Famous First Words: European Literature Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which vast novel opens with these memories of childhood? "For a long time I would go to bed early. Sometimes, the candle barely out, my eyes closed so quickly that I did not have time to tell myself: "I'm falling asleep.""

Answer: "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust

Proust's mammoth novel is awesome, in the true sense of the word. Despite its length, it's actually an accessible read for anyone who loves words and the art of the novel. In his "Lectures On Literature", literary luminary Vladimir Nabokov talks about Proust's style as "a wealth of metaphorical imagery, layer upon layer of comparisons.

It is through this prism that we view the beauty of Proust's work. A tendency to fill in and stretch out a sentence to its utmost breadth and length, to cram into the stocking of the sentence a miraculous number of clauses, parenthetic phrases, subordinate clauses, sub-subordinate clauses.

Indeed in verbal generosity he is a veritable Santa."

2. The author of this Russian classic burnt the first draft. He never felt it finished, and it was published after his death. It starts with the following lines. Which book is it? "One hot spring evening, just as the sun was going down, two men appeared at Patriarch's Ponds."

Answer: "The Master And Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Faust legend, Gogol and Tolstoy are all here, but Bulgakov's madcap characters and bizarre events are anything but parody or homage, more of a cocktail of social satire, love story and absurd comedy. Bulgakov "enjoyed" an almost unique relationship with Stalin and Stalinist Russia.

His work was frequently banned and he was ostracised from the artistic world, yet he was given temporary reprieve by Stalin, although his request to leave the country was denied by "Uncle Joe". Nowadays he is generally considered as a literary hero in his homeland, and many of his lines have entered contemporary Russian usage.

The Master in the novel tries to burn his work, but the Devil (Woland in the novel) gives it back, and comes up with the most famous line in the novel, "manuscripts don't burn".

3. Which English author began her first published 1847 novel with these lines? "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning but since dinner (Mrs Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so somber, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question."

Answer: Charlotte Bront� in "Jane Eyre"

"Jayne Eyre" was Charlotte Bront�'s first published novel, although she had already written "The Professor". It's often referred to as a proto-feminist novel due to the strong female character's rejection of a woman's role in Victorian society, but actually the breadth of themes is immense. Jean Rhys' postcolonial "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a kind of prequel to "Jane Eyre" and deals with the first Mrs Rochester, who was born in the Caribbean and taken to England as Mr Rochester's wife, and then hidden away as a madwoman. Charlotte was the eldest of three sisters and one brother, known as the Bront�s.

The three sisters all wrote, as did their brother Branwell, but he was never published and is mostly remembered for his paintings of the sisters. He was allegedly an alcoholic (and had drug addictions), which might have led to his dying young of tuberculosis, although his sisters Emily and Anne both died of tuberculosis soon after him, despite not having similar addictions. Charlotte's death certificate states she too died of tuberculosis, yet many Bront� scholars suggest otherwise.

She was pregnant at the time of her death.

4. Which short French novel gets off to a start with these rather dour words? "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday. I don't know. I had a telegram from the home. "Mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely." That doesn't mean anything. It may have been yesterday."

Answer: "The Outsider" by Albert Camus

French self-proclaimed absurdist Albert Camus was born in Algeria, and both "The Plague" and "The Outsider" (aka "The Stranger") are ostensibly set there. He's often misleadingly referred to as an existentialist, something he firmly rejected, saying "No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked."

Manchester band The Fall's maverick founding (and ever-present) member Mark E. Smith got the band's name from the Camus novel of the same name. Andr� Gide's 1902 novel "The Immoralist" is also set in North Africa, in Tunisia to be precise. He had travelled widely there, befriending Irish author Oscar Wilde along the way. Gide could equal Wilde in the art of the bon mot, one of my favourites being: "Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again."

5. Which novel by a 1920 Nobel Prize-winning author begins in the following way? "The long, long road over the moors and up into the forest - who trod it into being first of all? Man, a human being, the first that came here. There was no path before he came. Afterward, some beast or other, following the faint tracks over marsh and moorland, wearing them deeper."

Answer: "Growth Of The Soil" by Knut Hamsun

The Nobel Prize in Literature isn't given for a specific work, but for the author's oeuvres "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" (Alfred Nobel). However, in some cases, such as Knut Hamsun's "Growth Of The Soil", a specific piece is cited as influencing the award being given.

Hamsun's image was tarred by his support for German National Socialism, but his position and role in World War II remain a moot point. He was openly anti-British, something that went back to his involvement in the Boer War, and said "the Germans are fighting for us, and now are crushing England's tyranny over us and all neutrals". He also met with Hitler and dared criticise the Germans' treatment of annexed Norwegians, apparently blissfully unaware of the wrath of the F�hrer due to his deafness (possibly faked).

