I am sure, that every one of you knows enough about the life itself, but maybe only few of you know something about the life of Tristram Shandy. I am sure, that every one of you knows enough about opinions in general, about your own opinions or opinions of others, but only few of you know something about opinions of Tristram Shandy. I am not an exception; I know things about life and opinions too but probably every one of you now suppose, that I know enough about the life and opinions of Tristram Shandy and that I will tell you something about these verities.
Well.. it will not be so simple and easy, and here is why: physically, Tristram himself appears in the story only for a few times. One of the simple definitions of the word “LIFE” says, that it is the period between the birth and death (it can be said, that it is also the period including both, the birth and death, and, according to some beliefs, also the time before the birth itself). Seeing, that the book in its very beginning says about the conception of Tristram, it is evident, that he will be born and die in some time (what is, of course, not mentioned, because it is Tristram, who is the author of this book, though only fictional). Then, the definition of the word “LIFE” is fulfilled and it is only up to the reader to look forward to the development of the life of Tristram. However, it was not Laurence Sterne, if the reader’s enthusiasm would not be blown away by a simple move of hand, by circa 250 pages, when he finally faces the birth of Tristram Shandy. From then, it is for the first time when he appears physically, as a person integrated into the plot, but only for a moment and from this point, he appears only in brief mentions – as a five years old boy during an incident in the house and than, probably as an adult travelling over the France, where he is the direct source of information about his person. However, let us try to focus on Tristram as a fictional writer and the author of this book at the same time and as a storyteller, who enters the story very frequently. In this case, he is a rich source of information not only about protagonists but also indirectly about himself.