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Tristram Shandy

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Tristram Shandy

By: Laurence Sterne
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
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About this listen

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 European Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism World Literature Fiction Comedy Funny Witty France

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If you are used to Anton Lesser as a serious actor in the classical style, you will be amazed at his wonderful light-hearted and witty narration of this book. It was a joy to listen to and I didn't want it to end.

The book is brought to life by brilliant narration

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i often tried to reading it, but Anton Lesser made Tristram Shandy so whimsical, so comic and so unexpectedly droll that I recommend it heartily. It takes a little time to get used to the labyrinthine storytelling, with endless red herring, but once you get the style you find that's where the pleasure lies.

Brilliantly read

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The book(s) were a joy to listen to. Excellently delivered with such an element of entertainment that you could sense that the reader was wonderfully enjoying the experience.
What a joyous and quirky piece of literature and what marvellous and eccentric characters!
The fact that this work of literature was published shows that the reading public of that time were not so ‘stiff upper lip’ as they have often been portrayed.

The Monty Python of the 18th century

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I was so glad to find Tristram Shandy on Audible. A deliciously funny, clever, truly great book. Uncle Toby is perhaps the most loveable, most sympathetic character in English fiction. Anton Lesser has exactly the right voice for this book. Well done!

Wonderful book, wonderfully read by Anton Lesser

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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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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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Astonishing tour-de-force performance from Anton Lesser. Inventive, precise and charming. Great-if you can stomach the book

A Curate's Egg...

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Great performance..brilliantly brought to life by Anton Lesser. Very enjoyable nonsense. The reading by Anton Lesser makes it accessible.

Good fun.

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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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