First Impressions

This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, is from a work by a novelist fascinated by country life:

"Whoever has happened to travel from Bolkhov County into the Zhizdra region will no doubt have been struck by the sharp differences between the nature of the people in the Orlov Province and those in Kaluga."

* Entries, including postal address, should be sent to First Impressions, The Times Higher , Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1W 1BX, faxed to 020 7782 3300 or emailed to theschat@thes.co.uk

The winner receives a £25 book voucher. The closing date is November 28.

The winner of last week's competition, who identified Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia , or Urn Burial , was Thad Parsons of St Cross College, St Giles, Oxford.

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