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Wikipedia tells me:
*A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy* is a novel by Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Sterne was facing death. In 1765, 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 had met Smollett during his travels in Europe, and strongly objected to his spleen, acerbity and quarrelsomeness. He modeled the character of Smelfungus on him.[1]
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* emphasised the subjective discussions of personal taste and sentiments, of manners and morals over classical learning. Throughout the 1770s female 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 27 February, and on 18 March Sterne died.
My response is that it’s just not that funny. Or sentimental. Just irritating in its twee, faux jovial tone. I want to make a generalisation about 18th century humour just being incomprehensible to us, but that’s not entirely true.** I mean, *P&P* was written though not published in the 18th century. *Evelina* was funny. Some of the 18th century plays are funny. So it’s not his milieux, it’s just that Sterne was not that funny (as he approached death).
** I am thinking here of the intense boringness of 18th century poetry, with the pompous high tone and literary references. It just makes me want to poke my eyes out.
*A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy* is a novel by Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Sterne was facing death. In 1765, 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 had met Smollett during his travels in Europe, and strongly objected to his spleen, acerbity and quarrelsomeness. He modeled the character of Smelfungus on him.[1]
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* emphasised the subjective discussions of personal taste and sentiments, of manners and morals over classical learning. Throughout the 1770s female 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 27 February, and on 18 March Sterne died.
My response is that it’s just not that funny. Or sentimental. Just irritating in its twee, faux jovial tone. I want to make a generalisation about 18th century humour just being incomprehensible to us, but that’s not entirely true.** I mean, *P&P* was written though not published in the 18th century. *Evelina* was funny. Some of the 18th century plays are funny. So it’s not his milieux, it’s just that Sterne was not that funny (as he approached death).
** I am thinking here of the intense boringness of 18th century poetry, with the pompous high tone and literary references. It just makes me want to poke my eyes out.
