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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
First up: this character spent time on a mountain which he did not enjoy....
(may as well make it challenging). Who is he and who wrote about him?
Let's work out the kinks together!
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Welcome! This is exciting, a new literary game for us, and hopefully a good one. Help us develop it?
The premise is in the heading. The challenger either names a character in a book or describes him or her (or it) and we all try to guess who the author is.
If the challenger wants to give more clues he can only give one a day and when he gives that one he'll say if somebody has got it right. :)
The first one today is an example of the second kind of challenge, instead of putting in the character's name, we're putting a description instead.
See if you can get it from these clues!
The winning contestant then has the choice of posing the next challenge or passing to whoever would like to try, should be a lot of fun.
NO looking on google!! Anybody can do that, let's make the old brain cells spin! hahaha
First up:
First up: this character spent time on a mountain which he did not enjoy....
Who wrote about him?
:)
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Ginny, good idea for a game.
Would that be Sisyphus
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I like your answer Pedln. I kind of feel like Sisyphus on more than a few occasions. ;D
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So now, a new game to test our brain cells ...I'll have to go and find mine. :D
Sisyphus didn't get to actually spend time ON the mountain did he?
Hans Castorp did in the Magic Mountain and I can't say that I thought he enjoyed the experience. Author was Thomas Mann.
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Hahaha poor old Sisyphus, he started out well anyway!
(http://seniornet.org/gallery/latin/Graphics/sisyphus.gif)
I am excited about this game and Magic Mountain and Hans Castorp and Mann I have to admit were the first ones which came to mind, when I did the clues, but I just saw something about our answer on TV two nights ago and that's what made me think of asking about this book and him.
Help us work this thing out. We're thinking the challenger will only answer once a day.
Today Thursday this is my one (I'm the challenger this time) appearance in here to give answers.. so guess away, all, those are two great ones but they are not the ones. :)
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Great new game!
My first and immediate guess was Magic Mountain.
The Sisyphus cartoon kept me entertained-How did you do that?
How about Lost Horizon by James Hilton? The character is Hugh Conway.
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Nope but a good guess. The Sisyphus is an animated gif pasted here. :)
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Good morning,
I'll give it a try. Ernest Hemingway
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I'm so sorry I stopped by. Please go ahead with your game. I've gone. :-[
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Don't go, Hats, come back and laugh at our struggles.
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Hello there Hats - where have you been ? We missed you...
Hemingway sounds like a good clue here...
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Hey Hats and Pat H, welcome!
Remember now the challenger only can answer once per day, (this is to keep the challengers sane) hahaha
So it may take a while before an answer comes. Hemingway is a good guess actually but he's not the one.
This was just on television last week, that is a reference to it was (not that that means anything at all but it's what made this challenger think of it).
No I'd say he did not enjoy parts of it at all.
Happy Day don't you love a puzzle?
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Ginny, I haven't a clue, but if I were on a mountain I didn't enjoy it would be Mt. Everest. I really don't like that much cold and I do like to breathe. ;D
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So if I understand this correctly the person is alive and was on TV to say he didn't like the mountain he was on or had been on?
Are we looking for a fictional or a non fictional person? Or was it the author who was on TV and didn't like the Mountain.?
Yeeks, someone help me out here.
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We need another clue! :) Here's the clue du jour:
Yes it was the author himself who was on TV and who was on the mountain!!
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Was it Greg Mortenson? He of Three cups of Tea?
I haven't read the book yet so this may be a missguess.
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Nope but that's a good one! :)
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What didn't the author like about the mountain -- the environment or the habitants?
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Has mountaineer/writer Ed Webster been in the news lately? - He has pretty bad memories of Everest.
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It's not Ed Webster, I'll have to look him up. :)
Pedln: the environment
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Hi, guys. I don't undrestand the game. I thought it had to be a fiction book. If it's non-fiction, there are a million books written by mountain climbers. You have to give us more clues.
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The most popular climbing book is "Into Thin Air" by Krakauer.
Two other climbers on that expidition wrote books: Anatoli Boukreev, and the doctor who lost his fingers and toes (can't remember his name.
Edmund Hillary wrote several books, but I think he's dead.
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There is a fiction book by Simon Mower about a disaster on a mountain called "The Fall" In my opinion, the only good parts of that book were cribbed from a wonderful climbing book about a man who climbed a mountain in South America, fell in a creavasse, and was left for dead. He literally crawled back to camp. Best climbing book I've ever read.
The name is "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson. It's also a PBS movie.
that's only a few of probably hundreds.
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And then there was the plane that crashed in the Andies. I don't imagine any of the survivors liked being there. I don't remember much about the event, nor do I remember the name of the book written about it.
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Yes it can be non fiction!
More clues.... hmmm..... the author's book on the subject touched more on his marriage and personality than it did the event, so if you want to read about the event you need to read another account.
None of the authors named here are the right ones but you're, as those who play that game HOT/ COLD like to say, burning up. :) This is the Response du Jour! hahaha
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I didn't read the book but I did see a Youtube presentation on a man who went from being a miner to being a mountain climber.He wrote a book about that experience. I'll chime in even though it probably isn't correct.
Learning to Breathe by Andy Cave
If we get another question I would ask :
What country is the Author from?
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I'll bet it was the book by the doctor. I can't remember either his name or the name of the book. He was left for dead on Everest, and miraculously managed to find his way back. He was helicoptered out at incredible risk to the pilot, and survived with parts of hands, feet, and I think nose missing. The climbing group behind him was filming the film that I own, and so his return to camp was caught on film. It also shows him later, during recovery -- he didn't even look human.
His book is a poor account: as Ginny says focussing on his marraige (strained by his mountain climbing), personality (abrasive: the others on the trip didn't like him) and blaming the man who left him (twice). If you read it, read "Into Thin Air" first, and use it to fill in the blanks.
I'll have to find the tape, and get his name. I can always remember facts a lot easier than names.
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JoanK Are you thinking of Into Thin Air -can't think of the author - he was with Beck Weathers who was left behind on Everest and lost fingers (perhaps an arm?) toes and I think his nose to frostbite....now I come to think of it - Weathers wrote Left for Dead
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(http://seniornet.org/gallery/bookclubs/graphics/balloons/balloons5g.gif) SHRIEK!~!
We have a winner!
I declare you guys are TOO smart and knowledgeable, no wonder the Book Wizard retired!
Right you are, Beck Weathers indeed, just on TV last week for some reason and right on! And Joan K is totally right on the book.
Now Joan K and Gum get to share that victory but Gum was first with the name so she shall pose the next challenge!
Remember only one clue or response per day!
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No! No! NO!
CONGRATULATIONS TO JOANK!
the honour and glory goes to JoanK who deserves ALLof the credit - I was just wallowing in a plethora of mountaineers until JoanK came up with the right clues - which told me which one to pinpoint
I'm now waiting with bated breath for JoanK's challenge questions and expect they'll take some solving.
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GUMTREE: lucky you came up with the name -- I can't find anything since I moved: both my copy of Into Thin Air and the tape that shows Beck Weathers have disappeared. I think you should definitely put up the next challange!!
But if any of you want to read about mountain climbing, don't bother with Weather's book. Reasd either "Into Thin Air" or "Touching the Void".
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JoanK: Well Ok - I'll do it but I am very hesitant about it. I may never have got it without your clues but maybe that's what this is about - sharing and working together...
I'll have to have a little think today...back this evening...my evening ;D
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Oh lovely work, Ladies, and Joan K is right about the book!
but maybe that's what this is about - sharing and working together...
I couldn't have put it better, that's what the entire SITE is about, well said!
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Alas! This evening has come all too soon...for me at least
WHO AM I AND WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK
THE AUTHOR:
I am of mixed heritage. After a slow and difficult start my work eventually became successful and has received many accolades but was rarely without controversy.
THE BOOK:
This work was not originally written for publication but was penned mainly for self-motivation and as something akin to an exercise in problem-solving.
I'll return tomorrow evening with yet more obvious clues... ;)
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I'm sure this is wrong, but I'll guess Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.
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Wow, I love this! I have no clue! :)
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Oh, was it the book we read in "reading Around the World" by a Maori writer? About three characters: a woman, a Maori man, and a strange child?
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Hi Ginny and All,
Congratulations Joan K
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Aha! JoanK - sadly Angela's Ashes and The Bone People (Keri Hulme) are NOT CORRECT but given the clues they're brilliant guesses....you should have no trouble with this challenge...
I'm not too sure of the rules but I suppose I'm now expected to provide another clue ...OK?
CLUES FOR TODAY-
THE AUTHOR:
I am a fairly prolific writer and have addressed many themes and topics. I have used fiction, non-fiction, plays, and biography to examine elements of society and to explore the conflict between good and evil. My work often shows my strong affinity with nature particularly my love of the land and the sea.
THE BOOK
This book was written primarily for my own benefit and is concerned with my everyday joys and fears and provides an insight into my most minor obsessions as well as my deepest convictions.
Go to it girls (and Boys?)
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
First up: this character spent time on a mountain which he did not enjoy....
(may as well make it challenging). Who is he and who wrote about him?
Let's work out the kinks together!
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Oh!! (no, you can give clues when you feel like it but never more than once a day), is it Barbara Kingsolver's newest book?
I like the "I" approach!
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WOW! I have no idea, but I'd sure like to read that book.
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I guess we ought to continue the process of elimination.
Maxine Hong Kingston of Woman Warrior and China Men fame. Her most recent book is Veterans of War; Veterans of Peace.
There was a movie made starring Amy Tan based on, I think, her Woman Warrior, but I don't think she ever wrote a play.
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Thanks Frybabe for joining the contenders for the crown.
More good guesses but none is the right one but I can see how you are thinking. ::)
I gave no new clues yesterday so there are plenty for today. Perhaps they will entice more players to chance their arm.
THE AUTHOR
On a personal note: my marital life was not all smooth sailing as there were a number of affairs and two divorces along the way but my third and last marriage was long lasting and satisfying.
At times my relationship with my children was fraught with misunderstanding and tension.
My friendships were strong and durable. One with my editor developed over the years of working together and another, almost lifelong, often saw the two of us messing about in boats.
Then there was my dog. ;D
Controversy was often my companion. The furore surrounding some of my early work forced me to leave my country with the result that I lived in virtual exile for several years.
THE BOOK
The topics addressed in this book are many and varied and of necessity I play dual roles being both the author and a character.
The book is partly a working commentary on the progress, problems encountered and methods I used whilst writing what some say was my greatest work so in some senses the novel itself is also something of a character.
I think that's enough for you to be going on with...
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I am still at a complete loss. Goodness: a dog, boating, mixed-heritage, temporary? exile, three marriages, kids. My only assumption at this point is that we are looking for a man who has been around for a while.
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Frybabe Your assumption is correct - our author is definitely 'a man who has been around for a while'
Just quick clues for tonight - I've been on a cruise all day and am now just too tired to think.
THE AUTHOR
Yes, I have been around for a while but I am no longer living. I passed away from among you at the comparatively young age of 66 years.
My CV would also include that of War Correspondent during WWII and again during the Vietnam conflict.
Many of my works have been produced as major films for which I often handled the screenplay. Most featured leading stars of the screen and did well at the box office.
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Now you would think that would be a big clue. Ahhhhhhhhh!
The only war correspondents I remember by name during the Vietnam War are Peter Arnett and David Halberstam. Peter is still alive and although Halberstam passed away two (?) years ago I don't think he was old enough to be reporting during WWII.
The only screenwriter/novelist I know who was 66 when he died is Michael Crichton, who never was a war reporter to my knowledge.
The person you are looking for was probably born in the 1920s. Too much later and he misses WWII, too much earlier and he dies during the Vietnam War. We did lose more than a few.
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I'm sure I know the author, though I don't know the book, but I don't really want to win anyway, because I'm about to head off to California and won't be able to field the next puzzle. Which should I do: tell the author and leave it up to the rest of you to find the book, or shut up?
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Frybabe Wow ! you really are thinking this thing out - but you haven't got the right man -
This author was born before 1920 but he wasn't killed in Vietnam.
PatH So you think you know huh?
I think you should tell what you know even though you may not be able to present the next quiz - Ginny, our gallant leader, made the proviso that, should a winner not care to offer a challenge she may abdicate and another player could take up the mantle (or words to that effect).
So come on PatH, please tell all you know
I'll come in later with more clues....
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OK, I think it's John Steinbeck.
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Mark
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Actually, Gum, I don't have any man. I am just going through a process of elimination out loud so to speak.
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WE HAVE A WINNER !!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO PatH
JOHN STEINBECK IS THE AUTHOR
Well done, Pat - I'm wondering whether it was the accumulation of clues or just one that gave away the plot - was it the mention of his dog - or messing around in boats.
Now we need to find the title of the BOOK - tomorrow I'll give more clues on that.
Do you want me to amplify the clues given for the AUTHOR?
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Congratulations, Pat.
I would never have guessed him; didn't know he was a war reporter.
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I didn't remember he was a war correspondent either, and I'm not even sure which clues gave it to me. I was just sitting there looking at the clues and all of a sudden it popped into my head "that's GOT to be John Steinbeck". The subconscious is strange.
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Wow-John Steinbeck!
I was sure it was some esoteric person who I have never heard of and was afraid to even guess any names.
The Book may be "Adventures With Charlie" .
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Wasn't that "Travels with Charlie"?
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I just looked through the Clues and I think they are all pretty self-explanatory especially for Americans who no doubt know Steinbeck's work well - but just for the record....
The book we're looking for is NOT Travels with Charley. Steinbeck's dog, Charley was a poodle and they travelled across America together in a camper van and the resulting book voices Steinbeck's impressions of America during that trip
His stint as a war correspondent in Vietnam was probably because of his concern for his son who was serving there and he was able to visit him whilst reporting.
His novels often attracted controversy especially Grapes of Wrath - feeling ran so high in California that the book was banned and burned and the vilification against Steinbeck was so great that when it began to spread into other States he was forced to go abroad to allow feelings to subside.
The 'messing around in boats' refers to his long time friend, Ed Ricketts (Doc in Cannery Row) who was a marine biologist - The Log from the Sea of Cortez resulted from trips they took to gather specimens.
The 'mixed heritage' was his Irish and German forebears.
'Many accolades' refers to all the prizes he was awarded - the Pulitzer for Grapes of Wrath, Norway's Haakon VII Medal for The Moon is Down etc he also receivedthe US Medal of Freedom and of course we can't forget the Nobel Prize for Literature.
If you would care to continue and name the book that I have in mind here are a couple more clues:
THE BOOK
It is written in the epistolary style and is a collection of letters written to Steinbeck's editor but ultimately it is also something of a day to day diary.
The subject matter in the letters varies enormously but often includes requests for research information required for the novel he was writing at the time. It's also about his family life - the minor problems which beset us all as well as small joys each day brings.
Much of the book is devoted to the problems of writing - of being able to achieve finished pages each day - and musings on the creative urge...
at one stage he writes :
Although some times I have felt that I held fire in my hands and spread a page with shining - I have never lost the weight of clumsiness, of ignorance, of aching inability.
At other times he is more cheerful - perhaps celebrating that one of his other books is going to be made into a film ...and so on.
Until tomorrow...
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Well, Gum, the only Steinbeck book I ever read was The Red Pony so we can count that out. The last book published before his death was America and Americans. Now that I have read a synopsis of some of his famous books, I am tempted to read Cannery Row. Did you know there was a sequel to that? I didn't. Don't remember the name off hand.
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Frybabe Yes indeed, Sweet Thursday was the sequel to Cannery Row. Can't say I'm familiar with America and the Americans. Even though you may not have read his books, I'm sure you know them through the movies.
No guesses for the book title? So I think we'd better wind this Challenge up: The book in question was:
JOURNAL OF A NOVEL - The East of Eden Letters
Steinbeck's editor Pascal Covici presented him with a large notebook which Steinbeck decided to use for East of Eden. As a warm-up exercise each morning he wrote a letter to Covici on the left hand page and then on the right hand page he wrote East of Eden The letters are a mine of information for scholars and readers alike.
Likewise notebooks relating to other novels have also been published eg. Grapes of Wrath.
So - Once again,
CONGRATULATIONS TO PatH
who correctly answered the first part of the challenge. Well done, Pat -
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Good heavens, what a super contest this was, reminds me of the Book Wizard!!!
AND I learned a lot, too, I thought I knew Steinbeck! Apparently NOT!!
Super job, well done Pat H! Well done, Gum!!!
Who would like to pose the next puzzle, I loved the way this one went, so enjoyable, and I had NO clue!
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Ginny - So there you are again - we've missed you!
I wasn't quite sure how to proceed from here...I really think we could use a few more players so there is more chatter for both the players and the challenger to bounce off.
Maybe we could drum up business around the discussions ??
Maybe the Challenge could be a 'One a Month' special - at least to begin with.
I'm sure the other players will have more ideas for you to ponder.
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One problem with the challenge is that it's a lot of work to create one. I'm on the road at the moment, so couldn't commit to the time needed to take my turn. Maybe tomorrow, when I move from the new grandson's apartment to JoanK's place, we can do some brainstorming, though we might not have computer access.
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Oh good, let's do brainstorm, the last thing like this was the Book Wizard, but I think Gum did just as good a job, let's talk about how we could offer some kind of fun challenge just like we just did in an easier to manage format! Good ideas!
I vote OUI! :)
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Ginny, I didn't make myself clear. What I was trying to say was that I will brainstorm with JoanK to see if I can come up with a book so I can take my turn.
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YAHOOIE!! Even better!! Can't wait!
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It would be a nightmare trying to diagram my sentences. But you can picture a lady riding on a bird. My novels have been made into wonderful movies which help to explain my novels.
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You got me Kidsal. All I can think of is Mother Goose, but that was all poems. My childhood copy of Mother Goose had a woman in a tall hat, riding a goose.
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Wow, I'm going to have to think hard--somehow feel I know it.
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Virginia Woolf popped into my mind - but I daresay it will be someone completely unknown to me ?
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Oh GREAT, the game's afoot and I didn't even know it, don't know why this one did not show up as posted in and now a lady on a bird! First thought of Mother Goose too, then something is ringing a long dead bell, something else, I can almost ....hmmmm. Fun!
What CAN it be? Did St. Euxbury's Little Prince have a lady on a bird? Lady on a bird!!!!! Wonderful movies.
Mind bender, can we have another clue or has somebody here solved it?
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D H Lawrence wrote a novella called Ladybird - His novels have been made into great movies which help explain his work but no-one would have a nightmare trying to diagram his sentences. Still ???
BTW - we don't use 'diagram' in that sense here....
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The authors whose sentences I would least like to diagram are Proust and Faulkner, but I don't see them fitting otherwise (though I've not read a lot of either).
Gumtree, what do you call it?
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There are a bunch of fantasy stories that include people and other animals rode on the backs of birds. Can't think of the names of any just now.
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James Joyce would be a good one to diagram! hahahaa If he's diagrammable at all. We need a diagram discussion, have always wanted one, such fun. Did Joyce have ladies on birds?
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After freeing myself from the all pervasive idea of Mother Goose I remembered something written by Kate Chopin in which she sees herself as a bird....
"The bird that would soar above the plain of tradition must have strong wings".
I don't know if you meant literally that there was a woman flying on a bird.
The guess is a shot in the dark.
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If it's by Kate Chopin, it's probably "The Awakening". But I don't remember the character's name.
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Another clue: He was also thought of as a square in Washington!
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Well, Henry James wrote Washington Square so what about The Wings of the Dove?
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The squares in Washington (DC?) that I know of are Lafayette, Washington, Farragut, Franklin, McPherson and Kenyon. There are several Kenyons who are authors. Two that I know of are SciFi/Fantasy writers, both female. And then there is Jane Kenyon who was once Poet Laureate of New Hampshire.
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No squares in DC: they're all circles. I'm sure Gumtree has it!!!
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Actually there are squares in DC. Most of them are green spaces. Lafayette Square is on the other side of the White House from the Washington Monument. Farragut and McPherson are not faraway and include statues of these two Civil War Heroes.
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(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r105/kidsal_photo/5779_happy_blond_woman_clapping_her.jpg)
HENRY JAMES - WINGS OF A DOVE.
Just finished this book with a local book discussion group. All of us had difficulty reading this book.
Had to watch the movie first (which is very good). Washington Square and Portrait of a Lady are two of his other novels - both made into very good movies.
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Good show, Gumtree. Congratulations!
Can't wait for the next quiz to start.
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OH good one, well done Gum AND Kidsal, that's fabulous, good one good one good one!
Now we have Pat H AND Gum on the dias! hahahaa WHEE? I like this very much. I had NO clue at all!
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I was already thinking Henry James in relation to diagramming - anyone could fall asleep right in the middle of some of his sentences - but I hadn't quite got there until 'square' and 'Washington' gave the show away. Just a fluke.
I'd be delighted if Pat H is ready to take up the baton - or maybe another player may like to lead off this time.
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The silence is quite deafening - and no takers to start the next challenge? I thought maybe Frybabe might like to lead off this time?
I'm a bit over committed right now but if no one else does then I'll start one tomorrow- if I can think of a suitable author -
And Pat H - you're not off the hook forever ;D
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I'll have to think on it. I hate to take a turn out of line so to speak. Got company coming soon. Back later.
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Frybabe That's great news - hope you decide to lead the charge this time. The Rules? (such as we have) are very flexible and you certainly won't be out of turn as you say.
Now I'm wondering just who you will choose to bamboozle us.
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Ok you asked for it.
I was born in India and like many children of my era was sent back to England for schooling.
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Could tis possibly be Rudyard Kipling?
He has some wonderful books for kids:Just So Stories,The Jungle Book and Kim.
His poetry is also well loved by me since my Father ,who was British, was always reading it to me.
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Sorry, not Kipling.
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Not Kipling? Then what about Salman Rushdie? He went to Rugby School- possibly on a scholarship and later went to university in England.
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Nope! Sorry.
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Could it be Ghandi?
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How about George Orwell? (Real name Eric Blair)
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TAG, you're IT, Pat.
Correct. It is George Orwell. I never knew he was born in India until I went looking for clues last night.
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Many people know me via a different artistic medium, and my author was responsible for a lot of money.
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Dash it Pat H - Orwell was to be my next guess....now to get the thinking cap on again...
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Frybabe and Gumtree, I used to be a big Orwell fan, so I thought of him right away, though I would have said Kipling first if Jude hadn't.
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While researching Orwell, Pat, I came across the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic determinism. Very interesting. One's language shapes one's thoughts and behaviors. Orwells' invented language, Newspeak, was used as an example of this. Isn't this in effect what the Politically Correct people are trying to do with language today?
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Seems like it, Frybabe. Orwell was big on the use of language and the importance of clarity and simplicity. In "Politics and the English Language" he describes how politicians use euphemisms and elaborate language to make what they are saying less clear and more palatable. "If your language is simple and you make a stupid remark, its stupidity is obvious, even to yourself."
A good example of the hypothesis is Hungarian mathematicians. The country has produced an unusual number of good ones, and it's claimed that the peculiar grammatical logic of the language leads to a mathematical way of thinking.
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Good heavens, isn't this interesting? Wow!
I would never have said Orwell, you guys are too much!
I like learning these things, who knew?
Many people know me via a different artistic medium, and my author was responsible for a lot of money.
Yeowee!
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At age 40, my author made two changes of allegiance, both important to his/her future work. One of my author's more serious works was discussed on the old SeniorNet. I appear in a lighter work.
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I'm having trouble with this one Pat -
changes of allegiance? In his work? In his country? In his personal life?
And we've discussed a 'serious' work.
My mind is a complete blank on this one... ???
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Are you Camille Pisarro and is your author Irving Stone?
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The changes of allegiance were of religion and citizenship. We did discuss a major work of this author on SeniorNet, but it was about 5 years ago, and for some reason the discussion isn't in the archives.
It's not Irving Stone.
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My first thought was Somerset Maughm (sp?) who wrote a novel based on the life of Gaugan (another spelling challenge). But that's not a light work.
An author who was in charge of money was TS Eliot, who worked in a bank. he certainly went through religious changes -- Did he change Nationalities? We read "The Wasteland" sometime in that period. I don't know who the character would be, unless it's joe Dimaggio from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Or one of the cats from Cats -- the old actor or actress, perhaps.
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Wow! I also went immediately to Somerset Maughm (which I always thought was spelled Maughn).
I read and read and couldn't fit him into the criteria.
T.S.Eliot did change nationalities. He was an American who became a British Subject. I never knew he worked in a bank so the money criteria threw me off.
Sounds like the right person.
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Bingo! T. S. Eliot was born in St Louis, MO. In 1927, he converted to Anglicanism, and also became a British citizen, both important to his work. For a while he worked for Lloyds's of London. We had a remarkable discussion of "The Waste Land" on SN (thanks, Deems, also Ginny, Barbara, and JoanP).
I bet more people know the musical "Cats" than know where it came from. I think it's already a win, but if anyone wants to go whole hog and name the work and guess the character, go ahead. It's not the old actress Grizabella--I don't think she's in the original. My character is quite a bon vivant.
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Wow! Tom Eliot never crossed my mind even though in general terms I know his biographical details ...congrats to JoanK
Would the character be my favourite Gumbie cat Jenny-Any-Dots?
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No, though I like Jenny a lot. My character is a snappy dresser and a gourmet.
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Is it Rum Tum Tugger?
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T. S. Eliot! Wowza!! I can't believe you guys actually know the cat characters! Unbelievable, wow.
Did you all see Cats?
Good one!
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I never saw or read Cats. I gave the book of poems to a cat-loving friend, and she was amazed at how well Eliot had captured the personality of cats. Was it the old theater cat played by John Guilgud.
Of course I knew that TS Eliot was American, but I forgot.
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Ginny, it's not at all unbelievable if you have actually read "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". They are very well described, have quite distinct personalities, and, as JoanK points out, really embody the different cat traits.
The musical "Cats" is mostly purely Eliot's poems with music and very good dancing.
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Just to wind things up, the character is Bustopher Jones, the Cat About Town, who strolls down St. James Street in his fastidious black coat and white spats, eats at all the best clubs, and now weighs 25 pounds.
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OK, here's oine.
Author: I started writing books after a crisis in my life. My character lives on two continents.
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Frances Mayes. But her book, Under the Tuscan Sun, was about her not a fictional character.
This may interest our Georgia contingent. Frances Mayes was born in Georgia. Her novel, Swan, is set in Georgia. The main characters are J.J. who lives in Swan, GA and his sister Ginger who is an archaeologist in Tuscany.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
First up: this character spent time on a mountain which he did not enjoy....
(may as well make it challenging). Who is he and who wrote about him?
Let's work out the kinks together!
Good guess, FRYBABE, but not right. I liked "Under the Tuscan sun".
AUTHOR: my trips abroad were used to give background for some of my books.
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What do you get when you cross T.S. Eliot with Henny Youngman?
Our local synagogue's fund raiser a few years ago was
"Katz" a hilarious parody.
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Is it the peripatetic Graham Greene?
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bellemere: another good guess, but wrong. Katz sounds hilarious.
AUTHOR: my books have been made into many many movies, with a number of actors and actresses playing the main parts, with varied success.
My character only appears in a few of these, and I doubt is happy with the portrayal.
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Could it be Patricia Highsmith?
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Somehow we're all gravitating to women.
Could it be Agatha Christie?
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H'mm... yes I wondered about Agatha Christie but really I don't have a clue on this one.
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JUDES: YOU GOT IT! Agatha Christie started writing books when her marraige broke up ("Under the Tuscan Sun" was really close there). Later, she married an archiologist and went with him to digs. She wrote a number of books with Middle Eastern locales.
Now the character: lives on two continents, not in many movies but portrayed badly.
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Hopefully this is an easy one.
I have written more than sixty books. Not all novels..
My character had a Father she adored.
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Jan Karon?
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I'd say Nancy Drew, but I don't recall any non-novels, and anyway Carolyn Keene was apparently several people.
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May Sarton ?
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Sorry . Not May Sarton.
Here are Sundays Clues.:
The Author has won the Sag Award for Wit.
The Character made a bad marriage.
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Well, I don't even know what the SAG awards are...
I was going to suggest Daphne Du Maurier - she wrote a lot of books and had a good relationship with her father but the award for WIT has me flummoxed.
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I think this is fair--I didn't remember what the Sag awards were, so I Googled it. It's the Screen Actors Guild. Duh, I knew that. I didn't dare go into the listed sites in case I learned something I shouldn't, so I don't know what all the categories are, but I daresay they include writers as well as actors.
It's the character who adored her Father, and I wonder if the capitalization is significant.
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Margaret Edson wrote Wit for which she won a Pulitzer Prize a few years back. HBO produced a series from it, but I have no clue if it got any movie awards. At any rate I don't think Edson has written anywhere near 60 books.
I mention it because it is an interesting story of a woman coming to grips with having terminal cancer.
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I loved "Wit" the play as well.
But think Sag award for Wit -i.e.Humorous writing +(Extra clue) scientific writing.
So you are all stirring the wrong pot.
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Before we get too far, don't leave my Agatha Christie character hanging.
Sunday's clue: I'm in her early books. And I'm often wrong.
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Christie's early works feature Hercule Poirot. He is not often wrong but his sidekick whose name eludes me is often wrong. He was a Captain in the war, is enamored of his motor car and is the foil for Poirot's brilliance.
But perhaps this sidekick is only a TV creation.
The other early character is Miss Marple who is always right.
Oh, I think I know-
Is it Inspector Japp?
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The "scientific writing" makes me think of Arthur C. Clarke, who probably did write 60 books before his recent death. I can believe that "2001" won all kinds of rewards, and it's a book too, but Clarke almost didn't have female characters of any importance, and I can't make a character fit. He mostly isn't humorous either, except in "Tales from the White Hart".
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JudeS, I'm totally in the dark on this one, but I'm having a great time wracking my poor brain over it.
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I haven't got a clue.
I was wondering about JoanK's character - but don't know the Christie books very well...
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Mondays Clues
The author is an English speaker but not an American.
The " began writing the most famous series in 2002 after seeing a woman run after a chicken.
Since 2002 this series has been translated into 39 languages.
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Alexander McCall Smith (i.e. the #1 Ladies Detective Agency)?
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I agree! Alexander McCall Smith, and the character is Mma Rematse (complete guess as to the spelling).
Judes: your first guess was right: it's Poirot's sidekick. No, he's not a media invention: he was there in the early books. Christie married him off and had him move to a ranch in Argentina. then later, she wanted to use him again, so she kept having him come back and stay with Poirot in England. Hence the two continents.
What is his name?
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Joan K
Tha Captains name is Hastings. He is Poirots sidekick.
Hurray !
Tomereader and Joan K guessed correctly!
The Author is indeed Alexander McCall Smith and his famous character is Mama (Precious) Ramotswe.
If anyone is unfamiliar with this series (Ten books and counting) they have a treat in store.
HBO has presented a fantastic six part series based on these books. The Art work at the begginning and end of the program is just amazing. The series is not being played at the moment but hopefully it will return .
For the uninitiated the first book of the series is called
The Number One ladies Detective Agency
(In Botswana)
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You had me completely fooled until the story about the chicken. I had heard that somewhere.
Both the books and the TV series are great!! There seems to be a gender difference, however. None of the men I know who read the book like it, and all of the women do! No idea why.
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Joan K
In my book group four of us had success with our husband's reading of this book. In fact it is about the only book
we read that we have convinced our husbands to read. Those who have husbands that occasionally read fiction found this one entertaining.
My husband also liked the HBO series. Although he wasn't too enthusiastic at first he became hooked, like me, on this series.
Oh yes there was one other book these same husbands read and liked but it was many years ago: The Reader by Schlink.
Kate Winslett won an academy award for her role of the movie based on this book.
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Well, I'm glad that quiz is over ! - No offense Jude but I haven't read any McCall Smith so I really was in the dark.
As for Poirot's sidekick - well I haven't read much Christie either so had no idea at all....but it's fun just trying to work it out.
Well done Tomereader and JoanK.
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I have read some McCall Smith, and I was in the dark too.
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Poirot became a memorable character for me with his portrayal by David Suchet on PBS. Captain Hastings and the secretary (name?) also seemed to come alive. Christie's books, while they are neat puzzles, are not the kind that I can really drop into the action like a spectral observer. Perhaps it is simply that the style in those days was more about the puzzle, not the characters.
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The Secretary of Poirot is Miss Lemon. I remember it because for some reason, lost in time, my sons Teddy Bear was also known as Miss Lemon.
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Yes, Jackie, I thought David Suchet was good too. It was funny to see his backstage interviews, where he projected a totally different personality.
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Neither Tomereader nor JoanK seems to be taking the honor of next puzzle, so I'll fill in with one that JoanK and I discussed:
I read a lot and play the piano well, but no one appreciates me. My author prefers country life to city life.
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forgot that we were supposed to do a question for the next round, sorry.
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My immediate thought, PAT, is Jane Austen, but I would have to think about which character it would be.
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marking the spot ... how did I miss this? do miss the Wonderful Blue Wizz whoever that was ???
Speaking of Cats (a week or so ago) I saw it 3 times, taking kids of various ages. Loved it!
No guess yet ... Is this author a woman?
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Hi Mippy - good to see you here...
If it's Jane Austen could the character be Jane Fairfax in Emma? She played the piano but I'm not sure about the reading....then there's Mary Bennett in P&P but she played dreadfully....
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Frybabe gets the author, and Gumtree gets the character. It's Jane Austen and Mary Bennett. Mary's piano playing was technically skillful, but her expression was stodgy so she wasn't fun to listen to.
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Yikes - I was just thinking aloud ....Frybabe landed it with Austen - How did you know that Frybabe? Do you have ESP ? Well done!
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Just walked in the door after a two hour drive from the Cape, made more interesting by listening to:
Teatime for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, turned on the computer to Author Author to get ca;ught up and found the answer!
Fans of Precious, get this one. That scheming mantrap Violet finally gets her comeuppance!
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;D
Gumtree, I really wasn't expecting to get it. Just that they have been running Emma on TV (On Demand) and I just saw The Jane Austen Book Club a week or so ago. I do get the characters mixed up as to which book they belong in though. If you have a book title ready, go ahead and post. I must get ready for work now and don't have anything ready to go just now.
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I think Tomereader might like to take her reward for her win and lead off this time - :D
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Though American by birth, this author's settings are set predominantly in London. Her "dynamic duo" main characters have a huge following.
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Anne Perry ?
I think she's American, right? I probably have over 20 of her books.
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Sorry, Mippy. Not Anne Perry.
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Mippy, you got the first letter right. Ann Perry is Australian.
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Elizabeth George wrote the Inspector Lynley series, but I don't know if they are set in London. Lynley's sidekick is Barbara Havers.
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Frybabe, the winner and new champion! Indeed, it is Elizabeth George, and the "dynamic duo" I spoke of (my coining of phrase) is Lynley & Havers. I won't specify "London", although they seem to take place in the countryside outside a major UK hub. I haven't read all the books in this series, like many of you probably have, but am reading one now for a f2f book group! I am enjoying it, although it moves a good bit slower than our American mysteries seem to! (Not cozies, by any means) You may now lead off with your own quiz!
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Good one Frybabe!
BTW Anne Perry is not an Australian. She was born in England and spent some of her formative years in New Zealand with her father. She and a girlfriend murdered the girlfriend's mother they were later tried and convicted. Having paid her debt to society she went on to become a writer.
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Thanks, Gumtree ... that's what happens with wild guesses, not looking up anything.
I used to enjoy all those Anne Perry books, even knowing there was a horrible crime in her own life.
Hi, Frybabe (Margie), amica mea: are you posting a question?
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Oops! Sorry Gumtree. That's what I get for not checking facts. I had heard that Ann Perry was Australian. I guess some people don't distinguish between Australia and New Zealand. I was unaware that Ann Perry was born in England.
Now for the quiz.
Although I've been dead a long time, some today are calling me the original Horse Whisperer. I wrote about horsemanship and the duties of a cavalry commander among other things.
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Well I'm completely at a loss - horse whisperer? cavalry? though for some reason the ancient Greek, Xenophon popped into my mind - he had control of the cavalry so I guess he could have been a horse whisperer as well except all I can remember is that he kept exhorting his men to do better...
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Gumtree, you are just too good! Tag you are it. Xenophon is correct.
A lot of his writing apparently has survived. He was a friend of Socrates and wrote a number of works explaining or "apologies" for Socrates teachings. Xenophon was also a soldier of fortune, hence the writings on horsemanship and the cavalry. He eventually became a wealthy land-owner.
Among his better known works were what has been described as an historical novel, Cyropaedia(The Education of Cyrus), in which he expresses his views on kingship, moral reform, and family life. Anabasis was about an "expedition" against the Persians and Hellenica, which is a Greek History.
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Wow!
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And who would've known that except someone conversant in Greek, Greek History and is obviously head and shoulders above the likes of me.
Wow! is right.
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WOW is right!
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Yeeks! Unbelievable.
Gumtree you are IT!
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Okay Okay ...keep it down girls! Genius I am not. It was just a lucky thought - in fact I almost fell off the chair and swallowed my tonsils when I saw Xenophon was right....
and so now I really am IT. This one is easy and I'm sure you'll get it pretty quickly.
AUTHOR: I am regarded as an intellectual and gathered many of the intelligensia around me to discuss literature and issues of the day. I wrote several novels, a couple of which are regarded as classics of their kind.
CHARACTER: I made an unfortunate marriage, the reason being that the family fortune had dwindled and I needed the money. I am shrewd and ambitious but the marriage was not a happy union.
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That's an intriguing puzzle. I had a great idea, but it turns out to be impossible.
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Gum you are unreal! Congratters! You all are so knowledgeable about authors, it's scary! :)
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Is it Oscar Wilde?
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A good guess Jude but incorrect - I can see how some of the clues could fit Wilde as well.
Clue du jour:
AUTHOR: I eschewed the religion I was raised in which caused a serious rift with my father. I then espoused an anthropocentric form of faith and translated texts by outstanding German humanist thinkers.
CHARACTER: I am one of my author's great creations. I enjoyed playing at the gambling tables. I am admired for my sporting prowess as exemplified by my skill as a good shot - and I like winning.
My partner in marriage was always unfaithful and had a child through an illegal liaison.
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Von Goethe?
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Wild guess Trollope
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This is another wild guess-
George Bernard Shaw
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This is driving me nuts--I'm sure I know it. Good one, Gumtree.
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More good guesses but all are incorrect. :(
I'm sure you know it too, Pat -in fact, I'm sure everyone here knows it. ;D
The title has actually been used more than once on Title Mania and at least one other book by the author was discussed on the old site.
Clue du jour
AUTHOR: My novels were initially well received and very popular. Over the years that popularity waned and my work was disregarded to the point of being almost entirely neglected but then interest in my work was revived by a discerning scholar. Now, my novels once again enjoy a wide readership and receive the attention, respect and accolades they so richly deserve.
CHARACTER: The story in which I appear was my author's last novel. The choice of material used widened the scope of the novel especially in regard to psychological insights into characterisation. Certain themes were also new and my author touches on race, religion, cultural identity and the sense of belonging.
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How about James Joyce?
However, I don't think Finnegan's Wake fits. Has anyone read this? I hear it is "difficult".
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Rats! I thought I had it with Daniel Deronda by George Elliot, but he didn't marry for money.
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JoanK: You thought you had it - and YOU DID ! CONGRATS!
The author IS George Eliot - the title IS Daniel Deronda - but Daniel is Not the character
Keep thinking everyone !
As for the clues:
George Eliot attracted the top thinkers of her time who regularly sat at her feet to receive her crumbs of wisdom although initially only men dared to associate with her because of her de facto relationship with George Henry Lewes but a few forward-thinking women gradually drifted to her side as well.
She gave up the Anglican religion and took up Humanism translating works by Feuerbach and Strauss.
F.R Leavis was the scholar who resurrected interest in her novels though he was of the opinion that Daniel Deronda would be better for and more readily received if all the Jewish components were cut out completely - he at least deserves recognition for generating new interest in her work.
Her novels are now regarded as some of the greatest in the language - Middlemarch may in fact be THE greatest.
More on the character later...
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Here's another clue about this character in Daniel Deronda
CHARACTER Some see me as having 'second sight' or of being what used to be called 'fey' and this aspect adds an intense other-worldly dimension to my personality. My nervous intensity is echoed in another character by a visionary intensity and my hysteria is shadowed by another's illness. These elements are used by my author to bring together different strands within the novel.
I hope JoanK is busy preparing the next quiz :D
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Congratulations JoanK.
The only George Eliot I ever read was Silas Marner way back in high school. I'd like to read Middlemarch sometime.
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Wow! I've never read Daniel Deronda; so I have no idea who the character is. My husband was very impressed by Eliot's treatment of being Jewish, and talked to me about it, so the mention of "race" and "belonging" gave it to me.
Frybabe: we had a great discussion of Middlemarch a few years ago. Too bad you missed it. It's a long book, and drags sometimes, but well worth reading.
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I know the character is still unknown, but I thought of a puzzle and will posst it before I forget.
The author: this book was influenced by my experiences in WWII. It changed the way of looking at certain things and became the basis for a popular activity.
GUMTREE: I'm sorry, but I suspect the book is not available in Australia. Due to it's nature, it would not be of interest there, although there are undoubtedly similar books there.
The character: is known for musical ability and appears in books by other authors. One of thes books has been made into a classic movie.
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Well, we get most things here JoanK- but I'm happy to sit on the sidelines for this one.
I rather thought the mention of 'race' and 'belonging' would provide the vital clue. Your husband's comments are interesting as many people objected to Eliot's treatment of 'being Jewish' - she was farsighted in advocating in 1878 that a Jewish national state be founded and even went so far as to suggest Palestine. 'Deronda' is a long book but such a worthwhile read - it's many years since I read it and I wish I hadn't thought to use it here as I'm wanting to settle down into it again.
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Oh, dear. I seem to have shut everyone up with this one. Here are some more clues.
The author died a few years ago, but I'll bet further updates will be published. I'll also bet that many of you who live in the American East, South, or Midwest have an edition of this book, and have never read it. You may have looked at the pictures, though. (Those of us in the West have a different book by the same author. Gumtree may well have a similiar book).
The character, as I said, also appears in the title of a classic novel and a classic movie. The movie starred Gregory Peck.
There! THAT should give it to you. I won't be on the computer again perhaps till tomorrow, when I'll see how you did).
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Good mornin' JoanK ~ what a difficult one.
one question allowed? was the movie with G. Peck an adaptation of the book or not?
2nd non-question: I assume it's allowed to use internet search tools to look up movies, right?
I'll refrain from searching until it's sunrise in CA :)
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"Gentlemen's Agreement"?
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Is it C.S.Forester and the book Horatio Hornblower?
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This is a littrle conveluted. Sorry, I didn't realize it would be so hard.
The movie is an adaptation of a DIFFERENT BOOK that has the name of the character in the title. It was Peck's best known movie.
Final hint: No one said that the character had to be a person.
Now what is the book that everyone owns, doesn't read but looks at the pictures, is specific to certain geographical areas, and has characters that aren't human?
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Wow! the "characters" are BIRDS !
Guide to the Birds of North America, different editions for West and East
by Peterson
To Kill a Mockingbird starred Gregory Peck
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MIPPY: YOU GOT IT!!! HOORAH, HOORAH!!
Literally "Field guide to Eastern Birds" by Roger Tory Peterson: the character a mockingbird.
Before Peterson, people thought that the only way to study birds was to shoot them. But Peterson was a plane-spotter in WWII. He thought that if he could identify birds by their silhouettes, he could identify birds as well.
He developed a whole system of identifying and studying birds in the wild. While he claimed to be able to identify any bird by silhouette alone, most of us mortals depend on his field marks and behavioral clues. His field guide enabled studying birds to be part of the movement that was happening at the time: to study nature without disturbing it.
His field guide was followed by many others. Now tens of thousands of people all over the world studdy birds, adding to knowledge, and to their own pleasure. While I've never quite forgiven Peterson for the fact that his early guides showed the females hiding behind the males and peering out, I have to salute him.
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Thanks, JoanK ! :)
May I please wait until tomorrow morning to put up my new author?
I've just chosen a tendative one, but want to re-read this evening to be sure.
BTW, I'm an avid birder, but like to watch behavior of birds, not merely to count species.
I probably have more than 4 copies of the Peterson, as I wanted updated editions over perhaps 50 years of keeping bird lists.
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Hurray Mippy! Congratulations!!!!
I have the field guide. I prefer his illustrations to the photos in the Audubon bird guide. Haven't compared it to the Sibley's guide.
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MIPPY: I remember from the old birdwatching discussion that you fed birds. I agree with you about watching them, not merely ticking them off a list.
FRYBABE: I agree with you on that, too. Interesting that a drawing can often show more than a photograph.
GUMTREE: I'll bet you have a similiar guide, but perhaps not by Peterson. Do you know if mockingbirds are found in Australia? If not, I'll bet you have other "mimic thrushes" -- birds that sing like thrushes, but aren't, and imitate other birds.
Mockingbirds are such great mimics! Once, I was playing a piece by Mozart over and over by an open window, and my resident mockingbird started to whistle it perfectly.
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Mockingbirds are CRAZY! I adore them.
We had one around for several years that would sit on our balcony and make a commotion until I let my Sammy Katz out to play with it. You know the old broken wing gambit? However, when Sammy's daddy showed up that same bird would dive bomb him mercilessly. The other thing this nut case of a bird liked to do was to sit atop my neighbor's chimney and holler down it. They had a time of it trying to figure out what was making the racket. I still miss that bird.
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Once a friend of mine had one of those garage doors that went up and down in response to a tune played by her remote. The local mockingbird learned the tune, and started amusing itself by raising and lowering the door.
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Well, I could just spit ! The first Peck movie to float into my mind was Mockingbird -but (a big BUT) I didn't know about the bird book and I didn't tumble to the character not being human - very clever of you JoanK.
Of course Australia has THE BEST of the bird mimics..The Superb Lyrebird - it's only found on the east side of the continent and is very elusive. It's been known to mimic a human so well that it has lured hikers lost in the bush - another version of the Siren's Song ?
For more about the lyrebird:
http://www.shamozzle.com/TheSuperbLyrebird.html
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What a lovely discussion of mockingbirds! Thanks, Gumtree, for the Lyrebird link ! Birds certainly bring joy to our lives!
I'm working on an author, and will put up the new game shortly.
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First Hints
I am the author of over a dozen novels. My last name is the same as a distant
relative who wrote even a greater number of novels.
I am one of the main characters in this novel. While the adults around me plunge into their own mishaps, my life becomes complicated as I try to find my way through adolescence.
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The Trollopes come to mind - Anthony and Frances - but you'd hardly call mother and son 'distant relatives' :D
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GUMTREE: that was AMAZING!
