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A review by erickibler4
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
4.0
This cock and bull story (and I say this with a nudge and a wink) goes on for 689 pages in my edition.
Tristram Shandy, our narrator, promises to tell us the story of his life, and we end up getting everything but. We meet a comical cast of characters: principally the philosophical, argumentative Shandy the elder, his brother Toby, a soldier taken out of action by a wound to the groin, and Toby's faithful corporal and servant Trim. Toby and Trim, in many respects, remind the reader of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, who themselves are mentioned many times in the book, except where Quixote and Sancho seek out real adventures, Toby and Trim are content to carry out war games in their backyard.
The slapstick circumstances of Tristram's birth are told, with many digressions, but after Tristram reaches young childhood, the narrative skips forward and becomes a travelogue of a trip he took to France and Spain as an adult, before circling back to the amorous adventures of Toby and Trim.
It's all good fun and foolishness. But it's a bit long.
Tristram Shandy, our narrator, promises to tell us the story of his life, and we end up getting everything but. We meet a comical cast of characters: principally the philosophical, argumentative Shandy the elder, his brother Toby, a soldier taken out of action by a wound to the groin, and Toby's faithful corporal and servant Trim. Toby and Trim, in many respects, remind the reader of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, who themselves are mentioned many times in the book, except where Quixote and Sancho seek out real adventures, Toby and Trim are content to carry out war games in their backyard.
The slapstick circumstances of Tristram's birth are told, with many digressions, but after Tristram reaches young childhood, the narrative skips forward and becomes a travelogue of a trip he took to France and Spain as an adult, before circling back to the amorous adventures of Toby and Trim.
It's all good fun and foolishness. But it's a bit long.