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52nd out of 97 books
—
196 voters
A Sentimental Journey
A Sentimental Journey is a novel without a plot, a journey without a destination. It records the adventures of the amiable Parson Yorick, as he sets off on his travels through France and Italy, relishing his encounters with all manner of men and women-particularly the pretty ones. Sterne's tale rapidly moves away from the narrative of travel to become a series of dramatic...more
Paperback, 118 pages
Published
March 26th 2002
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1768)
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The only novel I know where the author purposedly omitted the last word. And that word, if I may so delicately disclose, is CUNT. Or the equivalent old slang term they use for it when this was first published in 1768: CASE. As in:
"His Pego measur'd to the Female Case,
"Betwixt a Woman's Thighs his proper Place."
--Essay on Woman, John Wilkes (1763)
Virginia Woolf surely would have disagreed. She read this sometime in the late 1920's, expressed admiration for Laurence Sterne's "delicate, flashing st...more
"His Pego measur'd to the Female Case,
"Betwixt a Woman's Thighs his proper Place."
--Essay on Woman, John Wilkes (1763)
Virginia Woolf surely would have disagreed. She read this sometime in the late 1920's, expressed admiration for Laurence Sterne's "delicate, flashing st...more
The other major Sterne work. And though much shorter, I don't know if I would recommend it to read first. The complexity of this book is not immediately evident (which makes it all the more fantastic for me). I think it gains in greatness with its comparison to Tristram Shandy.
On its own, though, I think it might make an interesting read. It is largely credited for starting the sentimental fiction subgenre - which can be a bit unfair to the book, since sentimental fiction is marked by ridiculous...more
On its own, though, I think it might make an interesting read. It is largely credited for starting the sentimental fiction subgenre - which can be a bit unfair to the book, since sentimental fiction is marked by ridiculous...more
2 likes · like · see review
Apparently there’s a movement in literature (and probably elsewhere in the arts) called sentimentalism. I read a bit about it and didn’t really understand it. I read this and didn’t really understand it either. Sterne is not known for this particular book being much better known for his Tristram Shandy novel which I’ve not read. If this is anything to go by, I’m not looking forward to that much.
Written on his deathbed, the novelist has one last foray into Europe on the picaresque bandwagon. Havi...more
Written on his deathbed, the novelist has one last foray into Europe on the picaresque bandwagon. Havi...more
i haven't read all 7 vols, but did "sentimental journey through france and italy" in weeks edited "great short novels" http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32...
and weeks' introduction does help the reader understand the context sterne wrote this very modern 18th century short novel. seems sterne was a real hounddog preacher from york, and terribly sick too, so to keep his spirits up and juices flowing he would fall in love, lots. so this short story is his chronicle to his last lover, of his tri...more
and weeks' introduction does help the reader understand the context sterne wrote this very modern 18th century short novel. seems sterne was a real hounddog preacher from york, and terribly sick too, so to keep his spirits up and juices flowing he would fall in love, lots. so this short story is his chronicle to his last lover, of his tri...more
Written in the rambling, laconic but clearly deliberate and perfectly modulated style which Sterne got down to a fine art in ‘Tristram Shandy’, ‘A Sentimental Journey’ is the loose journal of the lonely and very English Parson Yorick on a trip through France in the mid-Eighteenth century.
The book is made up of short chapters sub-titled ‘The Monk – Calais’, ‘The Husband – Paris’, ‘The Passport – Versailles’, etc. Yorick has a keen and self-deprecating sense of humour and is always trying to be po...more
The book is made up of short chapters sub-titled ‘The Monk – Calais’, ‘The Husband – Paris’, ‘The Passport – Versailles’, etc. Yorick has a keen and self-deprecating sense of humour and is always trying to be po...more
Oct 18, 2012
Crosswords
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone in the mood for a laugh
Shelves:
literature,
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die
According to Mr. Yorick, there can only be three reasons for travelling:
‘Infirmity of body,
Imbecility of mind, or
Inevitable necessity.’
Therefore, he considers his own situation to be, evidently, the last; and embraces the self-given title of ‘sentimental traveller’. He’s not at fault at finding such a designation, as the journal of his travels is not a conventional one. Even though Yorick embarks on a journey to France and Italy, the reader barely learns of these, mostly because the author never...more
‘Infirmity of body,
Imbecility of mind, or
Inevitable necessity.’