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What comes to mind are L.Frank Baum (The Wizard of Oz) and Vicki Baum (The Grand Hotel).
However I don't know if they are related .
Dorothy would be the adolescent in The Wizard of Oz.
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WOW! I hacven't a clue!
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Me either!
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Gumtree ~ you are amazing, as you did get the elder Trollope when you posted:
The Trollopes come to mind - Anthony ... and ...
and the relative ... anyone?
Day 2 Hint: The author is a British woman, who is more or less our (my) age and who also has published many historical novels under a nom d' plume.
Obviously the name of the character will be revealed later today.
Everyone agrees that Gumtree ought to do the next puzzle, right? Thanks for letting me have a turn, everyone! :)
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You're kidding me!
It must be Joanna Trollope - haven't got a clue as to the character.
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Gumtree, the Winner! yes, it's Joanna Trollope
She was born in 1943 and lives in Britain; she has written about a dozen novels, and almost that many historical novels as Carolyn Harvey.
Her distant, famous relative is Anthony Trollope, whose novel count was about 55, not including short stories, plays, and travel books. I especially like his Autobiography.
Let's just reveal the book and get on with the game:
The Best of Friends: the young protagonist is named Sophie.
I'd call it beach reading, and was intending to get in the mood for summer, which has hardly arrived here at Cape Cod, where it's been record-breaking cool and rainy all month.
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Oh well, hereI go again....this one is very easy
AUTHOR Though I was born into the upper-class my father was not financially well-to-do. He was a literary man and a political activist - he died young and I was raised by my maternal uncle. I was drawn to the sea and spent several years as a sailor but writing was my forte.
CHARACTER: I appear in several of my author's novels and I may be my author's alter ego . I have important roles chief of which is as narrator. This book is a literary classic.
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Well, Gumtree, this doesn't fit my first thought which was Henry Dana who wrote Two Years Before the Mast. He did write several other travel journals, but his main occupation became lawyer, specializing in marine law.
Next has to be Herman Melville. I only read his Moby Dick and that was so long ago, I really can't remember the narrator's name. Since I never read any other of his works, I can't tell if any of his characters were reoccurring.
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I vote for Joseph Conrad. The character would be Marlow, and the book is probably "Heart of Darkness", though Marlow appears in more than one book.
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No idea on this one.
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PatH
You beat me to it. It is Conrad and Marlow I'm almost certain having just read his book and biographical preface just recently.
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Yes, Jude, I'm sure we're right. I just reread "Heart of Darkness" for a f2f course on Edwardian Literature, and everything fits. If we are right, and you would like the honor of the next quiz, I will gladly cede it to you, though I have thought of something.
This is about the only contest I know where you get punished for winning.
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Everyone is super impressed with "Heart of Darkness". I've read it several times over a span of many years, and for me it's a partial failure. I think I see exactly what he's trying to do, but for me, he doesn't pull it off--somehow doesn't make me feel the horror. I wondered what the expert lit teachers running the course would do with it, and they took me farther, but I'm still not quite there.
I like Conrad in general, though. My favorite is a light short story, "Youth" in which the narrator is sailing halfway around the world with an insane captain who won't admit that the cargo of coal is smoldering and about to burn up the ship. It's very funny.
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Conrad it is ! -
PatH and JudeS are the WINNERS !
I'll let you decide which one of you takes the punishment :D
I love the Conrad biog story- earned his ticket as master mariner, wrote superb English though it was about his fourth language after Polish, Russian and French - such a fastidious, dapper man - married his secretary (good typist ;) ) - he was always short of money but lived to the hilt - and then there's that bust by Epstein.
Heart of Darkness will always be something of an enigma to me - I think it's meant to be. It's the enigma of it that draws me back periodically to re-read it.
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Impressive, PatH and Jude ! I probably read Heart of Darkness in freshman year almost a lifetime ago, and had zero recall, as usual.
Very funny about being punished for winning! How did you know that's how I felt? :D
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Very funny about being punished for winning! How did you know that's how I felt? :D
Because I feel that way too.
Don't forget, everyone, you can always put in a quiz even if you haven't won.
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New Quiz:
Author: I first won renown in a rather obscure field, and my books didn't become popular until late in my life.
Character: In my journey, I followed the footsteps of a relative, though my purpose was more serious.
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PatH
Thanks for taking the honors and responsibility. I will be away for the next two weeks -and unless I somehow get access to a computer I will be returning to the site on July 13th.
Good guessing to all!
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Well - you've got me foxed Pat...
Is the author someone from the scientific fields ?
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This is a rather wild guess:
Colleen Mccullough, an author, was a scientist for years before she started publishing her novels.
As for a character: Julius Caesar followed his distant relatives to lead the Senate. However, as in star trek, he led where others had not gone before ... and I doubt if this is correct.
Looking forward to another clue, Pat !
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Pretty ingenious, Mippy, but not right. The author is not a scientist, and is someone I'm pretty sure you've both heard of. I'll post new clues after breakfast.
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Author: I was born in South Africa, but left at an early age.
Character: I had a wide variety of friends to help me on my way.
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We'll miss you, JudeS. Have a great time and hurry back.
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Author: My books quickly became popular, and still sell very well. Several very successful movies were made from them.
Character: I succeeded in part by being so inconspicuous my enemies paid little attention to me.
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Are we talking about J. R. R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings
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YES!
The character should be easy now.
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Who do you want Bilbo Baggins or Frodo?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
First up: this character spent time on a mountain which he did not enjoy....
(may as well make it challenging). Who is he and who wrote about him?
Let's work out the kinks together!
The one that started out along the route of the other, and had a very serious purpose indeed.
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Frodo Baggins is the character. He was the younger cousin of Bilbo Baggins, and the first part of his journey to save the world retraced the path that Bilbo had traveled in "The Hobbit". The "variety" of friends were three hobbits, one wizard, two men, a dwarf and an elf, who started out with him.
Tolkien was a professor of Anglo Saxon at Oxford, with a good reputation in his field. The first volume of Lord of the Rings was published in 1954, when he was 62.
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Oops ! Have been blown off line by major storms the last couple of days - we've had successive cold fronts coming up from Antarctica - cold, wet and very windy - it's calmer today but there is more to come.
Here's an easy one -
AUTHOR I am something of an enigma. I began writing as a child and although renowned for my classic novel I also wrote poetry.
CHARACTER I too am an enigma - both hero and anti hero. I am passionate and have a dark side. My story will live.
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Wow, Gumtree, storms from Antarctica sound scary!
No idea on this one ... maybe easy for you, but sure difficult for me.
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I thought of "Moby Dick" and Captain Ahab, but don't find evidence thar M wrote as a child, or poetry.
When you say "hero", do you mean it to be masculine?
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I see more clues are needed:
AUTHOR : I was always rather shy, preferred a solitary life and did not enjoy being away from my home. My poetry was originally published under a pseudonym. My literary reputation has grown with the years and today some regard me as having been a genius.
CHARACTER : I am male. During my younger days I was tormented and abused. Anger, hatred and jealousy feature strongly throughout my story. As does love. Tension is rife within my household.
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My immediate reaction was J. D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield, but I didn't think Salinger wrote poetry.
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Gumtree, I assume my guess is wrong, so I think you should give us another clue, since we are obviously stuck.
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Sorry folks - I've had a couple of bad days - it's a bit of a struggle sometimes...
New Clues:
AUTHOR : I am a lover of nature and almost daily I take long solitary walks with just my dog for company. Sometimes my sister comes too. Once in the village I was bitten by a rabid dog and cauterised the wound with a red hot poker from the kitchen.
CHARACTER : My house is isolated and takes its name from the prevailing winds that howl across the countryside. My love and I were raised together and became inseparable however she married another and then died in childbed.
I think that should give the game away :D
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Gee, Gumtree, hope things are going much better now.
I know entirely to little about most of the authors I read. The only author I know of that was reportedly bit by a rabid animal was Edgar Allen Poe. And that is debatable.
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The character sounds like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights; but was author Emily Bronte bitten by a rabid dog?
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Wow, Bellemere, I'm sure you're right, though I don't know about the rabid dog either.
Gumtree, I'm sorry if I was being a nag. I hope you're winning the struggle.
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BELLEMERE - A WINNER - CONGRATULATIONS
Yes, it is Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff. Emily Bronte was indeed savaged by a dog carrying rabies. It bit her on the forearm - she went straight home, into the kitchen and took up a red hot poker and applied it to the wound. That's the legend anyway.
Now I'm looking forward to Bellemere's quiz :)
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PatH Thanks - I'm OK but sometimes it seems the 'struggle nought availeth'.
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It looks like Bellemere is not taking up her prerogative at present so maybe someone else might like to start a quiz off. What say you?
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WHO AM I ?
AUTHOR: I am a well known and prize winning author. Have written on many topics and in several styles both fiction and non fiction. I am also a poet and critic. I began writing as a young child and decided quite early in my life that I would become a writer.
CHARACTER: My story is the story of two sisters of whom I am one. It is a novel which contains a story within a story -in some respects it can be seen as historical fiction as major events in my country form the background to the novel.
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Is anyone actually interested in playing ? It's hard to guess if anyone is out there so please let me know if you want to continue.
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I want to play, but I haven't any ideas about the book. Maybe time for another clue.
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Much too eclectic for me. I haven't had a clue about any of the previous ones. Suppose I'm not as "well read" as most of you on this discussion.
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I'm back home now. Like JoanK, I'd like to play, but don't recognize the book yet.
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Me, either. No idea. :D
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Home now and still trying to recover from taking care of 2 year old Grandson in 100 degree weather.
I certainly want to play but need more clues.
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How nice to see everyone again ! More clues coming up...
AUTHOR: My father was an entomologist and I spent part of my early life in the bush. Today I am an active greenie.
At times I have held a variety of academic posts. My works have been translated into many languages.
I write about strong, and sometimes enigmatic women often set in contemporary urban life though some of my novels are futuristic sci-fi.
CHARACTER : The novel in which I appear is a kind of family epic. I was born into a privileged family with all its inherent obligations and which threatened to stifle and enclose me totally. I suffered the tragic loss of those close to me - my sister, my husband, my mother, my daughter all died before their allotted span and even my granddaughter was taken from me.
You all know this one - so thinking caps on everyone !
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AARRGGHH! I'm sure I know who it is. Got to think hard.
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You surely do know this one PatH
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I thought I had it with Doris Lessing, but the details don't fit. Back to the drawing board.
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No, PatH it's not Lessing - but she would make a good quiz !
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Doris Lessing was knocked out so I'll try Pat Barker.
If thats wrong we need another clue.
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Sorry ladies - Thanks for your patience. We've had heavy storms here for the last few days so have been avoiding the computer. Right now I'm just taking advantage of a lull in the weather after a really heavy hail storm this morning. The ice was banked up against the walls and trees etc. Unusual for here - anyway here's another clue or two.
Pat Barker was a good guess but she is not the one.
AUTHOR: Most of my novels involve the protagonists quest for truth and I often ask tough questions about women's rights. My work touches on political matters, nationalism, violence in society, abortion - in fact anything which pushes society towards more tolerance and understanding.
My novels are sometimes seen by the reader as being unpredictable but the critics say they show insight and a keen wit.
I am obsessed with words and read widely - if there is nothing else I will read the instructions on toolboxes - especially toolboxes manufactured in Japan "because the English is so interesting" - "As long as it is words"
CHARACTER: My author uses several plotlines to tell my story and the complexity of individual lives is played out against the country's history affected as it is by major events - WWI, the Great Depression, Communist witch hunts.
Now at the end of my life I must deal with loss, regret, memory, and yearning :
Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I've found: but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them
[/b]
Will come back as soon as I can - happy thinking !
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I almost feel like I should know this one. Is the author one whose book we have discussed?
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Frybabe You DO know this one - as does everyone else (or so I think).
And YES it has been discussed on the old site.
Still stormy here and the weather people say we're in for another rough night - lots of mighty trees were uprooted last night - 'gumtrees' at that!
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Reading instructions translated from the Japanese sounds sooo familiar. But I can't call it up.
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This is driving me CRAZY! I'm sure I'll kick myself when I learn (or figure out) who it is.
Gumtree--it's awful when trees are uprooted--I hope the weather dies down.
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Yes, it will seem easy when someone gets it right...maybe this lot of clues will give it all away.
AUTHOR : I've won lots of literary prizes including the Booker and am regarded as one of my country's leading literary figures. I am known for having a strong sense of humour (some call it wicked), as well as a caustic tongue. I've been labelled a 'Medusa' an 'amusing duchess' and the 'quiet Mata Hari'. I'm also an environmental and political activist.
CHARACTER : The novel I appear in has been described as postmodern metafiction - there are three narratives - the novel within a novel within another novel which my author blends with newspaper clippings and society announcements. The frame narrative refers to more than 100 years of history. It's a complex work.
I am 82 years old and so as narrator I live simultaneously in three time periods. As I tell my tale the reader learns of a love affair where the lovers meet in seedy rooms - that my sister died in a car accident - that my husband was a distinguished industrialist who was found dead in a sailing boat.
The weather here is calming down so I should be able to come in tomorrow to read your answers - including the correct one. ;D
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Oh, good, no wonder I can't get this ... I never have been able to read postmodern metafiction :D
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Ok, gang, how about Margaret Atwood? She got a Booker Award for A Handmaid's Tale and she is into the green movement. It is the only book of hers I have read. The book discription doesn't fit.
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YES, Frybabe!
It's got to be Margaret Atwood, and the book is "The Blind Assassin".
Gumtree, that might have looked like an inactive topic to you, but from my standpoint it was a very successful one. My computer room is littered with handfuls of hair as I was tearing it out trying to think of the answer. I love it.
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WINNERS ! WINNERS !
FRYBABE & PAT H - YOU'VE GOT IT RIGHT -
Which of you will lead off the next one ?
There were such good guesses though - Doris Lessing and Pat Barker - both terrific writers for different reasons. Barker's Regeneration trilogy is one of my all time favourites dealing with WW1 and Lessing'sChildren of Violence sequence can't be beaten. - let alone The Golden Notebook
Mippy I thought the bit about the metafiction was pretty cool but didn't mean to frighten you off. ;)
JoanK I was sure the clue regarding Japanese instructions rendered into English would give it all away. - I've come across that particular remark Atwood made several times. Just proves that everyone reads different things.
PatH -I did feel as though I was in limbo and talking to myself at first so it might be an idea to post a few words to let the challenger know we're there.
BTW your computer room isn't the only one that's littered as a result of this one - mine is covered with notes and books and references - and bits of hair too as I scratched my head trying to form up the next lot of clues.
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WOW! I've read "The Handmaids Tale" but nothing else of hers. Probably saw the bit about Japanese instructions in an introduction. Trust my sci-fi-reading sis to know it.
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I was sure just about everyone playing would have read ALL of Margaret Atwood. Her work is very popular here and my reading friends devour her work as it comes out - I don't read much sci-fi and have to admit that Oryx and Crake defeated me though I've still got my copy just in case. I've been trying to get hold of her latest (I think?) The Penelopiad - title is intriguing.
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I do read sci-fi, and I didn't even attempt Oryx and Crake, because I could tell from the reviews I wouldn't care for it.
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No, Atwood is not very popular here. maybe she should be.
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Ok, I have one for you.
Author: I am a very popular writer. Many of my books, most fiction but some non-fiction, were published both before and after my death.
Book: Man helps widow who is being pressured to marry a community bigwig.
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I can tell this is going to be a difficult one.
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HMMMM!
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I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
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Yes, the clue is rather sparse. Even if you never read any of this author's books, you know who it is.
Another clue coming in the morning after my contractor has done his walk through with the project supervisor. (I am finally going to get a shower in the bathroom. Hurray!)
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Hooray! Enjoy.
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No idea ... more clues please ...
We're in the midst of a big exterior repair and my contractor just called to say he'd come tomorrow not today >:(
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Hey Mippy, same problem. I just got the call that my contractor will not be doing his walk through with the project supervisor today. They now plan to just dig in and start work tomorrow.
Next clue:
Author: My books have inspired numerous movies and at least one TV series. There is also a museum named after me.
Book: Widow befriends a young man not of her faith, therefore, incurring the wrath of the elders of her church.
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One author who has a museum named after him and inspired nuerous movies is Mark Twain. However the plot lines don't fit
any of his books that I have read. Since I haven't read all his books I'll try him as a guess.
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Sorry, not Mark Twain.
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Time for another clue.
Author: My name is a combination of my mother's family name and my father's family name. My mother's forebearers founded the town I was born in. It also carries the family name.
Book: Oops! Let me first amend the first/second clue. The woman is not a widow. It was her father who died. She inherited the property. Clarification: there are two men. One is a stranger and the young man is a hired hand.
New clue: The stranger is looking for his sister's grave and seeking revenge for her death. After a herd of cattle is rustled, the young man tracks and shoots one of the rustlers and discovers the rider is a girl.
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Sounds like a Western. Owen Wister? Zane Grey?
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It is a western, JoanK. And Zane Grey the author. Depending on what you read, he wrote anywher from 60 to 85 books. His favorite pasttime was fishing. In fact his few non-fiction books were mostly about fishing and his fishing experiences. The latest book of original work by Zane Grey was just published. It is a limited edition (and very expensive) book entitled Tales of the Gladiator. The book is compiled from his journals while fishing off his boat, the Gladiator. His original name was Pearl Zane Grey. He later dropped Pearl (now who would name a guy Pearl?). Zane is his mother's family name and Zanesville, Ohio was founded by her ancestors.
As for the book? It is his most popular novel. Now that you have the author, the name of the book should be easy.
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Never in a million years would I have come up with Zane Grey. Of course I know of him but can't remember ever having read him. I know I saw lots of films made from his books but can't remember any details whatever - I guess John Wayne might have acted in some of them.
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I read one of his books, (probably his best known one, when I was going through a list of 100 most influential books. But I can't remember the title or plot. I could google him, but that's cheating!!
I've been in Zanesville, but had no idea of the connection.
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Zane Grey! Duh. Why didn't I think of that? It's a good thing JoanK was on the ball. As far as I'm concerned, the titles are lost in the mists of time, so I'll take a wild guess and say "Riders of the Purple Sage", but I don't really know, so if that's not it I'm stuck.
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It would be interesting to compare the frontier literature of America with that of Australia, about which I know almost nothing. There were some of the same problems, but some things were very different. Any comments, Gumtree?
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Sorry I am late. The bathroom model is started and the guys had stuff pile up in front of the door to my computer room.
Riders of the Purple Sage is indeed his most popular novel, PatH. The last movie made was a TV production which starred Ed Harris as Lassiter. Another book you may have heard of is The Vanishing American which is about the plight of the Native American Indian. I like your idea of comparing our Westerns with the Australian equivalent. Sounds like fun.
Gumtree, Grey wrote about his fishing experience around Australia and New Zealand. In fact, he was instrumental in making sport fishing popular off the New South Wales coast.
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Zane Grey is an author I have never read. I know the name but that's all.
Any suggestions for a title to try him out?
Couldn't guess an author I never read. I always thought of him as a writer for young boys. Guess I was wrong.
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It would be interesting to compare the frontier literature of America with that of Australia, about which I know almost nothing. There were some of the same problems, but some things were very different. Any comments, Gumtree?
Well yes, the first thing that comes to mind is that a decent comparison between the two 'frontier literatures' would be worth a Ph.D from any self respecting institution.
Do you mean literature of the time or literature written about the period. I'm not sure we had much written at the time other than the work of the early bush poets - of whom there are many - and the journals of early settlers or more often, their wives and daughters.
There are plenty of novels written about the early days - we didn't have a 'wild west' but there was plenty of conflict between the European settlers and the indigenous tribes often resulting in massacre of one or the other followed by retribution. The gold rush is another theme and there is also the literature of the outlaws - 'bushrangers' eg. 'Moondyne Joe' who roamed the bush about 50 miles north of here, holding up and robbing whoever chanced to get in his way - and of course Ned Kelly has countless books written about his exploits as did one fellow known as 'Captain Starlight' who was renown for his gentlemanly ways - he was probably a 'remittance man' whose family paid him to stay in the colony and out of England.
As for authors - well, it's really endless - Lawson, Paterson, Boake, Rolf Boldrewood, H.H. Richardson, are among the early ones - more recently aspects of settlement times have been addressed by writers like Tom Keneally, Peter Carey, Kate Grenville et al
I really should sit down and think about this as a topic - maybe then I could give a more sensible answer.
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I really haven't given any thought to the topic but after I closed down last night and crawled into bed I realised I hadn't mentioned Patrick White among the 'frontier' writers. He's not generally thought of as such but his 'Voss' and 'A Fringe of Leaves' address the early days and both are based on real life people and incidents.
I can't think of which Americans would be comparable with the Aussies - you'll have to help me out.
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I guess it's my turn to post a puzzle. I'm working on it, but so far, my mind's a blank. If anyone wants to beat me to it, I won't be hurt.
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OK, I guess the ball's in my court.
Author: I was trained as a lawyer and had an irregular personal life.
Character: I'm young and inexperienced, and had to figure out how to handle a personal emergency with no one to help me.
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Hi Pat
Is this author John Grisham? He trained as a Lawyer.
In his first book "A Time to KIll" a ten year old girl is raped.
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I have no idea.
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Maybe Author: Grisham; Character: The young boy in "The Client".?
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Not Grisham--earlier than that. I'll be back a bit later with the next clues.
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Author: I was a good friend of Charles Dickens.
Character: The trouble started at my eighteenth birthday party.
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Is the author Wilkie Collins and the book "The Moonstone"?
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Bingo, Jude, you've got it.
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Collins did train as a lawyer, though I don't think he ever practiced. He lived with a woman he never married, though he had 3 children by her. It's funny how well Grisham fits the first clues.
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Good one, PatH ! I forgot Collins was a lawyer, though I did read his 2 famous novels.
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Ah, Yes! The Dickens clue gave that one away.
Now I wonder just what JudeS will come up with.
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Here's an attempt to stump you experts. LOL
Author:
I come from a very large family. I tried to become a pilot but didn't succeed. I wrote successfully under two names.
Character:
My humming during a string quartet almost caused my demise.
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Humming during a string quartet sounds like Jack Aubrey in Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander.
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Jude, you didn't realize you had a nest of Aubrey-Maturin fans on your hands. Joan beat me to the draw, though.
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Jack Aubrey is based on a real-life person, Thomas Cochrane. Aubrey's history loosely matches Cochrane's, with additions, and O'Brian uses many of Cochrane's exploits in his books, but some of the things Cochrane did were so wildly improbable that you couldn't get away with them in fiction, and O'Brian had to tone them down. Think capturing the entire navy of a South American country with one ship and a lot of chutzpah. Or, with a small ship manned by 54 men, carrying 14 4-pound (pretty small and short-range) guns, actually boarding and capturing a much larger Spanish ship manned by 320 men, armed with 37 guns, most much larger, all done with a combination of clever bluffing, totally unorthodox strategy, and incredible seamanship. This battle is described in "Master and Commander". Aubrey's Sophie and the Spanish Cacafuego were really Speedy and Gamo, but the description in the book doesn't do full justice to how astonishingly clever the battle really was.
At least 2 other authors have used Cochrane as a model. Frederick Marryat, who served under Cochrane, used him as Captain Savage, and he is also C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower.
Stephen Maturin was in part an alter ego for O'Brian himself.
Thanks, Jude, for giving me a chance to spout off about one of my hobby horses.
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Oh my Gawd!
Who would know I was snared by Patrick O'Brien fans. went to the web site about him because I HAVE NEVER READ HIS BOOKS!
I read and read about him and can tell you he was 8th of nine children born to a German Physician and an English woman of Irish descent.
He wrote under his real name and became well known but made the change to a pseudonym because he wanted a more reclusive life.
I became interested in him because I have heard so much about him. I loved the fact that he had translated The Papillion from French to English. That book I did read and enjoyed very much.
Does "hoisted by her own petard " fit here?
I will read at least one of his books-I promise.
Joan K. I pass the baton to you.
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I have an idea, but have to work out the details.
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Just another Patrick O'Brien major fan checking in. I didn't know that detail about wanting to be a pilot, however. Didn't P. O'B kind of re-invent himself? So that a lot of facts about his life turned out to be different than the publishers had said? ... not important ...
Well done, JoanK !
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Looks like Patrick O'Brian has lots of supporters here - Better luck next time Jude
PatH Your comments on P O'B were well received at this end of the world. I'm not an avid reader for his stuff but have read some and love the Aubrey/Maturin dichotomy. Like you, DH is a fan so I got him in to read your comments - he nodded wisely.... :D
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OK, this should be easy
Author: I wrote many books. Some of them anticipated later inventions, such as the laptop computer.
Character: I traveled to many places.
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Ok, I'll start the ball rolling. I have a few ideas but the only one I can think of right now that I remember both author and book is:
Douglas Adams
Hitchhiker"s Guide to the Universe
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The only thing I can think of is something I can't believe Joan would pick, but here goes.
Author: Arthur C. Clarke
Character: David Bowman in "2001"
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Jude, if you do decide to try Patrick O'Brian, you should read them in order. "Master and Commander" is the first. I started to read "M & C" several times before it clicked with me, but then I was hooked, and worked (or sailed) my way through all 20.
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We wouldn't be talking about H.G Wells by any chance would we?
Maybe The First Men on the Moon
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All good guesses, and all wrong. I'll be back with another clue.
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I went to the library today and looked for the first book of the O'Brien series but it wasn't available. I took out "The Far Side of the World" which was the only one that looked interesting without reading the first book. If I like it, I will buy Master and Commander.
It seems that a movie with Russel Crowe was made of this one.
As far as this quiz goes I don't read Sci-FI except for Asimov who I really liked and read most of his work.
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JJUDE: I never said the book was Sci-Fi!! Everyone assumed it, because of the laptop computer. But that wasn't in the book we're talking about here. I'll bet you know this book.
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Further hint. I'm not as knowledgable as Pat, but I'd guess it would be classified as fantasy, rather than Sci-Fi.
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Well, I guess that leaves me out. I don't usually read fantasy. I take it that the book was written before LapTops existed.
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Good morning! Not a guess ...
just a note: the movie Master and Commander was only a dip into the book by that name ... plot details were taken from every book on the shelf. Not my favorite movie, especially because Aubrey didn't look like the O'Brien character ... too short! But a fun movie
if you see it in a theater with surround sound ... almost got seasick! :D
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The movie "Master and Commander" was supposedly made from book 10, "The Far Side of the World", which Jude is about to read. As nearly as I can tell, the main thing they took from the book is the route the ships followed, which is pretty much the same. The incidents were taken from all over. But it's a good movie, especially if you like old ships, as they took great care with authenticity. Aubrey's ship is really the Rose, a working replica of an 18th century frigate, built in 1970. The interior of Acheron, the French ship Aubrey is chasing, is really the Constitution, re-generated by computer from extensive shots.
I'd better not get started on the Constitution, but I truly love that ship. She was commissioned in 1798, and is still in active (not very active) service. If you're ever in Boston, don't miss a chance to see her. You can go through her, and if you hang around after the tour, you can buttonhole one of the sailors and chat with him about her.
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OK. If its not Sci-Fi than it has to do with the real machine that led to the computer which is the Hand Loom. Yes, yes look it up In "Jaquards Web" by James Essinger.
The book which deals with hand looms is "Hard Times" by Dickens.
Could this possibly be the answer?
Wow- you folks really follow the maritime history of P.O'Brian. I sure hope that I find it as interesting as you all do.
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Jude: clever as always, but not right. The computer is in a different book, not in this one.
I knew about the connection of the handloom to Babbage's (the first) computer from reading about Lady Lovelace, the first computer programmer.
She was the poet Byron's daughter. She loved mathematics, and wanted to study it: of course well-bred ladies didn't DO that, at least not seriouslly. So she apprenticed herself to Babbage, who was a mathematician. She was the first to realize that his computer was useless without a program to run it. So she wrote the first computer program. But never got a chance to "debug" it, since Babbage's computer never actually worked. I got ahold of the program once, and it seemed to me that it did have bugs in it.
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OK, time for more clues
Author: this book was so successful, I wqrote 13 more in the series, as some of the around 60 booksand hundreds of poems I wrote.
Character: I not only took friends with me, I took my dog as well.
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I'll take another wild guess. Author; C. S. Lewis, Book, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", Character, one of the 4 children (I think their name was Pevensy) let's say the oldest, John or whatever his name is. I haven't read CSL's sci-fi, so don't know if it predicts the laptop.
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Nope.
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Ooops, your clues came in as I was posting and made nonsense of my post. Back to the drawing board.
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Way out on a limb here: How about L. Frank Baum's, The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy had her retinue of friends and her dog, ToTo. He (Baum not the dog) wrote 13 more Oz books.
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YEAH, HOORAY FOR FRYBABE!!!! That's it. Can't get anything by this group.
I didn't know anything about Baum and had a lot of fun reading about him. He sounds like quite a character.
Funny coincidence: every day, a friend and I work the New York Times crossword puzzle. Today, one of the clues was: title girl in a novel by L. Frank Baum 1906 7 letters. Of course we both put "Dorothy". But then I said "I don't think it's Dorothy" and started spouting all these Baum facts -- "The Wizard" was earlier, in 1906 he ws writing ... blah blah. There was a stunned silence until I explained that I had been reading his biography an hour before.
Sure enough: the answer to THAT puzzle wasn't Dorothy. But the answer to THIS puzzle is.
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THUNK!
That's me falling off my chair.
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I'll help you up, Frybabe- here take my hand !
Congrats to you Frybabe !
I didn't have a clue.
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Frybabe ~ Way to THUNK ! :D
Joan ~ do tell about the laptop connection ... cannot begin to figure that clue out.
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Congrats Frybabe!
Glad you guessed correctly before I went out on another wrong limb. Fun reading about all kinds of authors I never knew anything about. The computer clue completely sent me whirling in the wrong direction.
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I got the reference to the laptop computer from Bam's Wickipedia biography. It claimed Baum had forseen that invention in a novel called "The Master key". Here is a plot summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_Key_(1901_book) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_Key_(1901_book))
A boy, fooling with electricity, accidently summons the "Demon of Electricity" who grants him three new inventions each for the next three weeks. Everything goes wrong when the boy tries to use the inventions, so eventually, he gives them back, claiming it's no fun to be a century ahead of ones time.
None of the inventions mentioned in the summary is a laptop computer, but it doesn't mention them all.
I remember in the movie "The Wizard of Oz", when Dorothy pulls back the curtain, the Wizard is working at something that looks like the old mainframe computers. I don't remember the book well enough to know if that's in the book, but I'll bet it is.
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Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court" was written in 1889. Here, a young man is transported back to King Arthur's time, and introduces modern inventions there. Baum's "Master Key" was 1901.
Those of us who wrer in the discussion of "America 1908" remember that an obsession with inventions was in the air. Certainly for Twain, who constantly flirted with bankruptcy, supporting new inventions.
Sorry, JUDES. That was the devil in me. I regretted it later, and did say that it was Fantasy, rather than Science Fiction. I hope I got that right, or PatH won't be speaking to me. (I notice she hasn't posted this morning. She knows that the only time I read fantasy is when she gives me a book as a present, so she was probably going down that list).
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Joan, your clues were perfectly fair. I would definitely call it fantasy.
No, the apparatus isn't in the book "Wizard of Oz" (I just checked). Actually, I think this is a rare case where the movie is much better than the book.
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It's the dog that did it, otherwise I would not have thought of the Wiz at all. I saw the movie WAY to often as a child/teen. Did anyone see the sequel/update that came out last year? It was pretty interesting, but don't ask me who played in it or the name of the movie.
Does someone else want to do the honors for the next quiz? I am still in the middle of this bathroom remodel. I am afraid I will not be able to attend to the clues and answer guesses in a reasonable time until that is done.
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Grandparent duty coming up again. So I won't be able to do the honors. Out of town till the 18th.
Re: The Wizard of Oz. I saw the movie but didn't read the book until I was an adult. It was my husband's all time favorite book. He read everything that Baum wrote (as a child). Since he is an Electrical Engineer and loves everything mechanical there must have been some notion of mechanics there.
Personally the flying monkeys scared me so much that I never attempted the book though I read almost every other book in the childrens' section of our home town library.
My,my what memories this choice has elicited from us.
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JUDE: I saw the movie, probably when it first came out and I was about 6. The flying monkeys scared me so much, I crawled under the movie seat. Now, I don't know why they were so scary but they were.
Later, I read a lot of the Oz books. And as an adult, I've probably seen that movie ten times.
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Shall I try one? I waited a few days to let someone else jump or thunk or ;)
Author:
I live in California, but the main characters in my books are not always American.
Character:
I was born in the late 19th century. Love of my calling takes me on extensive journeys.
This might be not be enough clues to get you started ... more tomorrow!
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Hmmmm!
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Mippy to the rescue!
It's good to start out hard & gradually get easier.
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I'll just wait for the next clues -
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Here are more clues:
Author: Five of my novels bring history to life.
Character: My explorations led me to astonishing encounters with indigenous people.
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That knocks me down. I was thinking of the author of "The Kite Runner". Obviously not.
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nope :)
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I can't think of any one who may be the likely candidate.
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Alors ... my author is clearly below the radar ... hints today are more grande ...
Author:
One of my bestselling books (1999) was somewhat overshadowed by a later book (2005) by a different author, whose title included an earring.
Character:
I want to be accepted by the establishment, but being a woman makes it difficult.
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OK, the other book has to be "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". Still don't know your book, but I'll bet others do.
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Joan ~ Correct
Author:
I am often confused with Tracy Chevalier, the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring.
My five novels are historical fiction, and they are about people from various nations.
Character: I'm an artist from Canada, who eventually found recognition.
Shall I try to give more detailed hints tomorrow, or just post the answer?
I'll be away all day today, visiting family.
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Let's wind this up ... hope someone can come up with a book that works better than this one.
Author: Susan Vreeland. Her other books on artists and art history include:
Girl in Hyancinth Blue, 1999 (about Vermeer)
The Passion or Artemisia, 2002
Life Studies, 2005
Luncheon of the Boating Party, 2007 (I'm reading this one now, about the life of Renoir)
Character: Emily Carr, a plein-air painter from British Columbia, Canada
Book: The Forest Lover, 2004. Excellent historical fiction!
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Mippy I have been wracking my brains trying to think of Susan Vreeland's name since you mentioned the 'Earring' - all to no avail. I would never have guessed the book as haven't seen or heard of it.
Good one !
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Good one! I don't know the books, but it sounds like I should!!
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Mippy, have you read the book about Artemesia? She is a person who interests me greatly. The National Museum of Women in the Arts had an exhibit which included 3 of her paintings, and they outshone everything else, especially her "Judith and Holofernes". It's an amazing painting, and I've never seen a reproduction that did justice to Judith's expression, which is a mixture of distaste at what she's doing and a sort of judicial calm and firmness of purpose.
The exhibit made the point that a fashionable portrait painter of the time (that's how you made a living out of your painting) had to establish a persona that clicked with the clientele, and hers was the quiet gentlewoman, comfortable for a woman subject.
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H'mm... Three days have passed and no action here. Who got the answer to Mippy's quiz ? Who will pose the next puzzle ?
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nemo ... that's Latin for no one :D
Gum ~ do you want to start a new one? I'm out of ideas.
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Thanks for the offer Mippy -but no, I can't do it at the moment ... maybe someone will volunteer this time round.
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I've been on the west coast, visiting my new grandson and JoanK. Am home now, too tired to think. will check in tomorrow.
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Be well, Gum and Pat!
I hope someone will re-start this game one of these days! :D
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There are all sorts of problems coming up with a puzzle here. One is what the rest of us have read. JudeS ran into one end of this, hitting a nest of O'Brian enthusiasts. Mippy ran into the other end, when what looked like a terrific puzzle turned out to be something none of us had read.
There is also the question of figuring out whether your clues are hard or easy, and that's harder than you'd think.
That said, I'll have a go at another puzzle.
Author: I trained as a physician and practiced medicine for some time.
Character: I also trained as a physician.
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When I was thinking of a new puzzle, I realized that I wasn't certain whether the author had already been used (s/he hadn't). This is going to get harder and harder, so I thought I'd make a list. Here it is. I'll try to update it from time to time. Should I also put in who posed the puzzle? I'm surprised how many we've done so far.
Beck Wethers Left for Dead
John Steinbeck Journal of a Novel
Henry James Wings of a Dove
George Orwell
T S Eliot Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones
Agatha Christie Hastings
Alexander McCall Smith Mma Ramotswe
Jane Austen Mary Bennett
Elizabeth George Lynley and Havers
Xenophon
George Eliot Daniel Deronda
Roger Tory Peterson Field guide to the Eastern Birds Mockingbird
Joanna Trollope The Best of Friends Sophie
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness Marlow
J. R. R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings Frodo
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights Heathcliff
Margaret Atwood The Blind Assassin
Zane Grey Riders of the Purple Sage
Wilkie Collins The Moonstone Rachel Verinder
Patrick O’Brian Master and Commander Jack Aubrey
L. Frank Baum The Wizard of Oz Dorothy
Susan Vreeland The Forest Lover Emily Carr
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Thanks. That's very useful.
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quote from Mippy
nemo ... that's Latin for no one
I always thought Jules Verne had a sense of humor. Did the people who did Finding Nemo know what nemo means? No one, nobody indeed.
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PatH Good girl ! Thanks for the list - is there some way we can just add to it as we go? Or maybe get the tech people to put it in the heading and update from time to time ? Anyway good idea - I think where applicable, the author, the book and the character should be shown.
And yes, there are problems trying to select a mystery author - like -would anyone ever have heard of this particular Aussie writer I have in mind? ;)
Frybabe Are you saying that nemo working on the film actually knew the meaning of nemo or are you just wondering whether they did or not?
Now, I'll try to work out the quiz as I go about my mundane Saturday. - Physician HuH!
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Here's a guess - I can't get Sir Arthur Conan Doyle out of my mind - so maybe that's who PatH has in mind. And is Dr. Watson the character?
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HI Gumtree, I was just wondering out loud whether they people who named it, knew that nemo is latin and what it means. Jules Verne would have known as in his day, latin was studied more. Everybody I have mentioned it to around here didn't even know it is latin, but they all got the joke when I said Captain Nobody and Finding Nobody.
The end is near. My bathroom is almost done, but of course there is a hang up. The contractor forgot to order the flooring so now we are still waiting for it. I had trouble getting a matching spout for my bathtub too. It appears that the manufacturers are keeping inventories very low and only manufacturing as they need them. I guess in this economy they don't feel they can afford to sit on stuff that isn't selling well.
I may actually be ready to post another quiz in a week or so.
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You got it, Gumtree! I mean the book to be "A Study in Scarlet", but any of the books would do. Rats, I had all sorts of good clues. The author also wrote science fiction, the character had recently traveled to a country currently in the news (Afghanistan), both have silly mustaches, etc.
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I'm kicking myself -- I should have gotten that. GUM, are you up to posting the next quiz?
It's hard to think of something that is neither too easy nor too obscure. You want everyone to know the book, but not guess it right away.
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That's ridiculous ! I only put Doyle up to get him out of the way as I thought it too obvious. Never dreamt it would be right! And I don't even read Sherlock Holmes....next time I won't jump in and possibly spoil the fun again.
I would be grateful if someone else would do the next one as I can't be sure of coming in regularly enough just now. Thanks!
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Heavy winds here on Cape Cod this a.m., although thank goodness the hurricane didn't hit us. I'd better shut down here before we have power flickers ... have fun today, everyone!
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Oh Gosh. I return and read the clue and know the answer but so does everybody else. Eeks!
The list was not only helpful but also made me realize how many authors we have touched on. I like this game a lot even when I am mistaken or when somebody guesses my clue.
Hope your winds have died down Mippy. The weather here in CA is so warm and bland I sometimes forget the ups and downs of other regions.
Yes, we have wildfires, but they're mostly in the hills and earthquakes-well they come and go so fast that there really can't be any foreboding attached to them. Damage yes, but worry, no. Its all over before you know it and all that remains is to count the cracks and pick up the pieces of crockery.
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JUDE: where in California are you? I moved to Socal, near the ocean, and I just love the weather. I wish I could bottle it and send it everywhere. I don't find it bland at all --even after two years, every time I go outside and get that sea breeze, I'm thrilled.
They used to say that unless you have a million dollar house, you don't have to worry about wildfires -- now it's probably up to five million. But I admit, the earthquakes scare me.
And believe it or not, I miss thunderstorms. I've always loved thunderstorms, even after seeing a lightning bolt land a few feet from me once. When my Eastern friends complain about them, I sympathize, but secretly, I'm jealous. Of course, I didn't live in the tornado belt, and only once every 10 years worry about hurricanes.
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Well, don't everyone speak at once!
I'm afraid this will either be obvious, like last time, or hopeless, but here goes.
Author: My father was a minister, and "Pilgrim's Progress" influenced my childhood.
Character: Unexpectedly, I had to survive in strange ways.
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OK, I started out obscure, and it's too obscure.
Author: I ended up my days elevated to the peerage and with an important post.
Character: The first movie of my exploits was made in the '30s--rather inaccurate, I must say.
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Thanks for coming to the rescue PatH
So, you're saying the author is British, brought up by a minister (of religion? parliament? H'm) who read Pilgrim's Progress as a child and who was recognised by becoming Knight of the Realm.
Too hard by far - the only one penetrating the grey fog of my mind is C P Snow who became Baron Snow - but the other clues don't fit for character Lewis Eliot - Strangers and Brothers
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Gumtree, that's a very ingenious (though incorrect) answer, and my author is not such a literary heavyweight as Snow.
By the way, are you aware that Snow's first novel was a detective story--"Death Under Sail"? It's not bad, though kind of formulaic, and the sailing is enjoyable. I was a big Snow fan at one point, and read all of the "Strangers and Brothers" series.
I didn't say "knight", I said "peer".
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OK OK - so I said Knight - but a Baron (as in Baron Snow) is a Peer
And yes, I was under Snow's spell for a time and still have the S & B sequence. His prose is superb - exquisite at times. Have you read his scientific stuff? 'The Physicists - A Generation that Changed the World'. Brilliant. "Vivid interplay of personalities and politics in the world of science - Einstein - Rutherford - Bohr" etc.
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Sorry, Gumtree, "nitpicking" is my middle name. More clues later.
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Still too obscure, obviously. I bet some of you have seen the movie, old though it is.
Author: Early on, I won a prize in poetry. Surprisingly, I ended my days in Canada, which I found was like a large-scale version of my beloved Scotland.
Character: My first adventure took place just before WWI, but I continued to save my country for many years after. The first movie about me (1935) had a very famous director, whose movies you have all watched.
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The movie: 39 Steps, which was directed by Hitchcock (1935).
I have no idea what the name was of the main protagonist was.
But I didn't follow the rules: after I guessed the movie, I looked up the author of the novel. Isn't the idea here to do it from memory?
So I don't "win" and with Latin classes starting today, I ought not to post a new query :)
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Does anyone else want to fill in the gaps?
Mippy, I'm with you about guessing from memory, though if I've thought of someone who would fit, I feel free to check facts to be sure they do, but I don't think anyone has formalized it.
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Joan K
Hi-
I'm not sure whether you mean Southern CA or Soquel which is a lovely community on the ocean in Northern Ca.
We live in San Jose but are often in Southern CA to visit our son who doesn't live near the Ocean. I hope you are in no danger from the wild fires that are presently raging in the state.
My first earthquake was a shock and a surprise but after that you get used to it. The house shakes for less than a second than some aftershocks and then all that's left is to assess the damage. The first one I experienced was when I walked into a Chinese restaurant and naively said, "Look, they have a dancing chandelier." I was quickly disabused of that idea.
The more serious earthquakes (in S.F. and Northridge) did not effect us. Unless you live on a "fault" your house is probably in no danger.
WELCOME to CA. Perhaps we shall meet one day.
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No one wants to fill in the gaps, so I will.
The Author is John Buchan, the book, as Mippy guessed, is "The 39 Steps", and the character is Richard Hannay. Buchan, son of a Scottish minister (church, not political) was a politician and historian as well as fiction writer. His lifelong love of "Pilgrim's Progress" is evident in several of his books, most notably "Mr. Standfast". In 1935, Buchan was made 1st Baron Tweedsmuir in preparation for his appointment as Governor-General of Canada, which he held until his death in 1940.
"The 39 Steps" is the first book featuring Richard Hannay. A man is murdered in Hannay's apartment and Hannay, the principal suspect, flees all over England and Scotland, changing disguise in each chapter, trying to escape both the police and the spies who really killed the victim. The plot is slight, and was much mangled to make the 1935 movie, starring Robert Donat.
I liked these stories when I was growing up, and still have a fondness for them, though they really are dreadfully corny.
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Thanks for all the interesting details, Pat. I hope someone else can keep the game going, as I'm under the Latin load, including being a TA in the 101 class on Friday, so I'll have to pass.
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Thanks PatH for the Buchan details - I read a few of his but not many and you say these days they are a bit 'corny' I remember the Robert Donat version but seem to remember they did a remake maybe in the 1950/60 era? Technicolour and all that...
I'm under a Latin load too having been silly enough to enrol for 101 but hope to come in here from time to time once the course settles - if it does.
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Apparently the remake followed the altered plot of the '35 movie. There's going to be another one in 2010.
I would dearly love to take the Latin course---I've always wanted to learn it, but I know if I do, it will completely wash out my attempts to re-learn Spanish. I get annoyed at myself for not working on the Spanish. It's not a hard language, and I could speak it 50 years ago, can still read it some, and it's becoming increasingly useful to speak it here. Laziness.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 639
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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PatH, I remember seeing somewhere a while back someone mentioned that it was easier to learn Latin if you have already had Spanish. Not Italian, not French, Spanish. hmmmmmm!
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What makes it easier to learn Latin? I think liking to solve puzzles is the best indicator!
I had French in high school, German in college, and no Latin at all before Ginny's class five (?) years ago. I love Latin ... it keeps my brain running on "go" and I love learning the Roman history. I'd strongly encourage everyone (not Frybabe/Marg ... you are too advanced) to join Ginny's new class next year!
... hey ... to Gumtree ... who is in 101. Hurray!
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Keeping my brain running on 'go' was one of the reasons I decided to try the Latin. - I've been thinking about doing it for three years and already - after less than one week - wish I'd joined earlier.
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To me, the appeal of Latin would be the logic. I know several people, including one physician, who say that learning Latin is what taught them to think logically. And I do like puzzles of many kinds. But I do need to keep up the Spanish. Sigh.
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I'm really sorry I had to drop out of latin when my husband died so unexpectedly. It was too much for me at the time, but I had really enjoyed the classes.
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Dearest Joan, amica mea ~ I hope it was not wrong to say "everyone" should join Latin when I remember so well why you left the class. My heart goes out to you once more!
