Tristram Shandy (Abridged) Audiobook

" I think if I had actually tried to get through this novel, I might have liked it more. However, I read it for a class and just found it impossible to read entirely in the amount of time I was given. Tristram's narrative is both entertaining and frustrating. His tangents diverge from the plot, if you could call it that, to the extent that you lose track of time and space. That being said, I didn't read it all the way through, so I think upon closer reading it might be enjoyable. "

" What was most impressive to me about this book was how funny it still was some 250 years later. "

" A novel "unstuck in time." At once a paean to the past and harbinger for that which may not have yet happened, this novel defies all categorization. Never has the vehicle of literature been explored, employed, and exploited to this extent. Sterne develops the characters as he sees fit, only to surrender control of the character (and the perception of the character) wholly the reader, and then snatches it back. This push and pull with the reader anticipates post-modernism by some two centuries. Add to that entire chapters left blank for the reader to A) either shout at in frustration or B) ascertain for themselves what developments took place, and you have originality manifest (consider also that the book was published in 1759). Any student of literature (serious or otherwise) must experience this work to have a full appreciation of the development of the novel medium. "

" I think this is possibly my favorite book. Or it would be if I were the kind of a person who could have a favorite book. And I'm not. This is the kind of book that makes me angry at every educational institute I have ever attended for not making me read it along with Shakespeare and friends. And also possibly grateful to every educational institute I have attended for not making me read it and thus allowing me to discover it on my own. Like life, it is profound and insane and delightful and moving and possibly all one big joke. Or at least one big penis joke. And don't even think of adapting it into a musical. I'm calling dibs. "

" Sometimes the archaic (even for the time) language and incredibly twisty sentences get a bit too much, but that's part of the humour. The way the book messes around with what a book *is* and the ideas of narrative structure are laugh out loud funny and made funnier by the things that also make it difficult to read sometimes. Highlights include a chapter where he plays the fiddle between events, including some incredible onomatopoeia, and a chapter which he begins by apologising for digressing constantly, describes the difficulties involved in writing as such for 2 pages, and then apologises again and starts the chapter again. "

" Upon the recommendation from two friends, whose literary tastes I respect, I got this from the library. The first third was really hard going, but once I was more used to the style of writing, I came to appreciate the crazy logic and silliness of the book. Not for the faint of heart, but worth wading through to read the first Post-modern novel, two hundred years before it's time "

" By definition, the first post-modern novel, written in the 1700s. And extremely hilarious. "

" Immediately baffling, hilarious, and full of the marks of genius. It may take you a lifetime, but this book simply has to be read. "

" Wonderful humor. Read it years ago and once since then. It's a very small book, but be warned, not the sort you can skim through. A bit daunting at first, but the humor quickly rescues the reader and you're off! "

" A bit of fun - made me smile on numerous occasions. Very little about Tristram though - much more about his uncle and his hobbyhorse. "

" The ridiculousness of this book makes me so very, very happy. (aka: the only novel I know of ever tossed across a desk in disgust by a lit professor mahahaha) "

" like Ulysses, where you have to drag yourself through an almost unfollowable plot-- unlike Ulysses, you close the book with a feeling of disappointed astonishment. "

" Meanderer masterpiece of the nth degree. I recommend it to anyone with a good dictionary close by. "

" Perhaps the most delightful book ever...... "

" Kurt VOnnegut's and Salman Rushdie's godfather from the 1790s. If you liked the movie you actually will find the spirit of it (as well as more of the motifs from the movie than you might expect) in the novel. "

" I was thoroughly confused and delighted when reading this book. I laughed aloud more than once. "

" I so admire this book! I guess I was not quite gasping when I finished this book, but I wish I could write like Sterne. "

" First book read on the Kindle app on my phone. Only took me about 9 months to finish, but it's fairly dense and oddball, and I was only reading it at work. "

" "To conceive this right,--call for pen and ink--here's paper ready to your hand.--Sit down, Sir, paint her to your own mind--as like your mistress as you can--as unliked your wife as your conscience will let you--'tis all one to me--please but your own fancy in it" (330). "

" I love this book, but I have never been able to read it more than once all the way through. Now and again, I return to bits though. And I will never ever forget it. "

" like Ulysses, where you have to drag yourself through an almost unfollowable plot-- unlike Ulysses, you close the book with a vague feeling of disappointed astonishment. "

" Total all-time top5 material for me. Wonderful language, endlessly inventive about what a book can be. Also: FUNNY. This helps. "

" Probably among the funniest books ever written. "

" If only literature had followed his queue and gone non-linear and non-conformist, what then would we be reading now? "

" Thank goodness that's over. Very uneven quality throughout, and most of what passes for humor in the book hasn't aged well. I guess I'm glad I read it, if only to be able to say I have. "

" The narrative style is unique and some of the jokes are really quite funny, but over all it's meandering chronology is not really my thing. "

" Cleverness is not a recent phenomenon apparently. Irreverent fun from a reverent time, engaging. "