6. Which Irish writer began his 1938 novel with the following sentence? "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."

Answer: Samuel Beckett in "Murphy"

"Murphy" was written in English, unlike much of Beckett's work, which was written in French. It's difficult for an amateur such as myself to praise one of the world's best ever wordsmith's intrinsically cerebral work. All I can say is he's one of the few high-brow artists who can still get a full belly-laugh, and this line gets me every time I read it.

"Cashel Byron's Profession" is Shaw's fourth novel. Although known as a playwright, Shaw wrote five novels early in his career. Flann O'Brien's real name was Brian O'Nolan, and he also used the name Myles na gCopaleen to write satirical columns in the Irish Times.

7. Which French-language novel, first published in 1936, begins with these lines? "Here we are, alone again. It's all so slow, so heavy, so sad... I'll be old soon. Then it will be over. So many people have come into my room. They've talked. They haven't said much. They've gone away. They've grown old, wretched , sluggish, each in some corner of the world."

Answer: "Death On Credit" by Louis-Ferdinand C�line

Louis-Ferdinand Destouches (who used the nom de plume of C�line) was a doctor whose experiences in World War I, which he wrote about in his first widely-acclaimed novel "Journey To The End Of The Night", deeply affected him. His second novel, "Death On Credit", deals with his childhood and beyond, but got a lukewarm reception even from previous flatterers due to its even darker pathos. His reputation sank like a lead balloon when he wrote anti-semitic pamphlets in the run up to World War II. He never recovered from this ill-repute. However, as C�line scholars have pointed out, the witch-hunt that ravaged post-war Europe tended to go for easy prey, such as C�line, rather than larger, more powerful culprits. Furthermore, they avoided deep-rooted issues that were(are) still unresolved. He never refuted his position; whether this was out of belligerence or adherence remains an enigma.

None of his novels display his heinous bigotry; in fact, his emotionally-charged, firm anti-war stance, and indignant tirades against cruelty, brutality and stupidity make them rousing reading for the humanist.

8. Which 1917 short novel, that takes the form of a confession, starts with these words? "Only the young have such moments. I don't mean the very young. No. The very young have, properly speaking, no moments. It is the privilege of early youth to live in advance of its days in all the beautiful continuity of hope which knows no pauses and no introspection."

Answer: "The Shadow Line" by Joseph Conrad

Like much of Conrad's work, "The Shadow Line, A Confession" has a nautical setting. The theme of "The Shadow Line" refers to a young ship captain's growth and development, from a youth into a man.

The Times Literary Supplement obituary for Conrad in 1924, written by Virginia Woolf, said: "He must be lost indeed to the meaning of words who does not hear in that rather stiff and sombre music, with its reserve, its pride, its vast and implacable integrity, how it is better to be good than bad, how loyalty is good and honesty and courage...".

9. Which farcical novel, published in two parts separated by a ten-year gap, starts off like this? "Idle reader: I don't have to swear to any oaths to persuade you that I should like this book, since it is the son of my brain, to be the most beautiful, elegant and intelligent book imaginable. But I couldn't go against the order of nature, according to which like gives birth to like."

Answer: "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

Faulkner claimed he re-read Cervantes' masterpiece every year. Had I the time, I would do the same. The novel was influenced by, and yet a parody of, chivalric works such as "Orlando Furioso". It is a proto-postmodern work before the modern had ever even come about, which refers to itself within itself, and the protagonist even does battle with his imposters, driven to fakery due to the first installment of the book having been such a run-away success.

UNESCO's World Book Day is held on 23rd April to commemorate the death of Cervantes, a date that has long been celebrated in Catalonia.

10. Which 1932 book, that was made into a film in 1969, starts off with the following words? "Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster"

Answer: "Laughter In The Dark" by Nabokov

"Laughter In The Dark" can be read in many ways. Its bitter-sweet pathos is also a hilarious romp, but deeper down it's actually a kind of ode to Tolstoy, for whom Nabokov was never lacking in praise. Thomas Seifrid says, on the allusions to Anna Karenina: "As if the obvious borrowing of plot (adultery leading to death) were not enough, the novel contains a character named Dorianna Karenina, who moreover is asked point-blank by another (Gorn) whether she has ever read Tolstoy."

"Every Man Dies" is also set in Berlin. Primo Levi said it is "the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis."

11. Which mammoth novel, the last part of which was published posthumously, begins in the following way? "A barometric low hung over the Atlantic. It moved eastward toward a high-pressure area over Russia without as yet showing any inclination to bypass this high in a northerly direction."

