes

The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Adventures of Roderick Random

by Tobias Smollett

Narrated by Finian Silverwood

Unabridged — 18 hours, 18 minutes

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Overview

The Adventures of Roderick Random is a picaresque novel following the turbulent life of its eponymous hero, a spirited and often reckless young man navigating 18th-century society. Born the illegitimate son of a nobleman, Roderick faces hardship and neglect before embarking on a series of wild escapades across Britain, France, and the high seas. As a naval surgeon's mate and later a midshipman, he endures brutal conditions, encounters eccentric characters, and pursues love and fortune amid chaos. Smollett blends satire, humor, and gritty realism to critique social injustice, corruption, and human folly. A vivid, often bawdy tale of survival and self-discovery, it helped shape the early English novel and inspired later writers like Dickens and Thackeray.


Editorial Reviews

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.

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.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940195601553
Publisher: Interactive Media
Publication date: 06/26/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
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