The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

tags, 18th century novel, humor, satire

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Wikipedia

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, often known simply as Tristram Shandy, is a humorous novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published from 1759 to 1767, in nine volumes across five instalments. The novel purports to be a memoir, but the titular Tristram is an effusive and digressive narrator who begins the story with his conception and does not reach a description of his birth until the third volume. While attempting to explain four accidents in his early life which have doomed him to an unhappy future, Tristram describes domestic conflicts between his irritable father Walter and his gentle Uncle Toby, and inserts humorous discourses on a range of intellectual topics.

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I read many conflicting reviews of this book and just like Ulysses, I tried to avoid reading it. It is a long-ish book at almost 700 pages. I ended up loving it. The bawdy humor, the style of writing and many digressive stories, his father, his poor Uncle Toby's unfortunate accident, fort construction, and love affair. 

I laughed out loud several times at the absurdity of some of the topics his father, his Uncle Toby, Uncle Toby's servant Corporal Trim, the pastor Yorick [alas poor Yorick], and the bumbling male-midwife Dr. Slop, and of course Tristram's four "accidents" starting from his conception, birth, baptism, and the unfortunate encounter with a window sash. Tristram even used his name as a verb, as in tristramed. The part where the household helper Obadiah made everyone annoyed for making a superior job of tying and securing the doctor's stuff that Tristram's father cursed him in so many different ways on several pages, is hilarious. His father is a book lover and seems to consult his favorite authors and philosophers in even mundane things such as a boy's breeches. 

The stream of consciousness writing style, the abrupt and unfinished/hanging end to some chapters remind me of one of my favorite books and it's no wonder I also find this book a treasure. A must read.