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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/968863.The_Complete_Roderick?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Complete Roderick" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1179887509m/968863.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/968863.The_Complete_Roderick?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Complete Roderick</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/114371.John_Sladek">John Sladek</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19048519?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>This book reminded me of two other novels: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.  Sladek has a lot of the same sensibilities as Vonnegut as a writer.  They're both great at dark/black humor and they both seemed interested in fake religions, of which this book contains many.  It reminded me of Heinlein's novel because of the use of religious matter and an alien entity (in this case a robot pretending to be human) who is introduced into our society and has to make sense of it.
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<br/>Roderick the robot provides Sladek the perfect vantage point to evaluate the mankind in a nearly objective fashion.  This novel is funny, but it is pretty dark in its overall themes, such as the absurdity of life and the inability to find a purpose in said absurd life.  Sladek does a good job providing many view points on the idea of what makes an entity human or at least a worthwhile, thinking creature, through his use of various religions and philosophical view points.
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<br/>This novel really does a good job of progressing an absurdist view and Sladek does some interesting things with his prose, such as providing Roderick's stream of consciousness, which is fairly entertaining in his naive state.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1038105?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Sam's review
rating:
bookshelves: science-fiction
recommended for: People who like Vonnegut or Robots

This book reminded me of two other novels: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Sladek has a lot of the same sensibilities as Vonnegut as a writer. They're both great at dark/black humor and they both seemed interested in fake religions, of which this book contains many. It reminded me of Heinlein's novel because of the use of religious matter and an alien entity (in this case a robot pretending to be human) who is introduced into our society and has to make sense of it.

Roderick the robot provides Sladek the perfect vantage point to evaluate the mankind in a nearly objective fashion. This novel is funny, but it is pretty dark in its overall themes, such as the absurdity of life and the inability to find a purpose in said absurd life. Sladek does a good job providing many view points on the idea of what makes an entity human or at least a worthwhile, thinking creature, through his use of various religions and philosophical view points...more

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