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A Sentimental Journey (Penguin Classics)

By: Laurence Sterne
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
ISBN: 0140437797
ISBN-13: 9780140437799
Released: 29 Nov 2001
RRP: £3.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Further adventures of parson Yorick - By: Doll Common, 05 Apr 2007
Best read if you've already read Tristram Shandy, Sterne uses similar techniques as in his more ambitious work, & 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 actuallly Sterne's own, are collected elsewhere) giving a fascinating insight into one of the most idiosyncratic, hilarious & genuinely brilliant writers in the English language.

Journey of discovery - By: Anonymous, 05 Nov 2004
Even for modern readers, "A Sentimental Journey" (published 1768)is as startlingly innovative as Sterne's celebrated "Tristram Shandy". Sterne's ability to crystalllize 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 & Biblical or classical alllusions; the complex, slow narrative often requires re-reading. But the rewards are great! It's wise, deeply comical, & incredibly perceptive.

There are several helpful reviews below dealing with the aspect of "sentimentality", & 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_, & be quick in rendering the several turns of looks & limbs, with alll their inflections & delineations, into plain words." How visionary!

2. STERNE AND THE FRENCH. Ever since Shakespeare inserted a scene in "cod French" into "Henry V", actuallly ever since the Norman Conquest & up to Monty Python & beyond, the English have revelled in mocking the French & 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) & "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!" & finallly the words that he won't repeat. In alll cases, Sterne carefully shows the social niceties of these expressions.

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

A nice thin book, and quirky too! - By: , 20 Mar 2002
Yes, thats right, this is a very short book & 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 & telling signs of Sterne's fascination with the trivial (which in one sense alll 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 reallly alll weepy, over-inflated & sentimental twaddle; instead it is a novel that reads more like a pre-echo of Joyce & other modernists.
For the price, its length & the chance to read something a bit off the beaten track of literature you could do much worse then this little gem.