Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759-60) is a long, comic and highly unusual novel. It comes in at number six on Guardian contributor Robert McCrum’s list of the “100 Greatest Novels.” Summarizing the novel’s publication reception, McCrum writes that
“Like all subsequent bestsellers, Sterne and his book became the subject of fierce literary argument. The novel was obscene, preposterous and infuriating, the opposite of what a novel should be. The author was a ‘coxcomb’, a vain and deplorable impostor, deficient in the good taste of a true artist. The notorious Black Page (between chapters 12 and 13 of volume I) was a silly stunt. And so on. Dr Johnson expressed the critical consensus when, in 1776, he boomed: ‘Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last.’”
As McCrum writes, “the good doctor was wrong.” Tristram Shandy has outlasted most of its contemporaries and it still feels new – if unusual. Because, of course, this is no ordinary novel. As indicated by its title, Tristram Shandy is ostensibly the story of a “life” – but it if you’re looking for straightforward biography, you won’t find it here. Instead, Tristram Shandy subverts the conventions of life writing, focusing on the act of storytelling itself and the importance of the cultural and familial contexts that inform a life – Tristram spends so much time explaining these relations that he is born more than halfway through the novel.
Tristram Shandy is preeminently concerned with the way storytelling conventions shape our self-perceptions and our perceptions of others, with the way narratives shape our lives. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Volume 6, Chapter XL, when Tristram attempts to sketch his story as he has told it thus far. Instead of the typical storyline we expect – shaped like an upside down ‘U’ – Tristram gives us unusual loops and squiggles.
Life isn’t neat and tidy – nor are the stories we tell about it. Laurence Sterne and Tristram Shandy recognize this.
Tristram Shandy is long – but it’s also divided into short chapters, a perfect novel for imbibing in small sips. View the whole text at Project Gutenburg, or just look at this one, interesting chapter.
How and why do we shape our life stories, consciously or unconsciously? What is the payoff? What are the risks? Have you ever tried mapping your own life as a line, with highs and lows? What about the stories you tell about yourself? How might these lines compare to Tristram Shandy’s? How might understanding the ups, downs and strange digressions of life stories help you understand others?
Image: Dr. Slop being attacked by Susannah with a Saucepan, [1759-1760], The Wellcome Collection, London, via Wikimedia Commons. All other images from the book’s first edition.
