Re: A *** & Bull Story


"Sofa - Spud" <comfysofas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1187613483.685481.158880@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 20 Aug, 13:27, "michael adams" <mjadam...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Julian Karswell" <hauntedri...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1187601614.597514.121060@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'd avoided this because of...well, 'The Parole Officer'....but caught
it last night for the first time. It's an excellent film that I would
heartily recommend. What John Landis would call 'smart'. Some very
funny jokes, skilfull editing and scripting, and some genuinely
amusing banter between Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan.

I always thought one of the essential points about "Tristram Shandy"
was that it was the first book to made specific references to itself
as a book in the hands of the reader. By way of the typographical devices
- the totally blacked out pages, the use of different typefaces, the reference
to the marbled pages which have actually been included in the book, at the
end of chapter 29.

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about Barker -

http://i10.tinypic.com/67qqp85.jpg

How old is that copy?


That would be telling. They were still using long s's anyway.



it's the one book I've never come across in all my years of charity
bookshop trawling

There's a Penguin edition that has black and white marbling on the
respective pages and faithfully reproduces all the other typographical
stuff. Because of some of the unusual typefaces used - Old English
and box borders inside the pages etc etc it may be that there aren't too
many editions about as it takes that much extra effort to get hold of
the type and set up. Or at least it did in the days of metal anyway.

On second thoughts the above is total bollocks as they could simply have
photographically reproduced the pages of an earlier edition. Live as it
happens - steaming out of my ears.


michael adams

....



Childish, petty, moi ?

Anyway if there was one book in the whole of the English language
least deserving to be turned into a film for this very reason, then
it has to be "Tristram Shandy".

So it's particulalrly pleasing that even the great man himself,
Stephen Fry, didn't turn down the opportunity to grace this literary
and bibliographical outrage with his presence.

michael adams

...




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