Therefore, he considers his own situation to be, evidently, the last; and embraces the self-given title of ‘sentimental traveller’. He’s not at fault at finding such a designation, as the journal of his travels is not a conventional one. Even though Yorick embarks on a journey to France and Italy, the reader barely learns of these, mostly because the author never...more
100% delightful! I really had no idea what to expect when starting to read this. I didn't know that I'd actually laugh out loud several times. Perhaps surprise was a significant part of the impression it made on me. At at least one point, I found myself thinking, "Wait, did he really just write that?" But in any case, I'm sure Sterne's reputation as a comic genius is safe for a while. The book is full of amusing incidents and paragraphs -- the famous scene in the Paris shop, where the narrator f...more
For those curious as to Sterne’s “other thing” besides Tristram Shandy, let me make it clear: no, this is not another spearheading postmodern masterpiece. This is a vicaresque (ha—see what I did there?) travelogue narrated by the curious Yorick, a man of questionable virtue. The chapters are bitesize but thin-in-content, making it pleasant to read if not altogether interesting—a few semi-comic mishaps befall the narrator, and the Tobias Smollett parodies are amusing too. The novel does lean towa...more
9 likes · like · see review
Well, that was a pleasant little romp: a set of short sketches of the kind of people a mid-eighteenth century traveller might typically have met during a French holiday. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy is not a travelogue; there are no extended descriptions of picturesque landscapes or gracious châteaux. Laurence Sterne cared about people, especially ordinary people: servants, innkeepers, and the lowest ranks of the rampant, soon to be culled, French aristocracy.
Sterne, of course...more
Sterne, of course...more
When I read the negative reviews of this book, I have to guess that people just didn't get it. It's very funny. It's about an upper class young man's erotic adventures in France. He writes as if he's very chaste, but he keeps finding himself in compromising situations with beautiful women and he falls victim to his passions. Don't condemn him unless you've been in an identical situation. Yorrick loves women--All women. It's not all spelled out. You have to read between the lines to know what's...more
Dec 08, 2012
Jori Richardson
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
readers of 18th Century literature, those looking for a challenge
Shelves:
books-owned,
writer-from-ireland
A book about a young man's travels, published in 1768.
Though this book was a bit tedious and dragged on about trivial events some, but nevertheless, I found it highly entertaining and funny. The writing style is decisively 18th Century, which I adored. As a warning, however, if you are not well versed in the language and customs of the 1700's, I would advise that you approach this book with a guide of some sort, to save yourself a headache.
All the scenes that involved women were hilarious. The b...more
Though this book was a bit tedious and dragged on about trivial events some, but nevertheless, I found it highly entertaining and funny. The writing style is decisively 18th Century, which I adored. As a warning, however, if you are not well versed in the language and customs of the 1700's, I would advise that you approach this book with a guide of some sort, to save yourself a headache.
All the scenes that involved women were hilarious. The b...more
I've heard of Tristram Shandy, and what I've heard of it makes me want to read it; however, what I've read of Sterne makes me want to avoid it. I was not a fan of this work even remotely. I found the diction confounding, the voice overly complex, and the story entirely uninteresting.
I am also aware that this was a bit of a mockery of travelogues of the time and that was the point, but intentionally writing poorly or any other way does not take away from what something is; it just means it's int...more
I am also aware that this was a bit of a mockery of travelogues of the time and that was the point, but intentionally writing poorly or any other way does not take away from what something is; it just means it's int...more
Another great example of why you need to really think about what a book's trying to do before you judge it. This is nice and subtle- on the one hand, it tugs the heart-strings unashamedly; on the other hand, it makes ruthless fun of you for having your heart-string tugged. Great stuff- unless you're expecting well rounded three dimensional characters and believable plot turns and a coherent narrative and so on. Not here, friendo. Here you get intriguing reflections on the general goodness/evilne...more
“The heart is for saving what it can.”