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JoanK - I didn't know your loss was comparatively recent or that it had occurred unexpectedly. My thoughts are with you. {{{Joan}}}}
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No, it's been several years now, but I still keep all the hugs you guys sent me.
Less so the Latin, which I've forgotten by now. Mippy, you must be reading all the classics by now!
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I have now stuck an alphabetized list of already used authors on the bottom of the heading. We've done 24 so far! I added the challenger's name and post # where the solution was revealed because it was easy to do when I had to go through all the posts anyway. It'll be dead easy to keep updating it. comments for improvement will be welcomed.
I notice I've posed the last 2 challenges (hint, hint).
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WAAAAAAY to quiet here.
Author: I wrote poetry, political, philosophical and religious works. My first poem was published in 1632.
Book: A well known epic which includes love, war and heroism.
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Milton?
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Well, this is a record. Yes, Milton.
I was having trouble trying to decide whether to include a date or not.
Something I learned about Milton was that he knew at least seven languages, was married three times, went blind (and in fact was blind when he "wrote" his epic).
Want to post his magnum opus, JoanK?
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Paradise Lost.
I've read it: it's heavy and hard for a modern person to read. He also wrote Paradise Regained (I think that's the title). I've heard it's not as good so didn't attempt it. Dante had the same problem: his description of heaven isn't nearly as good, I'm told, as his description of hell. It says omething that we are better able to imagine loss and hell than heaven.
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Now I've got to come up with something! But it's time for my daily crossword. Every day, my crossword puzzle buddy calls at 12:30 and we work the NYTimes crossword puzzle together. Maybe it will give me an idea--it's full of literary references. I'll be back later.
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OK: here I go.
Author: I made my living in another field, and only published my well-known work later.
The character: I got in trouble by drinking things I shouldn't.
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Off hand the only thing I can think of is Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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Good guess, but no.
Anyone else?
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Good to see some action here - great get on the Milton
Can't think of anything to fit the current clues...
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I can't play in this one, because JoanK ran it by me. I don't think I would have gotten it from the first clues, though.
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Anyone else out there? New clues tomorrow.
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I'll give a mini-clue: I bet you've all read it.
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Hi, everyone! I won't be on line for a few days, as we're doing our
semi-annual snowbird migration. Tomorrow we leave Cape Cod, head
for Reston, VA to visit granddaughter and her parents :D
then arrive in FL late Sunday.
See y'all next week!
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PK, Snowbird. Have a great trip!
Author: I started out to be a minister, but felt I shouldn't be ordained. Scholars now wonder why.
Character: I'm probably based on a real person, who may have had the same name.
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Haven't got a clue - but somehow Tom Keneally and Schindler's Ark/List came to mind. Tom studied for the church but I think he was actually ordained. Schindler got into trouble but don't know whether it was from drinking things he ought not. I know it's not right.
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No, it's not.
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Brain hasn't been functioning for puzzles lately, but I just had another thought.
How about Louis Carroll and his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
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FRYBABE!!! YOU'RE BRILLIANT.
I was just saying these clues are too hard, and going in to talk about tea parties. Now I don't have to.
OK, what's left?
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Another round:
Author: I write primarily crime novels. In my country I am one of the most widely read authors, and am an acknowledged master of crime fiction.
Character: I am a master spy, fluent in five languages, lucky at gambling.
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Mmmmmmm1
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I'm thinking.
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I'm thinking this may be a hard one. I am not sure just how well read this author outside of his native country, but my sister ran across his novels and gave my several as a birthday present last year. They are very good.
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It's good to start hard. If we get hopelessly stuck, you can give us bigger and bigger clues.
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Good one Frybabe - I'd forgotten that Lewis Carroll studied for the ministry as well as being a mathematician et al.
so... a master of crime fiction? - pity - I don't read much crime fiction.
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Why is Reilly Ace of Spies running through my mind ? There was an original book based on the real Reilly written by someone whose name escapes me which Fleming used as a starting point for the James Bond stuff.
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Sorry, Gumtree. Reilly he is not.
next clues:
Author: I have been an essayist, critic, philologist and translator, with special interest in Japanese. My first detective stories were so well received that in 2000 I was able to leave my job as an assistant editor-in-chief of a magazine to writing novels full time. The name you know me by is a pen name.
Character: I work for the criminal division of the Moscow police in the latter part of the 19th century. Previously, I held the post of second secretary at the Russian Embassy in Japan.
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I don't think I know the book, but I'd like to. I'm going too ask in mystery corner, if you don't mind.
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AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! I'm sure I have one of the author's books in one of my TBR pile, and I CAN'T FIND IT. And I don't remember his name.
If it turns out you are responsible for actually getting me to clean up some of those piles, Frybabe, you will have done a great good deed.
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Doesn't ring any berlls for me but I'll be reading the books when we know who.
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PatH ;D
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Akunin, Boris, several books, Erast Fandolin, Frybabe, #447
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna, Frybabe, #463
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 427
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 145
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster, PatH, #452
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Mippy's post:
Good morning! No idea, but pondering it ... :D
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I'm right out of ideas.
-
More clues.
Author: Previously, I mentioned I use a pen name. The last name is Japanese which loosely means villian. I was born in the Republic of Georgia in 1956. Three books of this series have been made into big budget movies in Russia. One of these was expanded and shown on Russian TV.
Character: I had the good fortune to save the life of a Japanese man who, as a result, has become my friend and companion in my adventures. Because of my abilities, I was promoted to Deputy for Special Assignments to the Moscow governor.
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Martin Cruz Smith? The Arkady Renko novels?
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Renko? I've read some of that series, but did not know Smith was
a nom d'plume.
I didn't see the previous post, when I began to write.
I think you nailed it, Tomereader.
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I was thinking it was him, i.e. "Gorky Park", but the more I read the clues, it doesn't sound just right. Don't think I "nailed it".
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I found the book!
Author, Boris Akunin
Character, Erast Fandorin
As usual, it was in a pile where I should have spotted it straight off. At least I didn't actually have to clean up my piles (should I be glad or sorry?). I'm glad he uses a pen name, since his real name turns out to be Chkhartishvili. the book I have is "The Death of Achilles",
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HURRAY! We have a winner.
Yes, Boris Akunin. Here is his website.
www.boris-akunin.com/
Here is what Wikipedia says about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin
I've read that one Pat and The White Queen too. I think I would like to read his Sister Pelegia series - a crime solving nun.
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My library has one Sister Pelegia in English and two novels in its Russian language collection.
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"The Death of Achilles" has been moved to the top of the pile.
Here's a new quiz:
Author: I have lived a somewhat unconventional life.
Character: All I want is to be loved and accepted.
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New clues:
Author: I was egged on to write this book during a conversation with my literary friends.
Character: I was friendly and harmless until my treatment by others turned me to crime.
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Mary Shelly - Frankenstein
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GOT IT, FRYBABE!
The character is, of course, not Frankenstein, but the monster he created, who doesn't have a name. Have you read the book? The psychology seems to me to be surprisingly perceptive for the time. There have been a gazillion books and many movies based on it. A 1994 movie with Kenneth Branagh, seemed to me to capture the spirit of the book, but it's so viciously bloody as to be almost unwatchable.
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Keep forgetting that. I don't recall that the monster actually ever had a name. At any rate, it and Dracula have been on one of my TBR piles for several years.
My very favorite Frankenstein was Gene Wilder playing young Dr. Frankenstein, with Peter Boyle playing the monster. Also there were, Madelyn Kahn, Marty Feldman, Terri Garr and Cloris Leachman
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Way to go, FRYBABE!
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FRYBABE please give the 1st clue
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Too quiet in here. I got side tracked and kind of forgot about it. Okay, so now I have one.
Author: While my works were very popular when I wrote in the mid to late 1800s. All except one are now out of print and forgotten.
Book: Young man meets and falls in love with the granddaughter of a notorious outlaw family patriarch.
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H'mmm what's this? Sounds a bit like the Martins and the Coys!
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I was going to say that I never heard of the Martins and the Coys until I looked them up. I do remember the song. Here are the lyrics. http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiMARTNCOY.html or you can watch the Disney cartoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EftOfbOOjNo
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Hmmm. No idea.
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Somehow I feel I know that book, but I'm sure not coming up with it. I hope you all read to the end of the Martins and the Coys, to find out what happened to the feud.
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Author: Having excelled in classical studies I won a scholarship at Oxford. After receiving my degree, I studied and passed the bar to become a lawyer. Ill health, however, derailed my career after several years. I took a post as Classics Master at a grammar school in the London area shortly after I married.
Book: The heroine was kidnapped by the outlaw clan as a child and was to be married against her will to the heir to the clan once the patriarch died. The hero of the story is the son of a farmer murdered by the clan.
PatH you know the book, I know you do. Everybody, but everybody has heard of it if not read it.
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YES, FRYBABE! Indeed, I know it. "Lorna Doone", by Richard Blackmore. I had to look up the author's first name, though. It must be almost 60 years since I read it, but for some reason I had occasion to look up the plot a few months ago (I think I used it in Title Mania and wanted to be reminded of it) so it's still fresh in my mind.
Of course now I have to come up with something. Sigh.
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Tag, you're IT Pat.
Yes, I have been thinking of the book for a while and just dug it out of my pile this morning. I am thinking of rereading it. I was surprised to find that there have been seven movies and four TV programs (two of which are miniseries) of Lorna Doone. I don't remember seeing any of them.
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PatH has such a good memory. We must have read Lorna Doone about the same time, but I didn't remember anything.
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Yes, Lorna Doone - It came to me while I slept - glad to see that PatH beat me to it :D
One of my claims to fame as a child was that in class I was the only one who knew who John Ridd was. - obviously all that meant was that maybe I was the only one who had read Lorna D at that time. I loved that story.
I remember one film with Richard Greene - thought he was wonderful - Ah youth !
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Gum ;D
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It occurred to me this afternoon that I don't know a single thing about Lorna Doone's creator, R.D. Blackmore so I checked him out a little. Strangely too, I doubt I have ever read anything else he wrote. The articles indicate that, apart from that one novel, his work is now out of print. Sad isn't it. I daresay the reference libraries will have copies though I guess I'd be disappointed to read him now...we never can recapture...can we.
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I am curious about what the plots his other novels were about. He did spend a lot of time growing a market garden and fruit trees in his later years so that explains Farm and Fruit of Old. There is at least one poetry book listed in Wikipedia and one, The Bugle of the Black Sea, that sounds like a sea adventure. Several of his works, including Lorna Doone are on Project Gutenberg.
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Frybabe: Thanks for mentioning Blackmore's work on Gutenberg. I might just take a look ...one day. Yes, his fruit growing was a surprise - seems to have had a varied life - love the bit about him growing fruit in the summer and writing books in the winter. I wonder which he preferred and would he have done any of the actual physical work associated with the fruit trees or did he just instruct his labour force in the niceties of pruning etc.
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Sorry I've been a bit distracted, but here's one.
Author: my early seafaring experiences helped my writing.
Character: I'm a loner, but I get my way in the end.
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H'mm several novelists were seafaring men in their early days - Conrad of course, Marryat, William Golding etc
I think we need another clue or two or three.
-
Or four or five or more.
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Author: some of my other books are based on my travels.
Character: one of the other characters is looking for me, bent on revenge.
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Jean Valjean in Les Miserables?
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Nope. That's ingenious, though. Does les Miz touch on seafaring?
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Not that I remember, but he probably took to the sea somewhere.
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For some reason, I was thinking of Hemmingway. I thought he had some seafaring experience, but I don't see anything in his bio. He did travel a lot though, during his years as a journalist.
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Not Hemingway, in spite of "The Old Man and the Sea"
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Not Conrad, PatH tells me.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the queses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Herman Melville?
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YES!
The character should be easy now.
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The White Whale from Moby Dick
It is the only Melville story I know anything about.
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You got it, Frybabe, the whale is the character.
Moby-Dick is the only Melville story anyone reads. Omoo frequently, and Typee occasionally, appear in crossword puzzles, Billy Budd was made into an opera by Benjamin Britten, occasionally someone reads Bartleby the Scrivener, and that's about it.
I was greatly impressed by Moby-Dick when I read it in high school, wonder what I'd think of it now.
Ball's in your court.
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Good one, Pat and Frybabe!
Has anyone read Omoo ot Typee? I know them only from crossword puzzles. But I did read Billy Budd years ago.
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Author: I was born in Russia and grew up in the communist system.
Book: Autobiographical novel about life under communism.
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Hooray, revival of a good site. I'll think a bit about the clues.
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Nobody else noticed. I'm guessing Aleksander Solzhenitzyn (I'm sure I have the spelling wrong) but since I haven't read his works, I'm not sure which fits best. I'll guess "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich".
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Nope!
My clue list never made to work with me, darn.
Author: I left Russia to visit family in the US and never went back. I moved to Hollywood to try my luck at screenwriting.
Will have to give book clue when I get home or tomorrow morning. Oh, I remember something. It is the author's first novel.
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It's not going to be dead easy, then. I'll have to think about it. I'll have to point out to JoanK that we're back in business--she's the Russian maven.
But I have to feed in a totally irrelevant bit about Solzhenitzyn. His son, Ignat, is a pianist and conductor. I was lucky enough to hear him 3 times. The first time he was 18, technically perfect on the piano, but without much personal style. Two years later, he really knew what he wanted to say, and had a wonderful personal interpretation. The third time, heard with JoanK, was conducting a chamber orchestra.
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Author: I met my husband one week after I began work in an Hollywood studio. We remained married 50years, until his death.
Book: The theme is the individual vs. the state and revolves around the Heroine, her boyfriend and an officer of the Soviet Secret Police.
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Wild guess: Stalin's daughter? I don't know enough about her life to know if she fits. Nor her name, and name of her book.
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Nope, again.
You all know the name even if you never read the books. The author has been in the news again lately. It seems several of the novels have become popular again.
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Author: I moved from Hollywood to New York where I worked on my last and best work of fiction. In this last novel I advocate a philosophical system I developed called Objectivism. From this time forward, I concentrated on lecturing and furthering my philosophy. On the occasion of publishing my last novel, Random House decided. For this I made some changes and wrote a new forward.
Book: After a prolonged exile, our heroine and family return to Petrograd where she enrolls in the Technical Institute to learn engineering. There she meets a fellow student who is also a member of the secret police. They become life long friends despite deferring political beliefs. At some point she also meets her love who shares her political beliefs and passion. Meanwhile her life long friend falls in love with her but is afraid to say so because he believes it would destroy their special relationship of trust. And so it all goes downhill from there.
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This is driving me nuts, Frybabe. I don't want to resort to looking in reference works, but I'm stumped. Maybe I should email a few people to point out we're back in business here.
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Additional hint: A made for TV movie about the author starred Helen Mirren in the title role. One of the author's two most famous books has been made into a movie the other one is scheduled for release in 2011. Her first novel was also made into a movie. Italian made, one of the stars was Rozanno Brazzi. (Remember him? I sure do - South Pacific.)
What happened the rest of my sentence in my last post. I must have accidentally deleted it.
On the occasion of publishing my last novel, Random House decided.
the rest of it should say ...to re-release my first novel.
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It's driving me nuts too. But if the movie stars Helen mirran, I want to see it.
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You are going to kick yourself if I have to tell you. Not everyone likes her.
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DUH!
It's Ayn Rand. I don't have any idea what that first novel is, though.
Don't laugh too hard, but the clue that gave it to me was "Not everyone likes her". That made everything click into place, and I remembered that Objectivism was the name of her philosophy.
That was a masterful job of accurate but misleading or unhelpful information.
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I haven't been on this site for ages. I have a bit more time now and will try to get reinvolved in the various games.
Ayn Rand's first book was The Fountainhead (1943) with the superhero-Howard Roark.
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Right PatH! I found her a little hard to pin down without giving it away right away. That is one of the reasons I went for her very first novel instead of The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.
So we have the author but not the novel which was originally published in 1936. The Italian made film was done without Ayn Rand's permission. Benito Mussolini's government almost censured the film but finally allowed it because it was anti-Russian. In 1986 new release with English subtitles came out with her estate's permission. I vaguely remember the title, but don't think I ever saw the movie. I wasn't big on foreign films with subtitles.
Another interesting thing about Ayn Rand. She befriended a guy named Nathaniel Branden and his wife. He was Rand's "intellectual heir apparent" until they dissolved their partnership. It seems his name appeared in early edition(s) of Atlas Shrugged but in later printings, Rand had his name removed. The name was familiar so I looked him up. Sure enough, I had TRIED to read one of his books on self-esteem when I was much younger. Couldn't get through it. Barbara Branden also wrote a book about Rand.
-
Hmm--I should look in my crumbling paperback and see if Branden is in it, assuming I can find it.
I could only get the title by looking it up (straightforward, I'm sure) someone else will have to come up with it.
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I looked it up and found the name of Rands first book: "We the Living" was the name of it.
The site didn't say anything about it or who the characters were.
-
Right JudeS. The only name I recognized in film We the Living was Rossano Brazzi.
-
Looks like PatH got the author, but left the title and JudeS got it. Jude S, I am thinking, would now normally take the next one but she's out with an operation or so I understand, hope she recovers better than before!!
In the meantime, I'll give it a go to keep things running till she returns and can pose one worthy of your mettle. Maybe she'll look in and solve this one!
Ayn Rand is certainly au courant today, that's all you hear about, and yet it's been ages since I read anything of hers.
Did you hear that Gordon Gekko (sp) is back in a new movie about money and greed, certainly good timing.
Those were fantastic clues, Frybabe, I am sure I can't do anything as good.
OK new author and book: I'll check back once a day in the evening to see if anybody has guessed the title and author:
Not as easy as it looks either, and you're all a very well read bunch.
I just did a search on this website for this author and tho (this author) has been mentioned many times on this website and even quoted (this author) has not appeared here so here goes:
Author: I've had an unusual life. My name is a pen-name which I picked up in my reading. I've sometimes had difficulty spelling my real name correctly; so I change it from time to time. You've all heard of me but I bet you don't know my true story. Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
Who am I?
-
Aaaack! no ideas so far, but don't forget, Ginny you have to give us a character too
-
The Mick Jagger bit has thrown me - who's he anyway?
-
Yikes, I have to give a character, too? YIKES! Ok I'll be back with a character this afternoon, we really need the heading up here, I've put it up, a wonderful group of challenges met. How on earth some of you got them is beyond me! Love it!
Gum, has Mick Jagger not penetrated into Australia? I ...can't...get...no.......satisfaction.....
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OK I've got a character also.
Author: I've had an unusual life. My name is a pen-name which I picked up in my reading. I've sometimes had difficulty spelling my real name correctly; so I change it from time to time. You've all heard of me but I bet you don't know my true story. Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
Who am I?
Our character, while clean, is firm in the belief that money can buy anything in the world, regardless of what it is.
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Ah, "The Game is afoot".
Ginny, this is a real puzzler.
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Gum, has Mick Jagger not penetrated into Australia? I ...can't...get...no.......satisfaction.....[/color]
Ginny - just joking - Aussie style.
I've still no idea on Author or character
-
No ideas as to author, character, OR Mick Jagger.
I'll take a wild stab. That book on the Coffee Trader? that we read.
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Nope, but a good guess actually.
Now what do I do? Do I have to give a new clue daily ? The book wizard did one a week. :)
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Oh, I just stumbled in here and I'm not good at games, I've always wanted to learn, can't even play card games as I can't remember what was cards were played.
I have to say this, I read WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand, years ago and I might have guessed that. I love anything Russian and I remember liking that book.
I can't get no satisfaction, a song by Mick Jagger, was it by the lady from Australia that made such a hit with the song I AM WOMAN. Something like that, I can't think of her name.
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Ella: the woman from Australia with the hit I AM WOMAN was Helen Reddy. She and Ray Burton wrote the song. Not sure where Mick Jagger fits in. I think Delta Dawn was her biggest hit.
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Author clue: Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
could this be a connection extra terrestials -aliens - Jagger claims to have seen UFO's more than once - maybe the author is a sci-fi writer - if so, I'm dead in the water.
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Now what do I do? Do I have to give a new clue daily ? The book wizard did one a week. :)
New clues tend to be daily with this game. I'm certainly going to have to wait for a further clue. I feel like I should know it, but I'm sure not coming up with anything.
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Mick Jaggar played in a few movies including the lead in the 1970 film Ned Kelly. Movie connection maybe?
As for the author changing his/her real name occasionally. That is totally bizarre. I know pen names are often changed, but a real name? And more than once?
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I really love the conversation here, reminds me of the old Book Wizard.
I am not sure I am capable of giving two clues a day!! Can we have a....er.....Dummy Challenge where the Challenger is too thick to give 2 a DAY and give them on a less frequent basis?
Already the speculation on the Mick Jagger clue is profitable, it's supposed to be challenging, says the woman who could never have gotten any of them.
Anyway here's one:
Author changed the spelling of the author's real name, not the author's name itself.
Oh well I'm half way there:
Book Clue: It's a love story, but will money win out?
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The only one I know who changed his name spelling is William Faulkner (ne Falkner). Actually, it appears to have been accidental. His publisher (printer?) spelled his name wrong and he decided to keep it that way.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Clancy, Tom , The Hunt for Red October, Mippy #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Frybabe's post:
Gumtree, MJ was in a SciFi movie called FreeJack. Robert Sheckley wrote the novel. I looked him up. His novel titles are rather uninspiring if you ask me. Except for one If at Faust You Don't Succeed. That title intrigues me.
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Sheckley doesn't seem to have changed his name, though.
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Yeah, I know Pat. I just brought Sheckley up because Gum mentioned possible Scifi connections to MJ. Actually, I didn't know Jagger claims to have seen UFOs.
This is still one big major puzzle.
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This business of the author changing his real name from time to time because he can't spell it should be a dead giveaway. Who can't spell his own name? The only one I can think of is Shakespeare (they were pretty casual about spelling then) but he totally doesn't fit any other way.
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Mick Jagger ... yikes! I can't think of anything about him at all!
This is way too difficult for moi.
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I have no idea who this person is. However I thought to amuse you by giving you some info on pseudonyms.
1) Zane Grey was originally Pearl Gray (Male Name!) but thought it inappropriate for adventure stories.
2) Angela Knight a Romance Novelist was originally Julia Woodcock. (You know why she changed her name.)
3) Dav Pilkey writes a series of popular childrens books under the name of Sue Denim(Pseudonym).
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Ginny is so careful to avoid using pronouns about the author -- makes me think the author was a woman. Love and money sounds like Jane Austen, but she and Mick Jagger boggles the mind.
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JoanK, you made my day. The thought of Jane Austen meeting Mick Jagger--intersection of alien life forms. :) :) :)
Austen didn't shift her name around though. I'm just going to wait for Ginny to take pity on us and give us another clue.
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Ok next clues, first: (I am not sure why the spelling of the author's real name changed, that will require a trip to the library to find out, if the someone other than the author misspelled it or of the author misspelled it on purpose, an interesting premise).
1. Author: I've had an unusual life. My name is a pen-name which I picked up in my reading. I've sometimes had difficulty spelling my real name correctly; so I change it from time to time. You've all heard of me but I bet you don't know my true story. Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
2. Author: Although I'm considered quintessentially American, I actually lived out of the country for some time. I have an interest in medicine.
Who am I?
2. Our character, while clean, is firm in the belief that money can buy anything in the world, regardless of what it is.
3. Our character's story actually contains several references to the classics, which are not recognized by most readers, specifically Cupid's arrows, and a saying, now a motto of one of the states of the US, famously said by Archimedes.
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Motto from Archimedes - that would have to be Eureka! I have found it
famously pronounced as he stepped out of the bath.
Don't know which US state uses it - well, I'm not a Yank!
(this is something of an aside and won't help in solving the puzzle)
In Australia the miners' rebellion known as the Eureka Stockade of 1854 took place in Ballarat Victoria. The stockade was built at the Eureka Lead where the miners were following a lead of gold - they objected to high prices for equipment and the imposition of an unfair licence tax. It was a bloody battle between miners and police supported by a garrison of soldiers. It's the only example in Aust. history of armed rebellion leading to reform of law and is often referred to as the birthplace of Aust democracy.
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It's California, I guess referring to the discovery of gold.
No, I don't know all the state mottoes, but thought that was right and checked it. My own state, Maryland, has the motto Fatti maschii, parole femine (manly deeds, womanly words), which inspires a lot of sarcasm.
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Could the relationship to Mike Jagger be because his face always reminds me of a frog?
If so, I will guess the story by Mark Twain ""The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" which indeed takes place in Gold Country in California.
There are many stories with frogs if that face is indeed the common factor. Not sure how many we can guess in one day.
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I'm not sure, either, but that one nearly gave me a heart attack, it's not the winning answer but it still nearly threw me over, too close!
I really love the conversation here and the eclectic things which come out in the discussion.
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OK. Next shot.
"Cupids Arrow" by Rudyard Kipling.
The ugly man is Bar-Saggot who tries to buy the affection of the lovely miss with a diamond bracelet.
If this is incorrect I will need another BIG clue to solve this.
By the way "Eureka" is the state Motto of California.
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That's not it either, but it's a good guess. More clues coming up on Mother's Day.
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I'm thinking instead of tomorrow I better get these in today, an early Mother's Day Present:
Author Clues:
1. Author: I've had an unusual life. My name is a pen-name which I picked up in my reading. I've sometimes had difficulty spelling my real name correctly; so I change it from time to time. You've all heard of me but I bet you don't know my true story. Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
2. Although I'm considered quintessentially American, I actually lived out of the country for some time. I have an interest in medicine.
3. In the area of names, as it turned out, I am the one who changed my own real name's spelling. In addition I had another real name! I dropped the real first name I was given at my christening and used my middle name from then on, changing the spelling when I was 36.
4. I've tried several occupations in my life. I've been a sheep herder, a mail carrier, a banker, a cartoonist, a reporter, a news columnist, and an editor.
Book Clues:
1. Our character, while clean, is firm in the belief that money can buy anything in the world, regardless of what it is.
2. Our character's story actually contains several references to the classics, which are not recognized by most readers, specifically Cupid's arrows, and a saying, now a motto of one of the states of the US, famously said by Archimedes.
3. The story revolves around a debate on buying one's way into society: can it be done? Our character remarks that were it not for the fare for the steerage passage, no Astor would have been able to rule the exclusive circles of society. (Interesting, that, because of the death recently of Mrs. Astor).
4. How can money influence a pair of young lovers who are on their way to be separated by a cruise trip lasting two years?
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Now you wouldn't be talking about O'Henry would you, Ginny? The only O'Henry's I am familiar with are The Gift of the Magi and The Ransom of Red Chief(kind of). Mick Jagger did the theme song to Ruthless People which was apparently based (loosely) on the latter. The things you find out when you are forced to go hunting.
By the way, are we still doing that short story discussion? I don't remember seeing anything for a long while. When I was young I used to read a lot of essays and some short stories. My current in home library has Mark Twain, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Azimov, and other scifi authors, Washington Irving and several anthologies that include short stories, essays and other writings.
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Now you wouldn't be talking about O'Henry would you, Ginny?
hahahaa (http://seniorlearn.org/latin/graphics/balloons/balloons/balloons5g.gif)
I might be, you smart thing! How on earth did you get it?
1. Author: I've had an unusual life. My name is a pen-name which I picked up in my reading. I've sometimes had difficulty spelling my real name correctly; so I change it from time to time. You've all heard of me but I bet you don't know my true story. Do I have a connection to Mick Jagger?
O. Henry's given name was Wiliam Sydney (earlier spelled Sidney) Porter.
Mick Jagger is the lead singer of The Rolling Stones.
O Henry was the editor and publisher of the humorous magazine The Rolling Stone.
See below for the origin of the pen- name.
2. Although I'm considered quintessentially American, I actually lived out of the country for some time. I have an interest in medicine.
Charged with embezzlement, O Henry fled the country for Honduras. Returned to the US he served in the prison pharmacy.
3. In the area of names, as it turned out, I am the one who changed my own real name's spelling. In addition I had another real name! I dropped the real first name I was given at my christening and used my middle name from then on, changing the spelling when I was 36.
O. Henry's given name was William. He chose the name O. Henry (Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia) from Etienne-Ossian Henry, a French pharmacist, which he found in the US Dispensatory, a reference work Porter used in the prison pharmacy, in which he worked for the three years of his sentence.
4. I've tried several occupations in my life. I've been a sheep herder, a mail carrier, a banker, a cartoonist, a reporter, a news columnist, and an editor.
Book Clues:
Since O Henry was an extremely prolific author, writing between December 1903 to January 1906 a story a day, it would not be possible for anybody to guess the title, so I'll give it and declare Frybabe the winner!
The title of the Story is Mammon and the Archer from The Four Million.
1. Our character, while clean, is firm in the belief that money can buy anything in the world, regardless of what it is.
The lead character, Anthony Rockwall, who made his fortune manufacturing Eureka soap, revels in his status bought by money and believes there is nothing money can't buy.
2. Our character's story actually contains several references to the classics, which are not recognized by most readers, specifically Cupid's arrows, and a saying, now a motto of one of the states of the US, famously said by Archimedes.
Eureka was gotten by the contestants and the Archer refers to Cupid's bow as it's a love story, as well.
3. The story revolves around a debate on buying one's way into society: can it be done? Our character remarks that were it not for the fare for the steerage passage, no Astor would have been able to rule the exclusive circles of society. (Interesting, that, because of the death recently of Mrs. Astor).
Rockwell's son Richard, six months home from college has fallen in love with a high society girl who won't look at him. Old Rockwell thinks anything can be bought with money.
4. How can money influence a pair of young lovers who are on their way to be separated by a cruise trip lasting two years?
There's a time element as she's leaving on a cruise and trip to last 2 years abroad but has agreed that Richard can accompany her to the train station where her mother and party will go to the ship.
Enter a ring, and a sudden pile up of carriages on the way in, and the coachman can't go forward, so the two young people get to talk and long story short, they fall in love or she does.
The next day O Henry says: "The story should end here. I wish it would as heartily as you who read it wish it did. But we must go to the bottom for the truth."
And the truth arrives with red hands and a blue polka dot tie who was reimbursed another $1,300 in addition to the $5,500 he had already spent on the drovers, haulers, wagons, cabs, motormen and others who created the traffic jam.
Rockwell asked him , "you didn't see a kind of a fat boy without any clothes on shooting arrows, did you?" hahaaa
Quintessential O Henry!
How did you get it, Margie, and you're up next!!
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I don't know what happened to the short story thing, maybe you should bring it up in the Suggestion Box?
I love short stories!
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Ginny, your #4 occupation list got me to thinking about Mark Twain, but Jude already tried that on. Thinking about Mark Twain got me thinking about short stories. First I considered James Thurber, then Will Rogers (not really a short story writer). Then I thought of O'Henry and our short story discussion of The Ransom of Red Chief. You did say the author was discussed and quoted here. All the while I was wracking my brain for a Mick Jagger connection. I never thought of Rolling Stone magazine. Jagger had been in several movies, but couldn't find an acting connection. However, he did the theme song for Ruthless People which was based on Red Chief. That was good enough for me to take a stab. Wow, was that ever difficult.
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Wow, I think you should win a prize for that one. That Ruthless People and the Ransom of Red Chief alone is stunning!) Congratters! :
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FRY, you're the best. Good one, Ginny!!
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Good one, Frybabe -
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Give me a day or to to come up with something. I will be out again this morning doing errands.
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Margie! Wow! What a terrific literary trivia gal you are! Congraters!
and not too shabby either, Ginny! That was really difficult!
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Ye Gads!
O.Henry.
So simple and yet.....
Brilliant puzzle. Kudos to the solver.
" You're a better man than me, Gunga Din."
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Thank you, Joan K, Mippy and Jude, I would never have gotten that one myself, Frybabe is amazing!
This is fun! .
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Persistence pays, I guess. I even tried the if I were Ginny which author would I choose ploy. And I thought back over authors we discussed recently. Anyhow, it kept my mind from ruminating too much over being laid off and other little daily crises.
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Well, Frybabe, I was trying to be persistent too, and I never would have gotten it. Good thing you were playing.
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I am dedicating this one to Deems.
Author: Born in Annapolis but never served in the military because of poor eyesight.
Book:The first novel ever published by the US Naval Institute.
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Boy, that's a real puzzle. Deems is probably looking down and laughing at us.
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Author: Born in Annapolis but never served in the military because of poor eyesight.
My name is "branded" which means other authors can write using my
name in the title.
Book:The first novel ever published by the US Naval Institute.
President and Mrs. Reagan both praised this first of a series involving a CIA
analyst.
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Aaaarrrggghh! I feel like I know it.
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Tom Clancy?
his first novel: The Hunt for Red October.
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I was thinking of Nelson DeMille but I don't think there is a connection!
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Hurray, Mippy!
Tom Clancy and his Hunt for Red October it is.
Regarding Tom Clancy's branded name. Anytime you see Tom Clancy's ------, it is written by someone else under his name. Those that just say Tom Clancy are his. Clancy co-founded a multimedia group back in 1996 which produced the video games. It was later sold to another company. There will be a new movie coming out in 2011 which, if I remember right, is Without Remorse.
I have two of his co-authored non-fiction books in my TBR pile. Has anyone read any of his non-fiction?
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Ginny, I never heard of Nelson DeMille so I looked him up. The only title I know is The General's Daughter but only because it is a John Travolta movie. I think I saw some of it.
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Wow! Mippy - too good for me!
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Mippy! How ever did you get that? I had no idea! Well done!
Frybabe, oh do read DeMille's The Gold Coast, I absolutely loved it, not the sequel tho. It's a great book. It was so good he tried again and messed it up, I don't recommend the sequel.
I have never read a Tom Clancy! Or a Baldacci, but I've got two of his so will try one asap.
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Thanks, Margie, Gumtree and Ginny
I used to read Clancy, but have not in years. The Hunt for Red October used to be a favorite movie, but it's been so long, I don't know if I'd still like it. But will forever like Sean Connery!
Here's a link, in case anyone is interested:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/)
I assume now I have to think of one, so please give me a day to find a book:
not too hard
not too easy
just .... right :)
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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It's impossible to guess how hard or easy people will find a book. I've been surprised both ways.
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Yes, just go for it Mippy -
I watched the Hunt for Red October not so very long ago. It was much better than I remembered it - I don't much care for Sean Connery but I was amazed ('blown away' is too strong) by the quality of his acting in this film. Certainly, he was convincing.
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Thanks, all! I will go for it in the morning ... deciding among 3 possibles ... may be harder than easier but that's your problem ... haha ???
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Mippy, remember when Judy put in what should have been an obscure clue from "Master and Commander" and hit a bunch of us Patrick O'Brian nuts? There probably wasn't a single scene we wouldn't have recognized.
Hard is good. And if you have 3 possibilities, you're set up for the next time you win.
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Thanks, PatH !
Day One
Author: I was born in the South, but I don't set my novels there.
Character: I was married quite young to an older man, who was not such a faithful man.
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Day Two:
Author: I'm an American.
Character: Somewhere in Europe, my life continues to be eventful!
If no one wants to guess, it's hard to sit here all alone!
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I'm here Mippy. I thought of Frances Mays who spends a lot of time in Tuscany.
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I'm here, too. I'm working on it.
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nope, Margie, but interesting guess ... loved that book about Tuscany!
Update to Hint of Day Two:
should have been:
Author: I am an American woman.
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Well, for a start there are lots of American women - and lots of them are novelists and I guess lots of those come from the south.... You can tell that I haven't a clue can't you!
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Who wrote: make it hard! So I did. More clues tomorrow. Off the rest of today!
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Mippy, I expect you are talking about Under the Tuscan Sun. Mayes wrote at least three other books about Tuscany as well as one on Greece and one on her travels around Europe with her poet husband. I saw one novel and a book about writing poetry on her site as well. One of these days I must get a hold of some of her other books.
Now to put my thinking cap back on.
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How about Patricia Highsmith (born in Texas, some people consider Texas the south) lived in Europe, do we need the book too? The Talented Mr. Ripley.
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Nope, Ginny ~ I recall you really like that author, therefore I wouldn't use her!
Day Three
Author: Another of my novels, not this one, has famous activity in Greece and in Britain.
Character: I'm a strong woman when Fortuna goes against our land,
but I'm not a Roman woman.
(This is to keep Ginny and Margie from going off track on Roman novels).
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Did you mean for famous to be in italics? I haven't a clue, but I'm going to guess that her other book has "famous" in the title?
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nope, that word is not in any of her titles, JoanK! Our Israel connection is amazing, but we ought to take that to email and not bother these author,author contests, right?
Day Four
Author: Ignore my other titles. This novel has a large bird in the title, which is supposed to take the reader to one of the well-known historical characters in this book.
Character: My sister did not survive to enjoy a long life, but I outlived both her and my husband and became a well-known patron of the arts.
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Day Five ???
ok, see clues in Day Four. As I understand the rules, no guesses = no new clues
Was this too difficult? Apparently.
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Too difficult? Not any more than some of the others. Some of them have run for this long and maybe more. Others were guessed right away.
Large bird in the title? Oh gosh, how large? Eagle, hawk, owl - these can be small too. Moa, Dodo, Condor, Crane, Ostrich? The first two very large and very extinct.
Then there is the Roc, very, very large and very, very mythical. Was the Phoenix a big bird? And then there is Big Bird (of Sesame St. fame). And the only title I can think of in all that just now is Day of the Condor which I am sure is not what you are looking for.
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Margie ~ I'll answer right away, since it's so good to "chat" and not about the Big Bird from Sesame Street. I'd originally typed big, then changed it, because I also thought of that PBS bird. All your bird guesses are wrong. :-\
Bird hint (Title hint) In early summer, we see a pair of these large birds by their nest every time we drive past the marsh on the way to West Yarmouth (MA), so they are not mythical or really all that rare.
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I wasn't around much yesterday, but that dratted bird was running through my mind, and now you've knocked out all my guesses. I'll have to think some more.
The rules leave it up to you when you provide more clues
"The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative"
but when people are stuck is when they need another clue, so I'm glad you said more about the bird.
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I don't recognise any of the clues for the book or the author. I'll be cross if it's one of my favourites.
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I'm stumped!
An historical novel perhaps?
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Frances Mayes also wrote Swan. :)
Pelicans, herons, geese, swans, ospreys? Bitterns?
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OK, more large birds.
Vultures, Kites, falcons,swans, Kingfishers.
Also ravens, blackbirds and gulls.
Have we forgotten one?
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Harper Lee is a Southern woman writer who wrote
"To Kill a Mockingbird" but there are no other books by this author.
I'll keep trying.
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Well after a bit of research I came up with an author that fits about half the clues. Even though I can't find any books by her with a birds name.
Lets see if this helps at all.
The Golden Apple
by Eudora Welty
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I didn't know Harper Lee is female. How about that. I looked her up. To Kill a Mockingbird appears to be her only published novel although she has written several short stories and articles. And look at that, she was a friend and neighbor of Truman Capote, even helping him do research for In Cold Blood.
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The ostrich and the emu are also large birds - turkey ?
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Good morning, early birds!
Ginny and Jude have listed the correct bird! but real clues later after a cup o' ...
Nope, on the author, Ginny.
Hint: The book has little to do with the bird in the title ... tricky author !
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The only common denominator of our two lists is Swan ahd there are SO many books with Swan in the title. I think it would help to know the genre or the age of the book. Is this a modern children's book or an older book or?
Leondardo's Swans by Karen Essex.
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Ginny is the winner! Hurray!
I chose this one because I do suggest others in this group would enjoy it. The novel is only indirectly about Leonardo's art.
Author Karen Essex, born in New Orleans, chose not to write about the American South. Her novels include Kleopatra and Stealing Athena, which is about Lord Elgin, his wife, and the famous marbles he looted from Greece.
Here's the link to Essex's web site: http://www.karenessex.com/aboutkaren.html (http://www.karenessex.com/aboutkaren.html)
Character: The character and her sister are Isabella and Beatrice d'Este, princesses of Ferrara in Italy, who lived in the early 1500s. Isabella survived the violent upheavals of that period to outlive her husband -- who had a series of mistresses -- and became a famous, wealthy patron of the arts and a friend to several Popes, princes, emporors, and kings. The sister Beatrice, in contrast, died young, and was less famous.
Leonardo painted both sisters into several of his works, according to the novel, since not all his frescos are still intact. There are some interesting passages about Leonardo's inventions.
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Congrats, Ginny!
I've never heard of Karen Essex so now I am off to look her up.
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Ginny: Wow - how did you get that one? Amazing!
Mippy - that really was hard but worthwhile - I've never heard of the author but will see if I can find that book in my library. Thanks
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The two swans on the two lists and Fortuna was the key for me in this one. :)
I'll put up a new one tonight, weather permitting, when the baby leaves.
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Wow-
After rereading Ginny's list I saw I had repeated the Swan.
Oh well a mistake I thought. However a mistake that led to the solution of an author I had never heard of, let alone the name of the book of which I never heard either.
Congrats Ginny on this difficult puzzle.
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Congratulations, Ginny. I'm glad you got it; I have heard of the book, but I don't think it would have popped into my head.
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Well thank you all! The fun of collaboration, love it!
Here's a new one:
Author Clue #1: I didn't start out to write novels but there was so much competition in my field I decided to try my hand at the novel.
Book Clue #1: The book contains appearances by two famous persons in history but is not about them.
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H'rmmmph!
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Is that Australian for WOW!~!
?
hahahaaa
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Nice tricky start, Ginny! No idea whatsoever! We need more clues!
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hahaha, I JUST put it up. Am going to do well to do one set of these per day.
Here's a new one:
Author Clue #1: I didn't start out to write novels but there was so much competition in my field I decided to try my hand at the novel.
Author Clue #2: I was an extremely popular author in my day and influenced two other famous writers, neither of whom lived in my own country. My last name might be considered a first name, or a nickname for a person who lives in a particular location.
Book Clue #1: The book contains appearances by two famous persons in history but is not about them.
Book Clue #2: The book has been made into several movies and has appeared on television many times, but is not read much anymore. Each chapter begins with a quotation fitting the subject matter of the chapter from works such as The Odyssey, and the Iliad, and authors such as Shakespeare and Chaucer. It deals with a period of turbulence.
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OK, I'm going to take a wild leap here and guess Sir Walter Scott. My first choice for the book would be "The Talisman" for the two historical characters (Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin) and the time of turmoil, but "Ivanhoe" was a close second. I'll go with "The Talisman" though.
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SHRIEK!! How did you DO that??!!
It's most definitely Sir Walter Scott (I did not realize he walked with a limp) and Ivanhoe! I can't believe it!
What gave it away? The name?
Author Clue #1: I didn't start out to write novels but there was so much competition in my field I decided to try my hand at the novel.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a Scottish novelist and poet of the romantic period. He derived most of his material from Scottish history and legend, and was influenced by medieval French romance, popular ballads, and the Gothic novel. Scott wrote narrative poetry at first, such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel and the Lady of the Lake, but when overshadowed in this field by Byron, he turned to the novel. (Bennett's Reader's Encyclopedia).
Author Clue #2: I was an extremely popular author in my day and influenced two other famous writers, neither of whom lived in my own country. My last name might be considered a first name, or a nickname for a person who lives in a particular location.
Scott's works were extremely popular. As his fortune increased he built the baronial mansion of Abbotsford on the banks of the Tweed. In his day he was known as The Wizard of the North.
Book Clue #1: The book contains appearances by two famous persons in history but is not about them.
Ivanhoe (1819) contains appearances by Richard the Lion Heart and Robin Hood, but is about Wilfred, knight of Ivanhoe , son of Cedric the Saxon and his adventures and romantic engagements.
Book Clue #2: The book has been made into several movies and has appeared on television many times, but is not read much anymore. Each chapter begins with a quotation fitting the subject matter of the chapter from works such as The Odyssey, and the Iliad, and authors such as Shakespeare and Chaucer. It deals with a period of turbulence.
According to Wikipedia:
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel has been the basis for several movies:
• Ivanhoe (1913): Directed by Herbert Brenon. With King Baggot, Leah Baird, and Brenon. Filmed on location in England and at Chepstow Castle in Wales
• Ivanhoe (1952): Directed by Richard Thorpe and starred Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe, Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca, Joan Fontaine as Rowena, George Sanders as Bois-Guilbert, Finlay Currie as Cedric, and Sebastian Cabot. The film has a notable jousting scene as well as a well choreographed castle siege sequence. The visual spectacle is given more attention than the dialogue and underlying story, though the main points of the plot are covered. The film was nominated for three Oscars:
o Best Picture - Pandro S. Berman
o Best Cinematography, Color - Freddie Young
o Best Music Score - Miklós Rózsa
There is also a Russian movie The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe (Баллада о доблестном рыцаре Айвенго) (1983), directed by Sergey Tarasov, with songs of Vladimir Vysotsky, starring Peteris Gaudins as Ivanhoe.
There have also been many television adaptations of the novel, including:
• 1958: A television series based on the character of Ivanhoe starred Roger Moore as Ivanhoe.
• 1970: A TV miniseries starring Eric Flynn as Ivanhoe.
• 1982: Ivanhoe, a television movie starring Anthony Andrews as Ivanhoe, Michael Hordern as his father, Cedric, Sam Neill as Sir Brian, Olivia Hussey as Rebecca, James Mason as Isaac, Lysette Anthony as Rowena, Julian Glover as King Richard, and David Robb as Robin Hood. In this version, Sir Brian is a hero. Though he could easily have won the fight against the wounded and weakened Ivanhoe, Brian lowers his sword and allows himself to be slaughtered, thus saving the life of his beloved Rebecca.
• 1986: Ivanhoe, a 1986 animated telemovie produced by Burbank Films in Australia.
• 1995: Young Ivanhoe, a 1995 television series directed by Ralph L. Thomas and starring Kristen Holden-Ried as Ivanhoe, Stacy Keach, Margot Kidder, Nick Mancuso, Rachel Blanchard, and Matthew Daniels.
• 1997: Ivanhoe the King's Knight a televised cartoon series produced by CINAR and France Animation. General retelling of classic tale.
• 1997: This version of Ivanhoe was released as a 6-part, 5-hour series, a co-production of A&E and the BBC. It stars Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe, Ciarán Hinds as Bois-Guilbert, Susan Lynch as Rebecca, Ralph Brown as Prince John and Victoria Smurfit as Rowena.
• 2000: A Channel 5 adaptation entitled Darkest Knight attempted to adapt Ivanhoe for an ongoing series. Ben Pullen played Ivanhoe and Charlotte Comer played Rebecca.
