The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a novel by Laurence Sterne published in nine volumes from 1759 to 1767. Tristram sets out to tell his life story, but digressions keep him from getting past his own birth for several volumes. Playful and experimental, it is one of the most original novels ever written.
A story that never starts
Tristram begins with the moment of his conception, then wanders off into his father's theories, his uncle Toby's war wounds and countless stories.
He is not born until the third volume, and the book ends years before he grows up.
The Shandy family
Walter Shandy, Tristram's father, has a theory for everything, from names to noses. Uncle Toby, kind and simple, spends his days rebuilding battle sites with his servant Trim.
Their comic misunderstandings and their deep affection for each other give the book its warmth.
Typographical games
Sterne plays with the printed book: a black page mourns a character, a marbled page appears, a chapter is left blank and lines show the shape of the plot.
These experiments influenced writers from Diderot to the modernists of the twentieth century.
Anecdotes
The black page
When the parson Yorick dies in the first volume, Sterne printed a completely black page as a sign of mourning, one of the most famous pages in the history of the novel.
A celebrity
The first two volumes made Sterne, a Yorkshire clergyman, an overnight celebrity in London in 1760.
Frequently asked questions
When was Tristram Shandy published?
In nine volumes, from 1759 to 1767.
Who is Uncle Toby?
Tristram's gentle uncle, a retired soldier.
Which French writer did Sterne influence?
Denis Diderot, in Jacques the Fatalist.