Tristram Shandy

[king_pellinor]

I picked up a copy of this at Spanfest the other day, it being one of those books I keep feeling I ought to have read.  Well, it all depends on what one means by "ought", I suppose - and I further suppose that "ought" is a bit of a confusing word to use anyway, as it could mean "nothing", suggesting no obligation of any kind (though that would more normally be "nought" - apart from the fact that I'm falling into archaisms all the time reading it).  Rather as I found myself doing back in the year 92 (when it was also 1578), come to think of it - coincidentally in, or rather after, Kentwell, just as Spanfest was - although coincidence is a funny thing and perhaps should be taken as granted.  Anyway, "ought" suggests a debt somewhere, and although a debt is in a way a deficiency, I'm not sure a deficiency (in the reading of well-known works of literature - though given the expansion of the corpus since 1760 or whenever it was one has to be careful about choosing one's sample to determine the quantity, and indeed the quality, of the public knowledge that one is comparing to), sorry, as I say, a deficiency in this manner is probably not really a debt.  Hence "ought" is perhaps inappropriate.  Actually, was it '91? No, I'm fairly sure it was '92 as that was my particularly busy summer vacation - that of the not actually sleeping in a bed for three months until I finally got home after Trinity in mid-September, only to be woken at 7.30 in the morning of the first comfortable night for, as I say, about three months by a cry from my father of "Are you going to be in that pit all day?" - which, to be honest, I resented slightly.  Speaking of my father...

Perhaps that should be kept for a later post, come to think of it, as you are probably more interested in my opinion of the book, at the moment.  Well, I was quite pleased to have picked it up  - along with a copy of The King of the Copper Mountains, a book I very much liked when young, to the extent that I'm actually slightly unsure of the plot, the book itself having fallen to pieces years ago, so I know some elements of the story quite well and some not at all.  I do find it hard to avoid thinking of bees when I come across the word "burnished", which is nice in a way but unhelpful when one starts humming "bur, bur, burnished, hooves of burnished gold" during someone else's conversation.  I'm not sure where to rank it next to A Fly Went By, which is more of a poetical picture book and so hard to compare - though coincidentally (that word again! Conspiracy? Hmm) I have also acquired a copy of that recently - thank you, LadyofAstolat - though it seems to have shrunk since I was 5.  I know this is a common sort of thing, and I'm not alone in remarking that books, policemen, houses and so one seem smaller now than in the past, but in this case I do think I have a point.  Of course it is a paperback, where the ancestral edition (also, alas, fallen to pieces - or at least lost - or both?) was hard, but even allowing for such... well, as I say, I was pleased to get a copy of Tristram Shandy as I find it a very entertaining read.  Very much so indeed, although I do wish Sterne  - one hesitates to say "genius" about someone, although perhaps what I mean is the slightly archaic usage whereby one could talk about "his own particular genius" - where perhaps modern usage would be "his own brand of genius", which I think loses some of the meaning: perhaps another case of reverse etymology from moderns who only half grasp the meaning of their better-educated forebears, much like proving puddings, and exceptions to rules - would keep to the point a little more.

Comments

[purplecat]

My sister wrote an entire MSc thesis on Tristram Shandy. It was, as I recall, supposed to be on pre-Tolkein fantasy but somehow Tristram ate up the whole thing.

From what she told me I gather your review is written in the style... ?

I'm pleased though that a non-english lit graduate has recommended the book - maybe I should add to my reading pile.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

It's worth reading, though king_pellinor has taken less time than I did over it, though I was distracted by the notes at the back and the sense that there was no way I could get into the heads of eighteenth century people if I didn't understand half the references. Tristram Shandy is a game played with the readers where one sense one is only getting a quarter of the jokes; but that quarter is a good one.

[king-pellinor.livejournal.com]

The first four volumes are the best, I think. The later ones get too narrative.

Beachcomber, by the way.