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Tristram Shandy

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Tristram Shandy

By: Laurence Sterne
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
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Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandy is commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements. A cast of strange characters populate this strangest of novels: gentle Uncle Toby, sarcastic Walter, and of course, the pompous, garrulous Tristram himself. This edition is read by Anton Lesser in a tour de force performance.

Please note: In print, Tristram Shandy is filled with visual, typographical, and compositing jokes - pages that are completely blank, pages that are completely black, misplaced chapters or chapters consisting only of their title, squiggly lines to indicate waving a stick, and much more besides. This audiobook tries in a variety of ways to match Sterne's invention with aural equivalents.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2009 Naxos Audiobooks Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Funny Witty Comedy Middle Ages
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Stern S’s wit is perfectly conveyed by a bravura performance from Anton Lesser. Text and narrator are a marriage made in heaven. Simply wonderful.

Pitch-perfect narration: just superb

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It is easy to see why this is considered one of the most original novels ever written. This is the best novel I have ever read/ listened to where almost nothing happens, because it is one extended and convoluted shaggy dog story ( intentionally so). It is also laugh out loud hilarious. Anton Lesser perfectly performs this, giving the appropriate pomposity and pretentiousness to each character in turn.

Anton Lesser's performance really brought this to life.

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What did you like most about Tristram Shandy?

The book itself of course but the narrator added so much to what can be a difficult read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Tristram Shandy?

Corporal trims falling in love. Or was it lust? So well done

What does Anton Lesser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Narrative flow especially during some of the more digressive chapters. He illuminated and personalised the whole text

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Over 20 hrs so not really!!!! I will listen to it all again though!

Any additional comments?

One of the best audible renditions of a classic i have ever listened to

Superb chrecterisation

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Thanks to Anton Lesser for telling this wonderful yarn. Such brilliant, witty and convincing characterisation. Thank you Mr Lesser and thank you Mr Sterne.

Excellent shaggy dog

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Tristram Shandy is one of the great, landmark masterpieces of English fiction writing, though relatively unknown. Of course 18th Century literature isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I love the great care taken over style, allusion and wit found in Sterne, Swift, Defoe, Johnson et al. This book is a wonder of linguistic and stylistic invention and much more interesting in those respects than Ulysses for example, a work which it predates by about 200 years. It's funnier too, being quixotic rather than vulgar - and far less portentous and pretentious. My guess is that Dickens would have loved it - and even been influenced by it. Anyway, if you've tried to read this book before but found it difficult to persevere with, Anton Lesser is here to do all the hard work for you. He does it so well, and reads in so many styles and for so long that he must have been exhausted when they finally let him out of the studio. He really is top notch; in fact it's the kind of performance that creates new fans among people who don't know Sterne at all. I'm looking forward to reading his interpretation of A Sentimental Journey. Brilliant value and great fun!

Wonderful listening!

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