Free
Laurence Sterne

A Sentimental Journey

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by the Irish-born English author Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Sterne was facing death. In 1765 Laurence Sterne travelled through France and Italy as far south as Naples, and after returning determined to describe his travels from a sentimental point of view. The novel can be seen as an epilogue to the possibly unfinished work The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and also as an answer to Tobias Smollett's decidedly unsentimental Travels through France and Italy. (Sterne met Smollett during his travels in Europe, and strongly objected to his spleen, acerbity and quarrelsomeness. He modeled the character of Smelfungus on him.)
The novel was extremely popular and influential and helped establish travel writing as the dominant genre of the second half of the 18th century. Unlike prior travel accounts which stressed classical learning and objective non-personal points of view, A Sentimental Journey emphasized the subjective discussions of personal taste and sentiments, of manners and morals over classical learning. Throughout the 1770s women travel writers began publishing significant numbers of sentimental travel accounts. Sentiment also became a favorite style among those expressing non-mainstream views including political radicalism.
The narrator is the Reverend Mr. Yorick, who is slyly represented to guileless readers as Sterne's barely disguised alter ego. The book recounts his various adventures, usually of the amorous type, in a series of self-contained episodes. The book is less eccentric and more elegant in style than Tristram Shandy and was better received by contemporary critics. It was published on February 27, and on March 18 Sterne died.
134 printed pages
Have you already read it? How did you like it?
👍👎

Impressions

  • Alexandra Lisogorshared an impression3 years ago
    👍Worth reading

Quotes

  • millypetrosyanhas quoted4 years ago
    I shall distinguish these gentlemen by the name of
    Simple Travellers.
    Thus the whole circle of travellers may be reduced to the following HEADS:-
    Idle Travellers, Inquisitive Travellers, Lying Travellers, Proud Travellers, Vain Travellers, Splenetic Travellers.
    Then follow:
    The Travellers of Necessity, The Delinquent and Felonious Traveller, The Unfortunate and Innocent Traveller, The Simple Traveller,
    And last of all (if you please) The Sentimental Traveller, (meaning thereby myself) who have travell'd, and of which I am now sitting down to give an account,—as much out of NECESSITY, and the besoin de Voyager, as any one in the class.
  • millypetrosyanhas quoted4 years ago
    nature generally prompting us to the thing we are fittest for,
  • millypetrosyanhas quoted4 years ago
    When a man is discontented with himself, it has one advantage however, that it puts him into an excellent frame of mind for making a bargain.
fb2epub
Drag & drop your files (not more than 5 at once)