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Roderick (novel)
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{{Short description|1980 science fiction novel by John Sladek}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Roderick, or The Education of a Young Machine | title_orig = | translator = | image = File:RoderickNovel.jpg | caption = First edition | author = [[John Sladek]] | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = [[Science fiction]] | publisher = [[Granada plc|Granada]] | release_date = 13 November 1980 | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] & [[Paperback]]) | pages = 352 | isbn = 0-246-11437-1 | dewey = 813/.54 19 | congress = PS3569.L25 R64 1980 | oclc = 8412449 | preceded_by = | followed_by = [[Roderick at Random]] }} '''''Roderick, or The Education of a Young Machine''''' is a [[1980 in literature|1980]] [[science fiction]] novel by American writer [[John Sladek]]. It was nominated for a [[Philip K. Dick Award]] and was followed in [[1983 in literature|1983]] by '''''Roderick at Random, or Further Education of a Young Machine'''''. The two books were originally intended as a single longer novel, and were finally reissued together in [[2001 in literature|2001]] as ''The Complete Roderick''. It was included in [[David Pringle]]'s book ''[[Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels]]''. ==Plot summary== The title character is an intelligent [[robot]], the first to be invented. The opening chapters describe the creation of Roderick and show his mind (at first consisting of a bodiless computer program) developing through several stages of awareness. Finally, Roderick is given a rudimentary body and, through a series of misadventures, finds himself alone in the world. Due to his sketchy understanding of human [[Norm (sociology)|customs]], and intrigues surrounding the project that created him, he unwittingly becomes the center of various criminal schemes and other unfortunate events. ==Major themes== Though the ''Roderick'' books are in many ways serious examinations of philosophical issues surrounding the idea of intelligent machines, their plot is (typically for Sladek) propelled by energetic [[farce]] and [[satire]]. Nearly every human institution, particularly [[academia]] and [[government]], is portrayed as grievously incompetent (the Roderick project itself is originally an elaborate [[fraud]]), and the growing [[computer]]ization of modern society causes no end of trouble for people—though Roderick is able to turn it to his advantage. A [[running gag|running joke]] throughout is that although Roderick is not particularly human-looking, people are unable to believe that he is a robot or simply fail to notice, and treat him instead as an insane man or a disabled child; but, like [[Candide]] or Prince Myshkin (from ''[[The Idiot]]''), he never complains and always seeks to please. The story is also peppered with Sladek's usual [[pun]]s and word games, and satirical jabs at other science fiction themes, particularly [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[Three Laws of Robotics]]. ==External links== * {{isfdb title|id=1287|title=Roderick or The Education of a Young Machine}} * {{isfdb title|id=1288|title=Roderick at Random}} (Not to be confused with Roderick Random, a [[Middle Ages]] novel by [[Tobias Smollett]]) *[http://rodericke.com/complete-roderick Complete Roderick] * [http://errorbar.net/nits/Roderick Annotations for ''Roderick'' and ''Roderick at Random'' at Nitbar] [[Category:1980 British novels]] [[Category:British science fiction novels]] [[Category:1980 science fiction novels]] [[Category:Fictional robots]] {{1980s-sf-novel-stub}}
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