I finished Tristram Shandy a couple months ago and was missing it. Vacationing at the beach this past week (surrounded not only by my own children but in-laws and three very enthusiastic miniature nieces), I dedicated an hour each morning to A Sentimental Journey, and consider it the best part of my holiday. It might be an epilogue or dessert sequel for Tristram Shandy, narrated, as it is, by the Shandy family's parish priest, the Rev. Yorick. Necessarily of...more
I finished Tristram Shandy a couple months ago and was missing it. Vacationing at the beach this past week (surrounded not only by my own children but in-laws and three very enthusiastic miniature nieces), I dedicated an hour each morning to A Sentimental Journey, and consider it the best part of my holiday. It might be an epilogue or dessert sequel for Tristram Shandy, narrated, as it is, by the Shandy family's parish priest, the Rev. Yorick. Necessarily of...more
I'm impressed by Alex and Brad's reviews of "Sentimental Journey". They think this book is far better than I do, though in the end I do believe it's just a matter of personal taste. But it's an interesting matter of personal taste. There are visual writers and then there are non-visual writers. The visual writers are continually calling up in their readers' minds particular pictures and images. To read them is, in a sense, to watch a movie.
Non-visual writers are more focused on words and word g...more
Non-visual writers are more focused on words and word g...more
Quite simply wonderful; Sterne's SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY never gets to the second half of that title, much like Tristram Shandy struggles to reach his birth. But a narrative this is, and a fun one, of a guy who, apologies to Will Rogers, never met a place he didn't like. Sterne spawned a genre with this short tome, a series of encounters with Parisian nobles, beggars, dandies, and tarts, each viewed and described with compassion and humor. He would make an ideal traveling co...more
I always try to read relevant things when travelling. So took this book along on my recent trip to France. It's interesting for scholars in literature as you can see Sterne's writing as the one of the first signs of modernism: no structure, just prose meandering from one subject to another. It's good fun reading with plenty of humour if you can manage the 18th century English. You do not get to know a lot about France (only indirectly) and nothing about Italy (Sterne died before finishing the st...more
Writing a review in the evening feels weird. I'm so used to getting up, having breakfast, sitting down in front of the computer, and, if I've finished a book the day before, just letting whatever's on my mind about said book spill onto the page. But this week, I'm having to leave the house an hour early, so welcome to a special evening edition of Megan's Reviews.
The Sentimental Journey was slight, enjoyable, and baffling. I take it from the footnotes that many of the chapters are in-jokes, direc...more
The Sentimental Journey was slight, enjoyable, and baffling. I take it from the footnotes that many of the chapters are in-jokes, direc...more
I adore Sterne because his works celebrate all that is joyful -- about our material lives and our spiritual. He is, admittedly, difficult to read -- a stream of consciousness writer long before Joyce or Faulkner were ever gleams in their grandparents' eyes. But if a reader is willing yield control of the narrative to Sterne, the rewards are great. Sterne has no patience for self-righteous puritans who preach a religion of penance and self-deprivation. His god is not just a loving one, but one wi...more
Not sure what the author was going for here. This is one of those old satire/parodies that makes very little sense to me because I'm not at all familiar with whatever it is that's being satirized/parodied. The only thing I found particularly amusing about it was the way in which the main character put on a pious, Christian facade as a means of getting into the pants of just about every woman he met. Sexual encounters written in Olde English crack me up, seeing as how you have to be paying very c...more
A fun, charming read about Mr. Yorik, a very sensitive man who decides to travel all over the country. He's optimistic about everything, and finds a way to find compassion for every single living thing he encounters. What I loved mist was his infatuation with women. He's a bit juvenile, and never really knows what to say around them. Short or tall, fat or small, he blushes around every single one and stumbles over his words. By the end of the book he had become an endearing character you were ha...more
"I had left London with so much precipition, that it never entered my mind that we were at war with France; and had reached Dover, and looked through my glass at the hills beyond Boulogne, before the idea presented itself; and with this in its train, that there was no getting there without a passport. Go but to the end of the street, I have a mortal aversion for returning back no wiser than I set out; and as this was one of the greatest efforts I had ever made for knowledge, I could less bear th...more
Jan 19, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those who liked Tristam Shandy
Recommended to Elizabeth by:
Jane Austen
A Sentimental Journey book review, volume II, the drunk review.
Unfortunately, volume I of this review is lost to time and my own failure to pay attention to the hotel internet connection. One must renew it every twenty-four hours and for some reason I don't always remember when time is up. It's one of the hazards of business travel, along with passive-aggressive scuffles with the housecleaning staff about putting that nasty cover pane back on the bed after I have not only removed it but chucked...more
Unfortunately, volume I of this review is lost to time and my own failure to pay attention to the hotel internet connection. One must renew it every twenty-four hours and for some reason I don't always remember when time is up. It's one of the hazards of business travel, along with passive-aggressive scuffles with the housecleaning staff about putting that nasty cover pane back on the bed after I have not only removed it but chucked...more
25 likes · like · see review
Read for:
EN3161: The Development of the Novel to 1840, 2012
This is probably my first dud of 2012. This short, unfinished novel had a few scenes in it that grabbed my attention but was otherwise rather uninspiring. Sometimes I just had absolutely no idea what was going on in this book, whereas at other points the story had some real potential and looked like it was going somewhere - and then it would jump to something else entirely and that thread of the story would be lost.
