The only other novel by the author of the hilariously freewheeling Tristram Shandy, Sterne's Sentimental Journey is similarly light-hearted and humorous, albeit on a much smaller scale.Of course, the plot is immaterial. The book starts and ends mid-sentence, and in the middle of those interrupted sentences, the narrator (the parson Yorick from Tristram Shandy, though really just a thin veil for Sterne) wanders around France -- he never even gets to Italy -- seeking intellectual attachments, finer feelings, and female regard. The hopeless romantic falls in love at the drop of a hat with random shopkeepers and lady's-maids, but it's a love that never takes itself too seriously, especially if it will interfere with a good anecdote or the purchase of a fine set of Shakespeare.
Essentially a slim volume of digressions, musings, sketches, and anecdotes, my only complaint is that it's too short. After the bountiful feast of Tristram Shandy, the enjoyable Sentimental Journey isn't even dessert - it's a sample platter, with several delectable bites but not much to sink one's teeth into. That said, those bits are quite delicious. Take this scene. After a good meal, Yorick waxes eloquent on the beauty of charity: "When man is at peace with man, how much lighter than a feather is the heaviest of metals in his hand! he pulls out his purse, and holding it airily and uncompressed, looks round him, as if he sought for an object to share it with! ... I had scarce uttered the words, when a poor monk of the order of St. Francis came into the room to beg something for his convent... The moment I cast my eyes upon him, I was predetermined not to give him a single sous." The book is full of engaging, rambling stories that take comic and often ironic turns. Continually undercutting, diverting, and rerouting his narrative, Sterne's art of the absurd is enchanting, and it is underpinned by genuine love and self-deprecating good-humor.
Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 random shopkeepers
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