Literature by Era Trivia

1. "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." So begins which beloved novel by Dodie Smith?

From Quiz Literature of the 1940s

Answer: I Capture the Castle

Dodie Smith was offered money to change the book's bittersweet ending for the United States, but refused. The narrator, Cassandra, lives in a dilapidated castle in the 1930s and wants to be a writer; her father had great success with his first book but has written nothing since. This 1948 book was made into a film in 2003.

From Quiz Definitely Not Dickens

Answer: H. Rider Haggard

Published in 1885, at a time when explorers were starting to uncover such wonders as the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, and other ancient cultures, this book caught the public imagination and was an immediate success. At the time Africa was largely unexplored, but H.Rider Haggard was able to draw on his own experiences of the continent gained during the Zulu wars and the Boer War.

From Quiz Best Sellers of the 1960s #2

Answer: The Winter of Our Discontent

Apparently, John Steinbeck had a purpose for writing this praised and criticized novel. He wanted, it seems, to criticize American society in the 1960s. Some say that his purpose interfered with the artistry of this novel. John Steinbeck is the author of "The Grapes of Wrath, "Of Mice and Men," "Tortilla Flat" and "Travels with Charley" and a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.

From Quiz Best Sellers of the 1960s #1

Answer: A Nation of Sheep

William Lederer had collaborated with Eugene Burdick on various books, including "The Ugly American" (1958). His 1961 study, "A Nation of Sheep" concludes that when people are not informed thoroughly about their government's foreign policies and objectives, the effect becomes hypnotic, and the people as a result may turn to passive behavior since they are unable to make sound decisions on their own behalf. This book looks at events involving Laos, Thailand, Formosa, Korea, and other international trouble spots to show that there is a high level of misinformation which make accurate understanding and action difficult for the public.

From Quiz Groundbreaking Books of the 20th Century

Answer: meatpacking

"The Jungle" tells the story of a family of Lithuanian immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking a better life for themselves. Settling in the Chicago area, they went to work in the meatpacking industry and endured all sorts of unsafe conditions. While Sinclair's book was meant to be an exposure of these unsafe working conditions, the main result of the book was the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the handling of food.

From Quiz 25 Centuries of Literature

Answer: Virgil

Homer brought us such epics as "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." Virgil composed his famous epic, about the mythical founding of Rome, in about 29 BC.

From Quiz Literary Timeline

Answer: Monarchs or political events

Some periods are named after the leading characteristic of the age (The Renaissance, The Age of Sensibility, and The Romantic Period). Sometimes authors give birth to period names, like The Age of Johnson. There are two periods named after the language itself: the Old English and Middle English Periods. However, most periods are named for monarchs or major political events: The Elizabethan Age, The Jacobean Age, The Regency, The Victorian Period, The Commonwealth Period, The Restoration, The Edwardian Age, etc.

From Quiz 20th Century Lit.

Answer: Richard Bachman

King created the alias to write more books in a year.

From Quiz Great Novels From Seventies

Answer: neither is saved

'Sophie's Choice' was published in 1979.

From Quiz Classic Novels From 50s

Answer: They get mysterious phonecalls.

Memento Mori was published in 1959 , and has been called a ruthless black comedy.

From Quiz From Ancient Greece to the Modern Era

Answer: Alyosha

Fyodor is the name of the author - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

From Quiz Literature of the 1940s

Answer: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

The book is about Francie Nolan, a girl growing up in Brooklyn in the 1910s. A film version came out two years after the book; James Dunn won an Academy Award for playing Francie's father. The book was printed in a special size to be easily carried in the soldiers' rucksacks. This paperback version is seen briefly in one episode of the WWII miniseries "Band of Brothers".

