unknown Shklovskii reference

[Gabriella Safran]

Dear All,
A friend just asked me if I knew the exact source of this quotation.  I
don't - do you?
take care,
GS


"If you wish to become a writer you  must examine a book as attentively as
a watchmaker a clock or a chauffeur a  car.  Cars are examined in the
following ways: The most idiotic people come to  the automobile and press
the balloon of its horn.  This is the first degree of  stupidity.  People
who know a little  more about cars but overestimate their knowledge come to
the car and fiddle with  its stick-shift.  This is also stupid, and even
bad, because one should not touch a thing for which another worker is
responsible.

The understanding man scrutinizes the car serenely and comprehends 'what
is for what': why it has so many cylinders and why it has big wheels, where
its  transmission is situated, and why its rear is cut in an acute angle
and its  radiator unpolished.

This is the way one should read."
--Viktor Shklovski

Gabriella Safran
Associate Professor
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305-2006

650-723-4414

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