The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, to give it its full title, is one of the most inventive, idiosyncratic, funny and deliciously conversational novels ever written. Its author, Laurence Sterne, died 250 years ago on Sunday. Sterne became perhaps the first unapologetic literary celebrity, relishing the smartest company offered by London and Paris. The 100 best novels: No 6 – The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759) Read moreLike his author, Tristram is tubercular and knows that death is always about to enter the room. “Are we not here now,—and gone in a moment?” Sterne’s novel jests at death (when his friend Parson Yorick dies, the whole page goes black).

Source: The Guardian March 18, 2018 06:56 UTC