An operatic adaptation by Sir Arthur Sullivan (see Ivanhoe) ran for over 150 consecutive performances in 1891. Other operas based on the novel have been composed by Gioachino Rossini (Ivanhoé), Thomas Sari (Ivanhoé), Bartolomeo Pisani (Rebecca), A. Castagnier (Rébecca), Otto Nicolai (Il Templario)and Heinrich Marschner (Der Templer und die Jüdin). Rossini's opera is a pasticcio (an opera in which the music for a new text is chosen from pre-existent music by one or more composers). Scott attended a performance of it and recorded in his journal, "It was an opera, and, of course, the story sadly mangled and the dialogue, in part nonsense."[3]
I've been to Abbotsford and it's like one of Scott's novels, out of this world.
You're up next, how did you do that?
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Oh golly the whole website for Abbotsford is gorgeous, his library! http://www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/house.html
But look at this, you can get married there!!
http://www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/weddings.html
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Oh, golly is right, what a gorgeous place. I can see I missed my big chance when I got married, though I notice most of the grooms were wearing kilts, and somehow I don't see Bob putting up with that.
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Ginny, the answer just popped into my head when I saw the last clues. It happened so fast I'm not sure what did it, but probably the name was the biggest help. I'll try to get a new puzzle up promptly, but we're having thunderstorms, so computer access is spotty. In fact, I had to turn it off right after I posted the answer. Good thing I didn't wait.
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PatH That was just amazing! Congrats!!!!
Ginny - H'rrrmmph! But Abbotsford is lovely.
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PatH ~ Well done! Actually, amazing!
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OK, I've thought of one.
Author: My prize-winning novels deal mostly with class.
Character: I had a miserable marriage, but eventually found happiness.
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Evelyn Waugh for I guess I'd have to say Brideshead Revisited.
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How about Somerset Maughn for
"Of Human Bondage"?
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A new day! How about The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald? You can see that's one I've never been able to get through. :)
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Is it "Middlemarch" by George Eliot? With the main character (I can't remember her name -- Emma?)
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Good set of guesses, but as it happens, none are right. Heres a new round of clues:
Round 1:
Author: My prize-winning novels deal mostly with class.
Character: I had a miserable marriage, but eventually found happiness.
Round 2:
Author: I came from a rich family.
Story: The plot concerns an extensive family.
Character: My lover met an untimely end.
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Is the Book(s) The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy?
Character =Soames Forsyte?
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BINGO!
You got the book(s), Jude. The character isn't Soames, though. Given that, I bet you know who it is.
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Was it June's lover, Bosinney who met an untimely death? - how that title takes me back...
JudeS - you're a star !!!
and PatH - just like you to choose that one.
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Indeed, Bosinney met an untimely death. He had been engaged to June, but it was broken off because he fell in love with someone else and had an affair with her. That person is the character.
I'm not trying to be coy, just giving you a chance to come back and give the name if you want to, Jude, but you're clearly the winner anyway. I'm impressed you got it with so few clues.
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Wow! I won and have never read the books but did see the PBS production many long years ago.
Actually it was "The Author coming from a wealthy family" that gave it away .
Now I must read the books.
Give me a bit of time to prepare a new quiz. It will intentionally be easy since I am going away on vacation Friday next.
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Actually it was "The Author coming from a wealthy family" that gave it away
That's interesting--I didn't think that was a very helpful clue. The character is Soames' wife Irene. Her marriage to Soames was unhappy; he treated her like a piece of his property, and was unkind to her physically. She eventually married again, happily, to Jolyon Forsyte. She was wonderfully portrayed in the old PBS series by a New Zealand actress, Nyree Dawn Porter, who had the beauty and great elegance of bearing needed. Porter didn't make much of a splash afterward, dunno why not.
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Are You Ready?
The Author:
1.During my lifetime I was well known as the manager of a famous British Theatre. However I am not British born.
The Character
1.I am a newly qualified British solicitor as the book starts.
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The first (and only) person I could think of is John Mortimer. BUT - he was born in England, and I don't know if he included managing a theater as one of his talents.
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Sorry Frybabe but John Mortimer is not correct.
By the way who is John Mortimer?
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But which theatre company - Drury Lane, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre ... ??
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Jude, John Mortimer was best known for his Rumpole of the Bailey series. He was a barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.
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Good Morning All
Here are the next clues
Clue # 2
Author:
Although almost completely bedridden till age seven the author was a successful athlete at college.
Character:
I travel to a far away land to make a real estate transaction.
Gumtree:
If I say which theatre that will give it away, I think. However if no one guesses it soon I will give the name of the theatre.
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It's Bram Stoker and Dracula - can't think of the character's name ...
The 'bedridden until age of seven' gave it away.
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YEAH Gumtree !!
You have the Author. The Theatre you asked about was the Lyceum Theatre in London.
Abraham (Bram) Stoker (1814-1912) wrote 12 novels, five nonfiction books and many, many short stories..
He married Florence Balcome in 1878 and they had one son.
Now what is the name of the book and the character who I alluded to?
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Good HEAVENS lookit you go! Two solutions and I'm still working on the first one, congratters, JudeS and Gum!
Wow! You know your books!
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I made a typo. Bram Stoker was born in 1847 not 1814.
Mea Culpa.
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Jude - the only Bram Stoker novel I know is Dracula - I still can't think of the character in that who was the young lawyer. I don't have a copy of it in the house so I can't even cheat.
I vaguely remember something about the Lyceum Theatre but the ONLY thing I really know about Stoker is that he was kept in bed for seven years -and I don't even know why.
Someone else could help us out here ??
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Gumtree, Dracula is what I thought of too. The young lawyer's name is Jonathon Harker.
I remember that not so much because of Dracula, but from the movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Peta Wilson played Mina Harker, a vampire, and of course I had to look her character up to see which story she came from. I liked watching Wilson in the old TV series La Femme Nikita. League... is the only thing I have seen her in since.
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Yes, Frybabe, the lawyer is Jonathan Harker.
Why was Stoker ill for so many years?
One theory brought forward by a Psychiatrist who gave a talk at a convention I attended was that the young Bram was psychologically traumatized because of family incest of which he was the victim. The lecturer brought forth the theory that this trauma was what led to his ideas of vampires.
You may discuss this if you wish. I don't really know enough about this theory to know if it is right or wrong.
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I would like to know upon what evidence this psychiatrist based his conjecture. All the info I've read so far only mentions that he was ill and could not walk until he was seven.
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I can't find any reference to the specific illness Stoker suffered - only that he was unable to walk and that his illness and convalescence mystified his doctors. His recovery included playing soccer and being acclaimed as an athlete.
I guess I should put up the next puzzle - will do so tomorrow unless anyone else would care to do so.
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Ok here's one which should be a doddle for all you bookies...
AUTHOR : I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
BOOK/CHARACTER: The protagonist and his/her life and loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
Have fun!
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What - no guesses ?
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Out of Africa?
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That's an excellent guess JoanK - but it is not correct. :)
I'll put more clues up later today.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Another clue or two :
AUTHOR: I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
BOOK/CHARACTER : The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
Can't wait for some more guesses.
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Still don't know, but it almost sounds like a King Arthur, wizardry or superhero type of book.
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Is it "Whale Rider"? Only know the title, great movie though.
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Ooops! Baby, baby, baby you're out of time. Always my motto.
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Is it John le Carre?
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Hmmm - some guesses - all good - all wrong :D
Here's more clues:
AUTHOR: I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
BOOK/CHARACTER : The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
Let's see what you can do with that lot...
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I would say George Orwell, but I don't think he was in Africa.
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No, not Orwell -he was in India.
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I want the author to be Evelyn Waugh, although he only partially fits, but If so, I can't think what the book would be.
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Is the author Naipal ? Cannot recall the book title, and am resisting looking it up.
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Ho Ho -Such good guesses - I can see how your minds are working - very clever. But it's not Orwell, not Evelyn Waugh - not V.S. Naipaul.
Have another try...
AUTHOR:
- I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
- Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
- My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
- I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
BOOK/CHARACTER :
- The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
- The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
- The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
- The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
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It kind of sounds like Kurt vonnegut in tone, although I have no idea what the novel is.
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The description of the character sounds like the protagonist might be a priest or a teacher of some kind. I even thought maybe a King Arthur and his knights type story but that doesn't quite fit.
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Kurt Vonnegut's humor is black enough for anyone, but he wasn't ever in Africa, and didn't write poetry.
I briefly tried to make Graham Greene fit (he didn't) but in the course of checking found the amusing trivium that Greene made a cameo appearance in Francois Truffaut's movie "Day for Night". Greene was an admirer of Truffaut, and happened into this brief appearance. Truffaut didn't know about it, and was sorry later that he didn't meet Greene, as he admired Greene too.
The story sounds like a sort of cultist atmosphere that particularly annoys me, but it's not fair to judge on the basis of deliberately obscure clues.
Anyway, it's driving me nuts, which means you're doing a good job, Gum. I'm sure when the answer appears I'll kick myself for not getting it.
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Oh my, Graham Greene - Kurt Vonnegut -and King Arthur - super guesses but wrong, wrong, wrong.
so, here we go again...
AUTHOR:
- I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
- Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
- My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
- I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter.
BOOK/CHARACTER :
- The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
- The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
- The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
- The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
That should make it all clear to you.
PatH: I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job but I just wish someone would get the answer and let me off the hook.
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Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises
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H'mmm Hemingway.... good guess Roshanarose - but you are not correct.
I think I've got everyone foxed on this one ;D
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The African link has me stumped. Joseph Conrad did spend some time in Africa, in the Congo, where it is said he was inspired to write "Heart of Darkness".
So is it Joseph Conrad "Heart of Darkness". Oblique reference to Apocalpyse Now as the movie.
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Gum, by any chance, is the author Aldous Huxley ?
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I'm just loving this game -
Not many guesses today - don't tell me everyone is running out of ideas - Sorry, it's not Conrad nor is it Huxley.
So... more clues - not that they'll help you much :D
AUTHOR:
* I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
* Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
* My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
* I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
* Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter.
* Like Waugh, I suffered a nervous breakdown and again, like Waugh, recorded the recollection of my delusions. Waugh claimed that my version of the delusionary state was better than his.
* I actually wrote a couple of dozen novels and am quoted as saying that writing novels 'was the easiest thing I have ever done'
BOOK/CHARACTER :
* The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
* The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
* The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
* The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
*The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
* The protagonist's influence upon the acolytes is a cause for concern to those in authority over many years. Eventually the leaning toward Fascism becomes the catalyst that brings about his/her undoing.
Time for more guesses girls...
Hi Traude - Good to see you here.
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Gumtree, I hope you know you're driving me bananas. I've got to know the answer, but I'm not coming up with it. ???
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Gumtree, could the author be Doris Lessing ?
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Traude - how odd, your guess is the first woman to be suggested - Doris Lessing - but NO not correct.
More clues below -
AUTHOR:
* I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
* Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
* My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
* I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
* Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter.
* Like Waugh, I suffered a nervous breakdown and again, like Waugh, recorded the recollection of my delusions. Waugh claimed that my version of the delusionary state was better than his.
* I actually wrote a couple of dozen novels and am quoted as saying that writing novels 'was the easiest thing I have ever done'
* I have been perceived as being a poor parent chiefly because I abandoned my four year old son to the care of his grandparents and did not see him again for about three years.
BOOK/CHARACTER :
* The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
* The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
* The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
* The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
*The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
* The protagonist's influence upon the acolytes is a cause for concern to those in authority over many years. Eventually the leaning toward Fascism becomes the catalyst that brings about his/her undoing.
* The protagonist lacks instinct and insight and uses imagination only as a distraction - a device either to relieve boredom or as a defence against the present and actual reality.
* The protagonist is based in part on a real person whom the author found memorable because of the personal drama and poetry that surrounded that individual however that real person is not a well known household name.
Time to put the thinking caps on ...
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Edith Wharton - The Age of Innocence
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Feeling a lot like "the elephant in the room". Come on GUM. Where the b.... h.... are you? :-)
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It's hard for me to believe that, if I know the answer, I can't get it with all those very specific clues. It's equally hard for me to believe that I don't know the author. AAAAAGGHHH.
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Where is everyone ? only one guess - Edith Wharton and that's not correct. Bad Luck Roshanarose - try again :D
This is getting almost as long as the novel in question which is short in anyone's terms.
AUTHOR:
* I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
* Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
* My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
* I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
* Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter.
* Like Waugh, I suffered a nervous breakdown and again, like Waugh, recorded the recollection of my delusions. Waugh claimed that my version of the delusionary state was better than his.
* I actually wrote a couple of dozen novels and am quoted as saying that writing novels 'was the easiest thing I have ever done'
* I have been perceived as being a poor parent chiefly because I abandoned my four year old son to the care of his grandparents and did not see him again for about three years.
* It has been pointed out that my novels with their unique blend of realism, satire and allegory, helped change the face of fiction in the English language.
* I am a prolific and constant writer and am quoted as saying "I do feel guilty still at the age of 85 if I haven't done a day's work"
BOOK/CHARACTER :
* The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
* The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
* The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
* The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
*The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
* The protagonist's influence upon the acolytes is a cause for concern to those in authority over many years. Eventually the leaning toward Fascism becomes the catalyst that brings about his/her undoing.
* The protagonist lacks instinct and insight and uses imagination only as a distraction - a device either to relieve boredom or as a defence against the present and actual reality.
* The protagonist is based in part on a real person whom the author found memorable because of the personal drama and poetry that surrounded that individual however that real person is not a well known household name.
* The protagonist considers 'education' to be a leading out of what is already there in the acolyte's soul and affirms that such a method cannot be condemned because it is not improper or subversive.
* Eventually the acolytes bear the imprint of the protagonist and in turn are ostracised and suspected of disloyalty.
Any more guesses ? ...
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Are we at a standstill ?
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yep!
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OK - I can't see any rules for this kind of situation so what about a couple more Clues and then we can call it a day.
AUTHOR:
* I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field.
* Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
* My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style.
* I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).
* Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter.
* Like Waugh, I suffered a nervous breakdown and again, like Waugh, recorded the recollection of my delusions. Waugh claimed that my version of the delusionary state was better than his.
* I actually wrote a couple of dozen novels and am quoted as saying that writing novels 'was the easiest thing I have ever done'
* I have been perceived as being a poor parent chiefly because I abandoned my four year old son to the care of his grandparents and did not see him again for about three years.
* It has been pointed out that my novels with their unique blend of realism, satire and allegory, helped change the face of fiction in the English language.
* I am a prolific and constant writer and am quoted as saying "I do feel guilty still at the age of 85 if I haven't done a day's work"
I lived in New York for some years then moved to Rome, and finally in 1970s settled in Tuscany where I lived for the remainder of my life.
The Times credited me with being one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 and Queen Elizabeth bestowed one of her highest honours upon me.
BOOK/CHARACTER :
* The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
* The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives.
* The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
* The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was.
*The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
* The protagonist's influence upon the acolytes is a cause for concern to those in authority over many years. Eventually the leaning toward Fascism becomes the catalyst that brings about his/her undoing.
* The protagonist lacks instinct and insight and uses imagination only as a distraction - a device either to relieve boredom or as a defence against the present and actual reality.
* The protagonist is based in part on a real person whom the author found memorable because of the personal drama and poetry that surrounded that individual however that real person is not a well known household name.
* The protagonist considers 'education' to be a leading out of what is already there in the acolyte's soul and affirms that such a method cannot be condemned because it is not improper or subversive.
* Eventually the acolytes bear the imprint of the protagonist and in turn are ostracised and suspected of disloyalty.
* The protagonist encouraged one of the acolytes to fight in the Spanish War supporting Franco - the acolyte was killed. Another of the select circle died in a hotel fire killed after running back into the burning building.
* The protagonist wanted the acolytes to be the very best of the best.
That's it folks - now, name the Author, book, or character and you can have the prize. :D
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prize ??? I'm confounded anyway, excellent quiz!
Is the author British?
we used to ask the Blue Wiz questions, don't know the rules here
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Muriel Spark?
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By George, PatH - I think you are right. The book, why didn't I see it before, is "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". I will wait for your well deserved congratulations and acknowledgement from GUM. That is, if you are correct :)
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HURRAH ! PatH DOES IT AGAIN !
What took you so long Pat ???
CONGRATULATIONS to you and Roshanarose who has the book title.
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I'll just amplify a couple of the clues - though they all seem very clear to me.
AUTHOR:
* I'm a poet, novelist and short story writer. I spent some years in Africa and then went back to my home country and worked in the political intelligence field. Spark married Mr. S O Spark and went with him to Africa - she referred to him as SOS. When marriage ended she went back to Scotland and worked in the Foreign Office in political intelligence.
* Before my first novel was published I edited a publication devoted to poetry and also published various works of literary criticism and biography.
* My first novel displayed my talent for irony and black humour. I subsequently established a reputation as a satirical novelist with a sharp oblique humour and an detached, elegant style. Anyone who has read her knows how true that is.
* I am perhaps best known for this book which was one of my later efforts. It brought me international fame and boosted me to the first rank of literature in my country. It was successfully filmed and has been chosen in lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels (20th Century).As well as the successful film with Maggie Smith the novel was also a stage play
* Like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene I was a convert to Roman Catholicism - as a writer I more nearly resemble Waugh than Greene but am not really much like either, or anyone else, for that matter. Waugh and Greene both encouraged and supported me in the decision to convert to Catholicism
* Like Waugh, I suffered a nervous breakdown and again, like Waugh, recorded the recollection of my delusions. Waugh claimed that my version of the delusionary state was better than his. Waugh and Spark both wrote about their breakdowns in subsequent novels - Waugh was of the opinion that she did it more convincingly than his own effort.
* I actually wrote a couple of dozen novels and am quoted as saying that writing novels 'was the easiest thing I have ever done'
* I have been perceived as being a poor parent chiefly because I abandoned my four year old son to the care of his grandparents and did not see him again for about three years. Spark left her 4 year old behind in Africa when she returned to Scotland - he was brought up by grandparents who raised him in the Jewish faith. The two were never reconciled, took pains to avoid one another and he was omitted from her will
* It has been pointed out that my novels with their unique blend of realism, satire and allegory, helped change the face of fiction in the English language.
* I am a prolific and constant writer and am quoted as saying "I do feel guilty still at the age of 85 if I haven't done a day's work"
* I lived in New York for some years then moved to Rome, and finally in 1970s settled in Tuscany where I lived for the remainder of my life.
* The Times credited me with being one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 and Queen Elizabeth bestowed one of her highest honours upon me. Spark was made Dame Commander by the Queen
BOOK/CHARACTER :
* The protagonist and his/her loves, ideas and mores are fascinating to others in the story.
* The protagonist gathers together a coterie of acolytes who are each famous for different things and brings influence to bear on their lives. The girls are 'famous' for simple things - mathematics, sex, dithering, appearance, etc. 'Later famous for' is a recurring phrase in the novel
* The protagonist genuinely wants to open up the acolytes lives so they may break free of restrictive conventional ways of thinking, feeling and being.
* The protagonist feels to be 'fated' one way or another and acts as if he/she transcends morality. Ultimately the protagonist is betrayed by one of the acolytes but does not know who the betrayer was. The betrayer was Jean Brodie's most special confidante - the one least likely - et tu Brute comes to mind
*The protagonist is fascinated by the rise of Fascism in Spain, Italy and ultimately Germany and is devoted to Mussolini and Hitler but being blind to the dangers of Fascism can only see the ideals and propaganda it proclaims. The protagonist is in fact a mini Fascist dictator to the acolytes.
* The protagonist's influence upon the acolytes is a cause for concern to those in authority over many years. Eventually the leaning toward Fascism becomes the catalyst that brings about his/her undoing.
* The protagonist lacks instinct and insight and uses imagination only as a distraction - a device either to relieve boredom or as a defence against the present and actual reality.
* The protagonist is based in part on a real person whom the author found memorable because of the personal drama and poetry that surrounded that individual however that real person is not a well known household name. Jean Brodie was based on a teacher Spark herself had - and the school was also her own thinly disguised
* The protagonist considers 'education' to be a leading out of what is already there in the acolyte's soul and affirms that such a method cannot be condemned because it is not improper or subversive.
* Eventually the acolytes bear the imprint of the protagonist and in turn are ostracised and suspected of disloyalty. Naturally, other pupils and the teachers too, turn away from them and distrust them
* The protagonist encouraged one of the acolytes to fight in the Spanish War supporting Franco - the acolyte was killed. Another of the select circle died in a hotel fire killed after running back into the burning building. Both of these outcomes reflect the characteristics of the girls show throughout the novel
* The protagonist wanted the acolytes to be the very best of the best.
Ah yes, finally, the creme de la creme another phrase reiterated in the novel
This was fun - for me - look forward to the next puzzle.
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What took us so long was that your clues, although technically accurate, were little masterpieces of misdirection.
Roshanarose, as co-winner, do you want the honor of doing the next one or shall I take it?
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I agree PatH, Gum's comments were masterly in their evasion. She should be a politician! Just joking, Gum, it was a real challenge for me and others, I am sure. Unfortunately, I don't have enough cerebral challenges these days and your topic was certainly that.
PatH - thanks for the offer, but I would prefer opting out for now until I have seen a few more examples. Thanks anyway.
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PatH & Roshanarose - thanks for your 'kind' words. I'm glad you enjoyed it - I certainly did ;D
Spark is an interesting writer - a lot of her work is comparatively short but she gets it right. I'm going to reread something by her - maybe Memento Mori which deals with ageing. I read it before I'd experienced ageing myself and wonder how I will view it now.
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GUM: yes, you led us down the garden path. I was convinced that it was a book I'd never heard of. It's true I never read the book, but I did see the movie, and never once thought of it.
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Yes, I know it's my turn. I'm thinking.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Thinking is good ! :D
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OK, better late than never.
Author: My wartime experiences were unfortunate.
Character: Reading got me in trouble.
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you're not late at all Pat! :)
wild guess: Hemingway?
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No, not Hemingway.
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"The Reader?" I don't remember the name of the woman prison guard who couldn't read. It could be her or the boy who read to her. I don't know the author.
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Another good guess, but not right. I do know you've read the book though, Joan. (Given how much you've read, that doesn't narrow it down much.)
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I hesitate to guess. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak?
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Not The Book Thief, though I'm startled by how well it fits.
New clues:
Author: I got in trouble on my job from accusations of financial mismanagement.
Character: I've had trouble keeping up appearances on my reduced income.
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Not a single guess? OK, next round:
Author: My book is considered a groundbreaker in several ways.
Character: several music pieces are named for me.
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Can't hazard a guess on author or character ...too cryptic by far
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oh glaaaaagghhh music again. Opera? Classical? pop ? heavy metal ???
this is not a guess, just an indication of my weird mind: Afternoon of a Faun?
I can think of 2 books where a deer is a character. But they don't read, so ignore this!
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Classical, opera and popular. The character is a person, not an animal.
Mippy, I really wasn't trying to make you gag.
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Oh dear. I should know this. I will kick myself when we get the answer. No guesses from my just now.
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I'm pretty sure you've all heard of the book and at least one of the music items.
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Sadly, absolutely nothing comes to mind - yet. :(
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You've got me - is the character a real person or fictional?
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no idea
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More clues--sorry for the delay:
Author: I also wrote poetry and plays, though they're not much read in comparison to this work.
Character: I am fictional, not real. I am quite an idealist, and not very practical.
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It's not a whole day yet, but obviously more clues are needed.
Character: I have a companion who is practical and earthbound, who rescues me from things.
Author: (the author doesn't inspire useful clues, so I'll put in a useless one directed to Gumtree, who said in the Library that she brushes her teeth with her left hand) I wouldn't even try to brush my teeth with my left hand.
Further clue: we discussed this on SeniorNet.
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PatH : You would if you were left handed - like me !
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I am left-handed. The author, however, is not.
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Wow, I'm left handed, also. Methinks I see a correlation between brilliance and manus sinister. Sorry, righties, no insult intended. ;)
So does this clue mean the author is right-handed? And who would know that anyway?
Thanks for the extra clues, Pat, but I'm so, so off-base with the musical clue, and
I thought I knew most famous operas. Usually characters in opera are not struggling with a reduced income. Maybe you meant that musicals are close to opera?
Oh, gosh, your hint about we having done this in SeniorNet:
Could it be Don Quixote? The musical is Man of La Mancha!
Was Cervantes right-handed?
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This was the very first clue was :
"My wartime experiences were unfortunate."
Does "wartime" include active involvement by the author ?
If yes, and if he was wounded, there might be an indirect connection with left-handedness.
But which war? Here ? Can we exclude the Napoleonic era ?
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Hooray, Mippy! Don Quixote is right. I'm glad you got it. It was getting harder to think of clues.
The clues: Author: Cervantes served in the Spanish Army; he fought at the battle of Lepanto, (1571, Christians vs. Turks) and one of his three bullet wounds rendered his left arm useless. He claimed it was worth it to have been part of such a glorious historical event. Later, when his unit was sailing back to Spain, the ship was captured by pirates, and Cervantes was a slave in Algiers for five years, until he was ransomed.
For a few years he was a tax collector, but he was accused of irregularities in his accounts (dunno if he was being dishonest or just sloppy).
Don Quixote broke ground two ways--it's considered the first modern novel, and he used everyday speech in a way not commonly done then.
Character: Quixote's stuffing his head with chivalry from his reading is the basis of the plot. His shabby poverty is well described at the beginning of the book. He and his companion, Sancho Panza, are the classic literary example of opposites, high-mindedness and practicality.
In addition to Man of La Mancha, my opera book lists 38 operas, Telemann wrote an orchestral suite, and there is at least one ballet.
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Thanks, Pat. I didn't look up an opera ref. book, but will do so now. Your choice was nice and difficult! Also, did not recall about Cervantes arm ... neat twist!
It'll take a day to think of a good one. How about taking the weekend off and starting on Monday?
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Congrats, Mippy!
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Mippy, it took me several days to come up with my challenge. It's often that way.
There are lots of brilliant southpaws here. JoanK is another.
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I play cricket left-handed; I fence left-handed; and I can shoot an arrow left-handed. I can play the guitar left-handed. I take lids of jars and tops off bottles left-handed, but for the most part I am right-handed. Just thought I would share this trivia with you ;D
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That's an interesting combination, roshanarose, especially the guitar. I do some things, like scissors, right-handed.
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I do just about everything with either hand - except clean my teeth - that's strictly for the left hand. I never had to worry about backhand strokes much when playing tennis or squash - I just switched the racquet over and played a forehand shot. Very disconcerting for the opposition ;D
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PatH: My thinking was as far from Cervantes and Quixote as it is possible to be - I was thinking of H.G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, Peter Benchley and James Baldwin who all fit the leftie bill but naturally I couldn't make the other clues fit in.
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New week, new quiz Hint: no idea if our author is a south-paw! :D
Author: I've written well over a dozen novels.
Character: I'm concerned with the way cultures blend in families.
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No guesses? Day 2:
Author: I've written well over a dozen novels.
Reviewers suggest I have used my own experience of cultural mixes in families in this novel.
Character: I'm concerned with the way cultures blend in families.
I observe and try to help other generations going through life-changing experiences.
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I'm here but can't think of anything remotely connected with the clues.
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Same here.
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I'll take a very wild guess - Maxine Hong Kingston. She wrote several books blending Chinese and American cultures.
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Duh, headslap for not getting Don Quixote!
Rose: you play cricket! I have spent much effort trying to understand that game, and always failed, miserably! Do you know any CLEAR explanation (cricket for dummies)?
Not a clue as to the book.
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Sorry, not Kingston! I'll give better clues in the morning!
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Wild guess : Isabel Allende : House of the Spirits; or Island Beneath the Sea, inter alia.
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Salman Rushdie?
Yes. I play cricket. I had no choice really. I had a big brother who was/is completely obsessed by cricket. I started to play when I was about three. Mind you, we played in our back yard, with the old brick fireplace chimney as our backdrop. Someone once asked me what position I played. I played the stumps.
Finally my brother got sick of me getting in the way with the cricket bat. I had my own, it was a toy and I loved interrupting the game so I could get a hit. I wasn't very tall, but I was quite broad. My brother went into the house that day to get my father to remove me from the pitch. My father told me kindly that I should be playing with my dolls inside and not spoiling the boys' game. I don't remember having a tantrum, but evidently I did. As my father picked up the stumps and bails to replace them, I picked up the big cricket bat and hit him square on his backside. He fell over. Maybe I couldn't play cricket, but that day I learned to run like the wind. I got away with it, and soon was annoying my brother again.
"Go play with your dolls" indeed!
I do know the rules but they are lengthy like most sporting rules. If you wish I can send you some info via email. I still watch thre cricket and I can still hit a ball well. Being left-handed confuses everyone 8)
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It sure does Rochanarose - confuse them I mean. I grew up in a family of boys and joined in their games whenever I wished to. Mother insisted they let me. The older brothers were very protective of me to ensure I wouldn't get hurt in the rough and tumble. Good memories.
JoanK Cricket is not a game to be explained. To understand it you have to grow up with it but it's very simple really - one side bowls and the other side bats :D
I was thinking of Allende for the author but I see Traude has already guessed that. There was a very good TV interview with her shown a couple of years ago - she seemed very frank and answered the questions fully - or so it appeared. I was impressed with her underlying good humour and the sense of fun she has. Her life hasn't been easy.
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Not Allende.
I certainly know of her but am not familiar with her writing, so don't know if it's close.
Better hints later this morning.
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Here's Day 3
Author: I've written well over a dozen novels.
Reviewers suggest I have used my own experience of cultural mixes in families in this novel.
While my novels often emphasize a favorite city, this one could take place in any city with an airport.
Character: I'm concerned with the way cultures blend in families.
I observe and try to help other generations going through life-changing experiences.
There are several main characters; I've been in America longer and have a life story with more depth.
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I was going to guess Khaled Hosseini but now I don't think so.
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not Hosseini
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No ideas? never mind procedure, I want to give Hint #4
Author: I've written well over a dozen novels.
Reviewers suggest I have used my own experience of cultural mixes in families in this novel.
While my novels often emphasize a favorite city, this one could take place in any city with an airport.
I am known as a reclusive author, but here I write about some of my husband's culture.
Character: I'm concerned with the way cultures blend in families.
I observe and try to help other generations going through life-changing experiences.
There are several main characters; I've been in America longer and have a life story with more depth.
I should mention with much joy that I am a grandmother, at last!
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AAAARRRGGGHHH!
I know I should know it.
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Hint #4 1/2: Special extra hint before the 4th of July !
Author: You discussed another novel of mine in SeniorLearn!
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Congratulations on your grandmotherhood, mippy :) Or was that the character's?
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Both !!
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More of #4 1/2:
Author: You discussed another novel of mine RECENTLY in SeniorLearn!
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Is it an Ann Tyler book?
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Congratulations on the grandchild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is this the first one? There's nothing more thrilling!
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Yes, Anne Tyler! You got it, JoanK!
Does anyone want to figure out the book and/or character?
To answer about grandchildren:
It's my fifth grandchild! The character in the book has her first granddaughter!
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Is it Digging to America ?
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Yes, that's right, Traude! Shall I just tell the name of the grandmother who is the character? Maryam Yazdan, who came to American from Iran in an arranged marriage.
So you and JoanK ought to Flip for who does the next one.
Here's a little more about this novel (with help from reviewers on Amazon)
Author: In her novels, there is often a Baltimore setting, a focus on family drama, a woman who suddenly find herself a stranger in her own life, and a host of unforgettable characters that jump to life off the page.
Digging to America is no exception; however, Tyler adds a number of wonderful new ingredients. The new ingredients are cultural differences, cultural assimilation, and an endearing Iranian-American character who finds herself a stranger, not only in her own life, but in her adopted country as well. There is an intriguing additional ingredient for those readers who love to get inside the minds and lives of authors: this book has strong autobiographical overtones, as Tyler's late husband was from Iran (which I'd not known).
Character: The Yazdans are an Iranian-American family who exhibit most of the archetypal cultural hang-ups of that particular ethnic subculture. Two different families are drawn together by chance at the Baltimore airport, where each family comes to collect its newly adopted baby daughter from Korea. Thus Maryam Yazdan becomes a grandmother as her daughter adopts a Korean girl.
I loved this novel and hope you do as well!
Happy 4th of July!
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Thnk you, Mippy. But JoanK was first. :)
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Oh dear. Here is an easy one.
Author: an unhappy marriage played a part in my career.
Character: I find myself in a place I don't enjoy being.
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I forgot to give a book clue:
Second clues:
Author: an unhappy marraige played a part in my career.
A happy marraige also influenced my writing
Book clues. the book takes place in two locations.
The title refers to the second one.
Character: I find myself in a place I don't enjoy being.
Some of the other characters don't enjoy me being there.
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No idea, but sounds interesting! :D
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The clues are not ringing any bells for me.
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Joan told me on the phone that she was having a hard time thinking of clues that didn't make it obvious. (No, she didn't tell me the answer.)
Joan, I think you've succeeded! ;D
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She sure has!
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Nothing has come to mind - yet. In fact, if the current heat wave lasts much longer, my mind may turn to mush.
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I didn't read it or participate in the discussion, but the only thing I can think of is That Old Cape Magic. Does that fit at all?
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I don't know, since I wasn't in the discussion either. Time for more clues.
dAY 3
Author: an unhappy marraige played a part in my career.
A happy marraige also influenced my writing.
I have some mytery in my life.
Book clues. the book takes place MOSTLY in two COUNTRIES.
The title refers to SOMETHING IN THE LAST one.
This and many of my other books have been made into movies.
Character: I find myself in a place I don't enjoy being.
Some of the other characters don't enjoy me being there.
I am known, among other things, for my natty dressing.
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Notice I added a MOSTLY to the two locations. reading the book, I found two pages that occur somewhere else, that I'd forgotten about. I don't think that would throw anyone off, I hope. To make up for it, I replaced the vague "locations" with the more specific "countries.
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Ha, Joan, you just gave away a vital clue. You have the book. That narrows it down to a few thousand. ;)
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Agatha Christie - I know she had an unhappy first marriage, but was much happier in her second.
Hercule Poirot - Was always a natty dresser and women admired him, but he was never married.
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roshanarose: YOU GOT IT!!!!!
I thought it would be easy, with "Murder on the Orient Express" coming up.
The book is NOT Orien Express. It takes place in a different country, and has the name of a feature of that country in the title. Any ideas?
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Uh oh, there are several books which take Poirot out of England.
I was looking at Wikipedia's chronology. I am going to have to read The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, the first and the last. I wasn't happy reading about Poirot's ending, but it also made me want to read the book.
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Is it Death on the Nile ?
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YES! Death on the Nile" has it.
The clues:
Author: "an unhappy marraige played a part in my career". Christie had to write seriously to support herself after she left her first husband.
A happy marraige also influenced my writing. She later married an archhiologist and placed many of her books in places where she went with him.
I have some mytery in my life. After she found that her first husband was unfaithful, she disappeared for a while. There has been muchspeculation about where she went and what she did, including even ideas that she planned to murder her husband's mistress.
Book clues. the book takes place MOSTLY in two COUNTRIES.England and Egypt.
The title refers to SOMETHING IN THE LAST one. The Nile.
This and many of my other books have been made into movies. Can't remember who starred in it.
Character: I find myself in a place I don't enjoy being. A boat. Poirot is always being seasick.
Some of the other characters don't enjoy me being there. The criminals.
I am known, among other things, for my natty dressing. He always dresses in a way that he sees as natty, others as rediculous.
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ROSHANAROSE: as our successful guesser, it's your turn.
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Thank you Joan. Will you allow me 24 hours to prepare, please?
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Of course! No one is boss here.
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:)
AuthorThe author was of French/Irish parentage.
BookWritten in the first person by a young girl (the heroine) who lives with her father. The short story is written by the girl eight years after the events happened.
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I feel I should know this one.
There are several Irish authors who were enamoured of the French but the only one I can think of with French family connections is Sheridan Le Fanu who came from Huguenot stock. He wrote short stories - mostly gothic horrors -
Then there are heaps of Irish authors these days....
I'll need more clues.
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No idea! Do give more hints, please!
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Are you saying that this is a short story, not a book?
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:D
GumCongratulations! Sheridan Le Fanu is the author.
Yes. It is a short story, which I believe I mentioned in my first clues.
Do you know the name of the short story, though? No wiki or google searches please.
If you would prefer I can give you more clues as to name of the short story.
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WOW! GUM IS hot!
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Congratulations Gumtree!
I've never heard of Sheridan La Fanu. Not much of a short story reader.
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Le Fanu wrote novels too. Fans of the early history of mystery stories know of him--he's one of the contenders for inventor of the locked room mystery. But I haven't read any of his stuff (though "Uncle Silas" is in my TBR pile) and couldn't begin to guess what the story is. I also didn't know his French-Irish origin.
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Le Fanu is, I believe, best known for his horror and Gothic stories.
On the basis of the few cues we were given, I would never have thought of him.
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Frybabe
I am not much of a short story reader either, but Le Fanu is in a whole different league.
My online copy of the tale is 110 pages, so it's not thatshort.
I agree GUM is brilliant. Well done. Now the title?
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Le Fanu was more or less the first British writer to bring a certain type of character into vogue. In fact, the character (or type of character) is so popular that he/she enjoys an immense following up to the present day. The category of Le Fanu's story is both gothic horror and Victorian mystery.
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Grrrr...oan
I really did feel that I should know this one.
I know about Le Fanu through some literary history I was doing once upon a time and the fact that he was related to playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan - but I only suggested him as a rank outsider. That was yesterday. When I woke this morning the title was in my mind too!
Carmilla
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Well that explains why I never heard of La Fanu - Horror/Gothic. I've never been into that at all, except for recently when Ginny turned me on to Preston and Childs.
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Well Done Gum! It is Carmilla.
Frybabe" Ginny has excellent taste. Haha. I also like Lincoln and Preston. My all time favourite of theirs is "Relic".
"Carmilla" is from a different time and a different sensibility. You may be surprised, if you take the time to read it. A case in point is that Stephanie Meyer is absolute rubbish imho; but I loved Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire". "Carmilla" is not at all about blood gushing everywhere. Le Fanu is in his element with this type of tale. Yes. I know time is tight and that there are many books to read, but...
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I'm still getting over the shock of unintentionally getting it right. Of course, once the title came to me it couldn't be anyone else. :(
And No, Roshanarose, I didn't google for the answer. I believe all who play these games hold it as a matter of honour not to so do. Googling would defeat the purpose of the game and take away that frisson of fun and enjoyment when it all comes together - and the frustration of not quite getting there.
I'm not fan of vampire stories still less when there is an element of lesbianism involved as there is with Carmilla. Interesting that Le Fanu predated Bram Stoker though he had certainly read Coleridge's Christabel.
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New Quiz: Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
Author: I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
Book/Character: I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
More clues tomorrow.
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GUM: What I wrote about search engines was not meant to offend. I was joking actually. I agree with you about that "frisson".
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If I have the definition of iconoclast correct, then I immediately think of the likes of Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky. As far as I know neither one wrote novels.
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Roshanarose None taken.
Frybabe Not Trotsky or Marx - this one was not in their league.
Day Two:
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
Is that you I can hear thinking? :D
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Oops, I had that backwards anyway. I was thinking the author was iconoclastic not the book character. Not awake on that one. :P
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That clanking you hear is my brain working veeeryyy slowly.
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Wiping icy bits from my eyes, I wake hoping I will have a new insight into these clues. Alas, they elude me. All I can think of is Bill Gates (obviously wrong) or Ayn Rand. These are the ponderings of a very sleepy head. Past tense.
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Roshanarose - Bill Gates to Ayn Rand - now that is a leap - but as you say, neither is the one you're looking for.
I doubt Qld is as icy as WA. We're near freezing every morning, daytime temps are below average and still not much rain. B'rrr.
JoanK - Clanking very slowly? Don't you mean "just warming up"
Frybabe - I'm having trouble in keeping the Author clues and those for the Book/Character separated myself. ;)
Day Three:
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.
An extra tidbit - We've read and discussed this book.
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Gum: Wild guesses are better than no guesses.
I suppose the feeling of cold is relative. For my childhood and university years I lived in Armidale, NSW, an extremely cold place. As I have aged I feel the cold much more. Sigh ... I hope WA gets warm soon. Alas, like Queensland it get too hot, too fast.
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The author clues could be any one of a number of writers including Greg Mortensen (not married though?), Khaled Hosseini, and Henning Mankell off the top of my head.
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No Frybabe It's not one of those you mention.
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Mortensen is married. Still no idea.
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This could be a 19th century personage ...
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You're right Traude - the character in the book was a 19th century personage - the author of the book was a 20th century novelist.
Day Four:
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
We have read and discussed this book.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
4. I have received several honorary awards for achievement in highlighting aspects of history.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.
4. During the Franco-Prussian War I was forced to flee my home in France and find refuge in London. When I returned I found my house and much of my early work had been destroyed by Prussian soldiers.
Getting down to the nitty gritty now :D
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It's still not coming together or me :(
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good clues, but I have no idea, and must not have participated in that book group :(
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Well, Gumtree. I wish I could say it was Emile Zola, but I consider him a 20th century writer. Since he died in 1902 most or all of his work were written in the second half of the 19th century. I have no idea if any of his works were discussed here.
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Frybabe - Oddly enough I'm a fan of Emile Zola and actually considered him for this quiz - but he is not the man we want.
Day Five:
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
We have read and discussed this book.
I'm an American active during the mid 20th century.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
4. I have received several honorary awards for achievement in highlighting aspects of history.
5. The subjects I chose for my novels were regarded as among the foremost in their field and were passionate about their chosen endeavour. Collectively they cover a wide ranging spread of knowledge and creativity - science, psychoanalysis, art, politics, ancient history and even the opening up of the far west.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.
4. During the Franco-Prussian War I was forced to flee my home in France and find refuge in London. When I returned I found my house and much of my early work had been destroyed by Prussian soldiers.
5. I studied under a succession of masters - one in particular is seen as the most important early influence on my work.
6. My importance lies not only in my contributions to the movement but also in my standing amongst my colleagues who viewed me as something of a patriarch.
Guess away ...
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Is the character in the field of psychoanaysis?
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Gum, if you hadn't mentioned that most of the author's books are historical novels, I would have been looking for a non-fiction writer.
Still puzzling!
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They're actually biographical novels.
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I'm thinking we are looking for a painter or a musician for the character. If so, the only book I can think of that you discussed is The Girl with a Pearl Earring. I didn't participate in the discussion.
By the way, Tracy Chavelier recently published Remarkable Creatures based on an English 19th century fossil collector. I'm going to have to get that one.
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A wild guess : Wallace Stegner (Angle of Repose) .
Well, he did have a long, happy marriage :)
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JoanK: No character is not a psychoanalysis but author wrote another novel about someone in that field.
Traude: Sorry, not Stegner
Frybabe - Aha! it's not Girl With the Pearl Earring but you're on the right track.
I've been battling an eye infection these last few days and can barely read the screen. Will try to come in this evening with another clue or two.
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Gumtree ~ Do take care of your eyes, and don't worry about this group.
It won't hurt us to be puzzled for a few extra days! Be Well !
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Thanks Mippy - The eye is a little better today - still painful and blurry but I think the medication is beginning to take control.
Good clues for you today -
Day - Not sure what day it is :D:
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
We have read and discussed this book.
I'm an American active during the mid 20th century.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
4. I have received several honorary awards for achievement in highlighting aspects of history.
5. The subjects I chose for my novels were regarded as among the foremost in their field and were passionate about their chosen endeavour. Collectively they cover a wide ranging spread of knowledge and creativity - science, psychoanalysis, art, politics, ancient history and even the opening up of the far west.
6. Some critics say I successfully joined together the three genres of biography, history and fiction and solved the problems inherent in doing that by using a lucid narrator. Others are of the opinion that my novels are for those who like their history embellished with fiction. Either way most of my novels were best sellers.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.
4. During the Franco-Prussian War I was forced to flee my home in France and find refuge in London. When I returned I found my house and much of my early work had been destroyed by Prussian soldiers.
5. I studied under a succession of masters - one in particular is seen as the most important early influence on my work.
6. My importance lies not only in my contributions to the movement but also in my standing amongst my colleagues who viewed me as something of a patriarch.
7. Together with like minded colleagues I challenged the authority of the 'establishment'. In the main we were rejected, however Napoleon III came to our aid in an effort to quell the rising protests.
An extra tidbit in the form of a quote from our author which I think true 'bookies ' will appreciate.
There are no faster or firmer friendships than those between people who love the same books
Go, go, go...
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So, is no one around or have you abandoned the chase ?
I'll add today's clues anyway...
Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
We have read and discussed this book.
I'm an American active during the mid 20th century.
Author:
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
4. I have received several honorary awards for achievement in highlighting aspects of history.
5. The subjects I chose for my novels were regarded as among the foremost in their field and were passionate about their chosen endeavour. Collectively they cover a wide ranging spread of knowledge and creativity - science, psychoanalysis, art, politics, ancient history and even the opening up of the far west.
6. Some critics say I successfully joined together the three genres of biography, history and fiction and solved the problems inherent in doing that by using a lucid narrator. Others are of the opinion that my novels are for those who like their history embellished with fiction. Either way most of my novels were best sellers.
7. I spent 5 years researching the life and times of the subject of this book. I also enlisted my wife's help and employed two secretaries to keep the material in order.
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim.
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.
4. During the Franco-Prussian War I was forced to flee my home in France and find refuge in London. When I returned I found my house and much of my early work had been destroyed by Prussian soldiers.
5. I studied under a succession of masters - one in particular is seen as the most important early influence on my work.
6. My importance lies not only in my contributions to the movement but also in my standing amongst my colleagues who viewed me as something of a patriarch.
7. Together with like minded colleagues I challenged the authority of the 'establishment'. In the main we were rejected, however Napoleon III came to our aid in an effort to quell the rising protests.
8. I drafted the first convention incorporating the group who called themselves Societe Anonyme des Artistes and a Parisian critic wrote of me that nothing new and excellent appeared where he wasn't among the first, if not absolutely the first, to discuss and defend.
An extra tidbit in the form of a quote from our author which I think true 'bookies ' will appreciate.
There are no faster or firmer friendships than those between people who love the same books
Looks like I've chosen a book that no one in this game has read - but you would have read other work by the writer and know about the subject of this book.
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Didn't abandon, Gumtree. Still here. Just don't know what other book about an artist you all might have discussed.
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The only artist I can think of at about this time is Francisco Goya, but he was Spanish.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanrose, #769
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
I've searched in all directions; alas, there is no light at the end of this tunnel.
The Franco-Prussian war is familiar from history classes (which I loved), but I do not remember ever reading a novel about it.
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No idea ... obviously never read this book. I give up.
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Oh my ! I guess I should put everyone out of their misery but does that mean I win ???
The author was Irving Stone
The book was Depths of Glory based on the life of the artistCamille Pissarro who was the first of the Impressionists.
The Depths of Glory discussion was held in December 2006 with leaders Joan Grimes, Eloise de Pelteau and Joan Pearson - I checked the discussion out in the Archives and was surprised that only a few of those who took part are still posting.
