Résumé
Résumé de The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
Go deeper: the whole of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
About 10 h 20 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who enjoy rogues and swindlers, sharp satire of high society, and eighteenth century adventure that swings from comic brawls to tender romance.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
A boy is born in a wagon between Holland and Flanders, and no man can claim to be his father. Tobias Smollett makes this child the hero of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom and says plainly that he will serve as a warning. The book follows a charming cheat from an army camp to Vienna, Paris and London. You get schemes, disguises, and a hero whose confidence can leave him open to other cheats. First, meet his mother.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A soldier's wagon gives Fathom his startFree
- 2A charming boy learns to deceive his protectors
- 3With a maid as partner, he turns to theft
- 4In Vienna he plays two women against each other
- 5A forest of thieves teaches him no lesson
- 6Paris and London reward his false nobility
- 7His luck fails and an old friend comes to his aid
- 8The book warns that charm is not character
- 9A loud narrator mixes laughter with sentiment
Point clé 1 sur 9
A soldier's wagon gives Fathom his start
The story begins with Ferdinand Fathom born in a wagon on the road between Holland and Flanders. His mother is an Englishwoman who follows the army of the Duke of Marlborough, selling gin and clean linen to the soldiers. She has so many admirers that she cannot name the father.
She marries a German trooper and gives the boy his name, which becomes Fadom. She then follows Prince Eugene into Hungary, where she robs the wounded after battle. One victim cries out in English. He is Count Melvil, a Scottish colonel, and she saves him because she sees profit in his gratitude.
The Count takes the boy as his page and promises to educate him. Soon the mother dies on the field, shot by a hidden hussar she meant to rob. Fathom, orphaned at nine, now depends on a kind man, and the book asks what a clever child does with kindness.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
About 10 h 20 min to read.Questions about The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
What is The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom about?
It follows Ferdinand Fathom, a charming con man born in an army wagon, as he cheats his way through Hungary, Vienna, Paris and London while his honest friend Renaldo and the orphan Monimia become his chief targets.
Who wrote Count Fathom and when?
It is written by Tobias Smollett. The story takes place in the eighteenth century.
Why is Fathom the hero of the book?
Smollett says in his dedication that he picks a villain as the central figure on purpose. Showing vice defeated is meant to warn the inexperienced, while a virtuous character is set against him for contrast.
Is Count Fathom a true story?
No, it is a made up story, though it draws on real places, wars and customs of its time. The Hungarian campaigns, Paris society, London lawsuits and Tunbridge spa all feel familiar from real eighteenth century life.
Is Count Fathom easy to read?
The story moves in short chapters full of schemes, duels, hiding places and comic speeches. The adventures unfold chapter by chapter, so you can pick up the thread easily and enjoy the narrator's lively, joking voice.