The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, also known as Tristram Shandy, is the most famous and important work of Irish writer Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes beginning in 1759.

This book elevated Laurence Sterne and gave him great fame, despite the fact that the work was not well received by much of the critics. It could be said that the work was left incomplete by the death of Laurence Sterne in 1768, since the author intended to resume the work.

The story is narrated in the first person and with a humorous, ironic and untidy tone. The work tells us, or at least pretends to, the autobiography of the narrator, Tristram Shandy. The problem is that Tristram himself as a narrator is unable to explain anything clearly, so he relies on hilarious anecdotes that help give context to the story, these anecdotes being the main part of the novel and that go off and back continuously to the main plot.

Therefore, this book introduces us to the curious adventures of the narrator and a group of characters related to him, with a very humorous tone.