A Sentimental Journey

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View books by Laurence Sterne.

Further adventures of parson Yorick - Rated
Best read if you've already read Tristram Shandy, Sterne uses similar techniques as in his more ambitious work, and it has a similar 'finished or unfinished?' question hanging over it.

Whilst we only get to see a snapshot of one of Tristram Shandy's best characters, A Sentimental Journey gives us more of the inimitable parson Yorick, a magnanimous, hilarious, bumbling, rather-more-lustful-than-a-parson-should-be Englishman abroad. Yorick, along with Tristram is another of Sterne's autobiographical incarnations, (his sermons, which are actually Sterne's own, are collected elsewhere) giving a fascinating insight into one of the most idiosyncratic, hilarious and genuinely brilliant writers in the English language.

Journey of discovery - Rated
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! - Rated
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.