Roderick

These are notes for the Roderick novels by John Sladek. Telling the picaresque story of a well-meaning but naive artificial intelligence finding his way in a ridiculous human world, they were first published separately as Roderick, or the Education of a Young Machine (1980) and Roderick at Random, or Further Education of a Young Machine (1983), before being reissued together (as Sladek originally intended) as The Complete Roderick (2001).

• Part 1 (Roderick)
  • Book One
  • Book Two
• Part 2 (Roderick at Random)

These notes are still very incomplete; check back later or follow the "recent changes" feed if you're curious.

The "Summary" section on each page gives away some plot details, so avoid it if you're reading the book for the first time. The rest of the notes don't discuss any significant events that haven't already happened at that point.

Major characters

• Roderick: learning system.
• Dan Sonnenschein: young computer science genius.
• Lee Fong: head of the Roderick project.
• Ben Franklin: assistant on the Roderick project.
• Leo Bunsky: researcher on the Roderick project, presumed dead.
• Allbright: poet and addict, friend of Dan.
• Dora: student, friend of Allbright.
• Helen Boag: Dean of Persons at Minnetonka University.
• Professor Rogers: sociologist, committee manipulator, bad person.
• Jane Hannah: anthropologist with an encyclopedic knowledge of mythology.
• Aikin, Dollsly, Fethers, Tarr: pseudoscience scholars competing with Fong for funding.
• Lyle Tate: Minnetonka dropout, painter.
• Mister O'Smith: bionic cowboy assassin.
• Ma and Pa Wood: elderly meta-hippies in Nebraska, sometime performance artists and inventors.
• Indica Dinks: Machine Liberation activist, former dancer, Ben's ex-wife.
• Hank Dinks: Indica's second husband, friend of Allbright, freelance journalist.
• Mr. Kratt: robotics dabbler and "fun food" entrepreneur.
• Luke Draeger: retired astronaut, Skid Row factory worker.

Other reading

• Wikipedia
• a somewhat negative but interesting review by Andrew Spong