From Quiz Literature Through the Ages (2): the 1910s

Answer: "The Phantom of the Opera" (Gaston Leroux)

Originally serialized over a period of six months in "Le Gaulois" starting in September 1909, Gaston Leroux's "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" was first published as a novel in 1910 and its English translated debuted the following year. It was famously adapted for the cinema in 1925, with Lon Chaney, Sr. in the title role of the Phantom, and for the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical in 1986, with Michael Crawford heading the London cast. The first collection of previously serialized short stories featuring amateur detective Father Brown was published in 1911. Four further collections would be published between 1914 and 1935. J.M. Barrie's 1904 play, "Peter and Wendy", was published in novel form in 1911 under the titles "Peter Pan", "The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" and "Peter and Wendy". Other novels published this year include Max Beerbohm's "Zuleika Dobson", Algernon Blackwood's "The Centaur", Joseph Conrad's "Under Western Eyes", Eduard von Keyserling's "Wellen", Bram Stoker's "The Lair of the White Worm", Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes" and D.H. Lawrence's "The White Peacock".

From Quiz Old Favorites: Best Sellers from the 1960s

Answer: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Irving Stone also wrote biographies of Clarence Darrow and Earl Warren. Stone's historical novel "Lust for Life", about Vincent van Gogh, was also made into a movie which starred Kirk Douglas. "Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.": A quote from "The Agony and the Ecstasy".

From Quiz Old Favorites: Best Sellers From the 1950s

Answer: The Wall

"The Wall", written in diary form, recounts the German occupation of Warsaw from late 1939 to early 1943. The fictional diarist, Noach Levenson, is said to be based on Emanuel Ringelblum, who wrote "Notes From the Warsaw Ghetto".

From Quiz Literature Through the Ages: the 1900s

Answer: Rudyard Kipling's "Kim"

Set during the political conflict between Britain and Russia in Central Asia in the final decade of the 19th Century, Rudyard Kipling's "Kim" provides an insight into the people, culture, religions and superstitions of India. It was voted number 78 in the 1998 poll of "100 best English-language novels of the 20th century" and was was included in the 2003 BBC poll of viewer's "Best-loved novels". The story's protagonist is the orphan son of an Irish soldier, Kimball O'Hara, who is living in poverty in Lahore, India under British rule. Kim becomes a disciple of Teshoo Lama and accompanies him on his pilgrimage. On the way, Kim meets a horse trader who is also a British spy and he is persuaded to carry a message to the head of British Intelligence... The alternatives were also published in 1901. Other significant novels published in that year include Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", Émile Zola's "Travail" and Jules Verne's "The Sea Serpent".

From Quiz Literary Trivia Through the Ages

Answer: Saint Bernard

Published in 1981, "Cujo" is a psychological horror novel. The title character starts off as a large but good-natured Saint Bernard until one day he chases a wild rabbit and sticks his head into a small cave entrance. A rabid bat bites him on the nose and turns him into the neighborhood nightmare.

From Quiz Definitely Not Dickens

Answer: The Moonstone

Published in 1868 "The Moonstone" was described by Dorothy L. Sayers as "probably the very finest detective story ever written". It remains a very popular novel and is recognised as the start of English detective fiction. Unfortunately it was also Wilkie Collins' last popular novel as his subsequent books had less thriller content and more social commentary.

From Quiz Novels of the 1920s

Answer: Sinclair Lewis

The 1920s were Lewis' classic period; in addition to "Main Street", which made him an overnight success and rich, he wrote "Babbit" (1922), "Arrowsmith" (1925) for which he received a Pulitzer Prize but refused, "Elmer Gantry" (1927) that raised the ire of church leaders, and "Dodsworth" (1929) that culminated in the Nobel Prize for his body of work. "Main Street" was based on Lewis' home town of Sauk Centre, Minnesota in which he depicted in this satirical novel the pettiness and hypocrisy of the mid-western town through the eyes of a big city woman married to a small town doctor. Lewis suffered from alcoholism which was contributing factor in his death at sixty-five in 1951.

From Quiz Novels of the 1960s

Answer: Truman Capote

Truman Capote (nee Truman Persons) spent summers near to the Lee family just as Dill did in the book. In adult life, Lee assisted Capote in his research in writing "In Cold Blood" (1966). Friends and sponsors provided Lee with funds so she could take a year to write the 'great American novel' and it paid off with the Pulitzer Prize for 1961.

