The Geek Interpreter Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brave New World

"Brave New World" is the most famous work of Aldous Huxley. Set in the 26th century, but in a new calendar based on Henry Ford, the society depicted is greatly regulated with children created on assembly lines and conditioned for their later role in society even before they are born (or rather decanted as it is called in the book). Set against a stark contrast against the savages - free people reproducing naturally but not enjoying civilization, the plot of this work ultimately ends in the conclusion that one can neither truly escape from nor adapt to this level of control.

Answer: The Neverending Story

"The Neverending Story" combines two story lines, one set in our world (called the "outside world") and the land of Fantastica, a fantasy world shaped and created by the wishes and dreams of children who visit it. It is typeset in red and green ink to distinguish the two worlds.

The protagonist Bastian Balthasar Bux, a clumsy and shy boy, steals a book and skips school to read it only to be drawn more and more into the plot until, at a pivotal point, he becomes part of the story, gaining the power of the Auryn amulet to make wishes and shape the world with.

The deeper he gets drawn into the fantastic realm, however, the more he forgets who he really is and ultimately almost gets permanently lost in his dreams.

Answer: The Long Walk

Stephen King wrote a number of his early novels under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, including "The Long Walk". This book is set in a dictatorially ruled United States of the near future in which one of the main sources of public enjoyment is "The Long Walk", an annual foot endurance race of initially 100 boys aged 16 to 18 who must walk, without any pauses and at a minimum speed, until all but one of them are eliminated.

This elimination however is permanent - anyone slacking is killed by a gunshot to the head. Only one boy will survive and be granted the grand prize.

Answer: Wilhelm Tell

"Wilhelm Tell" is one of the most well-known plays by German Romantic playwright Friedrich Schiller. Based on a Swiss legend, it traces the beginnings of a revolution against the pompous tyrant governor Gessler. The governor had set up one of his caps on a pole and everyone passing by had to salute it as if saluting the ruler himself. Tell, in mourning for his father, neglected this duty and was promptly sentenced to prove his legendary mettle with the crossbow, famously shooting an apple from his own son's head at 100 meters' distance. Gessler however imprisons Tell and this act of cruelty incites a peasant revolt. Gessler is felled by a crossbow bolt and Tell becomes a folk hero.

Answer: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Written in 1968, in parallel with the screenplay for the movie of the same name, Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey" uses a relatively realistic extrapolation of Earth's technological development even though it overestimated the progress of space exploration.

After unearthing a strange monolith on the moon which self-destructs upon being hit by the sun's rays, humanity decides to send a mission to the one location this monolith had sent a signal to: Saturn, or, more precisely its moon Iapetus.

The vessel sent for this purpose is guided by the computer HAL 9000 which malfunctions and kills most of the crew. Only one member survives and makes the trip to Iapetus where he discovers another such monolith - a portal to a distant galaxy. He passes through the portal and is transformed into an almost godlike being, returning to Earth just in time to use his newly found powers to prevent a nuclear war.

Answer: The Lord of the Rings

"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien probably does not need much of an introduction any more, at least not since its cinematic adaptation took the world by storm. The story revolves around the most unlikely of heroes - the hobbit Frodo Baggins, a short but stout being of no particular skill except for the two that matter: resilience and courage. Accompanied by his faithful companion Samwise Gamgee and, at least in the beginning, a company assembled from all major races of Middle Earth, he makes his way into the heart of Mordor, land of the shadows, to reach the fires of Mount Doom where the One Ring of power, a great and oppressive magical item, was forged and must be returned to destroy it.

In the end, however, even Frodo succumbs to the power of the Ring and would not be able to let go of it, but fate, in the shape of the Ring-corrupted creature Gollum, completes what he could not do himself.

Answer: The Chronicles of Narnia

"The Chronicles of Narnia" are a seven-volume cycle by Christian author C. S. Lewis. The first written and most well-known of these novels is "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", chronologically the second book in the cycle ("The Magician's Nephew", written as the sixth installment, is a prequel).

In this book, the four siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy discover the fantastic land of Narnia caught in permanent winter. The land is ruled by the White Witch who manages to seduce and tempt Edmund for her own purposes. With the help of the lion Aslan, Edmund's siblings manage to redeem their brother and, together, they defeat the Witch.

The whole cycle contains strong Christian symbolism with Aslan - the only character appearing in all seven books - taking the role of Christ including the motif of sacrifice and resurrection.

Answer: All Quiet on the Western Front

Written in 1929, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is one of the most powerful literary accounts of World War I ever written. The storyline follows Paul Bäumer, a young German volunteer soldier who becomes part of the senseless battle of attrition that was the war's Western front between the years of 1915 and 1918. During this entire time, neither Germany nor France made any significant progress in spite of the millions of soldiers injured or killed on both sides.

The author was a World War I veteran himself and put his own experiences and life into the work.

The novel is told from the protagonist's perspective except for the very last paragraph which, in terse words, mentions the protagonist's death on a day so irrelevant for the overall war that it was glossed over in the official reports.

Answer: The Will of an Eccentric

"The Will of an Eccentric" is one of Verne's less known novels, but, at least in my opinion, undeservedly so. An eccentric millionaire has left a will in which he bequeaths his entire fortune to the winners of a "Noble Game of Goose" - essentially a game of chance.

The catch is that the game is played on a rather large board - the entire United States of the late 19th century. Much like in the Amazing (Trivia) Race, contestants have to actually travel to the gameboard locations and complete tasks to be credited for their move.

In the end, the game is won by a strange player only known by the alias of "XKZ"... (you really have to read the book to find out more).

Answer: The Bible

Besides being a Holy Book, the Bible is also a literary work of considerable value, incorporating many different genres including nonfiction narratives (such as the Gospels), poetry (Psalms), love songs (Song of Solomon) and epistles. In spite of the fact that we have practically no original manuscripts and all text has been passed down through the ages in oral transmission and translation, the Bible remains a powerful work that even non-Christians will find thought-provoking and inspiring.

The missing passages in the question text are of course "Testaments", "Verses" and the completion of the shortest verse of the entire Bible - "Jesus wept." (John 11:35)