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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin Classics)
 
 
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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Laurence Sterne (Author), Melvyn New (Introduction) "I Wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded..." (more)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 720 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; Rev Ed edition (27 Mar 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141439777
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141439778
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Key Critics > Ricks, Christopher
    #5 in  Books > Fiction > By Period > 16th to 18th Century > Sterne, Laurence

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Product Description

Product Description
Laurence Sterne's great masterpiece of bawdy humour and rich satire defies any attempt to categorize it. Part novel, part digression, its gloriously disordered narrative interweaves the birth and life of the unfortunate 'hero' Tristram Shandy, the eccentric philosophy of his father Walter, the amours and military obsessions of Uncle Toby, and a host of other characters.

About the Author
Laurence Sterne (1713-68) was a clergyman. The Life of Tristram Shandy made him a celebrity and he was lavishly feted when he visited London. During the latter years of his life he alternated between there and recuperative continental travels. Melvyn and Joan New teach at the University of Florida.
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First Sentence
I Wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me;1 had they duly consider'd how much depended upon what they were then doing;-that not only the production of a rational Being was concern'd in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature2 of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;-and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours3 and dispositions which were then uppermost:- Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,-I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that, in which the reader is likely to see me. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A postmodern tale, 3 April 2007
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
A line from the movie "adaptation" put it best: this was a postmodern novel before there was any modernism to be post to.

Simply put, Laurence Sterne threw out all the literary conventions of what a novel should be and how it should be arranged, a few hundred years before more recent writers like Calvino, Joyce and Danielewski did. The result is "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman," a gloriously rambling, richly entertaining sort-of-novel.

"I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me." So begins Tristram, who starts his life story with his "begetting," and attempts to tell the story of his birth and life, as well as the descriptions of relatives -- his lovable uncle Toby, his eccentric dad, his patient mother (who's in labor for most of the book).

But as he tries to tell us about his life, Tristram keeps getting sidetracked by all the stories that surround him -- his uncle's romance with the Widow Wadman and the war in which he received a nasty wound in a sensitive spot, the French, the doctor who delivered him, letters in multiple languages, the parson, the personal history of the midwife, and what curses are appropriate for what occasions.

Most novels are pretty straightforward -- they have a beginning, a middle and an end. But "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" totally ignores that, by having a beginning that lasts for the whole book, dozens of "middles," and no real end (it just stops at a suitable spot). All of this is without a real structure.

And he took this postmodern, break-all-the-rules mentality all the way, by including odd little illustrations -- when speaking of the death of Parson Yorick, Sterne includes a black page. Random empty pages. Asterisks instead of important paragraphs. And a bunch of squiggly lines to demonstrate precisely how the narratives in previous chapters looked.

At first glance, Sterne's writing style was pretty typical of his period -- detailed, somewhat formal in tone, and very talky. It takes a little while for Tristram to start dipping out of of his narrative -- at one point, he starts interrupting himself in midsentence. By the middle of the book, he's completely lost control of his own story.

And he twisted it around with lots of bawdy humor (such as poor Uncle Toby's groin injury, which causes quite a few problems), and the continuous comic stumbles of all the characters. On the subject of his own name, Tristram describes his dad's reaction: "Melancholy dissyllable of sound! which to his ears was unison to Nincompoop, and every name vituperative under heaven.")

Life is too rich to be encapsulated in a single story -- that's the problem with "Tristram Shandy," whose story is a classic comic delight of premodernist-postmodern skill.
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great value for its sheer scholarly copiousness!, 13 Jun 2001
By T. Gambrell "Brellers" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman: Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
What Laurence Sterne has given us in 'Tristram Shandy' is a landmark piece of prose writing, and what Penguin have done is to re-package that in an edition of equal status. The text follows the established 'Florida' edition of Sterne's work, and the editor Melvin New is right to acknowledge the scholarly importance of Christopher Ricks introduction to the previous Penguin edition, hence it is reprinted here along with New's up to date and equally copious editor's introduction. Thus we have two critical essays by major scholars covering much of what has been written and said about 'Tristram Shandy' for the last 50 years or so. Add to that a glossary and over a hundred pages of notes and annotations to clarify the text's obscurities and references and you've already got more than your money's worth before you've got to the text proper. And what a text too. It isn't by any means to everyone's taste, and some may think it a complete waste of six hundred-odd pages, but herein lies its charm. Yes, it doesn't really get anywhere, and yes it does do odd things like printing squiggly lines and black pages, but it is just this breaking of convention and questioning of novel writing that gives it its power - and humour. It has long been established that what Postmodern authors have been praised for in the last 30 years or so Sterne was doing in the 1760s. And here it is displayed with such exuberance and wit. This is a very funny book, even now, over 300 years later, and it is easy to see how it caused such a stir in a society which was rapidly becoming affected and prudish, with its sexual innuendo. A must for scholars and lovers of Eighteenth Century writing, humour and curiosities. Incredible value and not to be missed.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent edition, 22 Oct 2005
The vast number of the allusions in 'Tristram Shandy' to all sorts of subjects make it very difficult for a reader to appreciate the novel on its own. Subsequently this edition is invaluable to students &c who want some idea of what Sterne is actually talking about half the time - the notes are excellent and so is Ricks' introduction.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Before Its Time
This is an excellent read and a landmark in literature written well before its time. Although the language has similarities with those of its day such as Fielding and even Samuel... Read more
Published 2 months ago by I. M. Knight

1.0 out of 5 stars couldn't make head nor tail of it
was so excited when i bought this, was expecting another comic genius such as "Pickwick"...but i couldn't understand a word
just as i thought i was beginning to follow it,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by jesus' girl

5.0 out of 5 stars A genuinely hilarious and rewarding read
At a cursory glance, Sterne's book appears to be a novel in the traditional sense; an in-depth character study of a central protagonist. Read more
Published 8 months ago by N. Barker

1.0 out of 5 stars The book's great, this edition isn't!
Giving Tristram Shandy a 1-star review makes me shudder, but I feel it's imperative that everyone knows this edition comes without -any- notes. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. Robert J. Berry

5.0 out of 5 stars A wandering rambling classic
This book was published in the mid eighteenth century but shows so much warm insight into humanity and the oddness of people's eccentricities that it is practically timeless. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andrew Bleach

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest of comic novels
Dr Johnson famously said of this book, "Nothing odd will do long - Tristram Shandy did not last." Well, even the good doctor could err. Read more
Published 16 months ago by William Podmore

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest book ever written
The augustan enlightenment period of English literature is one of my least favourite; I do not enjoy Dr Johnson, Thomas Gray, and Defoe isn't a great novelist. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2003 by daddy_p_buckley

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant and witty
The humour may have aged but nothing has altered the unusual and humourous relationship that 'Tristram' creates with the reader. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2001 by 1indigo.ripcord1@mailcity.com

1.0 out of 5 stars Drivel that is trying too hard to shock and be humourous
I was eagerly looking forward to read this since it was meant to break out of the mould of novel writing. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars 18th Century Magic Realism
And they say James Joyce is difficult! Laurence Sterne tale, which was published originally as a periodical, tells the story of Tristram Shady's forefathers, his birth and life... Read more
Published on 17 Nov 1999

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