検索キーワード： 著者 "Tobias Smollett" すべてのカテゴリー

Don Quixote, the world's first novel and by far the best-known book in Spanish literature, was originally intended by Cervantes as a satire on traditional popular ballads, yet he also parodied the romances of chivalry. By happy coincidence he produced one of the most entertaining adventure stories of all time and, in Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, two of the greatest characters in fiction.

The Adventures of Roderick Random is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1748. It is partially based on Smollett's experience as a naval-surgeon’s mate in the Royal Navy, especially during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741.

Written as the letters of the five members of Squire Bramble's household sent as they journey around Britain, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker is a grouchy, very funny examination of how one story varies depending on who's doing the telling. The tale is centered around the arrival of Mr. Clinker into the otherwise uneventful household, who never speaks and does not even enter the novel until a third of the way through.

Matthew Bramble, a gout-ridden misanthrope, travels Britain with his nephew, niece, spinster sister, and man-servant, the trusty Humphry Clinker. In poor health, Bramble sees the world as one of degeneracy and raucous overcrowding, and will not hesitate to let his companions know his feelings on the matter. Peopled with pimps, drunkards, decadents, and con-men, Humphrey Clinker displays Smollett's ferociously pessimistic view of mankind, and his belief that the luxury of 18th-century English existence was the enemy of sense and sobriety.

Die Mutter des Protagonisten hat während der Schwangerschaft einen Traum. Sie "kam mit einem Tennisball nieder, und der Teufel, der zu ihrem äußersten Entsetzen Hebammenstelle vertrat, schlug denselben so heftig mit einem Tennisschläger, dass sie ihn augenblicklich aus dem Gesichte verlor. Über diesen Verlust ihrer Erstgeburt war sie eine Zeitlang untröstlich; endlich kehrte der Ball mit der Heftigkeit wieder zu ihr zurück, mit welcher er verschwunden war, und fuhr unter ihren Füßen in die Erde. Unmittelbar darauf schoss ein schöner Baum voller Blüten auf, deren Geruch auf ihre Nerven so mächtig wirkte, dass sie erwachte."