From Quiz Novels of the 1950s

Answer: "From Here to Eternity" James Jones

James Jones brought his World War Two experience to his novel and soared to the top of the USA best seller list. Jones' novel was part one of a trilogy that included "The Thin Red Line" and "The Whistle". Jones spent part of his earnings to establish an unsuccessful writer's colony in Marshall, Illinois. Wouk's "Caine Mutiny" ranked second in sales to "Eternity". "The Cruel Sea" dealt with the British fleet during World War Two in the North Atlantic. A war hero is accused of crimes in Marquard's "Melville Goodwin, USA".

From Quiz Best Sellers of the 1960s #2

Answer: Rabbit, Run

This novel is the first novel of a series of books dealing with Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. John Updike wrote "Rabbit, Run," "Rabbit Redux, "Rabbit Is Rich," "Rabbit At Rest" and, then, later, in 2000, a novella called "Rabbit Remembered." These books are an interesting study of the cultural world that Updike perceives. The following Updike remark in his own words shows the intricacy of his cultural critique. He observes, "America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy."

From Quiz Best Sellers of the 1960s #1

Answer: The Leopard

Giuseppe Di Lampedusa wrote only one novel, his classic 1961 novel, "The Leopard". Interestingly, he never saw in print what is called one of the greatest novels written in the 20th century. The novel deals with an Italian aristocrat, trying to understand the changes overcoming the world he had known. Don Fabrizio rejects change and finds comfort in astronomy, among other things. Readers have called this book "one of the great lonely books" and, to a person, have praised its terse and evocative writing style.

From Quiz Groundbreaking Books of the 20th Century

Answer: Sinclair Lewis

The novel is said to be based on Lewis' hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. After the novel came out, Sauk Centre was at first unhappy with how it was depicted. However, the town has since embraced Lewis, and his boyhood home is now open for visitors to tour. During the 1920s Lewis also published "Babbitt", "Arrowsmith", "Elmer Gantry", and "Dodsworth", resulting in his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, the first American to be so honored.

From Quiz Read Any Good Books Lately? Here are a Few...

Answer: Lolita

Nabokov had trouble finding a publisher for his book, as the subject matter was so controversial. The book's heroine, Lolita, was twelve years old when Humbert first saw her and became immediately obsessed with her. Many people were troubled by the book's theme. But the critical reception was so favorable, the author's writing so brilliant, that it was accepted and became a best-seller. "Lolita" has become one of the most admired and critically praised novels of the 20th century. Vladimir Nabokov was born in 1899 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the son of an important politician. When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, his father was thrown into prison, and the family went into exile in Europe. In 1922, young Vladimir's father was murdered as he attempted to defend a political opponent from an assassin. Nabokov began his writing career in Europe, and eventually he came to the United States, where he lectured and taught at various universities. He published many distinguished novels including the three listed as incorrect options, critical works and translations, and his wonderful autobiography "Speak, Memory" in 1967. He was also a noted lepidopterist. He died in Montreux, Switzerland on July 2, 1977.

From Quiz 25 Centuries of Literature

Answer: Irenaeus

In the same century, Marcus Aurelius brought forth his "Meditations."

From Quiz Literary Timeline

Answer: Restoration

The "Restoration" refers to the return of King Charles II to the throne in 1660. Literature from this period includes the writings of John Milton, John Dryden, Thomas Otway, and William Congreve, to name but a few.

From Quiz 20th Century Lit.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

There are five "Foundation" novels.

From Quiz Great Novels From Seventies

Answer: she commits suicide with her old lover Nathan

Styron was born in Virginia in 1925.He won Pulitzer Prize in 1967 for The Confessions of Nat Turner.

From Quiz Classic Novels From 50s

Answer: The hero refuses to win a race.

Published in 1959.Made into a celebrated film by Tony Richardson .(1962)

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