The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Collins Classics) -

Laurence Sterne

Harper Collins

2012

624 páginas

20h 48m

ISBN-13: 9780007920723

Hugely influenced by Francis Bacon, Rabelais and Jonathan Swift, clergyman Lawrence Sterne manages to both eloquently champion the literary and scientific views of the day, and to satirize those same idols in the next outrageous breath. The questionable 'hero' and narrator of the novel, the eponymous Tristram Shandy, attempts to tell the reader his life story, but as he digresses ever further on everything from sexual practices, the importance of a name, obstetrics, linguistics, weaponry and philosophy, the reader quickly learns that the path won't be a linear one and gets wrapped up in the author's exuberance and wit as Tristram's ill-fated conception and birth don't even enter the story until Volume III. Encompassing a humorously memorable cast of misfits, including his eccentric father Walter, obsessive Uncle Toby, accident prone mother Susannah, pastor Yorick and a gaggle of other characters, Tristram Shandy's restless energy and modern-seeming wit explain why Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Schopenhauer, Michael Winter bottom and Michael Nyman count among its numerous fans.