Odd, rambling, tedious, erudite, bawdy, absurd, chaotic, baffling, shrewd, peculiar, pointless, obscene, sentimental, shocking, encyclopedic, exasperating, psychological, postmodern, metafictive...
Just some of the adjectives that have been flung at a book first published in nine volumes over a period of seven years, beginning in 1759.
Graphical and typographical hijinks are two of the book's most original features, but they also make it tricky to typeset and ensure that no two editions are exactly alike.
If you're contemplating reading it in e-book form, make sure these features are present. Any version without them is abridged and sadly incomplete.
Vol. I Ch. 12
Two black pages mourn the death of Parson Yorick, who is nevertheless around to deliver the final line of the book, identifying it as a "COCK and BULL" story.
Vol. III Ch. 11
Latin and Greek quotations are sprinkled throughout the book, with two large chunks of Latin handled in parallel with their English translations on facing pages. Another, Slawkengergius's Tale, appears at the start of Vol. IV.
Latin and Greek quotations are sprinkled throughout the book, with two large chunks of Latin handled in parallel with their English translations on facing pages. Another, Slawkengergius's Tale, appears at the start of Vol. IV.
Vol. III Ch. 20
"The Author's PREFACE" appears here.
Vol. III Ch. 37
Perhaps the two most famous pages in the book, colour in hardcover, grayscale in paperback, with the images varying by publisher. According to The Atlantic, the marbled pages "helped define the art of the modern novel." Follow the link to see more.
"The Author's PREFACE" appears here.
Vol. III Ch. 37
Perhaps the two most famous pages in the book, colour in hardcover, grayscale in paperback, with the images varying by publisher. According to The Atlantic, the marbled pages "helped define the art of the modern novel." Follow the link to see more.
Vol. IV Ch. 24
This chapter has been torn out by the narrator. In my old Penguin edition the pagination obligingly skips from 300 to 311.
This chapter has been torn out by the narrator. In my old Penguin edition the pagination obligingly skips from 300 to 311.
Vol. VI Ch. 38
A page is left blank with the following appeal to the (male) reader to create his own image of Widow Wadman:
"...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 unlike your wife as your conscience will let you—’tis all one to me——please but your own fancy in it."
Vol. VI Ch. 40
Diagrams that illustrate the meandering plot in the first five volumes.
Vol. IX Ch. 4
Corporal Trim's illustration of an unmarried man's freedom, echoing an earlier comment by Tristram's father, that a married man will never be able "to lie diagonally in his bed again as long as he lives."
Diagrams that illustrate the meandering plot in the first five volumes.
Vol. IX Ch. 4
Corporal Trim's illustration of an unmarried man's freedom, echoing an earlier comment by Tristram's father, that a married man will never be able "to lie diagonally in his bed again as long as he lives."
Vol. IX Ch. 18 - 20
By today's standards, charges of lewdness seem greatly inflated, especially when some are so obscure they require an editor's explanation, or when scenes are left completely to the reader's imagination.
Here, two pages (one each for chapters 18 and 19) are left discretely blank when Uncle Toby endeavours to satisfy Widow Wadman's curiosity about the wound in his groin.
One of the funniest scenes in the book occurs immediately afterwards at the beginning of Chapter 20:
Asterisks
Throughout the book, Sterne's coy use of asterisks is prodigal. The exact number may vary with different editions. In one I counted 616 of them.
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Dash It All
Sterne's dashes are even more prolific. He uses them mainly as punctuation but also as embellishments -- approximately 4500 times!
Fingers
Readers are given the finger three times, twice in Vol. II and once in Vol. IV.
The movie version, which is about the making of the movie, reflects the novel, which is about the writing of the novel.
In the bonus features Stephen Fry, who plays Parson Yorick, visits Shandy Hall and learns about the strange after-life adventures of Sterne's mortal remains.
Throughout the book, Sterne's coy use of asterisks is prodigal. The exact number may vary with different editions. In one I counted 616 of them.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Dash It All
Sterne's dashes are even more prolific. He uses them mainly as punctuation but also as embellishments -- approximately 4500 times!
Fingers
Readers are given the finger three times, twice in Vol. II and once in Vol. IV.
Footnotes & Endnotes
Sterne uses footnotes throughout (the first novelist to do so?) but some are obscure and need explaining in the endnotes (if your edition has them). My old Penguin edition has 44 pages of them.
______________________________
The movie version, which is about the making of the movie, reflects the novel, which is about the writing of the novel.
In the bonus features Stephen Fry, who plays Parson Yorick, visits Shandy Hall and learns about the strange after-life adventures of Sterne's mortal remains.
Shandy Hall - where Sterne lived and wrote
Asterisk* The Centre for the Study and Development of Narrative - located at Shandy Hall
