Right or Wrong: A Literary Perspective Quiz

Answer: A Confession

Although all the novels listed above were written by Russian writers, only "A Confession" was penned by Leo Tolstoy, and originally published in 1882. The book was written when Tolstoy was going through a mid-life crisis, tackling the biggest question of them all: the meaning of life.

Answer: The Grapes of Wrath

This quote is attributed to one of the central characters in "The Grapes of Wrath", Jim Casy, who is a travelling preacher and friend to the main character, Tom Joad. Steinbeck actually modelled the character of Casy on Ed Ricketts, an American marine biologist, philosopher and ecologist, whom Steinbeck met in 1930.

They became friends and Steinbeck would also become Ricketts' business partner in the lab Ricketts ran. Ricketts actually served as the model for many of Steinbeck's characters, such as Doc in "Sweet Thursday" and "Cannery Row", Friend Ed in "Burning Bright" and Doctor Winter in "The Moon is Down".

Answer: "A Clockwork Orange", by Anthony Burgess

In the book, this quote is attributed to the fifteen year old Alex DeLarge, the main character, who is portrayed as the quintessential sociopath, who steals, rapes and assaults innocent people. Stanley Kubrick also made an equally controversial movie in 1971 based on the novella, published in 1962.

Despite the violent and dystopian nature of the book, in 2005 it was named by Time Magazine as one of the top one hundred English- language novels written since 1923 and Modern Library and its readers named it as one of the top one hundred English- language novels of the twentieth century.

Answer: Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams' name will forever be synonymous with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which was originally developed as a radio comedy for the BBC, then later adapted into a "trilogy" of five books. "Last Chance to See" started out as a BBC radio documentary, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, which was turned into a book by the same title, published in 1990. The subject matter deals with species on the brink of extinction.

Terry Pratchett who passed away on 12 March 2015, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Tolkien died in 1973 and in 2009 he was ranked as the fifth top-earning 'dead celebrity' by Forbes Magazine. Spike Milligan died in 2002 and was not only known for his writing, but also as an actor and comedian.

Answer: All's Well That Ends Well

A 'problem play' is the term used to describe a play that cannot outright be classified as either a comedy or a tragedy; "Julius Caesar" and "Titus Andronicus" are tragedies, and "As You Like It" is a comedy. "All's Well That Ends Well" deals with a woman who is given to a man she desires in marriage, but because of her lower rank in society, he refuses to accept her.

She must then fight for his acceptance.

Answer: Friedrich Nietzsche

Voltaire, the Marquis de Sade and Victor Hugo were all eminent French writers. Friedrich Nietzsche is also the originator of the famous quotation, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." The mentioned quote comes out of one of Nietzsche's most famous books, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", under the chapter, "On The Adder's Bite".

Answer: Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is probably most famous for his Discworld series of 41 books, whereof "Reaper Man" was the eleventh in the series. Pratchett sold an estimated 85 million books worldwide during his lifetime. In "Reaper Man", the character Death, is sent to live life like a normal person at the farm of one Miss Flitworth, and assumes the name Bill Door.

In a dialogue between the two, Miss Flitworth retorts to Bill Door's statement on right and wrong that right is right and wrong is wrong, and that she was brought up to know the difference.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

This quote comes from a collection of seventeen scientific essays by Asimov titled "Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright", published by Doubleday & Company in 1978. Although Asimov is most famous for writing science fiction, especially the Robot series as well as the Foundation series, he also wrote mystery, fantasy and history books, as well as books on astronomy, chemistry and even on William Shakespeare and the Bible.

Answer: Gautama Buddha

The quoted statement comes from the Buddha's "Sermon on Abuse". He goes on further to say that a wicked man who reproaches a virtuous one is like one who looks up and spits at heaven; the spittle soils not the heaven, but comes back and defiles his own person.

Answer: There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.

Through her writing, Rand promoted and developed her philosophy of Objectivism, defining it as 'a philosophy for living on earth'. In "Atlas Shrugged" she also said: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." The other three quotes listed above were quipped by none other than Adolf Hitler.