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Synopsis
First published in 1923, Knight's Move is a collection of articles and short critical pieces that Viktor Shklovsky, no doubt the most original literary critic and theoretician of the twentieth century, wrote for the newspaper The Life of Art between 1919-1921. With his usual epigrammatic, acerbic wit and genius, Shklovsky pillories the bad writers, artists, and critics of his time, especially those who used art as a political or social tool. And at no time is Shklovsky better than when he insists with indignation and outrage that "Art has always been free of life. Its flag has never reflected the color of the flag that flies over the city fortress." As fresh and revolutionary today as they were when written nearly a century ago, these pieces promise to infuriate an English-speaking readership as much as the Russian one of the 1920s.
Library Journal
Literary critic and theoretician Shklovsky (Theory of Prose) was a leading figure in the Russian Formalist movement during the 1920s. He had a profound effect on the writing of his time and on the future development of other schools of critical theory, which grew out of a reaction to (or a further development of) Formalism. This book gathers 37 of Shklovsky's short pieces, which first appeared in the newspaper Life of Art between 1919 and 1921. Most of the work centers on his often heated feelings about the nature of art and the need for independence in art. He also writes, in an evocative and harrowing manner, of revolution and the effects of war. For readers who lack context for Shklovsky's agenda or some understanding of the history of Russian literature and politics in the early 20th century, many of these pieces will read as disjointed sketches, a mix of rant and nightmare. However, for scholars and students of Shklovsky and his times, this translation provides wider access to the work of a pivotal figure in Russian literary theory and, as such, is recommended for academic libraries.-Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.