I remember the discussion well because right in the middle of the it we went on holiday to Sydney to spend Xmas with our son. While there I was able to view an exhibition of the Impressionists at the State Gallery of NSW which included work by Pissarro - so timely.
Depths of Glory is right up there with Stone's biographies of other artists - Agony and the Ecstasy (Michelangelo) and Lust for Life (Van Gogh). It's a good read -lots of info on other artists of the period as well.
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Everyone knows at least one of this author's books.
We have read and discussed this book.
I'm an American active during the mid 20th century.
Author: These clues for the author are all straightforward -I've added a couple of notes for the Book/Character clues
1. I wrote many books - most were a type of historical novel of which several are well known - some have been used as the basis for films.
2. I made a good, long lasting marriage and together we funded a foundation to support charitable organisations whose work we believed in.
3. My books are very thoroughly researched through 'work in the field' and archives. I have even relocated to another continent to undertake research and have commissioned translations of written material on my subject.
4. I have received several honorary awards for achievement in highlighting aspects of history.
5. The subjects I chose for my novels were regarded as among the foremost in their field and were passionate about their chosen endeavour. Collectively they cover a wide ranging spread of knowledge and creativity - science, psychoanalysis, art, politics, ancient history and even the opening up of the far west.
6. Some critics say I successfully joined together the three genres of biography, history and fiction and solved the problems inherent in doing that by using a lucid narrator. Others are of the opinion that my novels are for those who like their history embellished with fiction. Either way most of my novels were best sellers.
7. I spent 5 years researching the life and times of the subject of this book. I also enlisted my wife's help and employed two secretaries to keep the material in order.
I bet you didn't know that in the early 1930s Irving Stone had a 'romance' with singer Jeanette MacDonald. He kept all her letters which after his death were found among his papers
Book/Character:
1. I am the prime mover of an iconoclastic group who are at the vanguard of a new movement and who eventually succeed in their aim. The iconoclastic group were those who became known as the Impressionists
2. My family were in 'trade' - my choice of a career outside of their interests caused much friction within the family and alienated me from them. They didn't want an artist in the family.
3. I was also alienated from my family by my choice of spouse who was not only from a lower class but also of a different religious persuasion.I married my mother's housemaid who was a Catholic
4. During the Franco-Prussian War I was forced to flee my home in France and find refuge in London. When I returned I found my house and much of my early work had been destroyed by Prussian soldiers. The Prussians used the groundfloor of my house as a stable and many of my early paintings had been trampled by horses. I also found local women wearing my canvases as aprons.
5. I studied under a succession of masters - one in particular is seen as the most important early influence on my work. Early in his career Pissarro studied under Corot
6. My importance lies not only in my contributions to the movement but also in my standing amongst my colleagues who viewed me as something of a patriarch. Pissarro was the first Impressionist, he had considerable 'people skills' and was a born organiser for exhibitions etc.
7. Together with like minded colleagues I challenged the authority of the 'establishment'. In the main we were rejected, however Napoleon III came to our aid in an effort to quell the rising protests.The Impressionists wanted to exhibit with the established Societe des Beaux Artes but were rejected. Napoleon III sponsored the showing known as the Salon des Refuses
8. I drafted the first convention incorporating the group who called themselves Societe Anonyme des Artistes and a Parisian critic wrote of me that nothing new and excellent appeared where he wasn't among the first, if not absolutely the first, to discuss and defend.
An extra tidbit in the form of a quote from our author which I think true 'bookies ' will appreciate.
There are no faster or firmer friendships than those between people who love the same books
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Whew - I hope that gets me off the hook - now who's going to be It for the next quiz ?
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Good question, Gumtree, obviously it's not your turn. Any volunteers?
Thanks for putting me out of my misery. It was driving me bananas.
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I see I've really neglected my duties, and not added the last four books to the list. The heading at the top of this page is now up to date, so whoever poses the next puzzle can check if their choice has been used already.
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Gumtree, you led us on a stimulating search and your clues were superb, testing the elasticity of our memory.
But some things, of course, may not be imprinted there, and that was true in this case for me. I never read Irving Stone and did not participate in the discussion of Depths of Glory.
Fastidious readers may consider this is a serious lacuna, (what is known in German as (Bildungslücke = compound noun : Bildung= knowledge/eucation in general, Lücke = lacuna). And it may well be. But who could forget Kirk Douglas in the movie Lust for Life?
PatH, clearly I'm not "entitled" and merely supplied the name of the book, not the author, when roshanarose was looking for both. But I'm willing to post the next challenge.
However, since I am rather new to this circle I'd appreciate it if the parameters or rules of the game could be delineated again. Thank you in advance.
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Traude, I suffer from the same Bildungsluecke. Oh, well.
Thanks for taking on the next quiz. The rules are pretty sloppy. You think of an author and title, and a character in the book too if you choose. You start by posting a clue to the author and one to the book or character. Post additional clues as seems appropriate, usually once a day, and you can throw in extra remarks when you want. It's tricky trying to give a real clue without being obvious, and you can't always guess right. Jude once gave a very obscure clue to a Patrick O'Brian novel, but since there were some O'Brian fanatics here, we pounced on it at once. And several times there have been books that no one has read.
Happy puzzling!
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I had read Stone's bios of Michelangelo and Van Gogh, both of which I loved, but have not read about Pissaro. I must. Will give the authoring of the next quiz a miss.
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Nice to see the housekeeping done - thanks PatH. Amazing just how many of these quizzes we've had in such a short time.
Traude Thanks - There are some general pointers on the rules on the Header Page.
I don't see not having read Stone as any kind of lacuna let alone anything with a term as grandiose sounding as Bildungslucke - love it - I'm going to add that to my vocabulary from here on. ;)
The truth is that I hadn't read Depths of Glory until Joan Grimes proposed it for discussion - and I didn't know anything about Irving Stone until I started working on clues for the quiz so I've been on a big learning curve but now I feel like an aficionado. :D
Looking forward to wracking my poor old brain with your clues.
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PatH and Gumtree, thank you for your answers, both much appreciated.
It will take me a day or so to find a challenge for this wonderful, well-read group.
Gumtree, in reply another quick linguistic tidbit, if I may.
"Bildungslücke" is not really 'grandiose'. It would be impolite in the extreme to actually accuse another of having a BL to his/her face. The term is used more in jest - even though it does have a tiny little "stinger" to it. ;D
Two other multi-syllabic German compound nouns have been quoted in German:
(1) Fingerspitzengefühl ,
Taken separately, 'Finger' = finger; 'Fingerspitze' = finger tips; 'Gefühl' = feeling.
More or less what we might express as "I can feel it in my bones." Bones vs. fingertips as prognosticators :D
(2) Schadenfreude (the "eu" is pronounced as "oy").
Taken separately, 'Schaden' = damage, 'Harm'; 'Freude' = joy, pleasure.
However, the combined word expresses an all too human (albeit mean) feeling, namely the feeling of glee at the misfortune of another.
The late eminent linguist and NYT language maven William Safire has quoted both (1) and (2) in German in his NYT Sunday Magazine columns - several times over the years, because there is no precise English equivalent. The above definition of 'Schadenfreude' is Bill Safire's.
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Traude: What fun to come in and find your 'linguistic tidbits' - I'm happy to say that the sense I took from Bildungslucke was that of jest. It equates well with the Aussie sense of humour which always carries , if not a sting then at least a tiny nip, with it.
I don't often read the NYT but perhaps I should if only for Safire...
Fingerspitzengfuhl is new to me but I am familiar with Schadenfreude if not with Safire's exact interpretation - rest assured I would never be guilty of such a feeling :D :D
Thanks Traude You've made my day and may now picture me sallying forth to meet some friends for coffee and laying them in the aisles with my newly acquired terminology. Can't wait !
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Thank you, Gumtree ! :)
The challenge
Author: I was a novelist, biographer, essayist, journalist. I corresponded with the literary illuminati of my era.
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Day Two of Challenge
Author : novelist, biographer, essayist, journalist, corresponded with the literati of the time,
the 20th century.
The novels are based on the author's own experiences.
Guess ahead!
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essayist, journalist etc brings George Orwell to mind -
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Yes, except Orwell didn't write any biographies.
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Sorry, not Orwell
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Tom Wolf?
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Hemingway?
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I don't think Hemingway did biographies either....
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So far no resonance, sorry. So let's lean in closer.
Day 3
The novels best reveal the author's keen sense of observation and often devastating wit.
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My next guess was going to be Truman Capote, but I don't think he was known for his "devastating wit". Thinking cap back on.
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Evelyn Waugh?
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How about P.G.Wodehouse?
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PatH and roshanarose, you're both on the right track.
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My sincere apologies to those concerned :
In my haste to leave for an appointment earlier today I mistakenly put down Roshanarose's name. I am very sorry. The last answer was posted by Jude.
Please forgive my mistake.
As if I hadn't learned long ago that haste makes waste ;D ...
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Good grief! A cross between Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse. I'd say Anthony Powell or Kingsley Amis, but I don't think either of them wrote biographies.
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Sorry, Pat. Not Wodehouse, Powell, nor Kingley Amis.
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Day 3
You are tantalizingly close. The following clue might do it.
The author was from a socially prominent, "tweedy" family.
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Another necessary mea culpa : it's day 4.
To make up for my oversight I'd like to add another adjective to today's clue : aristocratic.
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I've got to know who that is. I'll try to get my brain going. ???
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Somerset Maughn?
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Gaaaahhh! Everyone I think of comes up a bit short on one or another aspect.
Antonia Fraser?
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Traude, the conversation about Bildungsluecke and Fingerspitzengefuehl reminds me of a term my husband liked: Hosenselbstaendigkeitgefuehl--the confidence that your trousers are not going to fall down. Is this for real, or was it a joke? (Sorry about the "e"s--I'm too lazy to figure out how to do umlauts.) One thing I particularly like about German is the ability to make these complex nouns that then take on their own rich meaning.
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Regrettably, we're not there yet. Tomorrow's clue will make it clear, I'll make sure.
PatH, I chuckled when I read your post. It is a perfectly fine formulation, but I've never heard the term before. It may be an inside or an insider joke.
Yes, great fun can be had with those multi-syllabic German words. As children we played games at adding to them, and whoever came up with the longest word was the winner. There's no end to new formulations! A while ago I was sent a list with surprising and funny terms. True to form, I printed the list. Now cannot find. Oh my.
That such a list would be compiled surprised me very much because the Germans have adopted and are using any number of English words every day without thinking twice - and not only in re computer lingo, which is almost a necessity these days.
The French, on the other hand, are bitterly opposed to what they call "Franglais".
I know we are off topic, but since we are here, may I mention an interesting long, important word of fairly recent coinage ?
Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Two nouns, [/i] Vergangenheit = the past, Bewältigung = the mastering of, or coping with, the past. The 's' is for linkage of the two. There is a world of meanig in this one word.
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Winston Churchill was "tweedy and aristocratic" but I don't think he wrote novels.
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Graham Greene's family were rather well-to-do and socially prominent - but I doubt they were aristocratic. And I don't think Greene wrote biographies.
I'm just groping in the dark.
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Hood morning!
Thank you for still being with me, what with my "misidentification" of posters and the "error" of the date, whch was not. Arrrrrg
We began on Jul 29th and this is Day 4, August 1.
New clues.
The author was the eldest in a large eccentric family. The children were home-schooled and left pretty much to their own devices. Early on they sensed that Mother was distant and Father had an erratic temper. They gave their parents and each other nicknames that stuck. It was not an unhappy childhood.
But in adolescence they had different reactions to the threatening winds of war and developed radically different political loyalties, causing the rupture of the family fabric and permanent estrangement.
The author became popular first for her essays and for her semi-autobiographical novels, none of which we have read in this circle. However, in 2001 we had a discussion of a non-fiction story about the notorious family and its members.
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One of the Mitford sisters by any chance?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
I think Roshanarose beat me to it. My guess is Nancy.
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You've got to be right, Roshanarose and Gumtree.
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Wonderful, we have two winners ! Thank you, Roshanarose and Gumtree.
PatH, you were so close with your guess of Evelyn Waugh.
My clues, as you saw, pertained exclusively to the prolific author, Nancy Mitford, none were about her work (because that might have taken too long). Most popular among Nancy Mitford's satirical, semi-autobiographical novels are The Pursuit of Love and its sequel, Love in a Cold Climate.
From her fiction -- which V.S. Pritchett hailed as "helping to begin an aristocratic revival of English literature" -- Nancy Mitford "brought a new talent to the study of history" (according to Louis Achincloss) in her finely observed histories of Madame de Pompadour; The Sun King; Voltaire in Love; and Frederic The Great.
She had a home in France for many years and died in Versailles at 68, childless. On the subject of children she said : "I love children, especially when they cry, for someone will take them away ..." Hmmmmm
The non fiction book to which I referred in my earlier post today is The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell.
There were six sisters in that large family and one brother, who - at 10 or 11 - was sent to boarding school and died in Burma in the last days of the war.
Nancy's younger sister Jessica (known as Decca), an avowed Communist, also turned to writing, went to live in America and wrote inter alia The American Way of Death and the memoir Daughters and Rebels.
There'd be so much more to say about sisters Unity and the spectacularly beautiful Diana, both of whom came under the spell of Hitler --- but this is not the time or place. So I'll stop.
Thank you for being here.
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Thank You Straudetwo for the opportunity.
Oh well - Off I go to reacquaint myself with my chosen book.
Life is a funny old duck. Tomorrow I am having lunch with my beautiful daughter and I had promised her that I would lend her "the chosen book" as she is also a fan of the author. She can have it after I have finished - again!
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Good one Roshanarose - Looks like the Aussies have cornered the market ;D
Looking forward to your quiz...
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Traude - Aha! Amazing to find someone these days who has read V.S Pritchett. I first read him aeons ago when I was flirting with Prosper Merimee's Carmen and Henry Murger's Scene's de la Vie de Boheme and found his essaysvery helpful. Still do.
Thanks for the Mitford quiz - interesting choice of author...
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1. Author: Wrote a 3 volume work at the age of 15 which included one biography and several plays. (Unpublished)
Book/Character: I was very badly treated as a child by one parent. That parent wanted me to "harden" and thought I was too "weak and gentle". I was regularly beaten.
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roshanarose, I'm not ignoring you, just stumped so far. My first thought was David Copperfield, but I can't find that Dickens wrote so much stuff at such an early age.
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Christopher Paolini wrote his first Eragon when he was fifteen, but that series is a dragon fantasy. I'm sure he hasn't yet written a biography.
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And besides, Eragon was published (to incredible success).
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Oh, I thought she was saying the plays were unpublished.
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I haven't read Eragon yet. Is it good? Sorry, Pat H, not Dickens.
Author: Had formal training in History at a Teacher Training College.
Book/Character: As an "escape" from my parent's cruelty, I devoted myself to reading. I excelled in arts and languages.
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My thoughts wandered into the past when the curricula were based on the classics. But no guess has formed.
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Roshanarose I haven't read Eragon yet but I did see the movie. Not bad for a youngster. I'm not a big fantasy reader.
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I haven't read Eragon either, just glanced at it. It shows the author's youth, but it's supposed to be a good job.
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One of the Bronte sisters, maybe?
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Don't think any one of the Brontes could be said to have "Had formal training in History at a Teacher Training College" even though they worked at governesses - at least Anne & Charlotte did - and Branwell was a tutor.
This one has me puzzled.
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Not one of the Brontes.
Gum: Having you puzzled on this board is a change ;)
Author: Lives in Surrey, UK. When trying to convince publishers to publish a book at one time, the author submitted a large book 1024 pages long and single-spaced. However, the author was rejected because there was said to be a "world paper shortage".
Book/Character: I was sent away to stay with a very influential woman who became a maternal guiding light for me. During my stay I met one young woman of whom I was completely in awe, as her erudition outshone mine.
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Your Surrey hint ignite the Arthur Conan Doyle name in my mind. His home was there.
Is it so?
The character would be Sherlock Holmes
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Surrey - J.M. Barrie lived there - but I gather from the clues that the author is still living...
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Those clues ought to be dead giveaways. Why am I not getting it?
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An author who today lives in Surrey is Kevin Lewis. He was abused as a child.
His book"The Kid" deals with some of this experience.
He is published by Penguin Books.
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Re: Conan Doyle and Surrey.
The house in Surrey called "Undershaw" designed by Doyle himself is the place where he wrote "The Hound of the Baskerville" and other stories. There is a a group trying to preserve this place as a literary landmark.
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Hilaire Belloc studied History at one of the Oxford Colleges. Someone here (I think) mentioned his Cautionary Tales for Children some time back. Much of his work, however, was in poetry, essays, and non-fiction.
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Good guesses all. However, the author is still writing books. Will try to make it less cryptic here Pat H.
Author: This is her first historical novel. Up 'til now all her books have been historical biographies. The author is well known to an international audience, including USA where she toured in February 2009 to promote a book.
Book/Character: The erudite young woman I mentioned in my last post is actually a cousin of mine. So also is her half brother with whom I have a close relationship. This young man will leave me a magnificent legacy that will seal my fate.
(If I name any of these characters it will be a dead giveaway.)
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I think I split an infinitive in my last post. Eeeekkkk! :o
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Just to make something clear. The individuals in the novel are real people.
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It's an historical novel, so I'm guessing these characters are members of a royal family. Trying to think which one fits.
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roshanarose: didn't yopur parents tell you to never split an infinative? ;)
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I think I know who it is, but I had to look her up to check to see if she wrote any fiction so I am keeping "mum". If it is who I think it is, we have run across her when we discussed Richard III.
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Aaaarrrggghhh!
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JoanK: I learned about splitting infinitives at Uni, but before then I had had a lesson from William Shatner from Star Trek. "To fearlessly go where no man has been before". Like licking a knife, it makes me shudder when I see a split infinitive. Social conditioning is a powerful thing, as are TV programs.
Yes. They are members of a royal family.
I sense that Frybabe knows my author and her novel.
Author: Is very active in the promotion of English, particularly Tudor, history. Has been and continues to be a tour leader of historical tours in and around London. The author, before writing this novel, wrote many historical biographies.
Book/Character: I am forced into an arranged marriage. I despise my husband. Ultimately, my husband meets the same fate as I.
Events move quickly after my marriage. My male cousin dies naming me as his "heir". I am to be Queen.
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"To boldly split infinitives where no man has split before"
I too cringe at split infinitives.
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Good one Pat. You made me laugh.
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Could this writer be Elizabeth Norton?
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I'm sorry Jude, but no.
This will be my last set of clues.
Author: She has written biographies of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. This book is about a character who knew both Henry VIII (she was his great-niece) and Elizabeth I (she was her cousin) and Edward (Henry's son) from whom she inherited the throne of England.
Book/Character: I never wanted to be Queen. It was the ambitions on those around me who forced me into becoming Queen. Particularly, my father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland, whose greedy ambition brought about my downfall and the deaths of many. Northumberland stirred up the populace and the court by declaring that it would be unwise if the monarchy fell into the hands of a Catholic, and that I was a devout Protestant. He didn't say, of course, that as I am married to his son that I would be easily malleable. I think he hopes to eventually put his son on the throne in my stead. England had never had a woman as monarch before, except for Matilda, who ruled for a very short time.
When my great-uncle died he had made it clear that the line of succession was to be Edward first; Mary second; and Elizabeth third. His orders were actually made into an Act of Parliament. When the second in line learned that I was to become Queen she raised and army and marched on London. My father-in-law, my husband and I were all sent to the Tower under orders from Mary that we should be beheaded as traitors to the realm. Mary felt guilty and decided that I should not die, on the condition that I converted to Catholicism. I refused. She was then convinced by her advisors that it would be dangerous for the future of the monarchy, if I should be allowed to live.
On 12 February, 1554, I went to the block on the Tower Green at the age of 16. I had ruled England for 9 days. The executioner used a sword, not an axe.
Now all you have to do is get the name of the author and the book/character right. Good Luck!
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I haven't read the book but I guess it's about Lady Jane Grey - I was going to suggest the author as Phillipa Gregory but I have the idea that she lives in the north of England - Yorkshire perhaps, so it can't be her as the author we want lives in Sussex.
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For a fleeting minute I thought of Lady Antonia Fraser, who wrote wonderful biographies of British and other monarchs in Erope, among them one about Henry VIII and his six wives.
But from Gumtree's post I gather that is the wrong track :(.
Moreover, I'm not sure Antonia started writing at ag 15. And she had six children with her first husband ...
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Is the author Alison Weir?
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I hope your are right, JudeS. That's who I came up with. We talked about some of her writings about the War of the Roses in our Richard III discussion. I didn't know she had started writing historical fiction until I looked up her bibliography.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Is the character Lady Jane Grey?
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Sounds right, JudeS. Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey. Is that what you came up with?
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Antonia Frazer also wrote detective stories.
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Congratulations to Gumtree on naming the character: Lady Jane Grey
Congratulations to Jude on naming the author: Alison Weir
Frybabe is correct - the title of the book is "Innocent Traitor".
Well done all!
I have read Antonia Fraser's biography of Mary Queen of Scots. Fraser is a consummate biographer, but Weir is also. Have a look at her books.
May I suggest Jude be the next "quizzer"? If Gumtree is OK with that. As I understand it frybabe had already looked up the details. If I am wrong, you should work it out between you three who has next "go".
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I'll be delighted if either Jude or Frybabe does the next quiz - I only got the character after the clues gave her to me on a plate. :D
Thanks Roshanarose - good quiz - took me out of my comfort zone a bit.
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Ok, I'll give it a whirl but don't expect such an erudite, historical background as the last quiz.
Give me a day to prepare . I'll put the first clue up this evening.
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Thanks Gumtree and Jude.
Good luck Jude!
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The Author was born with a hip injury and a later childhood accident left him\her lame for a number of years . This gave the writer a chance to become a life long reader and later a writer.
The character liked to eat and sleep and make mischief.
More clues tomorrow.
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There is an Australian autobio entitled "I can Jump Puddles" by Alan Marshall, but somehow I don't think it is the name of Jude's book.
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I think you'd be right there Roshanarose... Long time since I read that one. Time passes and things improve but those with disabilities are still fighting much the same prejudices as Alan Marshall did.
How about Sir Walter Scott ?
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Sounds like the character is either a child or an animal.
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The author is not Alan Marshall or Walter Scott. Wrong ballpark.
Joan K. You wrote sounds like an animal or a child. This may be right ballpark.
The author worked as a country schoolteacher for ten years. Then began writing.
The character was the subject of three movies:One in German, One in Swedish and one in Japaneses.
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Good grief!
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And the movie was NOT done in English? hmmmmm!
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Good grief! is right Pat. Japanese, hmmmm, I can only think of Godzilla!
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This is difficult! No idea on the movie.
An author who had a bed-ridden childhood makes me think of Robert L. Stevenson,
and Child's Garden of Verses could not be a movie. Cannot recall his novels ...
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Mippy: Stevensons novel was "Treasure Island" and the movie was indeed done in English. Good guess.
Perhaps these next clues will help:
The Author's first book was written at age 33. The first chapter was sent to a Literary Magazine and won first prize. A publishing house bought the rights to the book and paid her\him enough to let the author become a full time writer. The writer wrote in a romantic and imaginative manner about the people and landscapes of her\his country.
The character goes on a journey all over all his country. His mode of transportation was very original and is currently pictured on one of his country's banknotes.
one of his country's banknotes.
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The character sounds like Sancho Panza on his donkey.
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Seems you are having trouble with the author and one of her books. hope this hint works for you.
Author received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Many Silent Movies were based on the writers books. Greta Garbo starred in one.
Now if you know the book this is a giveaway.
The character is turned into an Elf by an angry Tomte.
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Aha! I suddenly remembered.
The author is Selma Lagerlőf. The book is Die wunderbare Reise des kleinen Nils Holgersson, which I read in German ages ago and had almost forgotten.
Years later I read Gősta Berling, the work for which she was awarded the Nobel.
I never saw the movie with Greta Garbo.
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Hurray Traude!!!
Yes, yes.
Not only did Lagerloff win the Noble Prize (in 1909) but one of my favorite authors of all time, himself a Nobel Prize winner, Kensaboro Oe , say in his speech to the academy that reading and rereading Selma Lagerloff made him the Author he is today.
I too loved Nils and his goose and read and reread it. However unlike Oe, I won no Nobel Prize.
Nils and his Goose are on the Swedish 20 Kroner Note. The Tomte, is a Swedish troll who shrunk Nils and sent him on his way. The book is used till this day to teach Swedish children about the geography of their country.Lagerloff herself was an amazing person, very forward for her time. She lived from 1858 till 1940.
Among other, things she saved Nelly Sachs , a wonderful German Jewish Poet, from the hands of the Nazis by providing her with a Swedish Visa.
When she met and fell in love with another Swedish female writer, they became lifelong companions and lived openly as a couple.
Though her books were romantic and fantasy the underling theme was exploring the differences between Christian and Socialist Morals.
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Jude, thank you for telling us about Lagerlőf's later years. I am glad she was happy. The adventures of little Nils Holgersson are among my own favorites, and they certainly gave wings to my own imagination!
I read other Scandinavian authors, too : Sigrid Undset for one, also a Nobel prize winner, and her monumental trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter , about life in Sweden in the middle ages.
She was born in Denmark and grew up in Norway. She was one of Hitler's early outspoken critics and her books were "forbidden" in Germany. My father hada a copy in the library which I read. When the Germans invaded Norway in 1940, Undset fled to the United States and returned after the war. She lived in Rome for some time, and she too (like Miuriel Sparks for example) converted to Catholicism.
This challenge was special : it reopened a forgotten drawer of my memory. Thank you.
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Not sure who writes up the list at top of page, but my name as challenger has been omitted.
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Not sure who writes up the list at top of page, but my name as challenger has been omitted.
Thanks for catching that, roshanarose. I see I left off JudeS, too. It's fixed now.
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A newcomer to this game, I have a twofold question regarding the list, specifically the name of the participant appearing next to author and work.
(i) Is the person named the creator of the challenge or the one who solved it ?
(ii) The most recent challenge came from Jude, the answer came from me. Is it my turn now to continue ?
Thank you
Traude
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Traude:
(i) The person is the challenger, i. e. the creator.
(ii) Yes, the solver creates the next challenge. In this game, you get punished for winning ;). If the solver feels unable to take a turn for some reason, they can ask for help, and usually someone else will come up with a challenge.
The list somehow got started with the challenger being named. What does everyone think? Is that fair enough, since the solver gets named as the next challenger? If you want both, I can add the extra names, but it might be confusing.
In Blanko, it got started the other way around--only the solver is named.
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Sounds good Pat.
Pat - I realise that "freedom of choice" reigns as to if and what each member of SeniorLearn contributes, but is it possible to promote "Author, Author" to the members who tend to frequent other discussions? Vice Versa, too, of course.
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PatH, far be it from me to suggest changes in the m.o. of something that has worked splendidly long before I arrived on the scene.
Still, with respect, in this particular case, both the initiator and the solver contribute to the resolution of the original question; they are complementary in that both are needed.
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Here's the new challenge.
1. The author came literally 'out of nowhere' and the book became the blockbuster of the
decade.
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Hi Traudee-
I think you have to give 2 clues each day. One for the Author and one for the character in the book you are proposing.
Two blockbusters that come to mind are "Gone With the Wind" and "Harry Potter". But without a clue about the character it would be impossible to guess which one.
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Samuel Butler's Erewhon (nowhere spelled backwards) comes to mind, but although it did well, I don't think it rose to blockbuster level.
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Thank you for setting me n the right track, Jude. Sorry.
The book's main character was a shrewd manipulator.
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Sounds a bit like Thackeray's Becky Sharp. But don't think Thackeray was a "bolt out of the blue" so to speak.
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2. The author went to astonishing lengths in the research for this book and would surely have been flattered to be compared with Thackeeray.
The character was a "status seeker" well before the term was coined.
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Sounds like Margeret Mitchell and Gone with the Wind to me. But someone guessed that.
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3. The novel sold 100,000 copies in the first week after release. It was praised by some for its relevance, but critics soon descended on it in droves.
The character was an opportunist, rather than a villain.
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Gaaaahhh!
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Hmmmmmmm? My brain is full of cotton wool this morning which is not helping. A clue as to approximately the time/setting of the book would help. Although my fuzzy thinking allows that it must be fairly recent to sell 100,000 copies in its first week.
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Although, that of course, does not help with the character's setting.
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Sounds like the character could be a politition ;D
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny 537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Thank you for still being here. I did not mean to make this nebulous.
4. The fifth draft of the manuscript was accepted. Still too long, it was pared down to just under a thousand pages and became a blockbuster, as mentioned.
The book was banned in fourteen U.S. states (Massachusetts was first) "for its blatant sexual references" (all of which Boston enumerated and categorized).
Readers were undeterred : they made the book the bestseller of the decade. The heartthrobs of the era starred in the movie spectacular.
For the author his was the expected, fortuitous outcome of the teenage dream : to write a bestseller and become rich.
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Hi Traudee and all -
Why do I keep thinking of John Steinbeck's East of Eden
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Gumtree, not Steinbeck.
Here's another clue, one I'd thought of including in today's hints.
The novel is set in Restoration England and seen through the eyes of the precocious heroine, who aims for the top of the social ladderand succeeds.
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Lady Chatterley's Lover had a time of it with the censors in a number of countries. I never read it, so I don't know the time period in which it was set.
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Frybabe, not Lawrence, sorry.
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Restoration England - Charles II had a plethora of mistresses. Perhaps one of those? Maybe a "mattress of mistresses" is a better descriptor than "plethora". :o
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"A mattress of mistresses"--I like that. :)
Please, everyone, don't miss today's clues, which are just under the heading. (If I don't catch the start of a new page, I have to paste the heading into the first post on the page.)
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I've got it ! Restoration England gave it away...
Forever Amber - can't think of the author tho
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Hurrah! We have the book! Forever Amber, written in the Forties.
Now for the author.
5. The author's second book also became a commercial success. Though billed as a novel, it could be (and was) taken as a thinly veiled description of the author's own life, both before and after F.A.
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The Author was Kathleen Windsor.
Forever Amber is a book that passed around our class in Elementary school with certain pages marked out. That year we had a teacher who was in her own world so we got our first taste of "sexy" writing from that book. I never read the full book since we couldn't get it in the public library and in our world of that time no one bought books. The book we passed around came from one of the boys older sisters. He pinched it from her after overhearing her speak about it with her friends.
Ah, a little piece of Americana.
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Gumtree named the book yesterday: Forever Amber, and that effectively ended the challenge - except for the mention of the author's name, Kathleen Winsor. And with your indulgence, I'd like to elaborate.
In the mid-fifties in Washington, when my young family was absorbing myriad new impressions of our new country, I happened on Winsor's second book, Star Money, a fictionalized telling of Winsor's own deliberate labors to conceive and bring forth Forever Amber. At that time I knew nothing about Forever Amber or the movie-- but learned quickly.
For me, a fairly new immigrant, Star Money was an eye-opener, disturbing, ultimately appalling. Never before had I come across such naked hunger for money, fame, status; and the means and ruthlessness needed to get it. It all worked for Winsor.
She got the money and fame she craved, and then some: She became Artie Shaw's sixth wife a few days after divorcing her college sweetheart, who had served in the Marines for five years in WW II. Only a few years earlier, Artie had scolded his then wife Ava Gardner "for reading such trash" (!)
Winsor wrote five more books with exotic or historic backgrounds; none had the impact of Forever Amber or Star Money.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Thank you for your guesses and for this forum.
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That was a good one, Amber. Goody-two-shoes me never read it, but I knew it was out there.
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I never read it either. I bet it would seem pretty tame now.
Good quiz, Traude, I was close to getting it, but fortunately Gumtree got there first.
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Thanks for that quiz Straude. I remember seeing that book on my mother's bedside table and asking if I could read it. She said - NO!. I still haven't read it. I think the first racy book I read was "Dr No" by Ian Fleming. At least I thought it was racy - I was about 11. I read it under the bedclothes by torchlight, an activity with which I am sure many can relate.
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I read it under the bedclothes by torchlight, an activity with which I am sure many can relate.
Indeed I can relate, though the issue was I was supposed to be asleep, and there was allegedly eyestrain from reading too much. Current thought is that you're not hurting your eyes by such activities, but since I've been incredibly nearsighted all my life, I'm not proof.
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Oh Lord! I've done it again - or half done it - does anyone else want to start the next quiz pleeeaaze!
Thanks Traude -that was a good one - tantalizing.
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Roshanarose,
I read it under the bedclothes by torchlight
Me too! ;D
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Gumtree, here is one if you haven't already thought of one. If you have, you can either trump mine, or hold yours until you guess mine, then use it.
Author: I had an extravagant lifestyle.
Character: my touchy pride both made me enemies and won me some stalwart friends.
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PatH - I love you - thanks for taking the initiative. I'm still tied to my ophthalmology guy so will happily forgo this turn - maybe I can step in another time when no one wants to.
Thanks bigtime Pat.
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The Three Musketeers?
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Good grief!
A hole in one! Who's the character?
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I was right?!? Wow! I assume it's D'artignon, although it could be any of the four: Athos, Porthos and Artemis (is that right? It's been decades since I read it.)
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Yes, It's Dartagnan. Tag, you're it.
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Gosh Joan. You must be psychic, or better still, very well read. ;)
Congratulations.
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Yep, she's well read - but maybe the fact that Pat and Joan are twins had something to do with it. More things between heaven and earth sort of thing...
Terrific JoanK
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Hurray for the Amazing Twins ~ JoanK and PatH !
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Gulp! OK, here goes:
Author and book: although the author lived a long life, the book was written in youth.
Character: only rock-hard determination allowed me to succeed,
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I got the last because I tried to reread The Three Musketeers a few years ago, and was struck by the rediculous prickiliness of Dartagnon. It seemed so silly to me, I abandoned the book.
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The version of The Three Musketeers I read was a children/young adult version. That means it was "cleaned up" a bit.
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I got the last because I tried to reread The Three Musketeers a few years ago, and was struck by the rediculous prickiliness of Dartagnon. It seemed so silly to me, I abandoned the book.
It's interesting that put you off, Joan, because when I reread the book 18 years ago I found this side amusing. It's pretty dysfunctional to have the King's Guards killing each other off even in peacetime, but it all fits into a consistent, picturesque whole. At one point the musketeers are debating some course of action and D'Artagnan's lackey says (not a quote) better let me do it, since a lackey doesn't have to worry about honor.
Frybabe, our family read the unedited version aloud--not sure when, maybe junior high or younger. There's a lot of implied sex in it too, but it all sailed over our heads and did us no harm.
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I reread a lot of Alexandre Dumasperein the mid 1990s along with others like Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac and Emile Zola. I just wanted to see if their work held up. It does!
One has to remember the period in which it was written and the effects of translation on all aspects of the writing especially the humour. Another thing to be borne in mind is the development of the novel up to that time and what authors were trying to do with the genre - expectations of their reading public was also important. Happily authors are still attempting 'novel' ways to tell a story and the expectations of the reading public is as varied as there are people on the planet.
Dumas' son wrote the timeless Carmen - so true and poignant today.
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hERE'S A NEW SET OF CLUES.
AUTHOR AND BOOK: although the author lived a long life, the book was written in youth.
AUTHOR: was famous for an acomplishment other than writing books.
BOOK: Although listed by The NY Public library as one of the most influential books of the last century, it was not as popular as the later movie was
CHARACTER: only rock-hard determination allowed me to succeed.
I was devoted to the main character in the book.
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Well, now we know that the character isn't the main character. ???
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Notice, I added to one of my clues above:
BOOK: Although listed by The NY Public library as one of the most influential books of the last century, it was not as popular as the later movie was.
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Are we to understand then that there is more than one main character, or is the last line a parenthetical, personal remark ? ::)
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We not only pick a particular author and book, we pick, and give clues for a particular character IN the book. That gives more clues to work with. The character that I chose is not the main character of the book, although the same cannot be said of the movie (extra hint)..
OK, this should get you started:
AUTHOR AND BOOK: although the author lived a long life, the book was written in youth.
AUTHOR: was famous for an acomplishment other than writing books.
My most astonishing accomplishments occurred in my childhood.
BOOK: Although listed by The NY Public library as one of the most influential books of the last century, it was not as popular as the later movie was.
The book is an autobiography.
CHARACTER: only rock-hard determination allowed me to succeed.
I was devoted to the main character in the book.
Although I am not the subject of the autobiography, without me, the book would never have been written.
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No guesses this morning!! Am I makiing this too hard? Some of you may not realize that SHE (another hint) wrote an autobiography, but I'll bet you have all either seen the movie, or know her story from elsewhere.
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More hints: concentrate on the movie:
In the movie, Patty Duke played the author/ subject of the autobiography, and won an Oscar. The woman who played the character also won an oscar.
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JoanK, every new challenge is a stab into the dark, involves anxiety and trepidation.
Right or wrong, here's mine.
Book author : Helen Keller
Movie : The Miracle Worker
Honored : Patty Duke and Ann Bancroft (unforgettable)
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HOORAH!
Helen Keller's autobiography, "The Story of My Life".
She wrote it while she was in college; it portrays her journey to being able to communicate. She went on from there to finish college, have a long career of public speaking, and live until 80.
And the character of course is Anne Sullivan, the incredible educator who taught her.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
My epiphany came when Joan K gave Patty Duke's name. The break-through scene at the water pump in the movie is etched in my mind. It was a miracle.
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I don't think anyone who saw that scene will ever forget it!
I actually saw a woman who must have had similar disabilities. I was riding the subway, when a beautiful young woman, obviously, blind got on, accompanied by two young men who were helping her. They all sat. The men appeared to be deaf, they were "talking" in sign language. Then one would turn, and sign to the woman on her palm, just as Sullivan did to Keller.
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OK, Traude; you're it!
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Thank you, JoanK. Will have something ready tomorrow.
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Challenge
The author was a renowned novelist, essayist and critic associated with the Realism movement.
The novel is focused on relationships and conflicts. Two characters stand out from the rest.
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2.
The novel was first published in serial form and based on a story told to the author by a friend.
It became a play and, eventually, a film.
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I am thinking D.H. Lawrence "Women in Love".
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Roshanarose, sorry, not Women in Love.
Both the novel and its author antedate Lawrence by a few decades.
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3.
The author was a prodigious writer and literary critic.
His fiction work has been compared to impressionist painting.
The characters in this novel display traits as old as mankind : among them greed, betrayal, and cruelty.
The movie garnered seven Academy Awards.
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Doesn't really fit, but when you said "impressionist painting", I thought of James Joyce.
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JoanK, sorry, not James Joyce. Joyce was from the era of Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolfe.
The author we are looking for here was older.
In fact, "our" author published the novel in question around the time Virginia Woolfe was born.
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straude - I am a little confused here. You say the author and novel "antedate" D H Lawrence by a couple of decades, but Lawrence was born around the same time as Virginia Woolfe, and you are saying that the author is "older" than Woolfe. Did you mean "predate"? I am using the example that "antebellum" means after the war.
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Woolf was born around 1882 ? which gets us into the era. George Eliot died in 1880 ? or thereabouts so don't suppose it was her. There were so many realist novelists active all over the place in that period - are we talking English, American or European ?
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Gumtree, good to see you.
Your linguistic question hinges on antedate and is easy to solve.
The verb antedate is based on the Latin adverb ante = before.
Hence antedate and predate are synonymous.
Similarly, antebellum means before the Civil War.
After the Civil War would be postbellum.
Other examples with "ante" are antecedent and antechamber.
I am anxious to make sure everything is clear before continuing with the next hint.
Thank you
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Thanks Traude - As usual your erudite linguistic note leaves no doubt on the issue - but I fear there is a question of mistaken identity - it was Roshanarose who raised the matter.
I'm still no closer to the answer to this quiz!
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"Serial form" makes me think of Dickens. was he that late?
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Gumtree and Roshanarose, my apologies.
To blame is my worsening eyesight caused by macular degeneration. It is being checked frequently. I read very carefully, but sometimes do not see the first and/or the last letters of a word and must backtrack. In this case, however, I should have been more attentive to senders' names. I am sorry.
Back soon with a new clue.
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4. The author emphasized the structural importance of the point(s) of view in fiction.
The protagonists in the novel in question demonstrate that the dichotomy between innocence and experience can lead to irreparable conflict.
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JoanK, sorry, not Dickens.
But here's the answer to Gumtree's question in # 972. The author was American.
This is bound to help.
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This is a really good quiz. Too bad I'm stumped.
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I am too PatH - stumped that is.
Traude - I understand treatment for macular degeneration is improving rapidly these days and I'm sure you're in good hands in that respect.
The fact of it being an American Author doesn't help me one bit- 19C American contains some of the many gaps in my reading ...
I feel I should know this - late 19thC - realist - point of view - impressionist - published in serial form - tale based on a story told to author by a friend.... Grrr..oan - What is it???
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The only American that keeps running through my head is Henry James. So I am putting his name out there just to get it out of my head.
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And you could well be right -if so, would the book be Washington Square ?
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Thank you for still being here. I had no intention to make this into a Gordian knot :'(
But Frybabe got it!! es, the author is Henry James, born in America, an expat like Edith Wharton. He lived in Europe for the last forty years of his life and became a British subject one year before his death.
What remains to be determined is the novel. Here is another clue.
5. The dynamics of power between the two main characters is uneven. One is a tyrant, the other the victim. There's a collision of wills and the balance is reversed.
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Straude - Please forgive me. I shouldn't be such a smarta##. Thanks for clearing up that one for me.
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There are at least four of James's novels that made it to the movies that I know about, but I didn't think any of them got that many awards.
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Roshanarose, please don't be concerned. Everything is fine.
Frybabe, we are close. The next clue will do it.
6. A plain, shy girl clashes with her domineering, sardonic father when he stops her from her one chance at happiness. She never forgives him, even after finding out that his judgment of her suitor was accurate. The suitor returns after the father's death, and she is prepared.
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Traude: I think you missed my post #1516
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Gumtree, oh my word! I swear I did not see the post, or else I would not have gone on.
I am so very sorry. And mortified.
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it's the time to end this literary puzzling effort properly.
It was fun for me, and I can only hope you have forgiven me for my visual deficiencies, and for delaying the proper announcement of the puzzle solvers. Thank you for your great sleuthing.
I've been in this circle for only a short time and find it refreshing and rewarding. Every new challenge is a shot in the dark - so to speak. So it is remarkable, even wondrous, how quickly the responses produce the solution.
To conclude -
Henry James lived on Washington Square in his youth.
The story is true.
A play was staged in 1947, two years before the movie, The Heiress.
Wendy Hiller appeared on Broadway and Peggy Ashcroft in London.
Olivia de Havilland is unforgettable as Catherine in the 1949 film, which also starred Ralph Richardson as the father, and Montgomery Clift in the role of laid-back, persistent fortune hunter.
It was recently rerun on TV and my inspiration for this last challenge.
A remake of the film (same title) was made in 1961 by Polish producer/film maker Agnieszka Holland with Jennifer Jason Leigh as Catherine, Albert Finney as her father, and Ben Chaplin as the hapless fortune hunter, Morris Townsend. No other salient facts beyond these statistics, were found.
Thanks again, and mille pardons for any (missed) typos.
Traude
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Traude - Thanks for another great quiz - Pl...eeeease don't apologise for anything - your clues were absolutely spot on - I only came up with the title after Frybabe suggested Henry James - then it fell into place.
Frybabe - I'm happy if you'd like to do the honours for the next quiz - I feel that I stole your thunder...
Otherwise I'll rack my brains for a suitable subject - unless anyone else would care to take up the slack.
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Well, I'll tell you what Gum, if I thought I was right, I would have kept my mouth shut. With school and my homework, I will be a little slow getting back to people. I might be able to get something together for tomorrow night or Thursday.
Thanks for the quiz, Traude. I've never read James, but heard plenty about him and his novels. Maybe one of them is worth putting up for discussion in future??? The four books I referred to earlier are Washington Square, Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, and The Portrait of a Lady. I have since learned that there are others that made it to the movies. The Turn of the Screw was also made into an opera. I knew that, but didn't know that Benjamin Britton composed it.
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Traude, you may be new to this game, but you have quickly mastered the trick of giving clues that should give it away but don't. That was an excellent game.
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Onya, Traude :)
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Frybabe Understood -My trouble is that I never learn to keep my mouth shut - I just get carried away with the spirit of the game...
I've got a subject now and just need a little time to prepare a clue or two to get us you started again. Hope to put it up before I go to bed tonight. It should be well over and finished with before Latin starts again next week.
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I'm grateful.
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Well here goes :
AUTHOR: I wrote short stories, a novel, non fiction work, essays, filmscripts and of course my own autobiography however I am chiefly regarded as one of the leading playwrights of my time.
PLAY/CHARACTER: This play is perhaps the most popular and enduring of my author's work.
I am an ordinary man, fairly inarticulate and perhaps a little unimaginative - never quite able to express my real thoughts and feelings. I guess I have never quite discovered just who I am.
I expect a flurry of correct answers by tomorrow = G'nite all :)
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" A flurry of correct answers ... "
Well, that might be a bit easier if we knew whether the author is still with us.
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Flurry indeed--Gumtree, you're a starry-eyed optimist. Anyway, we're not supposed to get it right off.
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"Goodbye Mr Chips"?
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Traude: No, our author lived a long and productive life but sadly has now left us.
PatH You're right about the optimism - I live in hope.
Roshanarose No, not Mr Chips - this one is a PLAY
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AUTHOR:1. I wrote short stories, a novel, non fiction work, essays, filmscripts and of course my own autobiography however I am chiefly regarded as one of the leading playwrights of my time.
2. My life and work placed me inthe limelight and for decades I moved among some of the great figures on the world scene.
I have had a lifelong commitment to human rights and worked to alleviate the suffering of writers who were victims of repressive regimes.
PLAY: 1.This play is perhaps the most popular and enduring of my author's work.
2. This play is generally considered to be the author's masterpiece. It won the Pulitzer and did a lot to consolidate his reputation as a significant dramatist.
CHARACTER: 1. I am an ordinary man, fairly inarticulate and perhaps a little unimaginative - never quite able to express my real thoughts and feelings. I guess I have never quite discovered just who I am.
2. My life and my family have become hollow and false by the very things I need to live by in order to survive. Success is very important to me but yet eludes me.
Haven't yet given up hope of a 'flurry' - C'mon, it's easy.
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ROSE: I'll bet you're right!!
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re: Washington Square
What a coincidence. I discovered one of the channels was running it last night, so I watched. I really loved the women's costumes. Now I am going to have to read the book. Project Gutenberg has James's books and stories listed, so I don't have to go find a book.
I am afraid to hazard a guess on this one, although I have someone and his play in mind. The playwright I have in mind died just five years ago.
