A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by british 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 unfinished 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 strongely objected to his spleen, acerbity and quarrelsomeness. He modeled the character of Smelfungus on him.)

Related Topics:
Laurence Sterne - The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman - Tobias Smollett - Travels through France and Italy - Smelfungus

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The narrator is the Reverend Mr. Yorick, who acts 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 received better by contemporary critics. It was published on February 27, and on March 18 Sterne died.

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