Tristram Shandy

Yes, this book was read a while ago - but here's me saying: why not! I'll give it a go and review a book that made me question the whole aristocratic lifestyle. Who is really the gentleman here? A seemingly biographical tale turns into a psychological analysis... Strange. I really did enjoy this book when I read it last - but excuse me if my memory is shifty. It was almost 5 years ago now. 

Characters: 

Obviously, your dear narrator is my favourite character. Tristram Shandy - gentleman... He seems not only to tell us his life story, but also tell us strange self-deprecating jokes that sound almost satirical on a part of his psychology. The whole aspect of domestics, which is what this novel is mainly about - is not the actual action. The actual action is the informal satire that the narrator tosses into the story

Themes: 

Well, satire is the best theme in this novel. As I've said - this book is filled with self-deprecating humour and satirical commentary on domestic cases. Thematic, it is artistic as it is kind of depressing. It's artistic because we can clearly see that Shandy has something to say about every domestic instinct of misunderstanding in his life - but it is also kind of depressing because most of these satirical comments are self-deprecating. When I said this book is not only a biography, but also a psychological analysis - I meant that with this self-infliction of satire, we can kind of see that Shandy may not think himself much of a gentleman after all. The title is then clearly satirical. 

Storyline:

What we think is the story, isn't actually the story. On a first read, you'd believe that the story is all this domestic argument that seemingly happens from time to time. But, the actual story is within the running commentary that Shandy makes about these cases. It's an act of character development. We get to view what Shandy was like back then and then, with the commentary, get to view what he's like now and make a strange comparison in psychology. 

Verdict:

I give this book 8/9

100% for characters: I think Shandy is one of the greatest self-deprecating characters ever created. 

100% for themes: One of my favourite literature themes is satire. That's kind of the entire reason I decided upon this book in the first place. 

2/3 for storyline: Sometimes the domestic arguments can get a little repetitive - but at least the running commentary is there!