Famous First Lines Trivia

1. Which novel's Chapter Two begins with the following line? "It was pleasant to wake up in Florence, to open the eyes upon a bright bare room,..."

From Quiz Chapter Two: Opening Lines

Answer: A Room With a View

In Chapter One of E. M. Forster's "A Room with a View," Lucy Honeychurch and Miss Bartlett (a young Englishwoman and her older cousin/chaperone) complain that their rooms in Florence do not have a view of the Arno. The rest of that chapter gives the reader an amusing view of the characters and their society. By Chapter Two, they have been able to exchange rooms with other guests and have the views they desired.

From Quiz It Was the Blurst of Times

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens wrote 15 novels plus 27 shorter works. "A Tale of Two Cities" was his twelfth novel, and one of the two historical novels he wrote. Dickens died of a stroke in 1870, leaving his final novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", unfinished. The actual quote from "A Tale of Two Cities", written in 1859, has the longest opening sentence that I know. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

From Quiz First Sentence Frenzy

Answer: Aldous Huxley - "Brave New World"

The dystopian novel was written in 1932 and pictures a "perfect" society in the future where people are divided into classes ranging from Alphas to Epsilon based on their intellect and beauty.

From Quiz Famous First Words

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

This Thomas Harris book, first published in 1988, was the first to feature Clarice Starling. Hannibal Lecter, the charming yet creepy cannibal, was introduced in an earlier novel, "Red Dragon".

From Quiz First Lines

Answer: Anna Karenina

Tolstoy one of the greats of Russian literature. Born into a family of Russian aristocrats in September 1828, his full name was Count Lyev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. The title of Count had been conferred on his ancestor in the early 18th century by Peter the Great.

From Quiz Classics' First Lines

Answer: 1984

"1984" by George Orwell is a fascinating novel that explores a dystopian future in which society is repressed by a sinister group known as The Party, headed by Big Brother.

From Quiz Literary First Lines

Answer: The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton's classic novel depicts the story of Ponyboy Curtis, a 14-year old orphan who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is mixed in with the conflicts between his gang, The Greasers, and the rich Socs. When Ponyboy's best friend kills a Soc, the two boys run from the law and live in an old abandoned church until they decide to come clean with the law. When the church burns, and the boys risk their lives to save others, they begin to realize the true meaning of life. However, it may be too late to save some of their own pals from imploding.

From Quiz More (Kinda) Famous First Lines

Answer: Shane

The 1953 movie, with Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Jack Palance and Van Heflin is a faithful rendition of this novel. It was written by Jack Schaefer in 1949.

From Quiz Bookshelf Scramble

Answer: Holes

Did you know Louis Sachar who wrote the book "Holes", also wrote the script for the movie?

From Quiz First Lines of Famous Novels: Part 2

Answer: 'War and Peace' - Leo Tolstoy

An all-time classic, 'War and Peace' is a story of war and covers a period of seven years. It has been portrayed on film numerous times.

From Quiz Opening Lines from Books

Answer: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith tells the story of a girl growing up in poverty and hard times.

From Quiz First Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: 'The Fellowship of the Ring' - J. R. R. Tolkien

'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' tells of the young Frodo Baggins, a hobbit of the Shire, and his quest to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power.

From Quiz The Beginning of a Classic

Answer: "Mutiny on the Bounty" by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff

James Norman Hall was browsing in a Paris bookshop in 1916 when the idea of making a novel out of the mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty in 1787 occurred to him. He shared this idea with a fellow American flying for France in the Lafayette Escadrille, Charles Nordhoff, and thus 'Mutiny on the Bounty' was written. 'Pitcairn's Island' relates the fate of the mutineers, outward bound from Tahiti, and 'Men Against the Sea' follows Captain Bligh on his 3600-mile voyage. 'Falcons of France' was a memorial of the First World War in which both the authors served and was the first novel they wrote together.