Answer: "The Man Without Qualities" by Robert Musil

Musil never finished "The Man Without Qualities" despite working on it from 1921 until his death in 1942. Although it's much less known than either Joyce's "Ulysses" or Proust's "In Search Of Lost Time", it's often mentioned in the same breathe as those two Modernist masterpieces.

Also-ran "Ferdydurke" is one of the funniest novels I've ever read, although I'm not sure why. The title doesn't appear anywhere in the book, and appears only in the title. Gombrowicz refused to reveal why he had chosen it, although theories have abounded to it being taken from Sinclair Lewis's novel "Babbitt". The resounding word used in praise of the novel is "mocking", and it does indeed mock our conception of youth and maturity, but also the bourgeoisie, school and social staus. Susan Sontag wrote of the novel: "Gombrowicz capers and thunders, hectors and mocks, but he is also entirely serious about his project of transvaluation, his critique of high 'ideals.' Gombrowicz, affirms the 'human' need for imperfection, incompleteness, inferiority ... youth, proclaims himself a specialist in inferiority." Milan Kundera had this to say: "I consider 'Ferdydurke' to be one of the three or four great novels written after Proust's death."

12. Which literary apex, described by Dostoyevsky as "flawless", starts in the following way? "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Answer: "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy

Not much can be said (by me) about one of the, if not the, greatest novel(s) ever written, and one of the most oft-quoted opening lines in literary history.

Unfortunately, D'Annunzio's (fascist) politics have overshadowed his extraordinary talent, at least to the Anglo-Saxon audience. "Child Of Pleasure" is a wonderful fin de si�cle novel that has much in common with Joris-Karl Huysmans' "Against Nature". Despite his involvement in Mussolini's fascist party, he had an extremely antagonistic relationship with "Il Duce", and actually advised him against siding with Hitler in the Axis.

Turgenev's novel is often credited with the spread of the concept of nihilism through the character, Eugene Bazarov, who describes himself as a Nihilist.

13. Which 1957 nouveau roman begins with the following, very prosaic, words? "Now the shadow of the column - the column which supports the south-west corner of the roof - divides the corresponding corner of the veranda into two equal parts."

Answer: "Jealousy" by Alain Robbe-Grillet

If you're looking for a novel with a beginning, middle and end, steer clear of Robbe-Grillet. His concept of the nouveau roman is amply demonstrated in this novel, where the two main characters are not even named. We are only aware of the narrator's presence in the novel by his being given a place at the table, or his lifting of a glass. Robbe-Grillet's dispassionate style and rigorous adherence to form somehow create an ominous sense of menace, particularly in this voyeuristic novel, due to the themes of suspicion and betrayal.

Satre discussed the idea of the anti-novel, but it wasn't until later that it really grew into an artistic movement, of which Simon is generally considered a prime mover.

14. Which Anglo-Irish novelist began his late 18th century novel in the following way? "I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me."

Answer: Laurence Sterne in "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemant"

Sterne's novel, which was heavily influenced by Rabelais, is both an ode to and a mockery of contemporary theories in philosophy, literature and overall zeitgeist. It's a very difficult book to read, as much for the flitting between topics as for the occasional completely blank page. Michael Winterbottom made a film, "A Cock And Bull Story" in 2006 that essentially dealt with how it was impossible to make a film of the novel, just as the book goes through the throes of the impossibility of how to write a story of one's own life. However, approached in the right spirit it is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Although Trollope described "Ralph The Heir" as "one of the worst novels I have written", it was well received by contemporary critics.

15. Which author's 1856 debut, which was to become one of the most influential novels of all time, begins in the following way? "We were in the preparation room when the head came in, followed by a new boy in ordinary day clothes, and by a school servant carrying a large desk. Those of us who were asleep woke up, and we all rose to our feet doing our best to give the impression that we had been interrupted in the midst of our labours."

Answer: Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary"

Flaubert's masterpiece is impeccable and has long been used as a blueprint of how to write the perfect novel. In "Lectures On Literature", Nabokov writes of Flaubert's classic: "The book is concerned with adultery and contains scenes and allusions that shocked the prudish philistine government of Napoleon III. Indeed the novel was actually tried in a court of justice for obscenity. Just imagine that. As if the work of an artist could ever be obscene."

Penguin publishers were tried for "Lady Chatterly's Lover" in the UK in 1960 under the Obscene Publications Act. The publishers won.

Source: Author thula2

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The first lines of a novel are often amongst the most memorable. I'll give you the first lines from some of my favourite European classics, you choose the novel and author.

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