The Adventures of Roderick Random Audiobook By Tobias Smollett cover art

The Adventures of Roderick Random

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The Adventures of Roderick Random

By: Tobias Smollett
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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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?

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Literature & Fiction Satire
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This is a sweet story set in the 1730s & 40s in Scotland, England, & beyond. The narrator is stellar but unfortunately, it’s hard to understand the Scottish brogue & strong English accent of that period; it’s annoying that foreign & classic languages in the dialogue are not translated. Despite old ships on the cover suggesting otherwise, maritime adventures in this book are quite limited.

Fantastic adventure, but so hard to understand 

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While it is a good story, for American ears the combination of dated language and thick accents make it hard to follow at times. I should have read it instead of listening to the audiobook.

Good but difficult.

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The narrator ended nearly every sentence in a breathy voice, which was super irritating. And his Welsh accent was embarrassingly bad, maybe even offensive. I'm a big fan of 18th-c novels, but didn't enjoy this one much. The bawdiness was fun, and I liked learning about sailing life back then.

Interesting Portrait of Precarious Naval Life 18th c

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Tobias Smollett may not be for everyone, but I'm a huge fan and I consider him a master of the picaresque genre. He also apparently was a huge influence on Dickens , but I prefer him to Dickens . This interpretation by Peter Kenny is excellent because he is able to do justice to the many different dialects and character voices and really bring the work to life

Great smollet work and excellent narration

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