Reviews for Compton's encyclopedia & fact-index

The average rating for Compton's encyclopedia & fact-index based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-05-03 00:00:00 Jesus Mendoza My second Bitov book and a real surprise: okay, now here (I started to think around page 30 or so) is a GREAT writer. His eye is clear, capacious, and, as in Pushkin House, very restless - though again the restlessness is the whole point of the construction, since what Bitov seems to be trying to do is discover a more sufficient (or less insufficient: he makes it clear that he considers this book a failure) method. The result is a travel book that examines the consciousness of the traveller as much as it does the places travelled to - although there are plenty of fascinating scenes and details about Armenia and Georgia, Bitov's destinations. I'd even go a step further: A Captive of the Caucusus inaugurates a new type of russian eye, one with ties to the domesticating Hellenism of its ancestors (Madelstam is all over this book), but with an EXPLICIT interest in the process of writing that, to me at least, seems startling and new. By the end of this book, I would have listened to Bitov describe anything, from snow to skyscrapers to the David Bowie version of "The Little Drummer Boy" (?!) that has just come on the radio behind me. The connecting intelligence at work. Too bad the rest of his travel journals (seven that I can find) have yet to be translated. Read this book if you want to get an idea of what nonfiction, and specifically travel writing can do. Bitov is still alive and writing, and needs to be payed closer attention.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-05-04 00:00:00 Gary Wulf This book is hard to categorize. Its Bitov's musings on his travels in Armenia and Georgia. Everything relates back to his relationship with Russia, and his relationships with other people. He takes a lot of time on human interest, and spends some time digressing on human existence and other such matters of authors and everything around him. I suppose its a travel log. Its also a very personal memoir. I think his writing is fantastic, he is great with words, but the digressive style really grated on me, also sometimes it seemed like a bit much, and some of the tangents . This is really very creative free writing the structure is there but its as if he has purposely chosen to ignore it. I would read something by this author again though, he is a great writer.