A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy by Mr. Yorick: with The Journal to Eliza and A Political Romance (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Laurence Sterne (Author), Ian Jack (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 1998 | Series: Oxford World's Classics

"I have laid a plan for something new, quite out of the beaten track." The result, A Sentimental Journey is as far from the conventional travel book as Tristram Shandy is from other novels. This volume includes the journal Sterne wrote for Eliza Draper which is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of his comic and satiric genius.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Great literature, splendidly edited and potently introduced."--Albert Wachtel, Pitzer College

From the Publisher

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019283522X
• ISBN-13: 978-0192835222
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,096,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The amorous adventures of a gentleman in 18th century France, October 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (Penguin English Library) (Paperback)

This autobiographical acount by Sterne of his amorous progress through France and Northern Italy is surely one of the most delightful books ever written. Composed as he lay dying of tuberculosis, the book nonetheless encaptures the author's renowned zest for life as well as the libertine spirit of the age in which he lived. The journey down through France to Northern Italy is the perfect vehicle for an excursion into the nature of human sensibility, and from the moment that this cultured Anglo-Irish cleric sets foot in Calais, the reader is treated to a seies of exquisite encounters with the fairer sex. Rarely has an author transmitted so well his understanding of the psychological complexity of women, or the pleasure he takes in their company. Engaging, perceptive and witty, this is a book whiich cannot fail to leave an imprint on the imagination.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant. Absolutely hillarious satire, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (Penguin English Library) (Paperback)

Sterne befuddles and delights readers and critics alike in A Sentimental Journey. He takes the fashionable travel log of the time and satarizes it. Contemporary critics had a fit over its supposedly bawdy nature, yet some modern readers may over look its sublte innuendo. The form of the novel is quite unlike anything that had preceeded it, thus is important for any scholars. Most importanly, however, the book is funny and fun to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Journey of discovery, November 4, 2004

By 

Anonymous (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy by Mr. Yorick: with The Journal to Eliza and A Political Romance (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

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 might have been the first to identify it as such. 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.