Viktor Shklovsky's "A Sentimental Journey," which borrows its title from Laurence Sterne, describes the travels of a bewildered intellectual through Russia, Persia, the Ukraine, and the Caucasus during the period of the Russian Revolution. Valuable as a historical document for its first-hand account of the events during the period of 1917-1922, "A Sentimental Journey" is also an important experimental literary work--a memoir in the form of a novel. At times lyrical, disturbing, ironic, and erudite, "A Sentimental Journey" is a singular book from one of the most recognizable and influential voices of twentieth-century Russian literature.
