A review by rosekk
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne, V.S. Pritchett

1.0

I have tried to read this book several times, and I have finally given in. It is extremely rare for me to encounter a book I can't finish, but this book as proved to be one of the rare unreadable books for me. It's a shame, because I really wanted to like it (hence the multiple attempts at reading it). I like the idea of it, and the descriptions people give of it sound like it should be enjoyable. The actual book, though, is unbearable. I am quite comfortable with old fashioned narration and language - it's not that that I find of-putting (actually, given when it was written, it's language really isn't very difficult to work with). It's the constant empty rambling, lack of plot (or even, for the most part, events), and bizarre chapter division that has defeated me. The attempts to furnish all the characters with descriptive background is admirable, but it's carried out in such a way as to make remembering what's been said about each thing is impossible, because the novel dives down so many diversions it's impossible to keep up. I understand that the diversions are part of the point of the book, and the distractions the narrator allows are all part of how the novels meant to work. The trouble is, for me, it just doesn't work. The way the book tries to make it's point sabotages it's readability, which for me is a mark of the worst kind of literature. Any book where I suspect the basic production of the work has been sacrificed for some deeper meaning puts me of. If something's worth saying, say it well.