From Quiz First Lines from Famous Works of Literature 2

Answer: "Angela's Ashes"

Before publishing "Angela's Ashes", Frank McCourt taught at several public schools in New York City. McCourt did not begin writing "Angela's Ashes" until he was in his sixties.

From Quiz First Lines from Famous Works of Literature

Answer: "The Iliad"

"The Iliad", an epic poem written by Homer, centers around the Trojan War between the Achaians (Greeks) and the Trojans. Although the poem is most widely known for its plot revolving around the abducted Helen of Troy, it is really a story about how Achilleus struggles to overcome his anger and fulfill his duties to the Achaian state.

From Quiz Famous (well, kinda famous) First Lines

Answer: Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 movie, with Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, was a faithful rendition of Robert Bloch's 1959 novel.

From Quiz Famous First Lines

Answer: A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

'A Study in Scarlet' is the first book in which we meet the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

From Quiz Good Start

Answer: A Christmas Carol

One of Dickens' best known novels, "A Christmas Carol" was published in 1843, just in time for Christmas and became a classic yuletide story.

From Quiz First Words Part 2

Answer: My Family and Other Animals

Gerald Durrell story, based on his true life experience.

From Quiz First Words

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

Written by Jane Austen, first called 'First Impressions.' If you picked 'Sense and Sensibility' right author - but wrong book.

From Quiz Opening Lines

Answer: A Christmas Carol

By Charles Dickens.

From Quiz Openings of Literary Classics

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

By Charles Dickens.

From Quiz Chapter Two: Opening Lines

Answer: Little Women

At the beginning of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women", Jo is lamenting that there will be no Christmas presents for her and her sisters. Chapter Two takes the reader to Christmas morning. Although there are no filled stockings nor packages under the tree, each of the girls does get a gift; their mother had made a book for each of them.

From Quiz It Was the Blurst of Times

Answer: Moby-Dick; or, the Whale

The first line from Chapter 1 of Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" written in 1851 is: "Call me Ishmael." But Melville starts the book with an etymology (writing giving the background of a story). So you might say the novel starts with this line: "The pale usher-threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now." "Moby Dick" got good reviews from critics, but sold poorly. The Epilogue, explaining how Ishmael survived, was originally omitted from first publication, leaving many readers displeased with the ending that all on board perished, as well as not explaining how Ishmael could recount the story.

From Quiz First Lines

Answer: Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), born in Motihari, Bengal, India. His mother was the daughter of a tea-merchant, and his father a civil servant in the opium department. Orwell once got himself arrested as a drunk, to have some knowledge about life in prison. He was released after 48 hours.

From Quiz Classics' First Lines

Answer: The Picture of Dorian Gray

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" was Oscar Wilde's only novel. In the novel, Dorian exchanges his soul in return for eternal youth. The novel is challenging but its exploration of aestheticism and hedonism are fascinating.

From Quiz Literary First Lines

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

This classic, written by Jane Austen, was published in 1813. Elizabeth Bennet is the main character. There is no male heir in her family, as she is one of five daughters. The daughters must find suitable husbands or they will be forced to leave their home.

From Quiz Famous First Words

Answer: Ovid- "The Metamorphoses"

Another work Ovid is famous for is the "Ars Amatoria", the art of loving. Most poems I have struggled to translate were however out of "The Metamorphoses", relaying myths, in many of which a person or god changes shape, often quite spectacularly. His "Ars Amatoria" got him in trouble with Augustus, however, who banished him to the Black Sea because his poems offended the establishment in Rome... Kafka's "Metamorphosis" is the author's bad trip description of waking up and finding himself in the form of a giant cockroach. Darwin's "The Origin of Species" are his published notes from his voyage to amongst other places the Galapagos Islands, where he witnessed first-hand specialization traits in species of birds, tortoises etc. This book caused a bit of a stir, and still does... Newton also wrote about bodies, but more on the attraction and repulsion thereof.

From Quiz Bookshelf Scramble

Answer: Sticks

Joan Bauer won the Newbery Honor award for her book "Hope was Here!"

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