Monday, December 12, 2011

Tristam Shandy

1759 to 1767 (one or two volumes published at a time), Norton Critical Edition 1980
Laurence Sterne
The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gent.
Original price unknown, bought used $8.95
A bit ratty paperback
C+


More digressive than A Tale of a Tub, this story is more about the lives and opinions of Tristam's father and uncle, with Tristam not yet born during many critical scenes.  While some of the gimmicks, like a black page to represent someone's death are clever, it does get a bit wearisome by the middle.  It's notable that not only does Sterne, like other 18th-century British writers, admire Cervantes, but he manages to slip in a reference to Candide.

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