Laurence Sterne
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne is an 18th Century novel that was far ahead of its time. It is a pre-cursor to the stream of consciousness technique that was later developed by early 20th Century writers.
The novel unfolds in the first-person point of view of a rambunctious personality. Tristram takes the reader on a boisterous exploration of his thoughts, opinions, and general frame of mind. He meanders, digresses, digresses within his digressions, expresses opinions, interrupts his narrative with unrelated incidentals, includes interesting tidbits about his time and place, sermonizes, and engages in heart to heart conversations with the reader. In short, he throws everything in but the kitchen sink. He taunts the reader with promises to expand on a certain point and then fails to deliver. He throws in a bit of Latin every so often just for good measure. He can be charming, boring, long-winded, and laugh-out-loud funny. In his depiction of Uncle Toby, he has given us one of the most loveable characters in literature.
Don’t expect a plot because there isn’t one. Don’t expect a logical sequence of events because you will be disappointed. And don’t expect closure because you won’t find it. But what you will get instead is a delightful romp through an 18th Century mind that is educated, opinionated, intelligent, witty, playful, eccentric, philosophical, unconventional, quick to discern and to poke gentle fun at the foibles of human nature, kind-spirited, charming, with a well-developed sense of irony, and a great sense of humor that veers toward the bawdy.
This book isn’t for everyone. But if you’re ever in the mood for a delightful frolic through the mind of an 18th Century literary genius, and if you’re in no hurry either to find or to get to the point, pick up a copy of this novel. Just follow Tristram to wherever his fancy takes him. Then sit back and enjoy.