"Tristram Shandy" begins the task of telling his life story in a seamless manner. However, he is repeatedly interrupted. His father Walter enters the scene, a heavy-headed and authority-believing man, whose inability to act brings about various misfortunes. Tristram's Uncle Toby appears, a former officer who reenacts the campaigns he was involved in with a toy army in his vegetable garden. Additionally, a host of other peculiar characters with their own obsessions come into play, all of whom must be reported on. Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" is considered the first modern novel due to its clever and immensely entertaining play with the possibilities of storytelling.