Tristram Shandy

[Dr. Doofus]

doof just heard michael winterbottom on npr say "no one has read that book"


that is doof's favorite novel

doof has read that three times

jerk: can we organize a concert to send doof to england to kick that limey's ***? this is serious












bike related content: uncle toby = manolo saiz? ergott has the slawkenbergius thing down with his technical drawings...tristram name checks flanders in volume I...so how cool is that?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . in AP English back in high school. The instructor, for some unfathomable reason, thought this was the greatest English language novel ever written.

If I remember correctly, it was not.

Also, if I remember correctly, this was the literary debut of a certain Mrs. Malaprop, whose inability to correctly pronounce the language gave birth to the term "malapropism."

BBD

[Dr. Doofus]

. . . in AP English back in high school. The instructor, for some unfathomable reason, thought this was the greatest English language novel ever written.

If I remember correctly, it was not.

Also, if I remember correctly, this was the literary debut of a certain Mrs. Malaprop, whose inability to correctly pronounce the language gave birth to the term "malapropism."

BBD


it is

it is not a book for high schoolers

mrs. malaprop was an invention of richard sheridan* (The Rivals)

[Ken Lehner]

doof just heard michael winterbottom on npr say "no one has read that book"


that is doof's favorite novel

doof has read that three times

jerk: can we organize a concert to send doof to england to kick that limey's ***? this is serious



Believe it or not, my brother (who is the head of the English department at a high-zoot private school in New England) named his son Tristram. He was shocked that I knew the reference; all his friends, of course, knew about the book. Now the poor kid will have to go his whole life saying "No, not Tristan, Tristram".

[xlbs]

finishing Tristram Shandy, and have been doing so for over 20 years. It's a marvelous read so far: clever, innovative, funny. So why haven't I finished it?

As in Uncle Toby's description of where he was injured at war, I divert your attention elsewhere, whereupon I promise to continue to attempt to finish what is truly one of the great novels of the world.

I'd like to include Middlemarch as a fine candidate for inclusion on the list of the greatest novels of all time, since it's more accessible to the general reader.

But, of course, literature, like choosing a bicycle, is all about preferences, personal interests, dislikes and delights.

Keep us reading, Dr. Doof.

[sc53]

Read Tristram Shandy in college and still have the little grey paperback on my shelf. Perhaps will reread now that Doofus has reminded me of it. I vividly remember this scene of him trying to raise a window and ....

[BumbleBeeDave]

I agree . . . I did not particularly enjoy reading it, nor anythnig else in that class, because they attempted to cover waaaaay too much material in preparation for the AP test.

"The Brothers Karamazov" in three days is not a good thing. That class permanently put me off reading both the classics and any really long novel.

BBD

[flydhest]

BBDave,
Reminds me of a stand up comic, maybe Steven Wright, who said, deadpan, "I just finished a speed reading course. I read War and Peace in an hour. It's about Russia."

[fiamme red]

doof just heard michael winterbottom on npr say "no one has read that book""No one" includes himself, of course. The Tristram Shandy he must have read is the comic-book version:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879517689/sr=1-1/qid=1138290235/ref=sr_1_1/103-2394316-6188610?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[jeffg]

and I remember those Konstantz aesthetic-reception types writing some decent essays on it too (probably while I was reading by the lake).

[Dr. Doofus]

I agree . . . I did not particularly enjoy reading it, nor anythnig else in that class, because they attempted to cover waaaaay too much material in preparation for the AP test.

"The Brothers Karamazov" in three days is not a good thing. That class permanently put me off reading both the classics and any really long novel.

BBD

doof says that is mp for ap


go for depth at a pace the students can handle

[palincss]

finishing Tristram Shandy, and have been doing so for over 20 years. It's a marvelous read so far: clever, innovative, funny. So why haven't I finished it?

As in Uncle Toby's description of where he was injured at war, I divert your attention elsewhere, whereupon I promise to continue to attempt to finish what is truly one of the great novels of the world.



Perhaps because you don't want it to be over.

Anyone expecting a conventional narrative will be very disappointed in Tristram Shandy. On the other hand, if you just roll with it, and let the novel take you wherever and whenever it wants to go, you might just find it to be one of the great classics, and centuries "ahead of its time".

[RichMc]

Doof,

Does this mean that you are going to watch the movie now?

[Dr. Doofus]

Doof,

Does this mean that you are going to watch the movie now?

yes


doof likes his concept -- making a movie about making a movie about a story trying to tell a story is a nice conceit...however...it also reflects a po-mo misreading of the novel....


oodf will see the movie after he kicks some britass

[fiamme red]

Perhaps because you don't want it to be over.

Anyone expecting a conventional narrative will be very disappointed in Tristram Shandy. On the other hand, if you just roll with it, and let the novel take you wherever and whenever it wants to go, you might just find it to be one of the great classics, and centuries "ahead of its time".It's ahead of my time. I prefer "Sentimental Journey."

[yeehawfactor]

i would call if it were diane rheem or perhaps fresh air. otherwise, probably not.