A tortuous and sometimes torturous read - but would we expect anything less?

There's a problem with authors like Laurence Sterne or Rabelais, for example. A lot of people haven't read them, but claim they have; these people are bothersome. Some people have read them; these people are almost uniformly exhausting in their smugness about the fact, not to mention zealots about deconstructing a medium which the rest of us enjoy just fine as it is, thankyou very much. And the rest of the world? Well, they haven't read them, which makes them barely even conceivable as humans.

Perhaps you can see the problem. If you haven't read Tristram Shandy (if "read" is the correct word for what one does in the presence of such an effervescent, destabilising text), you won't understand this. Rowson is not so much adapting Tristram for the graphic novel medium as he is deconstructing both Sterne's text and the very nature of text. Which is exactly what we should ask for from a graphic novel version of an 18th century novel that simply doesn't fit into literary history without accounting for the invention of time travel.

I'm not sure I like Rowson. There is something rather mean-spirited in his writing, don't you think? I'm unsettled by some of the morals which he draws from Sterne, or perhaps from our love of Sterne (yes, maybe his sentiment reflects literary humans more generally). And most definitely this work is caviar for the general. It's a book-lover's in-joke, primarily.

Still, while my experience was not worth four-stars, such a rating is justified by sheer brilliance, the delicacy, and the piquant grace notes to this work. Sterne's original narrative is augmented by ever-increasing bubbles of text, a sense of humour that swings rapidly from 'wry'to 'menacing', a deliberate recklessness instead of slavishness in the adaptation, and a cast of characters far exceeding the original (including some poor historians and writers just trying to figure out the text or craft a biography of Sterne himself!). If you've got Tristram under your belt, if you and Dr Slop have seen the chimes at midnight, and if you felt like Sterne was playing it far too safe... this may just be for you.

Madness of the highest order. ( )

B&W throughout. Thought I would read this as an introduction to the novel, but found it confusing with the modern references to characters (Oliver Stone, Salman Rushdie) alive after the book was originally published, mixed with references to John Locke, Robert Burton, etc. I ended up reading some of the original too. The artwork, at times reminiscent of Thelwell, some of the Beano, oversized private parts and noses, is very intricate and clever, Martin's mimicry of Albrecht Durer and (especially) Aubrey Beardsley is very accurate. The actual tale is not about The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, but about his uncle and father, and not much plot to go with that. I can see the influences to James Joyce - the way of telling daily events, and discussing ideas at the time, the narrating style. He talks of his conception, birthday, name, of Uncle Toby, confined to bed four years after a groin injury, who became obsessed with military texts, and expert on fortifications.
I do not recommend this book for reading without at least some knowledge of the original title by Sterne, with it's vulgar illustrations supposed to be humourous, modernisation of famous title. ( )

I really enjoyed this romp, a graphic-novel take on a book which I haven't read (but might be more inclined to do now). Graphic style was very amusing, referencing various artists' work. I would read more by this author. ( )

Glad I read this instead of the full novel. It gives you the idea without wasting your time reading 500 pages. ( )

Uncorrected Proofs, Publication Date November 1997