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Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Esq.

The book Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Esq. was made into the movie A Cock and Bull Story.

Which one did you like better, the book or the movie?  There are 5 votes for the book, and 5 votes for the movie.

Book details for Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Esq.

Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Esq. was written by Laurence Sterne. . More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

 

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Introduction and Notes by Robert FolkenflikRich in playful double entendres, digressions, formal oddities, and typographical experiments, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman provoked a literary sensation when it first appeared in England ... Read More
Introduction and Notes by Robert Folkenflik


Rich in playful double entendres, digressions, formal oddities, and typographical experiments, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman provoked a literary sensation when it first appeared in England in a series of volumes from 1759 to 1767. An ingeniously structured novel (about writing a novel) that fascinates like a verbal game of chess, Tristram Shandy is the most protean and playful English novel of the eighteenth century and a celebration of the art of fiction; its inventiveness anticipates the work of Joyce, Rushdie, and Fuentes in our own century. This Modern Library Paperback is set from the nine-volume first edition from 1759.

Movie details for A Cock and Bull Story

The movie was released in 2005 and directed by Michael Winterbottom, who also directed Jude (1996) and Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). A Cock and Bull Story was produced by Hbo Home Video. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Keeley Hawes, Shirley Henderson, Raymond Waring, Conal Murphy, Joe Williams, Paul Kenyon (II), Mark Tandy, Mary Healey, Dylan Moran, Jack Shepherd, David Walliams, Jeremy Northam, Benedict Wong, Naomie Harris, Claire Keelan, Kelly Macdonald, Mark Hadfield and Elizabeth Berrington.

 

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Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to literary adaptation. Both Jude and The Claim were drawn from works by Thomas Hardy. Nor is the versatile filmmaker a stranger to the post-modern romp, like 24 Hour Party People. In that peon to Manchester's music sce... Read More
Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to literary adaptation. Both Jude and The Claim were drawn from works by Thomas Hardy. Nor is the versatile filmmaker a stranger to the post-modern romp, like 24 Hour Party People. In that peon to Manchester's music scene, Steve Coogan was Factory honcho Tony Wilson. In Winterbottom's take on Laurence Sterne's digressive The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the prolific helmer combines literature with lunacy and brings Coogan back as the titular character--and then some. Coogan doesn't just portray the 18th century squire, but his father Walter and insecure actor "Steve Coogan." It's a film about the making of a film, effortlessly shifting between Tristram's tumultuous birth and his frustrated adulthood--bogged down in the writing of his life story--and between fiction and (what appears to be) fact. There are no end to the worries on and off the set: Coogan worries his heels aren't high enough, Rob Brydon worries his teeth are too yellow, and Coogan's girlfriend (Kelly Macdonald) worries she isn't seeing enough of him. It may sound like Spike Jonze's Adaptation, but in spirit, it more closely resembles Tony Richardson's Tom Jones. Coogan and his co-stars, particularly Naomie Harris as the ultimate film nut, Gillian Anderson as the American brought in to boost the project's profile, and Brydon as Tristram's Uncle Toby are as game for the challenge as their fearless leader. Consequently, Tristram Shandy isn't just one of Winterbottom's best films--it's one of the year's best. --Kathleen C. Fennessy