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Regarding the new challenge: my first thought yesterday was of Clifford Odets, but then we don't know whether we are looking for an American. Also, I'm not satisfied he "matches" all the clues. Back to puzzling.
Re Washington Square: Frybabe, I'm glad you saw The Heiress. The Oscar recipients all did a magnificent job, especially Olivia de Havilland IMHO. Edith Head was awarded an Oscar for designing those gorgeous costumes.
For the sake of accuracy, there were four Oscars (not 7) and seven Nominations.
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Death of a Salesman
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Can't recall who the playwright is. Arthur Miller?
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That's who I had in mind Roshanarose.
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Traude - no, not Clifford Odets but I did consider him as a subject.
YIPPEE! HOORAY! BINGO!
ROSHANAROSE HAS IT - YOU LITTLE BEWDY !
Glad you got it so quickly.
Arthur Miller and Salesman are so well known that they're pretty hard to disguise. To my mind Miller wrote a couple of THE best modern tragedies with Salesman and The Crucible. His essay on the tragic form is well worth the read.
I'm so tempted to get Washington Square down from the shelves and read it again - but I feel I need to compose myself in order to read James.
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Wonderful ! Well done, Roshanarose !
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GUM: that was a wonderful description of Willie Loman -- I like Miller a lot, too.
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Oh Gosh! Thanks for the very sound Congratulations, Gum. Thanks others, too :)
Like you said about Lady Jane Grey, you handed me the clues on a platter. "The Crucible" is a true work of art. I love Miller. I think Dustin Hoffman was in the movie of the play "Death of a Salesman". To me he seemed just right.
Please give me a day or two. I have in mind a biography, but need to streamline it a bit.
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Yes I prefer Crucible to Salesman but it's comparing apples and oranges - both are truly superb and tragic in every sense of the word.
They also deal with a man's need to maintain his own 'good name' and the respect of his neighbours which was an issue close to Millers heart.
The Dustin Hoffman film version of Salesman was exceptional but so were the films by Lee J Cobb and Frederic March - doesn't get any better than that.
Daniel Day Lewis did a fairly recent film of The Crucible and I seem to remember one with Christopher Plummer - or maybe Paul Schofield.
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Gumtree, the choice of Arthur Miller was inspired. What riches we share!
i never saw Frederic March in Death of a Salesman but at some point I did see Lee J. Cobb in the role of Willy Loman. I remerber reading that Arthur Miller wrote the play in 1949 for Lee J. Cobb, who starred in it on Broadway.
Cobb was a magnificent, versatile actor, credible in every role he played, from the serious to the comedic. For example, he was one of the unnamed jurors in the movie 12 Angry Men, a classic with Henry Fonda, and equally persuasive (wonderful, in fact) as Frank Sinatra's father in Come Blow your Horn.And that goes also for Molly Picon as Sinatra's mother.
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Daniel Day-Lewis is a very accomplished actor imho. From the boy in "My Left Foot" to the charismatic and athletic Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans" Day-Lewis is right up there with the best of them. I am sure you know that he is married to Rebecca Miller, Arthur's daughter.
I am scuffling around in my piles of history books. Aha ... my eye has alighted on the very one I am going to use to put my challenge together. A hint already.
Today my youngest grandson had his first Holy Communion. All the beautiful little children waiting for God's hand. It was a big day. Harry was dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit with a dove gray shirt and satin tie.... he is 9. I told him that if he didn't grow anymore he could wear it to his wedding. He thought that was a hoot. Ahhhh ... the gift of children.
I gave Harry a book about Ancient Greek for his Communion and taught him to say "Thank You" in Greek. The word Eucharist was on the front cover of our singing book for the event and he enjoyed the connection I told him between the word in English and its meaning in Greek. I will make a Greek scholar of him yet 8)
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Gumtree, the choice of Arthur Miller was inspired. What riches we share!
Cobb was a magnificent, versatile actor, credible in every role he played, from the serious to the comedic.
Traude Thank you. Riches indeed.
I think I became a lifelong fan of Lee J Cobb after seeing him in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse sometime in the early 1960s. I must see if that's on DVD these days.
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GUM: that was a wonderful description of Willie Loman -- I like Miller a lot, too.
JoanK: Willie is heartbreaking. I've been a fan of Miller almost ever since he hit his straps. He is so insightful. His so-called 'lesser' plays have plenty to say too.
Roshanarose Sounds like a lovely day with your Grandson. A memory to be treasured.
I'm a fan of the Day-Lewises (father and son) and knew about Daniel and Rebecca Miller. The father, Cecil Day-Lewis was British Poet Laureate and also wrote mysteries under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake. He also translated Virgil - Aeneid and Georgics and I don't know what else. A talented family I believe.
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Author:
Our historian was born in Chaeronea, Boeotia in Greece c.AD45.
Character:
The protagonist is from Ancient Greek history. I won’t give a date yet, but see if you can identify him by his deeds. Don't be confused by the DOB of the historian, he was a secondary source.
His father was Athenian, his mother an alien. Although our protagonist was not pure blood Athenian this did not stop him from rising to the highest echelons of Greek government and politics.
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Well, I guess we all know who the historian was - now to think of the protagonist ...
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Yep! got the protagonist too :D- I'll keep my mouth shut this time.
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You're to smart for us, Gum.
I just bought an anthology of the Classical historians, but haven't read more than a few pages. Should I go look him up?
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A great challenge!
I have a clear idea of the author. But the protagonist is identified only by his parentage. His "deeds" are unspecified.
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Straude - Patience, my sweet. His deeds are coming. I couldn't tell u all of them in the first question. :-)
I thought you would get it Gum. I thoroughly enjoyed researching this one. Greece is my passion, as most know, but I always discover something new about my passion when researching. That makes me very happy.
Author:
Our author became recognised in Rome for his work and acquired equestrian status. Later in life under Trajan and Hadrian he received the honour of ornamenta consularia.
Our author is easier to read than the great histrionic sophists of the age, he projected a more "humane personality". In addition, he sought to expound the vices and virtues of his characters.
Character:
Our protagonist was rapidly becoming a tall poppy. The Athenians had their own unique way of dealing with tall poppies as our protagonist was to discover later at his cost.
When the next attack of the "enemy" seemed imminent the Athenians were still arguing about who would be the next Commander. Many men did not want the post as the enemy was too strong. Our protagonist, although not appreciated by his peers was admired by the populace. He was chosen to command.
Ground warfare was not achieving anything against the enemy and part of the reason our protagonist was chosen was his idea of using the Athenian naval fleet. Unfortunately, the citizens of Athens had to be evacuated as the enemy neared the city. The city was left defenceless. The enemy marched into Athens and destroyed as much as they could of the city.
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Roshanarose: Long ago I had a love affair with the ancient world - I'm surprised sometimes at the odd things I remember.
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The words "love affair" are particularly apt, Gum. I read about Greek myths and heroes at a very early age and it spurred me onto a career in Greekness. Every day in some way I reacquaint myself with my love affair. Unlike love affairs with men, mine with Greece is sustaining, satisfying, eternal and fascinating, I never feel used and there is no regret. I can look at pix I took in Greece and in an instant I am back there - no disappointment, just the purest love. "The Greeks have a word for it" ... and they certainly do in my case. The word is Ξενιτϊα - Xenitia, which means enforced exile from Greece. Those Greeks who were ostracised, like our protagonist here, never really recovered from their Xenitia.
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Ok, the author is Plutarch. I feel very stupid for not knowing who commanded the Athenians (I assume against Sparta) but it's been many decades since I read anything Greek. I also read Greek myths, heros and drama very young, but have gotten away from it.
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No, No Joan K. It is not a matter of stupidity, but merely that you "have gotten away from it", as you say with the history of Greece. I am probably being a bit selfish in my choice. My apologies for that.
The enemy is not Sparta in this case. This enemy came from overseas. The invasion was so serious that the Spartans actually helped Athens and the rest of Greece by fighting at Thermopylae.
It occurs to me that perhaps not everyone is interested in the Classics. But if time allows a look through Plutarch's "The Rise and Fall of Athens" may be fruitful.
You have guessed the author, JoanK. Well done.
Now the character/protagonist:
The protagonist was appointed Admiral of the fleet, and Commander of the Battle.
The protagonist and the Athenians were appalled to see the size of the enemy's fleet as it sailed towards Athens. The enemy had won at Thermopylae, a pass which was defended by Leonidas, commander of the Spartans. Leonidas had slowed their ground approach, but not stopped it, and the complete enemy fleet was on its way southward, to Athens.
The Athenians had earlier consulted the oracle of Delphi who, in her usual cryptic manner, advised the only thing that would save the Athenians was "A wall of wood". Our protagonist interpreted this omen as encouraging The wall of wood was the Athenian Navy.
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Roshanarose, It's been a long time since I studied Latin in the humanistic gymnasium, as it was then called. I loved Latin, as well as Greek and Roman mythology and the long history of Greece and Rome.
The limb of memory may not be as strong any more, but I will climb out on it any way, hoping not to fall off, and guess that the protagonist is Themistocles, an Athenian politician and general.
The Greek fleet was vastly outnumbered when the Persians attacked for a second time, but the Greeks emerged as victors in the battle of Salamis by virtue of a stratagem.
Plutarch left a large volume of work, among them Lives, and one of the lives he chronicled was that of Themistocles.
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Well, now I learned something already today, and it is only into the new day by a half hour. The only Plutarch I was aware of is his Lives. The only Athenian I can think of around the time of the conflicts with Sparta is Pericles.
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Pretty good guess Straudetwo from your "limb of memory". It is Themistocles. Well done!
Also well done to JoanK who climbed out on her "limb of memory" by recalling Plutarch.
The copy of Plutarch I have is a Penguin Classic translated by Ian Scott-Kilvery. His translation was first issued in 1960. I am reading the 1980 version. As to the title it is "The Rise and Fall of Athens" subtitled Nine Greek Lives. My apologies for any confusion.
Frybabe - It was not Pericles and the Spartans, but Themistocles and Persia.
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Terrific Traude You've done it again! Isn't it amazing the fruits our 'limbs of memory' yield however shaky they may be.
Roshanarose You gave me the answer for the historian with mention of Boeotia and the date AD45 which are indelibly imprinted on my mind. The protagonist was harder at that stage but then the words 'alien mother' worked in my subconscious so that some time later Thermistocles surfaced as well when his mother's epitaph floated across my mind -
Abrotonon is my name
A woman of Thrace, yet famous among the Greeks:
I was the mother of Themistocles
I remember my old Professor talking about the Battle of Salamis and his own impressions upon first looking down on the straits where the battle had been fought. Prof was visibly emotional as he talked about it - he sure knew how to teach and inspire his students.
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Oops! Ah, yes, the Battle of Salamis. I remember seeing something about that several years ago on TV. I'd have never thought of it.
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That was an excellent puzzle. (In spite of the fact I didn't get it.)
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PatH, I agree.
Roshanarose, thank you for this marvelous puzzle. How wonderful to detect a mutual passion for the ancient Greeks! You gave great clues. I didn't mean to "burst forth" so suddenly, but the pieces of the mosaic fit so perfectly.
After the Persian defeat at Salamis, the mighty king Xerxes never attacked Greece again. But if Greece had lost, its history and that of western civilization might have been quite different. Thus the spirit of Greece lives.
JoanK, would you like to post the new challenge? You named Plutarch, and I just had a turn. It's entirely up to ou, naturally.
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Thank you for your compliments.
Salamis as I said does not appear to have the mystique it had, but if one genuinely loves Greece and its history and leans to the intuitive, the "spirit of place" is everywhere. I felt it very strongly in Cape Sounion where Theseus' father waited for him to return from Crete; I felt it driving along a road looking down on the Gulf of Corinth, where in my mind's eye I saw a beautiful trireme with amber coloured sails; I felt it very strongly as I sat high in the theatre at Delphi and looked out across the Temple of Apollo; so many many places that are alive with atmosphere, mystique and magic in Greece. I would go again but now I can't afford it anymore and it is a very long way. I still dream though.
I have a poem to post, if I may, from one of Greece's greatest modern poets, Constantine Cavafy. I will also post this poem on the Poetry discussion board. The man Cavafy writes about is Themistocles.
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I suppose it was inevitable that Themistocles was ostracised. I saw two of his ostraka in the Agora museum in Athens. Cavafy writes about how Cavafy finds himself in the court of Artaxerxes, Xerxes' son in Persia. It is easy to imagine how Themistocles must be feeling from Cavafy's poem.
Enjoy -
THE SATRAPY
What a calamity that you who are made
for beautiful achievements and renowned,
should always be, through your hard fate, denied
occasion and success; that you should always
be hindered by the mean observances,
the pettiness, and indifference.
And how unblest the day when you give in
(when you have lost yourself, and you give in),
and you depart, a wayfarer for Susa,
and come before the monarch Artaxerxes
who welcomes you with favour at his Court,
offering you satrapies and things akin.
And you, despairing, you accept those honours,
those that are not the honours you desire.
Your soul is hungering for other things:
the praises of the Demos and the Sophists, —
the difficult, invaluable “Well done”;
the Agora, the Theatre, the garlands.
These — how should Artaxerxes ever give,
how should you ever find in satrapies;
and what a life will yours be now, without them.
I could have posted my translation, which I prefer, but this one was on Cavafy's website. I have made a few changes to it.
If anyone would like me to post the original Greek of this poem, just ask. :-)
Good luck to the next challenger.
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Oh my, that's wonderful.
Traude: if you want the next turn, please take it!
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If anyone would like me to post the original Greek of this poem, just ask. :-)
I wish I knew Greek and could read it! But I would dearly love to see your translation. Different versions have different feels; the one I have (Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard) has a different tone:
THE SATRAPY
Too bad that, cut out as you are
for grand and and noble acts,
this unfair fate of yours
never helps you out, always prevents your success;
that cheap habits get in your way,
pettiness, or indifference.
And how terrible the day you give in
(the day you let go and give in)
and take the road for Susa
to find King Ataxerxes,
who, propitiously, gives you a place at his court
and offers you satrapies and things like that—
things you don’t want at all,
though, in despair, you accept them just the same.
You’re longing for something else, aching for other things:
Praise from the Demos and the Sophists,
that hard-won, that priceless acclaim—
the Agora, the Theatre, the Crowns of Laurel.
You can’t get any of these from Ataxerxes,
you’ll never find any of these in the satrapy,
and without them what kind of life will you live?
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roshanarose, I posted this here because you haven't put the poem in Poetry yet, but if you want it there, I'l re-post.
The poet I'd really like to be able to read in Greek is George Seferis. Do you like him?
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In re the new challenge: To be candid, I feel uncomfortable proposing it yet again because I just had a turn. It would be more equitable if someone else stepped forward.
Might Jude be back from the wedding and visit(s), I wonder?
Roshanarose, I relished the details of your visit and enjoyed our literary excursion to ancient Greece. The story of Themistocles is very human one - fall and exile after soaring heights. His fame and privilege must have caused envy. Had he become "too tall a poppy", as you said in an early clue? Rumors of actual treason may have been mere speculation - though we'll never know for sure. And he was (only) 65 when he died in exile ...
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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While you all stand around bowing politely and hoping someone else will take the turn, I'll fill in with a pretty lightweight one.
Author: my political innocence got me in trouble.
Character: I'm always getting into ridiculous scrapes.
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straudetwo - To me Themistocles is the most "approachable" of the great Athenians. I feel as though I have met him and possibly complained about his boldness and arrogance to his peers. That jolt of recognition always happens to me when I read about Themistocles. There were some very serious allegations made against him for informing the Persians some time after Salamis. Finally, he had to flee Greece as his safety could not be guaranteed by those who sought to protect him. The man who many called the Saviour of Athens was a victim of hubris. That is why this is such a poignant poem, for me, at least. I am happy that you enjoyed my journey with him.
PatH - Ithaka and The Satrapy both have the familiar Cavafy on them. He is a very sensual writer, even tactile, and enjoys writing about luxury and beautiful objects. A much under-appreciated poet imho. One of his poems that I particularly like is "Candles", a relatively short poem. It is so true, but perhaps a little depressing for this site.
I have to say that I adore Seferis. I love the way he includes the ancient world in so many of his poems, as indeed does Cavafy. Earlier I posted a poem of his called "Denial" in the Poetry Discussion, but if I may I will write it again here for you. This poem has particular significance for me as when I did my first teaching prac I had a class full of 14 year old Greek girls. I read Seferis' Denial to them and when I looked up they were in tears. They said hearing a nonGreek read a Greek poem was an extraordinary experience for them. Why were they crying? They told me "Miss. That is so romantic". Read it for yourself and tell me what you think.
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DENIAL
On the secret seashore
white like a pigeon
we thirsted at noon;
but the water was brackish.
On the golden sand
we wrote her name;
but the sea-breeze blew
and the writing vanished.
With what spirit, what heart,
what desire and passion
we lived our life: a mistake!
So we changed our life.
Giorgos Seferis
PatH - I agree that Keeley and Sherrard's translation is the best. With respect the one I got from Cavafy's home page was most likely translated by a Greek speaker.
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Sorry PatH - I couldn't resist it.
Αρνηση
Στο περιγιάλι το κρυφό
κι άσπρο σαν περιστέρι
διψάσαμε το μεσημέρι·
μα το νερό γλυφό.
Πάνω στην άμμο την ξανθή
γράψαμε τ' όνομά της·
ωραία που φύσηξεν ο μπάτης
και σβύστηκε η γραφή.
Mε τι καρδιά, με τι πνοή,
τι πόθους και τι πάθος,
πήραμε τη ζωή μας· λάθος!
κι αλλάξαμε ζωή.
Giorgos Seferis
Now I promise I will leave the arena for PatH's challenge.
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Well, my story is that I wasn't in tears because I'm a tough old bird, but it's certainly rolling around in my head the way Seferis does with me. You're just trying to keep me from going to sleep (it's after midnight here). :) Now I'm thinking of all my favorites.
I love the way he includes the ancient world in so many of his poems....
That's why I wish I could read him in Greek; I'm told he does the same thing with words, putting very ancient words next to more modern stuff, getting an effect that's untranslatable.
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That's a wonderful poem. It almost made me cry, and I'm another tough old bird.
Pat: it isn't Wodehouse is it?
-
AAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!
You're reading my mind again! Oh, well, my revenge is that you have to do the next one.
You might as well tell us the character. I know you know who it is.
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AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH IS RIGHT. I didn't think it was really right, or I wouldn't have posted it!!!
OK, the character has to be Bertie Wooster, constantly saved from disaster by the gentleman's gentleman Jeeves.
Now I'm punished-- I have to think of something.
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Well, this should be fairly easy.
AUTHOR: spent most of his life doing other things than writing
BOOK: this book made his name.
CHARACTER: had a hard life, but came out of it.
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Filling in here: yes, the character is Bertie Wooster. No particular book, since they are all pretty much the same. That's not sneering, I love Wodehouse. Writers praise his sense of timing, but I just think he's still pretty funny, even if dated.
P. G. Wodehouse, vacationing on the continent, was caught in a Nazi dragnet at the start of WWII. They quickly realized he was totally clueless politically, and let him make some radio broadcasts saying he was well treated. I've read them--they're pretty bland--but the war, which started out rather tepid, had heated up after P. G. W. was caught, and he was perceived as a traitor.
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I had dimly remembered something like that, though not the details. I can imagine Bertie getting caught in a similar situation. Wodehouse must have forgotten to bring his "gentleman's gentleman" with him.
No response yet, so here's a second set of clues.
AUTHOR: spent most of his life doing other things than writing.
Said he delayed wrioting this book until he got the tone right.
BOOK: this book made his name.
Some find it sad and others funny (that should give it away).
CHARACTER: had a hard life, but came out of it.
The character had religious self-doubts.
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I'm sure when somebody gets it I'll realize I should have gotten it from those clues.
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Could the book be "My Mr.Jeeves"
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JUDE: no, sorry.
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Not a single guess? Oh, dear.
AUTHOR: spent most of his life doing other things than writing.
Said he delayed wrioting this book until he got the tone right.
Lived in America when he wrote, but wrote abou another country.
BOOK: this book made his name.
Some find it sad and others funny (that should give it away).
Is part of the author's autobiography
CHARACTER: had a hard life, but came out of it.
The character had religious self-doubts.
Learned to love reading when hearing "The Highwayman".
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Aaaak! That last character clue gives it to me if can only dig it out of that morass I call my memory.
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I remember hearing "The Highwayman" once, but I must have a very selective memory (sounds better than a lousy one) 'cos the only things I can remember from childhood days and know by heart are "Lochinvar" and "When shall we three meet again, in thunder lightning or in rain; when the hurly burly's done; when the battle's lost and won" Macbeth.
I am digressing on purpose, for alas, I have no idea of the answer to the challenge. Sorry JoanK.
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JoanK and I had to memorize "The Highwayman" in grade school, and I remember more of it than I do of most of the stuff we memorized. I still can't look at a moon partly under clouds without thinking "The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas." It's really corny, but it's wonderful corn, and I still like it. Here's the text:
http://www.potw.org/archive/potw85.html (http://www.potw.org/archive/potw85.html)
And I remember talking with Joan about whoever it was who learned to love reading through the poem, but DRAT! I can't think who it was.
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Thanks for the whole text of THE HIGHWAYMAN. I too had to memorize many of the verses for school. However It seems that some of the verses were removed from our textbooks since I came upon verses I had never seen before. This poem has remained in my head along with some others we had to memorize such as FLANDERS FIELDS ,THE DAFFODILS and THE RIME of THE ANCIENT MARINER.
Verses from these poems pop into my head at all kinds of odd moments. Its rather nice.
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Yep - the Highwayman et al - I remember lots of poems learned as a child and yep - odd verses or lines pop into my head all the time - sometimes I'm not sure just what the triggers are...
The last character clue should make it obvious but that's one thing that's just not 'popping into my head today'
off topic - My good news is that my eye is much better and yesterday I was able to become separated from my friendly opthalmologist -at least for the time being - still have ongoing treatment and will have to see him in a couple of months. YIPPEE - I still can't read small print easily but he says I need to wait until January before he'll prescribe new lenses for my glasses.
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GUM: that's wonderful.
Just about everyone's here, but no ones guessing
AUTHOR: spent most of his life doing other things than writing.
Said he delayed wrioting this book until he got the tone right.
Lived in America when he wrote, but wrote abou another country.
Spent most of his life teaching in America.
BOOK: this book made his name.
Some find it sad and others funny (that should give it away).
Is part of the author's autobiography
The rest came out as another book.
CHARACTER: had a hard life, but came out of it.
The character had religious self-doubts.
Learned to love reading when hearing "The Highwayman".
Lives in Ireland.
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Could this be Frank McCourt and "Angela's Ashes"?
-
Oooh! I'm sure you're right, Jude.
-
Jude, of course, that must be it !
I'd never have guessed and was totally at sea. >:(
-
Gum: Great news about your eyes. We don't realise how precious they are until they don't work properly.
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Thanks Roshanarose - it's still not all over but things have improved so much that one day soon I may even be able to read a book again. ;D
-
GUM: that's great!
JUDE: you got it! Angela's Ashes, the story of the authors childhood in Ireland. He manages to detail the heartrending poverty and be hilariously funny at the same time.
He moved to America, eventually became a teacher and tought for many years -- more later, gotta go.
Anyway, JUDE you're it!
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Okay-here is an author that I imagine all have read. However the person may have slipped your mind.
Author:Wrote in English but is not quite an Englishman. But an outstanding student and athlete.
Character:Hippocrates conquers hypocrisy.
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Congratulations on getting it right, Jude!
-
Clue #two
Author: Twelve of his books were made into very successful movies.
Character:Has a deep desire to do something useful
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The character totally sounds like Arrowsmith to me, but the author doesn't sound like Sinclair Lewis.
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JudeS: Does the phrase "Hippocrates conquers hypocrisy" indicate that the character is a physician?
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Roshanarose,
Yes, it does indicate that the character is a physician.
-
Clue # 3
Author:Practiced as a physician until he became ill and was ordered to rest for six months. Began writing at that point and never returned to medicine.
Character: Married a schoolteacher but never had any children.
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I should know this author but the name won't surface -
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W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, Philip Carey
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Hi Pat,
Sorry. Very close but no cigar.
There's another author who is of the same time period.
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Clue#4:
Author:Lived in four different countries. Became a close friend of Charlie Chaplin.Godfather to Audrey Hepburns' son.
Character and Book: This book had a deep effect on the health care system in the country in which it was written.It changed the way the public looked at various aspects of the system and the need for change. It went through twelve printings in the year it was published.
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I'm going to kick myself when I find out what it is.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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That's the way I feel too PatH -
Jude Good clues - I feel I should know the author but the name is still elusive. I don't think I've read the book
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OK. This should give it away:
Author:The movie and musical play "Billy Elliot" derived inspiration from the author's forth book. The book we are searching for is the author's fifth of his 23 novels. He continued writing till his 80th year.
Book and character: In his rise from poverty to riches the character loses sight of his original goals of helping to change the health system for his countrymen. He has researched a very wide spread disease among the general population but even more wide spread among the workers of a specific profession.
Come on guys- you know this one.
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I give up!
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Still don't have any idea about the author. I'm certain I never read the book in question.
Therefore I too give up.
The movie Billy Elliott was shown on cable here last year. I happened on it when it had already started and stayed with it (despite the physical violence and language). The ballet performance by the young actor was heartbreakingly beautiful.
It's about a young English lad from a bleak coal mining region who dislikes sports and dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. The father means to "toughen" him up, fails and ultimately supports him.
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A.J. Cronin
The Citadel
Andrew Manson
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Yeah! Yeah!
Deems you are a WINNER!!
Yes, it is the book I was going for and the character as well.
The Citadel is the book that really made the author ,A.J.Cronin, famous and influenced the public and the parliament to change the Health Care system in Britain. The Coal Miners plight which is so well described in this book was also the subject of his forth novel,"The Stars Look Down", the inspiration for Billy Elliot. The authors named the main musical number of this show after that novel.
A.J.Cronin grew up in Scotland and then went to England for University and Medical School. He moved to Los Angeles in 1939 and stayed there for some ten years when he finally settled in Switzerland. He was born in 1896 and died in1981. As I mentioned before twelve of his twenty three novels were made into movies. One of the more famous ones was "The Keys to the Kingdom".
When we were in London and tried to get tickets to Billy Elliot they cost 250 dollars. In New York the following year they were 200 dollars each. Needless to say we never saw the play but the movie was wonderful. By the way Gumtree in the U.S. the language was cleaned up to give it a PG13 rating.
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Welcome, deems 2! It's auspicious that in your very first post you got the quiz that had the rest of us stumped.
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Excellent work Deems!
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Thank you, deems 2, for posting the solution that eluded the rest of us.
It was a relief ... and also an unexpected pleasure : Your name evoked the memory of our dear friend Maryal. Might there be a connection?
Jude, a great challenge. I would never have thought of A.J. Cronin, although I did read him - and also Warwick Deeping - a lifetime ago, and in German. We could call that coming full circle. :)
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Full circle indeed! I didn't give Cronin a thought - I guess he's buried too deeply back in the mists of my time.
Deems 2 I see your winning post was your first post so Welcome and congrats on guessing the quiz. It had me beaten.
Good quiz Jude!
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DEEMS2: WELCOME, WELCOME! Like our beloved DEEMS, you really know your literature!
Your reward (!?) is that you are "it" and can put up the next puzzle.
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Hello all. Maryal is my mother. ALF said that it would be okay if I came in and listened to you lovely people talk about books. I love books. Thank you JoanK, but I can't be it. I have absolutely no idea how to play.
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Deems2:"ALF said that it would be okay if I came in and listened to you lovely people talk about books. " It's more than ok, it's GREAT". Listen away, and if you want to guess, go ahead. Does someone want to be it? If not, I've got one.
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There you are Susan (deems2). Good for you, you guessed the answer right away. Have you checked out our "proposed" books that we will be discussing Susan? We've got some good ones coming up and I know how much you love books.
andy
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Deems 2, if you like that sort of book, we start Ursula K Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" on Friday.
http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=1645.0 (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=1645.0)
It should be a good one; the book has a lot of meat.
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Does someone want to be it? If not, I've got one.
Joan, if you say something like that, you know darn well you're it.
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OK. Here goes.
The writer: failed to make a living as a lawyer, but succeeded as a writer.
The book: I have the collection of the author's writings as a book, but you are more likely to have met them on the stage or at the movies.
The character: is an orphan.
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I have no idea how to play this but is it Dickens? I should first look this up, I suppose to avoid looking foolish. ::)
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You're playing it correctly already, Alf. Just try to guess the answer from the clues, which are deliberately obscure. Joan will give more clues each day or so.
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Yes you are, and that was a good guess. Dickens is full of orphans, but this character is not one of them. More clues tomorrow.
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My favorite orphan story is Kim by Rudyard Kipling. But Kipling was not a lawyer as far as i Know.
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hmmm -deliberatley obscure, are you now? I must do my research and I shall return. >:(
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Ok, you guys missed the clue under "The book". Look again! This is not a novel.
The writer: failed to make a living as a lawyer, but succeeded as a writer.
Didn't always get along with his collaborator, but they made a great team.
The book: I have the collection of the author's writings as a book, but you are more likely to have met them on the stage or at the movies.
Quotes from it are often repeated til this day (especially by PatH ;))
The character: is an orphan.
Gave up a high position for his profession.
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A bit obscure about being a book? What kind of book? Not a novel, as you say. Was the author a playwright perhaps? For some reason Restoration England comes to mind as the setting. Perhaps a clue as to the year the "story" is set, would help.
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At the moment there's no light at the end of this wide airless tunnel ...
Traude
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John Galsworthy gave up law to become a writer - he wrote some plays but I think we all know him best as a novelist - so I'd say it's not him.
Lots of other writers have been trained in law -
Roshanarose suggests the Restoration period which brings to mind playwright William Congreve who also studied law- and we certainly know him through the stage -
Is the 'book' a collection of plays? Or maybe poetry.
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GUM: you're hot!! Don't forget the collaborator!
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Could this be Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame?
I think there was an orphan called Buttercup but I don't remember from which opera.
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GUM: you're hot!! Don't forget the collaborator!
Not all that hot I fear. :(
Early on Congreve collaborated with a guy called Dekker (sp) can't think of his first name - but Dekker (or whoever) collaborated with just about everyone.
The only play I can think of by Congreve is The Way of the World
The best known collaborators of the period were Beaumont and Fletcher -
Thomas Otway wrote a play titled The Orphan but in that case the orphan is a female - and to the best of my knowledge Otway didn't train in the law....
This is killing me - I want to check references.
More clues, please
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JUDES: YOU'VE GOT IT!! "The Savoy Operas" by W.S. Gilbert.
Do you know the character -- an orphan who gave up a high position for his present occupation? The clue for today was going to be: although he breaks the law, he loves his Queen.
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Could it be Frederic from the Pirates of Penzance?
Never having read their texts all the operas fade into one humorous song.
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The Pirates of Penzance is right! I was thinking of the Pirate King, but Frederick will do just as well.
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Well done Jude - I was way off course
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Pirates are "in" with the younger set, due to the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean" series, and the "Pirates of Penzance" is benefitting. But I think Gilbert and Sullivan will always be played somewhere.
OK, Jude, you're "it".
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Brava, Jude!
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Jude telss me her computer is on the fritz, and her substitute can't get into Author, Author. She dictated the following:
Author: bi'lingual from an early age, multi-lingual writer.
Book: made into an excellant movie
Character: The title and main character have become iconic.
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Jude, this is quite intriguing.
Is there one book (only) or the book we are trying to divine ?
Are we to understand that the author him/or herself wrote the book(s) in different languages?
For even authors who are themselves bilingual, or multilingual, generally have the original text translated into other languages.
Taking a wild stab in to the complete darkness, can we assume it is NOT Alexander McCall Smith and NOT Mma Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency?
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It is not Smith. We are trying to guess one of the author's books. I don't believe the book was written in more than one language: but I'm not sure. Jude will have to tell us when she gets back.
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Thank ou, JoanK. The guessing field is wide open :)!!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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Now to find the second set of clues. I have an awful feeling I put them somewhere so I wouldn't lose them. If so, I'll never find them.
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ok, I found them.
Author: bi'lingual from an early age, multi-lingual writer.
Two of his novels are on the list of the 100 most important books of our time. One non-fiction book is on the list of the 100 most important non-fiction books
Book: made into an excellant movie
Character: The title and main character have become iconic.
Book/character: the title character is connected to a poem by Edgar Allen Poe.
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No guesses yet? Here's Jude's next set of clues:
Author: born very wealthy, had dual interests: literature and a type of insect.
Character: preoccupied with contemporary American pop culture
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Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, Lolita
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YOU GOT IT!! HOORAY!
Did the insects give it away?
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Yes! If it had been your clue, I would have suspected you of setting me up. Nabokov was a well-known lepidopterist (butterflies).
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Me! Set you up! ;D
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I've never been able to read Lolita, though. I've tried 3 times. His writing is just as good as everyone says it is, but after a few pages I get fed up with Humbert Humbert and give up.
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Yeah, right! You would never set me up.
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I haven't forgotten my penalty for guessing right. I'll think of something today.
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I should have got Nabokov BEFORE the insects were mentioned - but No!
- good quiz from Jude via JoanK
Well done PatH - looking forward to seeing your punishment. :D
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Yeah! I,m back posting again.
Mucho, mucho gracias to Joan K for seeing me through this mini crisis.
If someone out there in the Techy world fixed this for me thanks to them as well.
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Jude, that was a good one. Welcome back.
While I didn't see the last clue about insects, I'd still not have thought of Nabokov. I had him totally shut out of my mind.
I tried to read) Speak, Memory and Ada but got nowhere. I am certain it was after Lolita, which I never read. The movie (with James Mason, Shelley Winters and Sue Lyon as the 12-year-old) was shown on TV a few times. Each time I happened on it but could never bear watching. to the end. The subject made me cringe. Forgive me for being candid. :)
Nabokov attracted my curiosity when I learned he too, like I, was an immigrant and multilingual. One of my languages is Russian. But the style of the two books I mentioned set me off. Also, by that time it was known that the author was a lepidopterist, and that turned me off for good.
I had the same experience reading The Collector by John Fowles, who is probably best known for The Magus, which Fowles re-wrote in its entirety).
The protagonist in The Collector also was a butterfly collector, a lone man, who abducts a young woman in the vain hope that she'd come to love him. Despite my revulsion, and against my better judgment, I went to see the movie (with Samantha Eggar and Terrence Stamp), and it still haunts me.
Sorry to go on so, but it was on topic :) :)
Thank you.
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Also, by that time it was known that the author was a lepidopterist, and that turned me off for good.
That would have turned me on, not off. Different people have different geekiness. (But I admit most scientists aren't good writers.)
Judy, in spite of the crisis, you managed to keep things going. You get a virtual gold medal.
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OK, (gulp) here goes.
Author: although my marriage was happy, I did have affairs.
Character: my life weaves oddly through place and identity.
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There isn't much to focus on, yet ???
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Yes, that's pretty obscure. More clues:
Author: Subject to mood swings.
Book: has been made into a movie.
Character: based on a real person.
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Yes, JUDE, you did a great job. Glad I could help. You never found out what the problem was?
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Pat-Thanks for the gold medal. I will keep it shiny.
Joan K _ I never found out what the problem was but the solution is great.
An author with mood swings. Hmm, something is on the cusp of my conscious. perhaps this shadow will turn into a real person with the next clues.
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Perhaps this new set of clues will help. I'll repeat the old ones too:
Author: Although my marriage was happy, I did have affairs.
Subject to mood swings.
Part of a prominent literary group.
Book: has been made into a movie.
Character: My life weaves oddly through place and identity.
I'm based on a real person.
My experiences in the Middle East had a profound effect on me.
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Is this Orlando by Virginia Woolf?
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You got it, Gumtree!.
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Excellent, Gumtree ! And one of those affairs was Vita Sackville-West ...
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... and Vita Sackville-West's main affair was with Violet Trefusis whom Woolf depicted in the novel as the Russian princess, Sasha.
I must put the film on my queue - Tilda Swinton was superb.
Now to think up the new challenge....
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Congrats Gumtree!
As I was rereading the clues Virginia Wolf passed through my mind. I didn't know all the information others seemed to have re: her personal life,
so I brushed the thought away. Sometimes our subconscious should be listened to.
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Yes Jude - we should always listen to our subconscious. There's a lot of literature around Virginia Woolf and her coterie of so-called 'intellectuals' which taken broadly makes for a fascinating exploration of their life and times as well as their literary output.
Violet Trefusis who was Sackville-West's lover leads us backwards to her mother Mrs. Keppel who was King Edward VII's mistress - and through her (Violet) sister forward to Camilla Parker-Bowles, who is the present wife of Prince Charles - Mrs Keppel being Camilla's great-grandmother.
Connections, connections, connections!
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Sorry to be so slow putting this up- I got caught up elsewhere yesterday.
Author: 1. I am an acclaimed novelist but began my literary career writing short stories and award winning poetry.
Book 1. This is an evocative tale of intrigue, romance and treachery - a complex and lyrical literary thriller.
Character 1. I am a strong willed person who desires and actively seeks personal freedom.
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Wot - no guesses? I thought someone would have the answer straight off.
Author: 1. I am an acclaimed novelist but began my literary career writing short stories and award winning poetry.
2. My work has been translated into eight languages and I am a contributor to literary journals.
Book 1. This is an evocative tale of intrigue, romance and treachery - a complex and lyrical literary thriller.
2. There are stories within the story and abundant plots and sub-plots.
Character 1. I am a strong willed person who desires and actively seeks personal freedom.
2. I am a real-life person though my story is told through the diary of a fictional character.
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Well, I felt, and feel, that I should know the answer straight off, but it hasn't clicked yet.
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It will Pat, - it will :D
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Gulp.
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Gulp and Doh!
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Gumtree, fascinating !
My first thought was Les Liaisons dangéreuses --- promptly dismissed.
Even so, if one considered only the themes, intrigue, romance, betrayal, countless novels could technically be contenders. But in our challenges we are looking for more than themes.
From the information given about the author, I have a hunch the author is younger than Pierre Choderclos de Laclos. 8)
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I am thinking in the vein of Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, but I don't think he wrote poetry. Am I close in time period?
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Traude Interesting guess - I quite see why Chonderlos would come to mind - But alas, NO!
Roshanarose Again, interesting. Dumas pere and Dumas fils both wrote novels and plays but no poetry that I recall.
Author: 1. I am an acclaimed novelist but began my literary career writing short stories and award winning poetry.
2. My work has been translated into eight languages and I am a contributor to literary journals.
3. I am a present day author and I also teach.
Sometimes I draw on my partner's work and include it in my novels.
Book 1. This is an evocative tale of intrigue, romance and treachery - a complex and lyrical literary thriller.
2. There are stories within the story and abundant plots and sub-plots.
3. The book is a melding of contemporary life, ancient history, research, mythology, religion/cult worship, mysteries - which are contrasted and paralleled in the telling
Character 1. I am a strong willed person who desires and actively seeks personal freedom.
2. I am a real-life person though my story is told through the diary of a fictional character.
3. I belong to a cult which became influential and widespread. Other characters are involved in other cults.
:D
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Gum should be able to hear my brain creaking in Perth!
I thought of Arthur C. Clarke, Ayn Rand and Isaac Asimov - but know that none of those are right as they are no longer with us :'(
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Another thought came - but was quickly dismissed.
James Patterson and his resourceful co-writers whose ideas he re-shapes. He's now writing for adolescents as well.
But I don't believe he wrote poetry, and I doubt he has time to teach, as he churns out one violent thriller after the other.
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Roshanarose: I did wonder what that noise was :D
Again, good guesses from both you and Traude - but none are right.
Author: 1. I am an acclaimed novelist but began my literary career writing short stories and award winning poetry.
2. My work has been translated into eight languages and I am a contributor to literary journals.
3. I am a present day author and I also teach.
Sometimes I draw on my partner's work and include it in my novels.
4. I took inspiration for this story from several visits to an ancient site and a chance remark from a teaching colleague.
Book 1. This is an evocative tale of intrigue, romance and treachery - a complex and lyrical literary thriller.
2. There are stories within the story and abundant plots and sub-plots.
3. The book is a melding of contemporary life, ancient history, research, mythology, religion/cult worship, mysteries - which are contrasted and paralleled in the telling.
4. For the most part the novel has an idyllic setting among ancient ruins. For the rest it is set in Texas.
Character 1. I am a strong willed person who desires and actively seeks personal freedom.
2. I am a real-life person though my story is told through the diary of a fictional character.
3. I belong to a cult which became influential and widespread. Other characters are involved in other cults.
4. My lover is a learned older man who has a penchant for recording everything he sees in the places he visits. Sometimes he is more than a trifle pompous but fundamentally he is a good and decent man.
I'm beginning to wonder whether anyone here has read this one. It's staring you in the face if you have read it.
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I'm beginning to wonder whether anyone here has read this one. It's staring you in the face if you have read it.
Sometimes it seems that way to the person making the clues, but they take time to click with the guessers.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
;D
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This is very frustrating. I keep thinking of people who fit most but not all of the clues--the latest are Robert Graves and Margaret Yourcenar. Aaaak.
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Has the book been made into a movie, Gum?
The word "cult" is causing me some grief. The only one I can think of is Scientology. But, I think you are right, I have probably not read it. However, it sounds like a good read.
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Gumtree, so we can take clue # 3 ("I am a present-day author" literally ?
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Guesses are good but way off the mark. There hasn't been a movie made of the book so far as I'm aware. And yes, literally a present day author - the author lives and breathes today and writes of the present as well as the past.
Author: 1. I am an acclaimed novelist but began my literary career writing short stories and award winning poetry.
2. My work has been translated into eight languages and I am a contributor to literary journals.
3. I am a present day author and I also teach.
Sometimes I draw on my partner's work and include it in my novels.
4. I took inspiration for this story from several visits to an ancient site and a chance remark from a teaching colleague.
5. My books also draw on my academic training in the language and literature of the ancients.
Book 1. This is an evocative tale of intrigue, romance and treachery - a complex and lyrical literary thriller.
2. There are stories within the story and abundant plots and sub-plots.
3. The book is a melding of contemporary life, ancient history, research, mythology, religion/cult worship, mysteries - which are contrasted and paralleled in the telling.
4. For the most part the novel has an idyllic setting among ancient ruins. For the rest it is set in Texas.
5. Whilst the team of archaeologists, historians uncover new material using the latest computer techology, members of a mysterious cult will stop at nothing to obtain the long lost manuscripts they seek.
Character 1. I am a strong willed person who desires and actively seeks personal freedom.
2. I am a real-life person though my story is told through the diary of a fictional character.
3. I belong to a cult which became influential and widespread. Other characters are involved in other cults.
4. My lover is a learned older man who has a penchant for recording everything he sees in the places he visits. Sometimes he is more than a trifle pompous but fundamentally he is a good and decent man.
5. When my personal freedom was compromised I took my case to the law courts and won.
6. I am not the protagonist but my story has parallels with at least two other characters in the story.
Extra Extra: There was a brilliant discussion of this book here not so very long ago. Some players were among the participants.
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"Here" is where? Which discussion? Sounds like a Da Vinci Code type story. Where are the ancient ruins? Delphi; Acropolis; Colloseum - Greek, Etruscan, Roman or maybe Mayan? Come on Gum - or should I just give up acknowledging the fact that I haven't read the book - I hate giving up! It's not "The Night Villa" by Carol Goodman, is it? I am half way through this book, upon which I blame my bad habit of reading five books at once. The Modern Pythagoreans - do they really exist?
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Don't give up, roshanarose, you just got it! As soon as I saw today's clues, the light bulb lit up, but luckily for me you got in first. Now I'm kicking myself for not having got it sooner.
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The Night Villa it is and you sure did just get it Roshanarose
In fairness though, I couldn't say exactly where the setting was or name any of the several cults without giving it all away too soon - though I was getting to those clues.
As you're reading it at present you might like to check out the Archives of the book discussions which has the full discussion of Night Villa - we read it in June 2009 and Carol Goodman participated as well. Lots of interesting stuff came up in relation to the ancient world.
PatH: I expected to see your bulb light up after today's clues.
We've not yet named the character - but I now declare Roshanarose the winner and the next IT
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Gum : Thank you for your encouraging words. What I wrote when guessing it was actually a kind of "stream of consciousness". That is, I just typed what I was thinking. Sometimes answers come to me via those means.
Gum, I have been thinking about you and your eyes. I have managed to contract a viral infection in my right eye, and this morning, I notice I now have it in the left eye as well. Bloody nuisance and very uncomfortable, not including how horrible I look with two eyes resembling two raw eggs in buckets of blood. I am going back to the GP today or tomorrow. I will drive there as the surgery is only three blocks away, but I can't see very well. How are your eyes now? Did you have something similar, or more chronic wrong with your eyes?
The upshot of all this is that I cannot be IT. My eyes are just too sore to read, even typing this is difficult. Can another kind soul be convinced to fill my shoes? I will make up for it later. Sorry :'(
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Roshanarose Get yourself to the GP ASAP - and take good care to do exactly as he says. If it is affecting both eyes it sounds more like some kind of conjunctivitis (or probably a zillion other things).
Mine was only in one eye and was the sort of virus that affects only one side of the body - like shingles. The problem was that my immune system is pretty much shot to pieces and when it kicked in to help it tried to kill me instead of the infection. It took a hefty dose (every 90 minutes) of cortizone steroid stuff to get it under control. I'm still not quite out of the woods and have some scarring on the cornea yet to be dealt with - maybe January he said. In the meantime I'm on drops every 2-4 hours and ointment at night.
So take great care and see the doctor immediately - just in case. I'm sure someone else will pose the next challenge.
Are there any volunteers?
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I'll do it, since I would have guessed correctly if I'd arrived before roshanarose. Give me a bit to come up with one.
Take care of yourself, roshanarose.
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Thanks PatH You're a Trojan - and I don't mean the virus :D
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OK, here goes. If someone guesses it as quickly as my last one, I won't be on the hook for long.
Author: My travels were an important inspiration for my books.
Book: Pictures a city in turmoil.
Character: Friendship got me in trouble.
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H'mmm......
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No takers? OK, round 2:
Author: My travels were an important inspiration for my books.
My religious beliefs color my writings.
Book: Pictures a city in turmoil.
Was made into a successful movie.
Character: Friendship got me in trouble.
I'm somewhat naive.
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All I can think if is Graham Greene - I don't suppose it's the Quiet American?
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WOW! Right on the author, but not the book. You might very well not have read it, but seen the movie.
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A city in turmoil- so, perhaps Havana?
Our Man in Havana?
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Good guess, Judy, but wrong.
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How about The Third Man - Vienna after the war, Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli ?
