A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy [with Biographical Introduction]

Written after several years of travelling through France and Italy, Laurence Sterne published this novel as a sentimental account of his experiences abroad, and ultimately established travel writing as the dominant literary genre of the second half of the 18th century. This book is sometimes seen as an epilogue to his previous work, "The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman", but was immensely popular of its own right because of its elegant, episodic style that had till then not been prevalent in travel literature. The story is narrated by the charming and sensitive young Reverend Mr. Yorick, and recounts his various adventures throughout France with his servant La Fleur. Sterne's emphasis of subjective, personal discussions, and of manners and morals over classical learning are delicately expressed in this imaginative work. After years of fighting consumption, Sterne passed away just weeks before the publication of this, one of his most successful and influential novels.