Snow Stories Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The White Witch has cast a spell, meaning that Narnia, the magical land found by going through the back of the wardrobe, is stuck in a perpetual winter. The spell is broken by Aslan and Father Christmas makes his first visit for many years. This book, the first written in the series of novels by C. S. Lewis, is a Christian allegory.

Answer: The Call of the Wild

Jack London's story, 'The Call of the Wild', is about Buck, the dog who learns to adapt to being a sled dog in the Yukon. Eventually, Buck reverts to his ancestry, and becomes a member of a pack of wolves.

Answer: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

Written by Peter Hoeg, 'Miss Smillas's Feeling for Snow' is set in Copenhagen. The Miss Smilla of the title has a Danish father and Inuit mother, and has learned to 'interpret' different types of snow. As a result, she is able to ascertain that the supposed accidental death of a friend is actually something more sinister.

Answer: A Christmas Carol

The story of Scrooge, and how he turned from a miserable, selfish man into someone far more humane, is one of Charles Dickens's most popular works. The characters of Scrooge himself, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future must be some of the best known from any work of of literature and have been used in many films and television shows.

Answer: The Polar Express

The book was written by Chris Van Allsburg and first published in 1985. A young boy is transported by train to the North Pole, where he meets Santa Claus. Having been given a choice of any gift he likes, the boy picks a rather modest item which he promptly loses, only to have it returned to him by Santa on Christmas Day.

Answer: War and Peace

Tolstoy's novel touches on many themes, including Napoleon's ultimately unsuccessful invasion of Russia. Two of the major characters are involved in one of the major battles of the war, the Battle of Borodino in 1812, in which Napoleon was successful. Eventually, though, he was defeated by the Russian army and the Russian winter, with the novel covering a trek through the snow by the French army and their prisoners.

Answer: Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Having been abandoned by Angel Clare, who has been unable to accept her past, Tess is forced to take employment at a farm where she, and the other employees, are treated little better than slaves. Tess starts at the worst time of year and is committed to staying until the following April. Thomas Hardy's story of a young woman who is treated badly by all the men she comes across led him to describe her as a 'Pure Woman'.

Answer: The Dead

Written by James Joyce, 'The Dead' is the final story in the collection of works in 'Dubliners', published in 1914. In the tale, a man is shocked to learn that his wife still remembers her first love, who died after visiting her in bad weather. The story ends with the narrator considering how the snow falling will cover everyone, living and dead, and how we all end in the same way, in death.

Answer: The Shining

This is one of Stephen King's horror stories, with many of you now visualising Jack Nicholson's demented face in the film made in 1980. Having taken a job as caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, Jack Halloran, his wife and son undergo a harrowing experience.

Answer: The Blizzard

This is a story by Aleksandr Pushkin, from 1830. An heiress falls in love with an army officer, but her parents are against the union. Having made arrangements to elope, the young man fails to reach the church in time for the wedding ceremony, due to the blizzard of the title. The story takes a rather unexpected turn, though, which I will leave you to investigate for yourselves if you are intrigued.