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That's it, Traude! One tends to forget it's a novella as well as a screenplay.
If anyone wants to bother with the character, it should be a snap, since there's only one naive person.
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Rosemarykaye and straudetwo, you have the honor of figuring out who does the next one. Rosemary, if you want to do it, the hard part is trying to think of something you hope people have read, but isn't too easy, then making obscure clues. All the authors that have been used are in the heading--the one at the top of this page is the only one that's up to date. And we're not fussy about having a book and a character. For instance, when I did Bertie Wooster, I didn't bother to pick a specific book, since they're so similar.
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I'm more than happy to let Traude do it for now - I think I need a few goes to get the hang of it!
Rosemary
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PatH, OK, I'll be IT, but Rosemary provided the spark. Thank you, Rosemary, and welcome!
Carol Reed's film based on the novella and screenplay by Graham Greene was brilliant, and so was the international cast. The haunting score by Anton Karas, featuring only the zither, still reverberates with me -- perhaps because it was the instrument my father played in happier times.
Joseph Cotten played the role of the well-intentioned naïf, a pulp fiction author, and his "friend", Orson Welles, a racketeer. At the end of W II, Vienna, like Berlin, was occupied by the Allies, each with their own district or zone to administer, mercifully not nearly as long as Berlin.
Another film comes to mind that as made about that era. It was called "Four in a Jeep", and followed the MPs of the US, Britain, France and the USSR, as they patrollied their respective districts. The actress Viveca Lindfors was in it, but I remember little else.
Sending good wishes to Roshanarose, hunting for the next puzzle.
Traude
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Traude The Third Man - one of those classics - you didn't mention the haunting music of The Harry Lime Theme
I can't remember the last time that Viveca Lindfors crossed my radar. I remember her well - can't think of any of her movies except one about Dreyfus - she may have played Mrs. Dreyfus. I think she was Scandinavian - Swedish? Classic bone structure - and she could act.
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Just for the record,let's give the character his name, which is Holly Martins. I re-watched the movie a couple of years ago, and it's still good.
Are you aware that the novella has a different ending than the movie? Harry Lime's girl doesn't reject Martins, though it's hinted that this will only be a passing affair. A rare example of an ending being un-prettied for a movie. Greene wrote the screenplay too.
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Greene was a pretty handy guy with a pen.
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The last forty-eight hours brought some unwelcome excitement, and that has made me late.
My granddaughter, Hannah, who is 11, was rushed to the ER late Friday evening. She had an appendectomy early Saturday afternoon. It was done laparoscopically and over in 26 minutes.
She was discharged today and is on the mend.
In re The Third Man, I had meant to mention the protagonists' names, Holly Martins and Harry Lime, but in revising the text, that detail got away from me. And I left out Trevor Howard, a marvelous actor who as Major Calloway told Holly Martins (and I paraphrase) "If you are sensible, you go home ...".
Gumtree, I did mention the haunting musical score by Anton Karas in my # 1183. The Harry Lime theme resonated with the people still traumatized by the war and its aftermath, and jumped to the top of the international record charts.
I could and swould like to say a few words about Alida Valli, (1921-2006), one of the finest actresses of the 20th century who, according to a French critic, "was the only actress who can be compared with Marlene Dietrich and Garbo". She made more than 100 films over seven decades. But I'll resist the temptation and pose a new puzzle instead.
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New Puzzle.
The author wrote novels, works of philosophy, plays, collections of poetry.
The novel for which we are looking touches on the world of magic, illusion and power.
The central character is writing his memoir.
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Darn. I have the perfect answer except that the author wrote no poetry whatever. Not really any philosophy either.
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Aldus Huxley comes to mind, but I don't think he included magic in any of his books.
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Wilkie Collins? But I'm not sure that he wrote any poetry.
R
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Sorry, just realised you've already done him! Thinking again.....
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Angela Carter?
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My mind is a blank on this one - so what's new?
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Here I am, back, with one eye working. I had haemorrhagic conjunctivitis - and yes it is just as ghastly as it sounds. Thanks for your words of encouragement - they were most welcome.
I am thinking John Fowles, or Aleister Crowley. But I need to delve further into book/character. Fowles did write some poetry and so did Crowley, but there is no guarantee I am on the right track. Enlighten me, Straudetwo?
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Thank you for the enthusiastic participation.
The guesses are all excellent. None is a match, yet. Doubtless that will change, and soon. :)
More clues.
The author's career spanned four decades.
The novel exposes the jumble of motivations of its characters.
The main character was convinced he was 'god's gift to the world'.
Roshanarose, thank you for sharing your good news, and welcome back !
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Could it be "The Sea, The Sea" by Iris Murdoch?
The character is Charles Arrowby.
This may not be right because I know nothing about the author herself.
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Jude, that is the answer. Congratulations !
Iris Murdoch was awarded the Man Booker Prize for The Sea, the Sea in 1978.
The central figure is Charles Arrowby, a self-satisfied, tyrannical playwright and director. In order to write his memoir he secludes himself in a house by the sea. Unexpectedly he meets his first love again, Mary Hartley Fitch, whom he hasn't seen in 40 years. When she rejects him, he becomes absurdly obsessed with her.
The Dublin-born Murdoch took a keen interest in politics; like Doris Lessing, she leaned toward communism early on. Among her philosophical works is an essay on Jean Paul Sartre. There are two collections of poetry, but the bulk of her creative output are her 26 novels.
For the last three years of her life she suffered from Alzheimer's and died at 80. A movie of her life featured the actresses Kate Winslet (the young Iris) and Judi Dench (the aging Iris).
Ten years ago we had an absorbing discussion of this novel; Lorrie was te DL. It is preserved in the Archives.
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Fantastic work JUDE
I am not out of the woods yet - I ran out of drops last night and foolishly thought that I need not buy more. The way my eyes feels now, I will have to get more drops. The doctor said that the discomfort and redness can last up to a month. Gee - Happy Days:-(
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
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Up to a month? :( :( :( :(
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Jude Brilliant get on Murdoch -
Traude - Great subject for the quiz. I should have guessed it in a trice but didn't give Murdoch a thought. Your clues were perfect.
Roshanarose Welcome back! It's good to know you're on the mend. Take care.
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Good work, Jude!
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Brilliant questions and brilliant answer!
Has anyone seen the Iris film? I saw it with my husband when it came out, and he got quite upset because it reminded him so much of his parents - although funnily (and thankfully) enough, even after the intervening years, they have neither of them developed Altzheimer's, and they are still going on their merry way - both very academic, both very scatty, but both still enjoying life (although my m-in-law told me at least 10 years ago that she wouldn't buy a new TV as "we may not be here by next year" :)
Hope it gets better soon Roshanrose, it sounds horrible, and things like eyes, ears, teeth, etc are so "insistent" aren't they? - you can't forget about them even for a minute, I suppose because you are using them all the time.
Rosemary
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Dear Fellow Guessers,
To all of you who are ill I wish you well. Here is a quiz to get your mind off your troubles. i know you have all heard of the book and the author so I will make the hints slightlu more veiled. Good guessing!
Character:
Lives in a large Eoropean city.
Author:
European. Considered one of the most influential of his day.
Book:
Was published first in twelve parts in a monthly literary magazine.
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Ahhhh --- but is the author's day our day ?
Could we have another tiny hint, please ?
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I suspect, Traude, that the author was of the Victorian era or there abouts. I don't think authors serialize their works in magazines anymore. A few modern authors have done so on the Internet, however (Stephen King comes to mind).
I can make a guess - Charles Dickens, but was he influential in his day?
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Frybabe-close but no cigar.
Hint #2
Character:
Sickly, talks to himself,sometimes dressed in rags but also handsome, intelligent and proud.
Book:
A murder is planned.
Author:
The author was a gambling addict and often could't pay his bills.
I bet someone guesses this one. Keep on trying.
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Aha !!
Could we be looking for Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky ?
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I tried reading that a long time ago, but I didn't get too far. It was so depressing. Not the kind of reading one should be doing when one is already somewhat depressed. Never tried reading it again.
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Oh My! Traude - you're the tops.
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Yes, yes Traude-You guessed correctly! Hurrah!
Now all we need is the name of the character. I bet someone remembers this (to me anyway) memorable character.
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Jude, thank you !!
The character's name is Raskolnikov. I read the book when I was 17 and it meant the world tome.
In haste, rushing to an appointment.
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Traude
I also read Crime and Punishment in my teens. Later I read all the author's work. He was a super genius.
Now about the autho(1821-1881). Because of his attending meetings of Nihilists (the left wing of the time) he and the others of this group were put before a firing squad. There was a last minute reprieve and they served four years in jail and then another three in a work camp. When Dostoevsky returned he was a changed man. He became addicted to alcohol and gambling.
He had had a rough childhood. Although his parents were wealthy they were extreme socialites and Fyodor and his brother were left in the care of servants most of the time. The boys became very close. A year before writing Crime and Punishmen his brother died, leaving Fyodor responsible financially for his own family and that of his brother.
The book was originally titled "The Drunkards". The author scrapped his first draft which was told from the pont of view of the protagonist and changed to third person omniscent.
The author was really the first ,before Freud, to relate and interpret dreams as symbolizing varying states of mind.
This book changed my way of looking at the world.
OK Traude- with great honor comes great responssssibility-so you're up!
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Jude, that was wonderful, invigorating quiz. Thank you; thanks to all of you for being here.
Crime and Punishment left an indelible impression on me also. It made me decide to take Russian - in another lifetime, it seems, long long ago.
I'll be back with the next quiz soon.
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Off Topic:
Traude I just want to tell you that I finally ordered Paul Scott's Staying On and Six Days at Marapore and that they arrived an hour or so ago. I'm not sure just when I'll get to read them - but they are not going to the bottom of my TBR pile. Not sure which one to read first.
I will always be grateful for our time together as we read the Raj Quartet. It was a true and memorable literary feast - and now I'm about to help myself to a second serving from the same table.
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Traude,
After reading Crime and Punishment I decided to read all the other Russian writers as well. So I worked my way through Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy,and for a while, even the poets. It never occurred to me that I could learn Russian or even take a course in Russian Lit. However, eleven years ago we went on a three week tour of Russia. But thats another story.
Congrats again. Nice to know I wasn't the only one who was influenced by Dostoyevsky
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Gumtree, enjoy the Scott books. I read Six Days in Marapore first. It is set just after independence, when most of the government and military positions held by Englishmen have been or are being replaced by their Indian counterparts. The great migration of English families back to England has begun. Staying On is set about 20-25 years later, as I recall, when there are very, very few of the English "Raj" still living in India. Both are very interesting.
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May I take another few moments off topic, thank you.
Gumtree, Frybabe,
When we ended the discussion of Jewel in the Crown, many questions remained and were unanswerable. And there was much more to the story. I am glad we had the opportunity to discuss the other three volumes without having to adhere to a time table. It was a unique experience.
It would have been fantastic to conclude this project, a labor of love, with Staying On because it revisits the very same area twenty-five years after it became the property of Pakistan, and one military couple who s stayed on under very different circumstances.
Six Days in Marapore ism I believe, an important followup read about life in the cantonment in the first few months after the precipitous exodus of the troops, the confusion and financial hardships of those who were stranded, unwilling to return home, and uncertain where to turn next.
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Jude, Russian literature and history fascinated me. Peter the Great and his "window to the west", a country with 23.1 million serfs, the ostentatiousness of the Czars, the glory of Pushkin's poetry and Chekhov's plays. Isn't it wonderful to discover we're both aficionadas, so to speak?
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Sorry not having come up with a new quiz. I tried hard last night but could not decide. I'm working on it.
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Oh nuts, was Staying On set in Pakistan? I forgot. Thanks for correcting me Traude.
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Frybabe - thanks for the advice on which Paul Scott to read first. As yet I'm not sure which way I'll jump.
Traude: Would love to read Staying On with you and the others - I know it didn't get the votes when you nominated it for the general discussions - but could it be proposed to be done in much the same way we did the Raj - maybe the same few readers would commit to it and SL might give us a board.
Jude - like you, it never occurred to me that I could have learned Russian even though I too, was overcome by the literature at an early age - You and Traude are certainly not alone in respect. However, I must say that I did not truly appreciate Turgenev until much later - I still browse Pushkin from time to time and would love to take the time to reread the great Russian novels again
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I would like to read Staying On if others would. I have not yet read the Raj Quartet, but have watched The Jewel In The Crown once when it was originally broadcast here and again very recently on DVD. Do you think I could read Staying On properly without reading the others first? I had a read through your original discussions and found them very interesting indeed - there were quite a few things I hadn't really understood in the TV programmes, especially about the political situation.
Thanks
Rosemary
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Rosemarykaye, the answer to your question is yes. It stands by itself without having to read the Raj Quartet. It refers to several of the characters from the Raj, but not in a way that you would be lost without having read it.
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I, too, was greatly influenced by the Russian writers as a young adult, even considered learning Russian. The one that has stayed with me is Tolstoy -- I greatly enjoyed our discussion of "War and Peace" a few years ago. Maybe one day, we can do "Anna Karinina."
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Many thanks !
I couldn't be more elated about your responses on continuing to read Paul Scott and and the new interest. What we need first is the approval and consent of both of the SL Administrator and the Book Host. I will keep you informed.
Rosemary, yes, as Frybabe said, Staying On is a stand-alone story. The book was awarded the Booker Prize in 1978, which finally brought Paul Scott the literary recognition he should have been accorded much sooner. He was too ill to accept the prize in person and died not long after.
Gumtree, my subjects were languages and linguistics, and comparative literature. My plate was full ... :)
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Here is the new quiz.
The author was an outsider, who did not easily "fit in".
As a result, opportunities and career choices were limited.
Writing short stories brought release, but it took time to hone the talent.
Best known, if known, for a longish novella
The character is a woman who is irrepressible in fighting dominance.
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I was one of the few who did vote for Staying On, and I would be willing to try it if you do it, Traude.
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Yes, you did, PatH. I remember. Thank you.
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More clues
An eminent British novelist, poet and literary critics took the young, self-destructive author under his wing.
The author's first collection of short stories appeared in 1927.
The author gained international acclaim in the 1960s with the publication of a remarkable book,
purporting to be a prequel of a British classic.
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Is it Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, and Jane Eyre?
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Excellent, Rosemary, I thought you'd know the answer !!
More tomorrow.
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Well done, Rosemary Somehow I knew you would be good at this. I am now out of quarantine and my eyes are almost better. Looking forward to joining the "game" again soon.
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Oh no - do I now have to think of something? ???
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If you want to. If you'd rather not, someone else will volunteer.
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well i will have a think, and if the think goes on too long i will ask for a volunteer....thanks
Rosemary (one finger typing owing to cat curled up and leaning on other arm)
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For the sake of completion, here's a bit more about Jean Rhys - the name she eventually settled on.
She was born in 1890 on the island of Dominica (not to be confused with the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti in the west and the Dominican Republic in the much larger eastern half).
Her father was a Welsh doctor, her other a third-generation Creole with a Scotch ancestor in the past. Rhys was educated at the Convent School and, at age 16, went to England, where foreignness, predictably, made her stand apart in school. For all we know, ir may have been what we now call "bullying".
She did not go back home, as her parents wished, but had little success as a chorus girl. In the early nineteen twenties she met Ford Madox Ford in Paris and he became her mentor. Her short stories (Voyage in the Dark, Good Morning Midnight) feature rootless, ill-treated women who know only how to please men and, apparently nothing else.
After a long silence during which people thought she was dead, Rhys came out with Wild Sargasso Sea, called a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, about West Indian Antoinette Bertha Cosway, Edward Rochester's first wife. A movie was made of it and broadcast late one night a few years ago. I was ready and waiting. But there were so many commercials every ten minutes or so that the story became totally incomprehensible.
Rosemary, giving clues is not bad but finding a new quiz for our well-read group is something else. We so enjoy the company and the stimulation.
T
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Well , here goes:
The character is learning Italian, but would rather not.
The author is a prolific writer, but also enjoys doing something else, rather badly.
I will try to check in each day (though I don't think this will take long...), but I have mother descending tomorrow for a week, so my time will be limited :)
Rosemary
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Impossible to resist this one.
The character is Bertie. He lives with his parents at 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh.
The author is the inimitable Alexander MacCall Smith, who penned several other continuing mystery series, including one on line, and shows no sign of slowing down.
His hobby is to play the bassoon - rather badly ;D
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Oh well done - I can see I'm going to have to try harder!
A McCall Smith is one of the founders of the Really Terrible Orchestra, and apparently they really are, but they all have a good time.
Bertie lives with his father Stuart and his frightful mother, Irene - what a creation she is. I almost fell over with joy the day I passed the Floatarium, in Stockbridge - yes, it exists, and I could just imagine Irene in there, floating. In fact one of the great pleasures of half-living in Edinburgh at the moment is coming across so many McCall Smith references.
Here is a sub-question - the character found his way home by the aroma of a certain foodstuff emanating from a well-known Edinburgh grocer's. (one of my favourite bits of the entire series).
Rosemary
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
What a great 'get' Traude.
I haven't read McCall Smith so I'd have scratched my head to no avail.
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Rosemary,
My answer is late because we were a little preoccupied last night because of our elections.
The answer is scones, and their "unbearable lightness" and unmistakable aroma. That is also the title of the last book in this particular series -- where things are looking up for Bertie.
I'm pressed for time right now but, with your ndulgence, would like to say a few more words about Alexander McCal Smith. Thank you.
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Actually that wasn't what I was thinking of! The character in question has a gold tooth. The grocer's has a name, very well known in Edinburgh.
Will be very interested to hear further thoughts about A McCall Smith.
Rosemary
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Oh, of course.
The sub-character is Cyril, Mr. Lordie's dog, who has a gold tooth and is beloved by the other denizens of 44 Scotland Street - except (of course!) Irene, Bertie's mother. She called him
'ugly' and 'smelly' on one occasion - he turned and bit her ...
Gumtree, McCall Smith is, in my eyes, a gentle philosopher with a profound knowledge of human nature without a mean bone in his body - as they say. He is astoundingly prolific, as Rosemary said at the outset, and has few equals.
In the Preface to the first volume of 44 Scotland Street, the author tells us he got the idea of reviving serialized fiction (customary in the 19th century : Dickens, Balzac, Flaubert) on a book tour in San Francisco when he met Armistead Maupin, writer of Tales of San Francisco , serially published in the San Francisco Chronicle.
That was five years ago. Now there are four sequels to 44 Scotland Street, really and truly an ode to Edinburgh.
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My last post took a lot of time because I was interrupted several times -- Grrrr
In re McCall Smith. My first experience came with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
, then came The Sunday Philosophy Club, an Isabel Dalhousie mystery - . Neither is really a "typical" mystery - to the extent I understand it, not being a fan of the genre. Last came 44 Scotland Street. I read every volume of each series and like 44 Scotland Street best.
I like the author's voice - the voice of reason, rare in hese tumultuous days. I like the style, the art and judicious use of language, and most of all the absence of "heavy breathing" scenes and four-letter words, which seem to be almost a prerequisite for publication these days.
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Traude - thanks for that run down on McCall Smith - he gets talked about so often here on SL and I've intended to get something of his from the library to see what it's all about. From what everyone's saying around the boards about him at the moment ( see the Two by Pym discussion), I guess I'll start with the Scotland Street series and see how I go.
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Yes Traude, it's Cyril. You may recall that he finds his way home by the aroma of the sun-dried tomatoes at Valvonna & Crolla, a wonderful grocer at the top of Leith Walk. More artistic licence here, as Angus and Cyril are said to do all of their shopping in there - all I can say is, Angus must sell a lot of paintings, because although V& C is a great place to browse, its prices are not exactly everyday. I seem to recall that A McS is friends with the owner, Mary Contini (I think he is probably friends with most of the "well kent" people in Edinburgh - at least with the nice ones) - she has written a book called "Dear Francesca - An Italian Journey of Recipes Recounted With Love", which I have but haven't read yet. Her family came to Scotland many years ago.
Rosemary
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Has anyone also read the "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" series by McCall Smith? Not as good as the others, but if you've ever had to deal with stuffy academics, it's hilarious. Besides, I'll read anything he writes.
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JoanK, from what I have read, Irregular Portuguese Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances were earlier works by McCall Smith, and brought out in new editions in 2003 after the huge international success of the Botswana series featuring Precious Ramotswe. He really is a very funny man. And a fine linguist too. The three ongoing print series are very different the author's versatility is a marvel.
In 44 Scotland Street there's a great deal of Scottish history that I do not remember from our old history books. I had no idea how deeply people still feel about the rift with England and abaout the Jacobites. Yes, there is still the same wit and perspicacity, but with added introspection, even a bit of nostalgia.
Let me please put in one more word about the Isabel Dalhousie series by giving you the title of the books published so far in order to demonstrate the difference of this series from the others :
1. The Sunday Philosophy Club, 2. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate. 3. The Right Attitude to Rain. 4. The Careful Use of Compliments. 4. The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday. Eccoci. There we are.
I have posted so much lately that I may have outstayed my welcome here. Moreover, I'm fresh out of ideas. So I would be grateful if someone else could volunteer to post the next quiz. Thank you in avance, and thank you, Rosemary. It was great fun.
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Traude -there is a new Isobel Dalhousie novel, "The Charming Quirks of Others" - but as there are about a million people on the list for it at the library, I fear I may not get to read it for some time.
R
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Rosemary, I had not heard of the last Dalhousie, The Charming Quirks of Others, but now have my eye on it :)
In my earlier post I listed two different novels with # 4 and omitted The Lost Art of Gratitude, which is # 6. Now we're all squared away. Thank you.
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Straude: you'll never outstay your welcome. Rosemary, thanks for the new Dahousie book. Time to watch her sail through the Terrible Twos, while meditating on philosophy (that's how I did it ;)
The books come out so fast I can't keep up. And it's amazing how each has a slightly different tone.
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Well, people don't seem to be lining up for the privilege of doing the next quiz, so I'll fill in.
Author: my marriage was somewhat troubled.
Book: was made into several movies and an opera.
Character: my first marriage wasn't a success.
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Not so much as a peep! More clues:
Author: I served in the army for four years.
Book: widely regarded as a masterpiece.
Chaaracter: For a few years I was a member of a well-known secret society.
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I think I know who this is but will keep mum for the moment - I really can't manage to do a new challenge right now.
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OK, Gumtree, sit there chuckling. I have a feeling today's clues will give it to several people. A particularly hard one to give clues that aren't either hopeless or obvious.
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I am really t rying, but I haven't got a clue ???
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PatH - yes I am chuckling - especially as today I received DVD of the latest film on the author's life... will watch it sometime this week :D
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Gumtree, if the film is about the last year of the author's life, you've got it.
Come on, JoanK, I know you know it. So do a lot of people here.
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Is it Roald Dahl?
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No, not Roald Dahl. Dahl would make a good quiz, but I didn't think of him.
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Sorry, PatH, I have no idea.
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OK, Gumtree, sit there chuckling. I have a feeling today's clues will give it to several people. A particularly hard one to give clues that aren't either hopeless or obvious.
I think that I am speaking for the majority. We are happy to receive the obvious. :)
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Indeed, I fear even the obvious may not be obvious enough for me :)
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PatH, a masterpiece, filmed several time, that inspired an opera ...
Sorry, I have no clue.
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Today's clues:
Author: My theory of history is distinctive.
Book: The opera is by Prokofiev.
Character: My efforts at social reform didn't work very well.
Of course, all you would have to do now is look up Prokofiev, but that's no fun.
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Gumtree, if the film is about the last year of the author's life, you've got it.
That's the very one Pat - chuckles she
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Pierre of War and Peace by Tolstoy.
Would have come in sooner, but off getting new glasses, since my old ones broke. They were only 40 years old, too.
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YES, JoanK. I thought you'd get it if nobody beat you to it.
Only 40 years? Shoddy workmanship.
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Gee Joan, I would have asked for a refund.
Well done JoanK!!!
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JoanK : just as well you had the glasses for a reason - otherwise I would be asking 'what took you so long' ... :D
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I'll fill in a few details: JoanK and Babi co-led a lively discussion of "War and Peace" a few years ago, so I was sure someone would get it. The movie Gumtree referred to is "The Last Station", about the struggles during Tolstoy's last year. Christopher Plummer is Tolstoy, and Helen Mirrin is his wife. I haven't seen it, but I gather it's good.
There was a lengthy BBC movie of "War and Peace" with Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov--a very good job--and a movie with Audrey Hepburn, the perfect Natasha, and Henry Fonda, and there have been others.
Prokofiev's opera isn't much performed because of the massive demands of cast and staging, but I had a chance to see it last spring. The stage had to be reinforced to hold up the massive conical rotating turntable--imaging waltzing or marching on a slanting floor that's turning. Nobody fell off, though that's happened in the past. Anyway, it was very enjoyable. I shouldn't have been surprised, given when the opera was written (mostly during WWII, with later revisions) but the second half was full of a lot of corny heroic nationalism, "look, we're beating back the evil Napoleon, and we'll always beat back invaders, and mother Russia will always be free". Fortunately, I have a taste for corny nationalism, but it was a bit thick even for me.
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I think it was the Russian version I saw (dubbed in English). Very long, very stiff, but interesting none-the-less. I best remember the camera "flying" over the battle scenes.
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The nationalism is in the book, although Tolstoy avoids being corny -- just. (of course, Nationalism for a country that's not yours always seems corny).
Pat reminded me that I'm "it". My mind is blank, but I'll be back with something.
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OK, here goes:
Author: was banned from a career as a cleric by a stutter.
Book: often uses another author's words
Character: a well known murderer
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No nibbles? ok, here's more.
Author: was banned from a career as a cleric by a stutter.
Spent years looking after a sick relative.
Book: often uses another author's words.
Is considered a "minor masterpiece"
Character: a well known murderer.
Had an unhappy marraige.
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Good grief, I have no idea, even though JoanK tells me that I have, in fact heard of it.
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Yopu've not only heard of it, you're fond of it.
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I always get a kick out of reading Joan and Pat's exchanges. Sisterly love :-). I have no idea either, but the stutter rings a bell, which is not ringing loudly enough.
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Fond of it? Aaaak!
The stutter rings a bell with me too, also too faintly.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Only the latest heading is up to date.
H'mmm - should know this one - Lewis Carroll had a stammer and took clerical orders - Henry James had a stutter too...
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Ok, thisw should do it. Reread the "book" clue: I've reworded it.
Author: was banned from a career as a cleric by a stutter.
Spent years looking after a sick relative.
Had a collatorator on this book, but not in his other works
Book: was considered a minor masterpiece, even though it uses another author's plots and words.
Although intended for children, is also read by adults.
Character: a well known murderer.
Had an unhappy marraige.
The prize that he saught was his doom.
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Joan,
I am flummoxed' A book about a murderer meant for children? Also read by adults? A masterpiece?
Please, please another hint.
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Yes, please! I am completely stuck.
Rosemary
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Eureka!
Author, Charles Lamb.
Book, "Tales From Shakespeare", written with his sister Mary.
Character, I'm guessing Macbeth, though Richard III would fit too.
I didn't know about the stutter, but Lamb's sister Mary was mentally ill, and he cared for her, with occasional periods of institutionalization when she got too bad.
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HOORAY!!! I won't have to think of any more clues! I hope I'm right, that many of you read it as a child or adult, as Pat and I did. As a teenager, it kept me from being afraid to read Shakespeare, since I already knew the plots.
My copy says that Shakespeare's own words were used as much as possible: of course that's the "other author".
Charles Lamb's sister Mary in a rage stabbed their mother and killed her. After that, Charles spent many years "taking care" of her. She wrote the "Tales from Shakespeare" (published in 1807) with him: she did the comedies and he the tragedies. He wrote many other things as well, while he worked for the East India House for 33 years.
Now that you know that the plots are from Shakespeare, you should have no trouble identifying the character.
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My deprived childhood kept Charles Lamb from me. However the N.Y. public schools taught us one Shakespeare play a year from 5th to 12 th grade. Also his Sonnets from 5th thru 8th.
The murderer could be Othello.
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The last two clues finally rang a bell, a distant bell.
Things did not gel or me until PatH solved the quiz. Only then did I remember reading some years ago about Charles Lamb, his life, and his being the caregiver for his unstable sister. That remained with me. I did not retain the fact that Lamb stuttered, and did not read the masterpiece.
In high school, we were exposed to Shakespeare. We studied (in German, of course) Midsummer Night's Dream. The foreign language program in our school was extensive, but English was not offered until we were 16. Ours was a small class, fewer than 20, all girls --- simply because co-education was unknown until after WW II.
The first teacher was English, hired by the school for one year. She was wonderful. We adored her. Her method, I realized ever more as time passed, was spontaneous and innovative, given the time. She did not focus on the written word or gramma, at first, but on listening and pronunciation. She began with reading old English folk songs.
we lmemorized then, recited them, first in unison, then individually, and we sang them. There could have been no better introduction to i any foreign language, IMHO.
___________________________________
My absence from this folder is due to my scaling back my time on the computer, involuntarily for sure, because of poor vision. I have an appointment with the eye doctor next month - something I both dread and anticipate. It will show whether the progress of the malady ihas remained slow.
___________________________________
As promised, I presented the case of picking up Paul Scott with [i]Stayaying On[/i]. To my huge delight, the response was favorable. I could have jumped for joy and could not be happier.
Planning, of course, is of the essence in any venture, and we are fortunate to have our truly incomparable techies see to the intricate details.
At this point, we envision Staying On to be offered in either February or March of next year, in the separate folder, alongside the admirable, long-running SOC.
I am grateful beyond words.
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I've got my copy of Staying On, won't touch it until close to starting time.
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PatH :) :)
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Traude YIPPEE That is such good news. I recently acquired the book but I'll wait and read it closer to the time. Thank you for going in to bat for us.
I began Scott's Six Days at Marapore which is also absorbing but am not very far into it as yet.
I do hope your eye report is positive - I'm still having problems with my left eye so am in empathy with you.
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Lamb's Shakespeare !! G'rrr - I have it on my shelves but didn't give him a thought even though the clue about the sick relative was rolling around in the back of my mind. What an admirable thing he did in caring for his sister - although I daresay there were very few other options open to him.
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OK, JoanK, I suggested 2 possible characters and Judy suggested one. Is it one of those?
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PAT: I was so excited that you got it, I didn't notice your character suggestions. I hadn't realized that Macbeth and Othello both fit my clues. I happened to be thinking of Macbeth.
I'm sorry that most of you hadn't read the book. Since I read it in childhood, I thought everyone had. It's hard to think of something that most of us will know.
Okay, Pat -- you're it.
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I can see that it's really hard to think of things, but this really is one of my favourite parts of SeniorLearn.
At Christmas I nag my family into compiling a quiz - we each do different topics and I always do books. I inevitably think that I have made all of the questions far too easy - and they hardly ever get any of them. I suppose this may be partly a reflection on my husband and children's ignorance (!), but I think it's also true that we always think whatever we know is obvious, when to most other people it isn't.
Pat - I await your questions with bated breath...
Rosemary
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Pat - I await your questions with bated breath...
Rosemary
So do I--I'm working on it.
It's impossible to be sure you're getting the right level of difficulty. If you know the answer, the clues seem too obvious. Then there's chance. Someone once posed a very reasonable quiz here, but, by chance, no one had read the book, although you would have thought some of us would have, so no one got anywhere. Another time, someone gave what should have been a very obscure clue to Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander", but several of us, including myself, are O'Brian fanatics. She probably couldn't have thought of a clue that we wouldn't have gotten instantly.
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I'm not feeling too brilliant. This will have to do.
Author: I am unknown.
Book: You may have had to read this in school.
Character: I am valiant.
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DUH!
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My skimpy clues didn't click with anyone. Here's more:
Author: no one knows much much about me, but I sure had a way with words.
Book: was made into a movie a few years ago.
Character: my mission was to help a ruler free his land from a marauder.
Just for the record, I know some of you have read this.
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Maybe a Robin Hoodish type ? I think Piers Plowman wrote about Robin
"neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between."
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It's not Robin Hood, Roshanarose, but you're getting the spirit.
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Could this possibly be Beowulf? (Author unknown)
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YES, it could indeed be Beowulf. Good for you, Judy.
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A very high-tech movie was made of Beowulf three years ago. Although they shot most of the scenes live, they then digitalized the actors, which had the effect of making their faces look waxy and blunting the expression (if any) of their acting. There were also some unfortunate plot choices. The mother of the marauder Grendel is Angelina Jolie, dressed in nothing but gold paint and high heels. She looks pretty good, but hardly the "monstrous hag" whose blood melts the blade of Beowulf's sword as he slays her. A couple of times, for a moment or two, quality wins out, and you get the feel of the poem, but it doesn't last. But if you just want a flashy action flic, it's OK.
When I looked up the date of this movie in IMDB, I learned that there is a 1999 sci-fi movie, a post-apocalyptic retelling of the story. This I've got to see. It's in my queue.
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Hi Pat-
The reason it resonated was the fact that someone turned it into a stage play and presented it on a small stage at Stanford, where I saw it. I found it rather comical and not at all what I learned in college.
Anyhow it helped me guess this quiz because you also presented it in a humorous manner.
Lots of fun.
I'll take up the banner but give me a bit of time.
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Where do I find the list of Authors who have already been used? Its not on page one.
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Great get Jude - Beowulf didn't enter my mind...
Several years ago we saw a stage 'reading' of Beowulf. The guy recited from memory in the original Anglo Saxon and accompanied himself playing the theorbo. It was a powerful theatrical performance. There were subtitles but I didn't really bother with those - he conveyed so much by expression and demeanour and I knew the tale well enough to just let the old language take over. Wonderful.
After the performance he took a break and came back on stage to field questions about the work and his interpretation etc. I can't think of his name or exactly where he was from but do remember that he was primarily an academic specialising in early Anglo Saxon and perhaps medieval literature at a British university.
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Where to find already used authors: There is a list at the top of each page. However, only the latest page is current. When I add new authors, I don't go back and change all the previous pages. Sorry, Jude, I hadn't yet gotten to putting it on this page. I've now done that, and will update it it a few minutes.
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Here we go..Hope this is easy enuff to finish in a day or two as I am expecting a house full of guests before Thanksgiving.
1)An American author.
2)Character is an unpleasant and mean person
3) This book was the authors first success and was made into a very popular movie.
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Way to go, JUDE. As usual, I awqait more clues.
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Dr Seuss?
How The Grinch Sold Christmas?
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Oh Rosemary its a no but I wish I would have thought of Dr. Seauss.
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Never mind :) Will keep trying, and have just realised it was "stole" not "sold" - I must have been overcome by all the shop windows I have seen in Edinburgh over the weeekend!
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Jude, could it be Milo from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ?
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No Straude-but a good guess.
Second clues.
The writer is not just American but a writer from the South. His/her Southern roots are felt in all the books.
The book so angered his\her father that they didn't speak for many years.
The character is very cruel but the author claims that he was crueller in real life.
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William Faulkner was from Mississippi, which was the setting of many of his books. I don't recall ever seeing anything about he and his dad having a falling out, though.
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OK Frybabe you are closing in. It is not Faulkner but some one born in 1945.
Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us and my guests will be here soon I will throw hints at you that hopefully will reveal the author. If you haven't read his books you have missed out on an exciting read.
The author is not only Southern but went to a Military school "The Citadel".
The characterization of his fathe rin the book was so harsh that his mother,ashamed, picketed stores that sold the book. It didn't help. The book was a bestselerl as were all his (yes it's a him) books following this.
The character is an Alcoholic and a military man.
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Oh, goodness, I've got to know who this is, if only my brain will come up with it.
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Is the author Pat Conroy (born in Georgia) and the book The Great Santini ?
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Oh straude YES,YES,YES!
The great Santini it is. Pat Conroy is perhaps better known for Prince of Tides but I haven't read that one so I chose one I had read by him. I just presented at my f2f bookclub his latest novel: South of Broad. About half the peoplee loved it and half didn't. Since he was so present in my mind I thought to use him for this quiz. Personally I really enjoy his writing and the fact that he brings up many taboo subjects like child abuse, mental illnes, and in his latest book the Aids epidemic and Priest abuse. Not easy to pull off these subjects in a literary context.
Pat Conroy was the oldest of seven children. His father was a brute but presented a different face to the world. The father had a popular lecture series for military families on "Tough Love". Through reading Pat's books on the effect of his brutality he apoligized to Pat after years of no contact.
Conroy has been married three times and his present wife is the writer Cassandra King. He notes that sometimes he hears her laugh as she writes. "I only weep" he says.
Happy Thansgiving to you all!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Jude, the answer came easily after your last clue. I have never experienced brutality like young Ben Meecham in The Great Santini, a heart-breaking story, but I know there are domineering, meddlesome people who present to the outside world a picture of themselves that is totally different from the one their families get to see. If Pat Conroy drew on his own life (which is likely), at least he has survived, though hardly unscathed.
South of Broad was welcomed with enthusiasm when it was first published, a big sprawling book with many characters. I had a library copy at the time and promised myself I'd get a paperback. I still haven't done so ...
I admire you for taking on this large project. I bet you had a lively discussion.
A good quiz. Enjoy your guests on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving everyobe
PatH, I'll be back after the holiday with a new quiz.
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Good for you for guessing it, Traude.
A Happy Thanksgiving to all.
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Happy thanksgiving to all.
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Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Senior Learners.
Ah ! I hear a brush turkey scratching in my garden .... watch out Mate!!
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This isn't the best place to post this, but maybe one of you Aussies can help me answer a question, while we wait for the next puzzle.
When I go to the library, I sometimes pick up mysteries by authors I don't know. I did that this week, picked up "Death before Wicket" by Kerry Greenwood. Turns out, it's set in Australia, the detective is a wealthy woman who usually lives in Melbourne but is visiting Sydney. My question is this: there is no mention in the book as to what time period it occurs in. But the picture on the cover shows her in 20s garb, and much is made of the fact that a bridge is under construction across Sydney harbor, which will put the old ferry boats out of business.
Does that mean it is the 20s or 30s? It doesn't really matter, but somehow I don't like not knowing WHEN I am.
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JoanK - I hope this helps. Construction of the bridge began in December, 1926 and construction was finished 19 March, 1932. Happily, ferries still run. See link below.
http://www.sydney.com.au/bridge.htm
I am a little ashamed to say that I haven't read any of Greenwood's books. A quick search reveals she is quite prolific. The summary in this link just says that her Phryne Fisher novels are set in the 1920s.
Tell me what you think when you have finished the book.
http://www.phrynefisher.com/
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and much is made of the fact that a bridge is under construction across Sydney harbor, which will put the old ferry boats out of business.
JoanK That is just priceless - a bridge?? this is THE bridge, THE Aussie icon - I'm laughing fit to kill myself...
Haven't read the author - maybe I should but for some reason my TBR piles get higher without adding more ...not sure where they come from. The title Death Before Wicket has cricketing connotations like the term LBW - Leg Before Wicket. Hope you enjoy.
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Thank you -- that confirms my guess. I knew you would know.
I can't recommend the book, because of a sex scene I found MUCH too graphic (I don't know why mystery story writers think they have to do that). But if you can deal with that, you'd probably enjoy her take on Sydney in the 20s -- much more rowdy, she says than Melbourne where she came from. Her female detective is also a spoof on the male detectives who are suave, know everything, and have gormless members of the opposite sex trailing after them.
True to its name, there is a murder at a cricket match. I got the book hoping it would help me understand cricket, but it's not detailed enough to help. It's probably hopeless anyway -- we Yanks don't have the cricket gene.
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If you want to try Kerry Greenwood, her first book is Cocaine Blues.
I can't resist quoting her biography from Fantastic Fiction:
Kerry Greenwood has worked as a folk singer, factory hand, director, producer, translator, costume-maker, cook and is currently a solicitor. When she is not writing, she works as a locum solicitor for the Victorian Legal Aid. She is also the unpaid curator of seven thousand books, three cats (Attila, Belladonna and Ashe) and a computer called Apple (which squeaks). She embroiders very well but cannot knit. She has flown planes and leapt out of them (with a parachute) in an attempt to cure her fear of heights (she is now terrified of jumping out of planes but can climb ladders without fear). She can detect second-hand bookshops from blocks away and is often found within them.
For fun Kerry reads science fiction/fantasy and detective stories. She is not married, has no children and lives with a registered wizard. When she is not doing any of the above she stares blankly out of the window.
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"When she is not doing any of the above she stares blankly out of the window."
Glad we have something in common.
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you'd probably enjoy her take on Sydney in the 20s -- much more rowdy, she says than Melbourne where she came from.
JoanK : She's right there - Sydneysiders are still rowdier than just about anybody else - Melbournites have always had a reputation for conservatism - having said that there are parts of Melbourne that really rock... :D
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Sorry to be late.
Here is the new quiz
The author has written fiction and nonfiction
The book is a sober, even cynical, reflection on a man's search for redemption
The character is beginning a new life
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H'mmm- I can see that I'm going to need a few more clues.
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Could this author be Albert Camus?
But perhaps I am fishing in the wrong pond?
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Not Dumas, Jude, though not necessarily the wrong "pond".
The author is still with us.
The book reflects the author's deep concern over the ineradicability of human misery.
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More clues
The author is living, still writing.
The book is an acknowledged masterpiece and won the Booker Prize.
Although the character's miseries are caused by his own weaknesses, and the initial lack of remorse is deplorable, readers may come to feel a modicum of sympathy for such abasement.
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Why am I thinking about J. M. Coetzee?
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Gumtree : ... because you are right ! Brava !
The bok should be easy.
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I think the book is "Disgrace" and the character is David Lurie .
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Yes Jude - I was thinking of Disgrace but would have had to look it up for the name of the character -
As you all probably know, these days Coetzee lives and works in Australia - in Adelaide - he's now a naturalised Aussie and seems to have found some kind of a niche for himself here.
Traude - great clues - I love the phrase you used The book reflects the author's deep concern over the ineradicability of human misery it fits Coetzee to a T.
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Jude and Gumtree, you are the co-solvers. Excellent. I had a hunch that the last clues would produce an answer - especially since J.M. Coetze left So. Africa behind and moved to Australia, as Gumtree said.
I am rushing out for an early appointment but will return with a few more words about this quiz.
Thank you for being here.
Traude
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In re Disgrace.
We discussed the book here in our earlier incarnation. The discussion was thorough and intense; also long and extensive. It was archived for under Fiction from the Pre-20007 era. We were fortunate to have a South African join us and benefited enormously from her insights and experiencer both during and after Apartheid.
Coetzee's language in this book (and indeed in other works) is lean and unsparing, the overt cruelty and violence does shock some readers. His characters - in this book and elsewhere - are people blown about by historical and political forces. Institutional and other injustices are not a automatically ended, following a dramatic change in a political system. After some "reordering"
there ma appear new variants of misery. (Coetzee's work reminds me of Kafka.) The character of professor David Lurie is not appealing but appalling. But the reader begins to bend a little, in the face of the suffering thats befalls first him, and then Lucy, his daughter - the second disgraace - while he stands by unable to help.
Interestingly, no mention at all is made of Lucy in the 2008 movie Disgrace with John Malkovich as David Lurie. The film refers solely on David's disgrace. I wonder what the author thought of that omission. His productive life continues; he is said not to smile much, nor talk a lot.
Once again, thank you.
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Gumtree
You will have to take up this banner. We have Hannukah starting today and my house will be full of guests for the holiday.
I will not be available until next Weds. Dec. 8th. The Jewish calendar goes by the Lunar cycle and this year the holiday falls way too close to Thanksgiving. But nothing I can do about it. The eight days of Hannukkah , this year, are from Dec. first to eigth.
Thanks Traude for remembering Coetzee. I found this book chilling but memorable .
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Chilling is right Jude - I wasn't around for the SN discussion but read Disgrace with my F2F group - some of the group didn't finish it. I like the way Coetzee writes without embellishment - tells it as it is - but I don't like is the 'human misery' he writes about. I didn't know they had overlooked the Lurie's daughter in the film which I haven't seen. My DH was in poor health at the time it came out so I had to give it a miss then and I haven't felt like putting it on my DVD rentals...
I'll try to think of something 'brilliant' for our next quiz but know it will be pretty ordinary... back as soon as I can work something up.
Jude - Enjoy your family and have a happy Hannukkah holiday.
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GUM: You're it in both "Author, Author" and "Blanko". Stop being so smart!
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Jude - I am sorry to be so ill-informed, but what do you do for Hannukah, and what does it commemorate?
My younger daughter and I visited the synagogue in Aberdeen on Open Doors Day last year. The lady there explained that there are only 6 Orthodox Jewish families in the whole of NE Scotland, so as you can see, we don't know much about the religion. I did, however, work in Finchley, North London, many years ago, and remember some of the celebrations that used to go on there.
Rosemary
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Rosemary
Here is a very brief summary of the history of the holiday. If you wish to know more look up on Google:Maccabees, Antiochus and 25 of Kislev,168B.C.E.
In 168BCE Antiochus (also known as "the madman") ruled Judea where most of the Jews lived in peace under Greek rule.
This King erected a statue of Zeus in the Jewish temple (Jews do not believe in graven images of gods i.e.statues. He also forbade circumcision and praying on the Jewish sabbath. He demanded that the Jews eat swine meat and those that refused were slaughtered in front of their families. Children were not exempt. One old man had seven sons. After witnessing some brutal murders of children he fled his town with his seven sons and they formed a guerilla band known as The Maccabees (the hammer).
Its a long story but eventually the Jewish guerillas beat the Greek army and reconquered the main temple in Jerusalem.
They found oil in the temple for only one night but a miracle occurred and the oil lasted for eight days and nights. Thus the eight days of Hannukah. Each night one more candle on the Hannukiah or nine branched candelabra is lit . The main candle is lit all eight nights. Oily food is eaten to reind us of the miracle of the temple oil. Potato pancakes and small jelly doughnuts are popular.
The game of dreidle or tops is played since the legend is that boys were given these tops to play in front of the secret worshipping sitesof the Jews in order to put off the Greek soldiers when they came looking for the men praying.
Happy Holidays to you and yours !1
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Thanks Jude, that is very interesting - I am learning so much from this site. It must be a hopeless time to worry about calories at them moment - Thanksgiving, Hannukah and Christmas all within 4 weeks of one another (or do you abstain from Christmas?)!
Have a lovely time,
Rosemary
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Here we go -
Author
1. Worked as a political journalist, wrote short stories, essays, plays and many novels and became an influential writer.
Book
1. A novel, recognised as the author's undisputed masterpiece.
Character
1. I'm a young, rather naive but hardworking idealist.
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GUM: You're it in both "Author, Author" and "Blanko". Stop being so smart!
Gum can't help being smart - she is Australian, after all. Hope it is a bit cooler in the West, Gum.
