Laurence Sterne on the 250th anniversary of his death: The most perfidious book in world literature in the brilliant new translation by Michael Walter. All of Europe was at the feet of this book - with Germany leading the way. In the midst of war, an Englishman sets off to France due to his deteriorating health and experiences various emotional entanglements there. That is the plot. More important, however, is the inner life of the main character Yorick, a "man of infinite jest." This book meticulously traces the soul's movements of the individual for the first time - and the success of the novel was incredible: it became a bestseller across Europe, social circles named themselves after the characters in the novel, "Yorick busts" were erected, factory-made souvenirs featuring motifs from the book were produced, and an entire era of German literature is named after this book: the Sensibility.