The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy,Gentleman!!!

[Theunderground]

What a corker of a book!!! The ultimate book about books.
This novel should be read by every student of literature and every book lover. It shows the limitations of literature and words.
The humour made me laugh out loud more than any other book,and sternes' literary prowess,digressive continuity and ingenuity are genius.
Cant praise this book high enough,and im looking forward to completing his 'sentimental journey'.
Monty python eat your heart out.
Criminal that people rarely discuss this super classic...
Also a tremendous rebuttal against idealism,over emotivism,religiosity and intellectualism. The perfect method of satire,neither too harsh or too gentle. Brilliant!!!

[Blasarius '33]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by limitations, and I've run across discussions... or at least mentions of Tristram Shandy fairly often, but I'm in 100% agreement with everything else you said. This has been battling The Sound and the Fury for #1 on my "favorites" list since I read it a decade ago. It's never fallen below #2. It's the only thing I've read where the language consistently awed me as much Shakespeare's. I remember reading about a contemporary... writer? reviewer? of Sterne's who was quoted as saying something like, "I would gladly give up ten years of my life to have extended Laurence Sterne's by one year."

Just thinking of Uncle Toby and Trim makes me smile.

[stlukesguild]

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is one of my favorite novels as well. Perhaps second only to Don Quixote. I have repeatedly cited it among my favorite books but surely there is a degree of truth to the notion that is not discussed in any depth here... worthy of its merits... for the simple reason that few readers seem to make many explorations beyond the 19th and 20th centuries with a few exceptions (Shakespeare, Homer, etc...). The satire, the self-referential deconstruction of books and writing, and the layers of illusion point toward such future writers as Lewis Carroll, Kafka, Borges, Calvino and others who are among my favorites, but also James Joyce... who I find forced and overwrought in his attempts to achieve something similar.

How many writers of the era could possibly have the audacity to have the main character explain that his problems all began as the result of premature ejaculation!!??:blush::skep::yikes:

[mal4mac]

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is one of my favorite novels as well. Perhaps second only to Don Quixote... few readers seem to make many explorations beyond the 19th and 20th centuries...

I would place Dickens and Tolstoy alongside Cervantes - can't comment on Tristram Shandy, though. I must make his acquaintance in the near future. My delvings into the 17th century have reaped great benefits though - Defoe (Moll Flanders!) and Fielding (Tom Jones) being great discoveries and, moving beyond novels, Dr Johnson's essays, of course. The eighteenth century in the UK must have been a great time to be an intellectual, if you had some ready cash and avoided the press gangs - the novels and essays are so funny, and yet deep. I wish I could have been part of Johnson's coffee house set....

[Theunderground]

By limitations i mean that there are some things in life which are very hard to picture purely from words,and this is why dialogue plus action (also known as drama!!!) is much more complete than pure literary works,especially those which are not spoken. (eg books read to ones' self.)
I think Sterne plays on this relentlessly but subtly.
Sometimes you feel when he is going into a big digressive description that he knows he could show you in seconds but he will try to tell you in 500 words,and even after this detailed description the scence remains enigmatic,ambigous and capable of mutliple conflicting interpretations. (with Sterne laughing hysterically between the lines.)
Its like he is 'showing' us that the description of a delicious fruit is not as good as tasting the fruit itself. The paradox is that he is showing us with words (through a book.) the linitations of words.
And his characters like
Uncle toby and tristrams father seem to value their fancy linguistic or idealistic 'interpretations' of events (AKA hobby horses.) more than the experiences themselves.
Finally,as compared to the author he most resembles (Rabelais.) Sterne is far more subtle,nuanced and sophisticated. When i read the Gargantua and pantagruel,though it was in some places the equal and even exceeding tristram in humour,overall it was far too full of gross language and blunt humour,and much more dated and over satirical in terms of theological content.
Sterne top of the comedy novelists without a doubt,and the greatest of all stream of conciousness writers by a country mile.

[Theunderground]

I finished Sternes 'sentimental journey' and perused his other two works.
The journey was an unusual work,but it would be great if more travel books were written from the point of view of emotional interactions with people.
The journey to eliza was unreadable sentimentality.and the political romance was a swiftean type satire.
Most of sternes genius is in his major novel,with glimpses in the others,but very sparse glimpses.

[Mr.lucifer]

I have to check out this novel some time. It sounds fun for everyone from the intellectual to the casual reader.