Product Description

When Yorick, the roving narrator of Sterne’s innovative final novel, sets off for France on a whim, he produces no ordinary travelogue. Jolting along in his coach from Calais, through Paris, and on towards the Italian border, the amiable parson is blithely unconcerned by famous views or monuments, but he engages us with tales of his encounters with all manner of people, from counts and noblewomen to beggars and chambermaids. And as drama piles upon drama, anecdote, flirtation and digression, Yorick’s destination takes second place to an exhilarating voyage of emotional and erotic exploration. Interweaving sharp wit with warm humour, irony with sentiment, A Sentimental Journey paints a captivating picture of an Englishman’s adventures abroad.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57166 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Irish-born Laurence Sterne graduated from Cambridge in 1737 and took holy orders, becoming a prebend in York Cathedral. His masterpiece, 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy' made him a celebrity but ill-health necessitated recuperative travel and A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY grew out of a seven-month trip through France and Italy. He died the year it was published, 1768. Paul Goring teaches English at Trondheim University in Norway and has completed a doctorate on Sterne's novels.

Customer Reviews

Journey of discovery
Even for modern readers, "A Sentimental Journey" (published 1768)is as startlingly innovative as Sterne's celebrated "Tristram Shandy". Sterne's ability to crystallize the minute details of experience - which may be down to a few seconds only - is reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". Indeed, Woolf admired this book.

This is by no means an easy read. The 18th-century prose is difficult; the book is larded with Frenchisms and Biblical or classical allusions; the complex, slow narrative often requires re-reading. But the rewards are great! It's wise, deeply comical, and incredibly perceptive.

There are several helpful reviews below dealing with the aspect of "sentimentality", and so I will just single out two things which appealed to me:

1. STERNE AND BODY LANGUAGE. Sterne shows an almost 20th-century appreciation of body language. In fact, I believe he may have almost discovered it. His chapter, "The Translation", highlights the importance of being able to interpret subtle physical hints, like a language: "There is not a secret so aiding to the progress of sociality, as to get master of this _shorthand_, and be quick in rendering the several turns of looks and limbs, with all their inflections and delineations, into plain words." How visionary!

2. STERNE AND THE FRENCH. Ever since Shakespeare inserted a scene in "cod French" into "Henry V", actually ever since the Norman Conquest and up to Monty Python and beyond, the English have revelled in mocking the French and their language. His Continental travelling gives Sterne the perfect excuse to do this. At one point he differentiates between "tant pis" (= "never mind" - where there is nothing to be gained) and "tant mieux" (= so much the better - where there IS an advantage). He also has a hilarious section on the grades of French swearing: first "Diable!", then "Peste!" and finally the words that he won't repeat. In all cases, Sterne carefully shows the social niceties of these expressions.

The protagonist, Yorick, has various adventures of lust and feeling with women and other typically travelish things like losing his passport that we can all relate to. He's tender, obscene, learned, funny, companionable, and above all, readable - if tough.

A nice thin book, and quirky too!
Yes, thats right, this is a very short book and for me thats a great part of its appeal. It meant I could get a flavour of Sterne's work very quickly for that essay I had to write!
Seriously though, this book is well worth reading for a number of other reasons. It's seemingly quirky set of brief "episodes" recounting the experiences of a traveller in Europe are on one level deep and telling signs of Sterne's fascination with the trivial (which in one sense all our lives are.) On another, it's just a very enlightening insight into the times it is a product.
One important point: don't be mislead/put off by the title. It's not really all weepy, over-inflated and sentimental twaddle; instead it is a novel that reads more like a pre-echo of Joyce and other modernists.
For the price, its length and the chance to read something a bit off the beaten track of literature you could do much worse then this little gem.