According to my lectu...more
EN3161: The Development of the Novel to 1840, 2012
This is probably my first dud of 2012. This short, unfinished novel had a few scenes in it that grabbed my attention but was otherwise rather uninspiring. Sometimes I just had absolutely no idea what was going on in this book, whereas at other points the story had some real potential and looked like it was going somewhere - and then it would jump to something else entirely and that thread of the story would be lost.
According to my lectu...more
This book is difficult to get the hang of right away. If you don't know French (I don't), you will find it tiresome to turn to the back and read the translations. That being said the book in many ways is quite lovely if viewed from the aspect that Sterne was quite close to death when he wrote it, and still the Characters sensibility disposition through his trip is strong. The book is quite funny at times, and really its only a hundred pages, the funny moments are worth the time.
Jan 31, 2008
Spiros
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those who Take their Humour Dry, very Dry
"-They order, said I, this matter better in France-"
With these bumptuous words, the good Parson Yorick, of TRISTRAM SHANDY fame, begins a journey of discovery, a journey which will bring him to the shadow of the Bastille, and into several fraught encounters with chambermaids. The fact that, by any reading of TRISTRAM SHANDY, the indefatigable parson had died before setting out for France obviously didn't disconcert Sterne, nor should it bother us; I do feel that I would have enjoyed this account...more
With these bumptuous words, the good Parson Yorick, of TRISTRAM SHANDY fame, begins a journey of discovery, a journey which will bring him to the shadow of the Bastille, and into several fraught encounters with chambermaids. The fact that, by any reading of TRISTRAM SHANDY, the indefatigable parson had died before setting out for France obviously didn't disconcert Sterne, nor should it bother us; I do feel that I would have enjoyed this account...more
Reading Sterne is a little like watching good stand-up--there are some awful, highly tedious misfires (or miscommunications--Sterne can be very oblique and the fact that the diction is, well, 18th c. doesn't help), but there are some absolutely brilliant sections as well. And when he is describing sentiment, Sterne's intensity of feeling can be overwhelming and deeply moving.
I read this book while attending a sick man who, every time I had just started to make sense of one of Sterne's infinitely regressive passages, woke up from a nap and cried "Help!" When he fell back asleep, I had to start from the beginning again. As a result, I have difficulty giving a coherent account of the entire book, but recall that parts of it were very amusing. Of course, I can say the same thing about Tristram Shandy, which I read without interruption.
Basically, I have taken away the me...more
Basically, I have taken away the me...more
I am not sure he did much in Italy however, while in France he was non stop on the look out for ladies - an early version 'player'. The prose was choppy and outdated, the French was above me and required looking up - but as it was only a limited amount it took nothing away from the story. The story, point of the book, was hard to determine - it was a diary of events rather anything else.
If Tristram Shandy is looking too intense (and really it is pretty intimidating) this is a great book to read. It is the follow-up novel to Tristram Shandy and it is much more approachable. It's still Laurence Sterne being... well Laurence Sterne. If you are ever curious what is possible in fiction at it's peak I recommend the hell out of this book.
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Laurence Sterne was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics. Sterne died in London after years of fighting consumption.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La...more
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“Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I trace thee and this is thy divinity which stirs within me...All comes from thee, great-great SENSORIUM of the world!”
—
6 people liked it
“I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, ‘Tis all barren—and so it is; and so is all the world to him who will not cultivate the fruits it offers. I declare, said I, clapping my hands chearily together, that was I in a desart, I would find out wherewith in it to call forth my affections—If I could not do better, I would fasten them upon some sweet myrtle, or seek some melancholy cypress to connect myself to—I would court their shade, and greet them kindly for their protection—I would cut my name upon them, and swear they were the loveliest trees throughout the desert: if their leaves wither’d, I would teach myself to mourn, and when they rejoiced, I would rejoice along with them.”
—
4 people liked it
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