His mother, Elizabeth Shandy, is the exact opposite of Walter in temperament, responding to her husband's arguments passively so as to not inflame him further. His father, Walter Shandy, is overbearing and ridiculous in his intellectual ramblings, which cover a wide range of philosophical and pseudo-scientific hypotheses. The rest of the volume introduces the reader to a number of characters that will be pivotal figures during Tristram's birth and life. Rather than beginning at birth or childhood as do many biographies, this one begins at the moment of Tristram's mother and father having sex and conceiving him. Ostensibly a biography of its fictional eponymous character, Tristram Shandy features many digressions from its plot and is, therefore, viewed by many scholars as an early forerunner of post-modern literature. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a nine-volume novel published between 17 by English novelist Laurence Sterne.
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