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H'mmm, no comments - I'm going to make this easy for you... :D
Author
1. Worked as a political journalist, wrote short stories, essays, plays and many novels and became an influential writer.
2. The author was a contemporary of Stephen Crane, George Gissing and Guy de Maupassant - to name just three.
Book
1. A novel, recognised as the author's undisputed masterpiece.
2. Depicts a grim struggle between capital and labour.
Character
1. I'm a young, rather naive but hardworking idealist.
2. I led my co-workers in a revolt against ill-paid and dangerous conditions.
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is it Robert Tressell?
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How about Émile Zola, Germinal, Étiennne Lantier ?
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Zola was my guess too, straudetwo.
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TRAUDE WINS AGAIN !
Yes, the perfect answer in all respects Traude.
Emile Zola - the novel Germinal because it is his best - and Etienne Lantier as the character - though I was very tempted to use Maheu instead - remember Gerard Depardieu in that role. To my mind the ever present mine is the protagonist as Zola's descriptions show it as a living, breathing entity pulsating with life in an almost human way - but I settled for Etienne.
I chose Zola after Traude's pithy comment about Coetzee's portrayal of the ineradicability of human misery which has a profound veracity and which brought the entire gamut of Zola to my mind - enough to make me take Germinal from the shelf and dip into it. Zola's depictions of human misery were written more than a century ago but are still with us today all over the earth despite 'improvements' in all facets of human life.
And Zola's life itself is so fascinating - not only his literary output He was one of the first to attempt to show the effects heredity and environment have on the individual through the great sequence of novels we know as the Rougon-MacQuart series which traces a family through generations. . - there's his championing of the victim in the Dreyfus case which led to his being forced for a time to flee France - and his death from carbon-monoxide poisoning from a blocked chimney which has never been satisfactorily explained (the idea of it having been murder because of his political activity still lingers)- and through all that a life fully lived. He is one of my favourite literary figures even though in some respects, he too, had feet of clay.
CONGRATULATIONS TRAUDE
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Rosemary Tressell was such a good guess given the clues - I think the only clue that couldn't be made to fit him was the first one about his writing other stuff - essays, plays and many novels. Tressell tackled much the same problems as Zola did with Germinal butI believe The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists was his only novel.
Tressell's life and especially the publication history of his book is also interesting even down to the tale about his daughter protecting the manuscript from destruction by locking it in a tin trunk and hiding it under her bed. It's very like the actual device used by many 18 & 19 century novelists of claiming to have found a long lost manuscript hidden in a box in the back of an old cupboard or somewhere up in the attic.
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Gumtree - I knew about Tressell's manuscript being kept under the bed, but not about the device you mention - ie other writers pretending to "discover" manuscripts. Why did they do that?
Tressell was recommended to me many years ago by my father-in-law. His (ie FIL's) family was very poor and lived in a deprived area of Liverpool. His father, however, who had little formal education, was determined to learn, and to make sure his 5 children did. As a result - and with no private education or outside help - three of them went to Oxford. FIL is still a dyed-in-the-wood socialist, and he and MIL (who came from a very different and quite affluent background) are staunch Guardian readers to this day.
R
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Gumtree, thank you.
When I read the second set of clues, the years fell away and I saw myself reading Germinal in my father's library - with his permissison and approval. The book made an extraordinary impression on me - perhaps because I was a buddding idealist myself, or perhaps because all books that are about the human condition leave a special imprint.
To think of another challenge will take me a few days this time because this is an especially busy week with several holiday gatherngs - while the home preparations take a temporary back seat.
In haste, with gratitude,
Traude
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Goodness! Three in a row that speak movingly about human misery. And I wouldn't have gotten any of them. Good work, all.
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"Three in a row that speak movingly about human misery. And I wouldn't have gotten any of them. "
Are you saying you're not miserable enough, PAT? I can help you with that.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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Are you saying you're not miserable enough, PAT? I can help you with that.
Oh, that's all right, please don't bother.
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Joan. You are so cheeky to your sister.
I sent an offer of cricket lessons to you. To the email in your profile. Or was I dreaming?
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And speaking of cricket - After the Aussies lost the last test I idly commented that the selectors should bring back Shane Warne - now the idea is being touted in every newspaper - and maybe they should - he's still playing some form of the game, is relatively fit and just the sheer presence of the man would give the team a boost and strike terror into the hearts of the Poms. :D
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Latest news on Shane Warne - having an affair with Liz Hurley.
It's a good thing he can bowl well is all I will say about Warnie. And, Yes, they should bring him back onto the team.
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Rose: I'll look for it! I'd love cricket lessons.
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My pleasure!
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Here I am, back with a new quiz and sincere apologies for the long interval. Mea maxima culpa.
Time was when I had no problem tackling any number of tasks simultaneously - long before the term "multi-tasking" had been coined. But age and arthritis have slowed me dow.
Author : A novelist, playwright and critic, known for his boundless range of knowledge and his marvelously entertaining stories.
The Book : The subject is the cultural life of a city.
Characters : There are several major characters in addition to the chief narrator, who tells interesting stories.
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Hmmmm
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JoanK, easy does it. Twentieth century. Author no longer with us.
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My senior moments are now extending into senior hours. It is on the tip of my fingers/tongue but my recall button needs a service. Someone Maupin? Amistead Maupin (spelling)? Can't remember the book though.
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Roshanarose - that is who I thought of, but I think Maupin is very much with us. (The book I think you are thinking of is Tales of the City - oen of my favourites).
Rosemary
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I thought of Gore Vidal, but I think he too is still alive and kicking - isn't he?
R
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T. S. Eliot was pretty versatile, but I can't think of anything he might of written about the culture of a city.
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Very interesting guesses. But we are not on the same track exactly, yet.
Here are more clues.
The declared subject of the book is life in a large city before and after WW II.
The narrator believes that, in order to understand the cultural history of a great city, it is necessary to look at the lives of those who created it. And that he does, spupremely well, most richly his own.
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Berlin?
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This is intriguing. I can't think what it is, but have a feeling I'll kick myself when someone else gets it.
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Roshanarose, Sorry, not Berlin.
PatH, Actually, I chose the book with you in mind.
You mentioned the book and the author before and again, recently.
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New clues
The author was popular and has been called the finest " man of letters" of his country, a term he detested.
The book was the author's last.
The chief narrator in the book is a brilliant diagnostician.
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PatH is traveling, so may be slow to answer your challange.
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I'd answer the challenge if I could - Gore Vidal was the one who came in to my mind. I think I need to read the clues 'between the lines'
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Gumtree, Everyone,
Truly, I did not set out to find a diabolically complicated challenge - quite the opposite is true. I was looking for something "lighter" and more optimistic f than Zola, Dostoevesky and Coetzee.
The book I chose has been "under the radar" here again, recently and, I thought, might be the right candidate.
As I said before, it is the last book the author wrote. It was his first book for me. And I was in my glory - so much so that I went back and read all his novels in chronological order.
As I also said before, he is considered the finest man of letter of his country.
Around the time the author died, I was an enthusiastic listener to an exceptional (I thought) Boston radio call-in talk show, which I tried never to miss. That ended on the day a caller lamented the recent passing of the author --- and the talk show host - caught unawares and sounding bored (that's my recall ) - said he'd never read any book by this author before.
If there's one word to best describes the author and his work, it 's learned.
He was steeped in the entire canon of western civilization beginning with the Greeks, but never boring or pretentious, never sermonized. He had a wonderful feel for Shakesspeare. And yes, he also taught.
Thank you for your insightful guesses and don't forget the breath of this continent.
JoanK, my thoughts are with PatH. I hope she's safe, on schedule, and not stranded on a highway, or an airport.
Gumtree, your summer was rudely interrupted by snow, I saw, in a province north of Perth, and also in the east of the continent.
Be well, be safe, everyone !
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I'm safe and sound in Portland, OR, enjoying the company of some of my favorite people, with nothing bad about the trip except the obscene hour I had to get up to catch my plane.
Traude, I didn't even need your latest set of clues to get it, though I had forgotten the character's name and had to look it up.
Robertson Davies, The Cunning Man, Dr. Jonathan Hullah.
I'm glad the book inspired you to read all of Davies' work; it's not one of my favorites compared to some of the others.
Of course now I'm IT (sigh).
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I never heard of Robertson Davies. The only book title I recognize is The Manticore.
Glad you made it to Portland in good shape, PatH.
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Traude - I haven't heard of the book before. I looked up the Manticore on Wiki and what a strange and terrible creature it it. I look forward to reading a book that models its protagonist around such a beast, albeit in Jungian mode.
"The manticore (Early Middle Persian Martyaxwar; Βάρἰκος Baricos in Greek) is a legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), and a trumpet-like voice. Other aspects of the creature vary from story to story. It may be horned, winged, or both. The tail is that of either a dragon or a scorpion, and it may shoot poisonous spines to either paralyze or kill its victims. It devours its prey whole. It leaves no clothes, bones, or possessions of the prey behind. During the early centuries, it was often believed that when a person would go missing, it was evidence that it was caused by a manticore and that manticore were real. The creature's feet may be those of a dragon, but are most often described as the paws of a lion. Its size ranges from the size of a lion to the size of a horse. It is also mistaken as a bearded man when seen from a distance."
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That's very interesting Roshanarose. I hadn't realized it was a mythic beast of some kind. Along with the Jungian influence, it certainly makes the book sound more intriguing. It is the second book of a trilogy.
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Trust PatH to get it
Traude How clever of you to choose Robertson Davies. And yes, as you said, we had spoken of him recently albeit briefly. I've read some of his work but certainly not all.
I have to say that any reports of snow falling north of Perth are totally erroneous - true, there is serious flooding in the north of our state with considerable damage to crops, stock and historic homesteads but no snow!
On the other hand snow has fallen in the Snowy Mountains in the east of the continent - it's not much but ski resorts are happy to have a little extra business. There is also major flooding in eastern states as well.
However in Perth it is extremely hot and dry and looks likely to remain so for the next three or four months.
My best Christmas present is due to arrive this evening in the form on my second son who is coming to celebrate Christmas with us. He lives in Sydney so we don't see him as often as we would like.
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Frybabe, although the Manticore is the second of a trilogy, it happens to be the first Davies book I read, and it worked out OK to read it that way. The heart of it is the Jungian analysis of the protagonist, during which he tells his story. The first, Fifth Business, and third, World of Wonders, cover a mostly overlapping time frame and many of the same characters, but from different points of view. The third should definitely be read last, and is also, IMHO, the least of them.
I've been busy with a grandchild today, but will try to come up with something promptly.
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PatH, I'm glad to hear you arrived safe and sound at your destination.
Yes, that's what we were after : The Cunning Man, Dr. Jonathan Hullah, the narrator and holistic physician, and Robertson Davies, the eminent Canadian man of letters. The city is Toronto.
Robertson Davies was born into a family of voracious readers, the father served as a senator and was a newspaper man. Eventually father and son worked together in that trade. The son attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto and his thesis was about Shakespeare and young actors. He and his young wife moved to England and he studied at Oxford.
Robertson's own first two plays were well received and brought rewards. But his novels were to have a much broader impact.
The first novel Tempest Tost, 1951, (a light, funny tale of an amateur group trying to produce Shakespeare's Tempest), was followed by Leaven of Malice, 1954, and A Mixture of Frailties, 1958. It was his first trilogy known as The Salterton Trilogy .
I do not regret going all the way back fromThe Cunning Man to the "beginnings", so to speak, which was an exhilarating exercise.
Robertson's father died in 1967 and not long after he began writing Fifth Business, 1970; The Manticore, 1972; World of Wonders, 1975, known as The Deptford Trilogy after the little town where it all began. A deceptively simple story with unpredictable, irrevocable, irremediable consequences: a rock hidden in a snowball hits a pregnant woman ...
In the following decade Robertson wrote The Rebel Agels, 1981; What's Bred int he Bone , 1985; and The Lyre of Orpheus, 1988, known as The Cornish Trilogy.[/b].
While The Cunning Man published in 1994, 'stands alone', there is speculation that Robertson Davies was planning a Toronto Trilogy, because The Cunning Man was preceded by Murther and Walking Spirits, 1991 and features some of the same characters.
What intriguing titles !!! For those who'd like to take a glimpse, Tempest Tost might ne a sampler. I agree that the Jungian theories/archetypes are most fully featured in The Manticore but, if read alone, without volumes 1 and 3, may not be as clear and meaningful in the context of the story, which is spread over years.
Yes, myths and magic, hagiography, miraculous cureswere some of the subjects in the novels of Robertson Davies, none better to stimulate thought. There's an excellent reference Robertson Davies, Man of Myth, , a biography by Judith Skelton-Grant, a heavy all-encompassing tome.
Gumtree, is it already Chrismas Evein Australia ? Oh my, I'm still a long way from completing important element of dinner ...
If you see typos, lease ignore. Thank you.
In haste. T
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Yesm Traude! Christmas Eve indeed - it is actually 11pm and I'm soon off to bed - whatever is not done will now remain undone.... My son arrived OK and in the best of spirits. We all had a wonderful dinner last night - enjoyed ourselves so much that our party was the last to leave the restaurant.
Best wishes to all for a happy, safe and peaceful Christmas
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I'm back home now, safe, but with a horrible cold. It was worth it though. we had a really happy Christmas.
I hesitate to start a new one, since my computer is acting up, but here goes.
Author: My writing life began under difficulties.
Character: My early childhood was quite bleak.
Book: A bestseller.
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Complete stab in the dark:
I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith? (The narrator starts the book "with my feet in the kitchen sink", or something like that!)
Rosemary
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Sounds like an interesting book, rosemarykaye, but it's not it.
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ROSEMARY: does he tell you where the rest of him is?
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To begin "narrowing down the field", we need to know a little more. Please.
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Certainly you need to know more.
Author: I drew on a lot of traditional lore from the past.
Character: I was much happier when I discovered my abilities.
Book: Has been made into a movie.
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Is Pat talking about J R R Tolkien and one of his books?
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Good guess, but no.
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Well , I didn't really think it would be the one...
Happy New Year!
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The Ugly Duckling? :)
Rosemary
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolfe, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Joan K - the narrator with her feet in the sink is in fact a "she", Cassandra Mortmain, heroine of the truly wonderful "I Capture The Castle" by Dodie Smith (she who write 101 Dalmatians).
The books starts:
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy."
To quote the book jacket:
"(this) timeless, witty and enchanting novel about growing up. Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Her journal records her life with her beautiful, bored sister Rose, her fadingly glamorous step-mother Topaz, her little brother Thomas and her eccentric novelist father who suffers from a financially crippling writer's block. However, all their lives are turned upside down when the American heirs to the castle arrive and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time..."
"I know of few novels - except Pride & Prejudice - that inspire as much lifelong affection in their readers" - Joanna Trollope
"This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met" - JK Rowling
There isn't much I can add to this! I read it because I read somewhere that it was a novel handed down from mother to daughter - well, my mother failed there :) - but I have handed it down to my elder daughter, Anna, who loves it, and also to my neighbour, who loved it so much that she gave copies to all of her friends for Christmas.
It has been made into quite a good film, although I would definitely read the book first.
Rosemary
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No, not The Ugly Duckling.
Time for more clues. Sorry I missed yesterday--too busy coughing and sneezing.
Author: My writing life began under difficulties.
I drew on a lot of traditional lore from the past.
I now devote some of my profits to charity.
Character: My early childhood was quite bleak.
I was much happier when I discovered my abilities.
I cut my education short to tackle a very important problem.
Book: A bestseller.
Has been made into a movie.
Is the last of the author's books about the character.
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I always seem to get my sister's books -- maybe because we read the same things. But I'll wait til someone else gets it.
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PatH - I am really trying, but I haven't got the first idea - any more clues?
Rosemary
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"I now devote some of my profits to charity."
Author still living?
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Yes, the author is still living. I know you have all heard of this one, and some of you have read it.
More clues later when I think of them.
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More clues:
Author: My writing life began under difficulties.
I drew on a lot of traditional lore from the past.
I now devote some of my profits to charity.
My first marriage didn't last, but my second is very happy.
Character: My early childhood was quite bleak.
I was much happier when I discovered my abilities.
I cut my education short to tackle a very important problem.
Some of the friends who helped me weren't human.
Book: A bestseller.
Has been made into a movie.
Is the last of the author's books about the character.
Has been translated into many languages.
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More clues--these should do it.
Author: My writing life began under difficulties.
I drew on a lot of traditional lore from the past.
I now devote some of my profits to charity.
My first marriage didn't last, but my second is very happy.
I'm British.
Character: My early childhood was quite bleak.
I was much happier when I discovered my abilities.
I cut my education short to tackle a very important problem.
Some of the friends who helped me weren't human.
I fell in love with my best friend's sister.
Book: A bestseller.
Has been made into a movie.
Is the last of the author's books about the character.
Has been translated into many languages.
The movie is just ending its run about now.
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I cannot even guess when this could have been written. Sorry.
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Is it J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
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YES! Good for you, deems2. Your punishment for being clever is that now you're it.
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Deems2, only the list of previous books on the current page is up to date.
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Well done deems2. Go for it!
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Yikes! This game is way more frightening than Blanko. :-\ But I will give it a try. I apologise in advance for everything I do wrong.
That being said...I believe we start with vague clues, right?
Author: I was born under a different name.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
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Deems2 There is no right or wrong way so you won't do anything wrong.
Those clues have just narrrowed the possibilities to about 20 gazillion....
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Ha! Well, let's take it down to 10 gazillion.
Author: I was born under a different name.
I write sentences that go on for paragraphs.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
I never get to tell my story.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
The narrative is a bit jumbled. Particularly in the beginning.
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I thought perhaps that out of the now 10 gazillion we might be talking Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy? - but I believe that Sterne was the author's real name.
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Oh dear, I read something by somebody who did that years and years ago. Funny, all I remember is reading the endless sentences. Can't even say what it was about.
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Endless sentences makes one think of Marcel Proust and Henry James - but methinks they were their real names so we can cross them off the list.
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I'm thinking that it is a Victorian era writer, but not necessarily British.
I looked up "longest sentence" and found a short entry in Wikipedia. A guy by the name of Nigel Tomm takes the cake with a sentence 469,375 words long. Maybe that is why I never heard of him. :D Anyhow, the ones listed (very short list) I have never read.
A comment about long sentences: My BF with the PhD in Education, Reading specialty, says many people lose the thread with sentences much over fifteen words long. I think he can't possibly be referring to mos of us, but to the younger generations brought up on Sesame Street style sound bites. I remember the short sentences in the Dick and Jane series as a youngster. That hasn't affected my comprehension of longer sentences, nor my propensity to write same.
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Charles Dickens was known to write long sentences, but Charles Dickens is his real name..
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More clues please!!!!
R
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José Saramago (Blindness) also wrote in long sentences, often more than a page long, without benefit of paragraphs, or punctuation - save for periods. There's also Philip Roth.
We may be looking for something more "classical".
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Sorry rosemary, I got stuck at the office.
I loved Blindness. Those were incredible sentences.
Author: I was born under a different name.
I write sentences that go on for paragraphs.
I am short; I drink; I fall in love.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
I never get to tell my story.
I am a caretaker, a best friend and an enemy to my family.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
The narrative is a bit jumbled. Particularly in the beginning.
The book is fiction and is set in a fictional place, but everything about the book is absolutely real.
As an aside, I fell in love with this book the first time I read it. But some people don't like it much.
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AAAARRRGGGHHH!
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PatH - you said it ! AAAARRRGGGHHH
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Enigmatic, to put it mildly. "I was short and liked to drink" sounds like Truman Capote, but I am sure that he wasn't the only short man (or is it woman?) who enjoyed a drink (or fifteen).. The other descriptors don't match Capote, unfortunately.
Perhaps at this stage, we need to know about the time in which the story was written, and pushing it a little further, the place. Temporal and spatial always good clues. You are doing well Deems2. I could be totally off-track, but I get the feeling that this book is about a crime.
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Sorry, folks. I knew I wasn't going to be any good at this. I didn't intend to make you AAAARRRGGGHHH. :-\
Author: I was born under a different name.
I write sentences that go on for paragraphs.
I am short; I drink; I fall in love.
I am an American and I am from the South.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
I never get to tell my story.
I am a caretaker, a best friend and an enemy to my family.
I smell like trees.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
The narrative is a bit jumbled. Particularly in the beginning.
The book is fiction and is set in a fictional place, but everything about the book is absolutely real.
The author's preference was to publish the book in multiple colors.
I hope these clues work better.
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Deems2, you're doing a great job. All the best quizzes have people going Aaarrrggghhh. Those are obviously good clues, and when the light bulb lights up for one of us, we'll all kick ourselves. This is the way it's supposed to work.
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William Faulkner?
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Woohoo! Frybabe wins!
William Faulkner was born William Falkner. I love his writing. It takes time to really read his sentences. He drank, but he didn't drink when he was writing.
Great job, Frybabe!
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Does anyone know what book and character this is? I am NOT a William Faulkner fan. Maybe Thomas Sutpen and Absalom, Absalom?
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I have, as my friend would say, not got a scoobie ???
Still trying!
It's an excellent quiz.
Rosemary
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More clues?
Author: I was born under a different name.
I write sentences that go on for paragraphs.
I am short; I drink; I fall in love.
I am an American and I am from the South.
I am William Faulkner.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
I never get to tell my story.
I am a caretaker, a best friend and an enemy to my family.
I smell like trees.
I am female.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
The narrative is a bit jumbled. Particularly in the beginning.
The book is fiction and is set in a fictional place, but everything about the book is absolutely real.
The author's preference was to publish the book in multiple colors.
The book is divided into four parts and takes place on four different days.
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Rosemarykaye - I, too, was "scoobieless". Hoping that is the correct adjective from a noun I have never heard of before.
deems2 - I am not familiar with Faulkner, but learning about him is what makes this site so valuable for me. Good challenge!
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Would it be Abbie in "As I Lay Dying"?
Faulkner is an author I think I don't like, but every time I've picked up a book of his, I've read it straight through without stopping, unable to put it down.
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No, sorry, not Absalom, Absalom (great book - you are on the right track) and not As I Lay Dying(funny, funny book). Perhaps one more clue. This should do it.
Author: I was born under a different name.
I write sentences that go on for paragraphs.
I am short; I drink; I fall in love.
I am an American and I am from the South.
I am William Faulkner.
Character: I am the star of the novel.
I never get to tell my story.
I am a caretaker, a best friend and an enemy to my family.
I smell like trees.
I am female.
My name may not be spoken.
Book: The book was not an immediate success.
The narrative is a bit jumbled. Particularly in the beginning.
The book is fiction and is set in a fictional place, but everything about the book is absolutely real.
The author's preference was to publish the book in multiple colors.
The book is divided into four parts and takes place on four different days.
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
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Oh dear, we're quoting Shakespeare now.
Expecting company shortly, be back later.
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Sorry, Frybabe. The title is in the soliloquy.
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The Sound and the Fury!
I was stumped for a while. I couldn't remember if the quote was from Hamlet or MacBeth.
So now I must think of something. Give me a couple of hours.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER!!!!!
Well done, Frybabe. Particularly well done since you dislike Faulkner.
The character is Caddy. The story is really Caddy's story, but she never gets a chance to tell it herself. The book is written in four sections. Each of Caddy's three brothers narrate a section and then the fourth section is from Dilsey's point of view. Benjy narrates the first section. That is the section that Faulkner wanted to print in multiple colors. Benjy is intellectually challenged. Thus:
Macbeth:
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 17–28
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I think I know more about the author than I know his books, except the titles. I read A Light in August and thoroughly was disliked it. I saw the movie, The Reivers, which I liked, but I suspect they lightened it up and made it more humorous than the novel. I may just read that one. My sister read and liked As I Lay Dying or was it A Rose for Emily, I forget exactly. The Sound and the Fury gets mentioned a lot.
I got side tracked watching TV tonight. So, I will post a new challenge in the morning. (If I don't forget)
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Okay, here goes:
Author: I began my career at a prestigious organization as an editor and writer.
Book: My first book is a work of non-fiction, a history of the organization I worked for.
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Author:
I began my career at a prestigious organization as an editor and writer.
After publication of my book, I left the organization and moved to New Mexico.
Book:
My first book is a work of non-fiction, a history of the organization I worked for.
It uncovers hidden treasures and sheds new light on things familiar.
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Holy cow! Another day gone by and not a peep from anyone.
It dawns on me that I probably should have picked one of the author's later works. This one may be a little too regional for some of our group. Sorry. This is an author most of you know and some have read.
Author:
I began my career at a prestigious organization as an editor and writer.
After publication of my first book, I left the organization and moved to New Mexico to write full-time.
I am better known for fictional books I have written in collaboration with another writer.
Book:
A work of non-fiction, it is a history of the organization I (the author) worked for.
It uncovers hidden treasures and sheds new light on things familiar.
The story begins in 1869 in New York City.
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Sorry, Frybabe - I'm completely in the dark on this one.
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Pure obfuscation experienced here - My gut tells me it has something to do with the FBI.
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I'm here, just clueless.
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Me too :)
Rosemary
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That's true for me, too.
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Author:
I began my career at a prestigious organization as an editor and writer.
After publication of my first book, I left the organization and moved to New Mexico to write full-time.
I am better known for fictional books I have written in collaboration with another writer.
My last non-fiction book was also a collaboration and involved a true crime case in Italy.
My brother is also a best-selling author.
Book:
A work of non-fiction, it is a history of the organization I (the author) worked for.
It uncovers hidden treasures and sheds new light on things familiar.
The story begins in 1869 in New York City.
Only about 5% of my treasures are seen by the public, the rest are stored away.
The organization that the book is about was prominently featured in several of my horror thrillers.
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'Horror Thrillers' No wonder I haven't got a clue.
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BONUS CLUES:
Most of you know the author, if not the book. How many authors do you know who are half of a best-selling duo? We've talked about several of those books as well as his latest non-fiction written with some one else. At least one of his books was made into a movie, but not this one.
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Is this one of Ginny's fave writing teams Preston and Child?
If it is - I don't count because I've only heard of them through the chatter around the board - wouldn't know which one it is - or the book - or the character - as I've never read any of their work.
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I think Gum is onto something. The last one of Preston and Child's I read had something to do with a Museum of Curiosities.
Maybe the organisation was Pinkerton's?
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Frybabe, well, the Fabulously Prolific James Patterson has collaorated with more than a handful of authors.
Since I don't like blood and gore, there are no thrillers on my TBR list. I've read about James Patterson and recall know that he is now writing also for young readers (he has a teenager himself) and that, before turning to writing full-time, he was editor at the world renowned J Walter Thompson ad agency. But I cannot remember if he moved to New Mexicoo.
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Well, I looked up Douglas Preston and he does live in Santa Fe (?) I think - but again I don't count as I had never heard of him and I think looking up is cheating, isn't it? Sorry :)
R
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Douglas Preston it is. Yes, Preston and Child one of Ginny's favorites. I was going to do his Monster of Florence, but decided to go with his first book. Writing this first book is what brought Preston and Child together to collaborate on their Pendergast series.
Roshanarose, the book is not about Pinkerton. However you are close, thinking of a museum. It is the American Museum of Natural History http://www.amnh.org/ and the book is Dinosaurs in the Attic. http://www.prestonchild.com/solonovels/preston/dinosaurs/
I've got to run soon. Mom got sick overnight and is back in the hospital again. Hopefully, they will let her go home this evening.
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Frybabe - hope your Mum is better soon, take care
Rosemary
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Started nosing around this site again after being away for over a month (trip and then this horrible pneumonia that drains me completely).
Glad this round was an author who is known to me only by his name which seems to be everywhere.I could never guess this writer since I didn't read his books.
Hope I continue to heal and can join you folks again soon.
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I hope you are better soon, too, Jude. It's not a lot of fun when you can't breathe well.
Rosemary, Mom is back from the hospital now. Thanks for your thoughts. It turns out that there are three or four others at the facility that have the same thing - what amounts to a stomach virus complete with chills and fever. I guess they weren't as sick as Mom. Apparently nobody told the EMT that there were others ill with the same thing, because the hospital went and did X-rays, couldn't find anything and then did a CT scan. I voiced my opinion that a CT scan was overkill, but my sister said "the insurance is paying for it". At least they got her rehydrated - that's important. BTW, they gave Mom some Tylenol for her fever. I was surprised that it got the fever down in 1/2 hr. That's fast.
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Frybabe: Glad your Mum is OK and out of hospital - it's worrying when older folk get that sort of bug.
Jude: I wondered where you were. Sorry about the pneumonia - take care.
Traude: Hello, good to see your happy face - there aren't any thrillers in my TBR pile either - let alone horror-thrillers - Yikes!
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We seem to have stopped! Whose turn is it? not mine because I cheated and I really had not got a clue before that ;D
Rosemary
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Rosemary, I think everyone thinks it's your turn, because no one else got it.
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Oh! OK I am off to Edinburgh now and will think about it on the journey - back late tomorrow.
R
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Sorry for the delay - I have been thinking, promise :):
Author: Born in London
Character: I am not very good at my job.
Rosemary
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A tiny bit more, please?
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Like a lot more please ;D
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OK :D:
Author: Was disappointed in first love
Character: I was easily fooled
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Rosemary, was the author's love unrequited, per chance?
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Straude - no, it was not. Something else went wrong with it.
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Nothing is coming to mind yet.
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More clues:
Author: I suffered a great deal of parental disapproval
Character: Someone a great deal cleverer than me comes to my rescue
Sorry, that is two "great deals".....
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Guessing again.
Parental disapproval was likelier or more common, in the past century or two, I believe,
and voiced more strongly against a daughter's intended than a son's.
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Straude - you are on the right lines, although the parental disapproval was not only of the intended.
R
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Oh, now we might be getting somewhere. I just don't know where yet. At one time female writers were not taken seriously and many suffered the disapproval of family and society for wanting to write. That is why many, like Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) used men's pseudonyms at least at first. Of course, even now parents don't always approve of their child's career choices.
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Too true Frybabe, I had plenty of that in my own family. You are still on the right lines, but no pseudonym involved here.
R
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Another guess : Mary Shelley.
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Beatrice Potter?
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WELL DONE FRYBABE!!
It is Beatrix Potter. She was born in London to very repressive Victorian parents, who disapproved of her engagement to her publisher, Norman Warne,because he was a "tradesman". He unfortunately died of pernicious anaemia before they could be married. Her parents did not think she should have any sort of career, or money of her own. She was not allowed to go to school.
Beatrix was of course a brilliant artist, and very interested in fungi and lichens; she tried to join the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, but was rejected because she was a woman. She still became an authority on mycology. Her drawings of fungi are in the Armitt Museum in Ambleside, where my mother-in-law was until recently a volunteer.
Beatrix loved the Lake District, where she had spent many summer holidays as a child, and she eventually used the proceeds from her books to buy Hilltop, the farm that she lived in after the death of her fiancee. She then bought up lots of other hill farms to stop them being sold for development. She was an early and very important supporter of the National Trust in the Lake District, and left most of her property to it. Hilltop is open to the public, but you have to get there early - in summer it is mobbed, especially by Japanese tourists, who are particularly fond of BP's books.
Beatrix did eventually remarry, to William Heelis, a Lake District solicitor.
But who is the character?
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The only Beatrix Potter character I remember by name is Peter Rabbit. And I am not totally sure that Peter Rabbit is a Beatrix Potter character. :-\ A couple years back they made a wonderful movie about the author though. It all came back to mind as you told her history. Thank you for the story.
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Deems - good guess, and Peter Rabbit most certainly is a Beatrix Potter character - the most famous - but it's not him.
And I've just realised that I should have said she married William Heelis - not remarried, as of course she never married Norman Warne owing to his untimely death.
The film was called Miss Potter and starred Renee Zelwegger; it was one of the first films my younger daughter Madeleine ever saw at the cinema, and she was absolutely overwhelmed by it, especially as she would like to be a writer and/or artist one day. The next morning I found her in her bedroom, with her long hair carefully put up like Beatrix's, painting a very tiny picture of a rabbit with a very tiny brush.
Does anyone want another clue re the character?
R
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I think that may be why I enjoyed the film so...watching the drawings and paintings come to life. I paint and I enjoy watching other people do it. That is a lovely image of your daughter.
There was a duck too - I seem to remember. Puddleduck? I am not even sure if that is a name.
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Yes Deems - you are the winner!!
It is Jemima Puddleduck, a very dim duck with a poke bonnet, who is hopeless at sitting on her eggs at the farm. She decides she wants to go off and lay them somewhere else, and is fooled by the "sandy haired gentleman" (the fox) who offers her his house (with a huge pile of duck down feathers in it) for her sitting. Luckily, the farm collie dog gets wind of this and rescues her, but not before the farm puppies have eaten her eggs. As far as I can recall, she does go on to hatch more eggs successfully.
According to Wikepedia, the story was based on Little Red Riding Hood.
Although a rather whimsical tourist industry has grown up around Potter's books (Ambleside is crawling with Potter souvenirs), she herself was far less sentimental about animals, and wrote about nature "red in tooth and claw" - hence Peter Rabbit's father has been made into a pie by Mr McGregor, the gardener.
Over to you Deems! And what do you paint? My M-in-law is a quite successful painter, but lately she has had a phase of dividing her paintings up into little squares, which we don't like but she says is some sort of special technique. She has given us lovely paintings of our cats and also of our late dog, but mostly she does Lake District scenes. They bought the house they now live in specifically for the panoramic view it has of Morecombe Bay.
Rosemary
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No. Frybabe is the winner! Yay Frybabe...(Someone tap her please.) I would never have thought of Beatrix Potter. I was just playing the "guess the character" phase. And thinking of the movie.
I paint mostly in oils or encaustics. I love encaustics. You melt wax, add pigment, stir and try to get the molten mixture to the panel before it hardens. Quite a giggle. I also paint in watercolours.
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Amazing! I thought of Beatrix Potter a day or so before, but didn't think it was correct. Now I will have to put on my thinking cap for the next quiz.
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Frybabe, Deems 2, excellent teamwork !!
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Hey Deems 2 - I always knew you were a kindred spirit - and now to know you also paint simply confirms that feeling. I mainly use oils, pastels and contes - have tried encaustic a few times with hilarious, if unpredictable results - what a hoot. I do land/sea/river/rock-scapes, large florals, portraits and still lifes etc. Love it when people buy my work - it gives me such a charge to go on. Until a year or so ago I worked on rather large canvases but since I injured my shoulder I find them too difficult to man?handle about the studio.
I have never cared for Beatrix Potter's books but always admired her as a person. I loved the movie -
thanks for that quiz Rosemary - I've seen examples of the technique you mentioned your MIL uses. It's not for me but some painters get quite amazing results with it.
So now, for Frybaby's teaser.
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Okay, I have one. Rosemarykaye has inspired me.
Author: This is my only novel.
Book/character: I was born on an English farm.
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Oo, I am sorry to hear that you injured your shoulder, Gumtree. I prefer working on a large canvas as well. Not large like museum scale large, but human scale - say 6' x 6'. Big enough to fill the visual field, but no so big as to be overwhelming. That's the theory at least. :D
I hope that your shoulder is quite healed now.
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Deems 6 x 6 feet was perfect for me - but alas, no more - have enough trouble with 4 x 4 - at least I can still puddle around and make a mess :D
On the quiz - Initially I thought of Oscar Wilde - one novel - but Dorian Gray doesn't fit.
- Anna Sewell only wrote one novel - Black Beauty - and where else would BB be born than on an English farm.
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Gumtree, you have beaten me to it, but that's exactly what I thought. Let's see if we're right.
Rosemary
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Gumtree, you are just too cool! You are correct with the first clue. So that make you IT!
Sorry about being slow in answering. I spent my time yesterday between the bedroom and the bathroom. I rarely get sick, let alone sick enough to keep me in bed. Glad that it's over. It was kind of a bummer. They canceled classes for yesterday, so I thought I'd have two extra days to study for a test. HAH! Well, I still have this afternoon.
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Oh dear Frybabe, hope you are feeling better now.
My doctor neighbour was told by the local hospital not to turn up to do her usual clinic - so many people there (staff and patients) had novovirus that they were only sending in one GP until it was over - I wonder if s/he got danger money?
Best wishes
Rosemary
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Frybabe,
Just cam on line -- so sorry to hear. I hope it's all over now. In this calamitous winter we seem to develop all kinds of ailments. All good wishes.
We have been digging out from masses of snow, sadly a temporary condition because more snow is on its way.
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Thanks, all. It was only a 24 hr. thing, but it was nasty.
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Glad to hear that you are feeling better, Frybabe. I had a similar virus two weeks back and it wasn't fun.
Well done, Gumtree!
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Onya Gum!
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Straude, that is just how I felt in December - in the end I stopped bothering, got so fed up with digging and then having to do it again, so just did a narrow path for the poor postman. But I have the advantage of not having to drive anywhere - when we lived in St John's it never seemed to end, and our driveway was very long!
Take care
Rosemary
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Gumtree, you are just too cool!
Hardly that Frybabe - not in this sweltering heat.
It was the 'only novel' that gave it to me. There aren't so many one hit wonders - at least not many who are widely known - I just tried dredging them up out of what used to be a mind...Wilde, Emily Bronte, Harper Lee, Marg Mitchell, Pasternak, et al until I remembered Anna Sewell. Piece of cake. :D
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New Quiz:
Author: Well known and influential writer - wrote several novels.
Book: This is a biographical novel.
Character: My closest companion and I are devoted to one another.
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John Steinbeck - Travels With Charley?
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Good try, Rosemary but alas, incorrect,
if at first you don't succeed ....
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Gertrude Stein - The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas?
I'm still trying!
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Another good guess - but you'll just have to try again Rosemary.
Another set of clues:
Author: 1. Well known and influential writer - wrote several novels.
2. My novels were highly experimental and focussed on a narrow world.
Book: 1.This is a biographical novel.
2. Ranges across such topics as the environment, feminism, class conflict.
Character: 1. My closest companion and I are devoted to one another.
2. I was born in the country, lived in the city until finally moving to live abroad.
Extra clue: This biog-novel may not be as well known as some of my fiction.
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This is very tantalizing.
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Iris Murdoch?
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Gumtree, your clues are masterful, as always. But the mists have yet to clear for me.
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Gumtree is a master of giving clues that tell you a lot in such a way that you don't realizw what you're seeing.
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This looks like a really fun game. I love your Author, Book and Character clues, Gumtree.
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- spare my blushes ladies... I always think my clues are way too obvious for such talented and well read contestants...
It's not Iris Murdoch but I can see you're trying.
Author: 1. Well known and influential writer - wrote several novels.
2. My novels were highly experimental and focussed on a narrow world.
3. My marriage was good and lasting but I had affairs as well.
Book: 1.This is a biographical novel.
2. Ranges across such topics as the environment, feminism, class conflict.
3. Focussed on the lives of well known literary figures as seen from an unusual perspective.
Character: 1. My closest companion and I are devoted to one another.
2. I was born in the country, lived in the city until finally moving to live abroad.
3. Whilst living in the city I was kidnapped but my dear companion paid the ransom to rescue me.
Extra clues: 1. This biog-novel may not be as well known as some of my fiction.
2. In his day, the author's father was a well known biographer, historian, critic and mountaineer. His work is well regarded today.
Tantalizing huh? Goody!
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Virginia Woolf - Orlando?
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Hurray! Rosemary got the author
But the book is not Orlando .... think again :D
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Flush?
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YIPPEE !! NOW ROSEMARY'S GOT THE BOOK AS WELL
If anyone hasn't read Flush it's about Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning seen through the eyes of Elizabeth's cocker spaniel named Flush. Poor Flush was actually kidnapped and rescued several times. Both he and Elizabeth took on a new lease of life once they settled in Italy.
Woolf based her story on Eliz Barrett Browning's poems, letters and diaries.
One odd thing is that this book has rarely been reprinted.
I don't think I need say anything more about Virginia W.
Now, over to Rosemary for the next brain teaser...
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Rosemary - You are such a clever bean ;)
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Great job, Rosemary.
My JR terriers think that a story told by a four-legged soul is probably a very fine story indeed.
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Thanks Roshanarose and Deems, and thank you to Gumtree for a great quiz.
I am thinking as I pack, and will be back to you asap. I have got a new Apple Mac - at last! - the man in John Lewis was v helpful and thought this would be better than an i-pad for what I need. They don't get commission so I trusted him. So far it's great, so easy to use and so fast compared to our clunky old computer. One disadvantage - the clock on it is all too easy to see, so I had better get out of bed right now!
R
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So, Rosemary, do you have a lapdesk for your new computer when you're working in bed?
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I was thinking of Flush, but, stupid me, thought it was written by Elizabeth Barrett browning. Is it a "should read" book?
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Pedln - no accessories so far. The price they charge for this thing, you would think all the extras would come free in the box - but sadly all you get is the charger cable. I saw a beautiful bag for it in J Lewis, but felt I couldn't have any more self-indulgences in one day.
R
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Rosemary - Go on. Buy it. Life is too bloody short anyway.
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;D
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At last! I hear you cry - here is the new quiz:
Author: I changed my views radically in mid-life
Character: I am naive, but not for long
If this is too easy, I'm sorry - moving house is not good for the brain cells!
R
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Too easy ? Not for me.
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Well that's a relief !
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Me either!
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more clues?
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Please!
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Author: I spent much of my youth in the South
Character: My adventures begin when I move to the big city
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It's not the South of the Moon, is it ? :)
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No sorry - but I am going to look that up to see what it is!
More clues -I'm sure you'll get it now:
Author: I began my career as a journalist
Character: On my first day in the city, I receive a rather unusual gift
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Is it Helen Gurley Brown?
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No, sorry!
Back with more clues tomorrow (if you want them)
R
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I'm sure when someone finally gets it we'll kick ourselves for not getting it with all those very specific clues.
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Rosemary, when I joined this group, the respective challenger added a new clue once a day until all elements of the quiz, i.e. author, book and main character, were found.
In this case we have too little information to know ion what (where and when) to focus. Sorry.
P.S. When the game was invented and the very first quiz posted by Ginny,
only the character (in fiction or non fiction) was "wanted".
By the time I joined, the quizzes had "evolved" to include additional elements. So I simply followed suit. Was that o.k., PatH?
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Sorry, will I stop?
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Good Heavens NO!
More clues, please!
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Traude, Rosemary, the rules of this game are pretty flexible. Anything that works and is fun is OK.
Goodness, Rosemary, don't stop now, we'll get it sooner or later.
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Author: a chance encounter with another writer led to that person writing their own very
popular series
Character: my best friend has a nominal connection to an American icon
Book: was serialised on television some time ago
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Rosemary - How is the dreaded moving going?
Would it be at all possible for me/us to have a clue as to 1) what city; and 2) what date it is set /eg 40s, 50s, 60s whatever?
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Well I have managed to be out most of the day - have come back to almost empty house, depressing but at least it's done.
Of course you can have more clues!
It is set in the 1970s - which is an integral part of the story. I can't tell you the city without giving it away completely (I suppose that in itself is quite a big clue), but I can say that one of the things it is famous for is a particular form of transport.
Hope that helps,
Rosemary
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VW Kombie Vans ;D
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Not quite! Although they would probably have been/still are popular with some of the locals.
It's a form of transport very popular with tourists.
Here are two more clues:
Author: Has an unconventional marriage
City: Known for its liberal atmosphere
I'm sure you'll get it now!
R
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Rosemary - As I was waking up this morning I had a "Eureka" thought about your puzzle.
The Tardis
Doctor Who
As I sat down to my computer, my fingers tingling with the excitement of my find; my chin started to quiver when I read "It's a form of transport very popular with tourists". Even I, with my fertile imagination, couldn't visualise a city full of Tardis. I will make the Plural Tardii?
Sounds like Paris is the city, but don't like to stereotype.
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Balloons perhaps?
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roshanarose, are any of those guys (Dr Who guys) from the South, one-time journalists? Paris would be a good city, my thinking was not quite so worldly. It could be Rome, Berlin, or Chicago. Wasn't it Sister Carrie who went to Chicago, ran into problems. But that author is not from the South.
Rosemary, have you tossed us any red herrings here? ;D
You wouldn't do that, would you? :P
I thought I might have it, but could find no evidence of mini-series,tv, or film.
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Hello,
No intentional red herrings I promise.
Ingenious thought! But -it's not Dr Who, and I'm afraid I don't know who Sister Carrie is.
Another clue: the city is in the USA, and all of the action in the book (so far as I can remember) takes place in that one, famous, city, which is also where the author lives.
A big clue: the character is given the unusual gift that I mentioned earlier by a very unusual landlady, who is a major character in the book
If you don't get it now (and I'm sure you will), I am going to have to research for more clues!!
R
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Well I'm not going to get it - not in a million years - or with a million clues. - nothing you've said is ringing any bells for me so I'm guessing I've not read it. And will I be mad if I find I have and missed the clues.
Roshanarose - love your Dr Who bit
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Oh Gumtree! I really thought I had given it away with that last clue. I will wait till later today or tomorrow and if no-one's got it by then I will concoct some more clues. Moving day TODAY, so I will be glad to have clues to think of to stop me getting morose :(
R
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PS - Roshanarose - it's not balloons but something much more earthbound - it's appeared in films and even in a song or two.
I really did think this book was well known - even my husband has read it!
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One last gasp - San Francisco and trolley cars!
pedln : I must still be in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, as I have no idea what you mean here. Please enlighten me? roshanarose, are any of those guys (Dr Who guys) from the South, one-time journalists?
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roshana, those were earlier clues. The author grew up in the South, and first started out in journalism. I think now, however, we're on the same wavelength.
Rosemary, I thought maybe the South was a red herring --- for South Africa, South America, south of France. I was working on Isabel Allende, as she fits some of those clues.
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Is it Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City?
I haven't read the book, but saw some of the tv shows several years ago.
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Hello everyone,
My computer has given me much grief this week. Things are no quite right,
No need to describe the ensuing frustrations,
I'm on hin ground; 2 previous messages disappeared, but I'll give it one mor shot.
So to be brief before everthing vanishes again, hefe goes.
Re Pedln's # 1553. I agree.
The "chance encounter between the author and another literary figure"'
took place a a dinner party at the home of Amy Tan in SF.'
The other literary figure was Alexander McCall Smith, who admired the concept of Tales of the City = the serialization of a novel in a daily newspaper, long held obsolete. McCall Smith was not convinced.
And set out t orove the opposite in hi series 44 Scotland Street. -- still going strong.
Hoping this gets out before vanishing, with good wishes to Rosemary in settling in the new home.
If there are typos, please ignore. I can barely see what I am ty ping ...
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Yes! Yes! Hoorah!
I am not sure which one of you actually got it, but thank goodness you did!
Armistead Maupin grew up in N Carolina (I hope that is the South, I thought it was).
He had conservative views in his youth, but then changed his mind.
He is married to his male partner.
His chance meeting was indeed with Alexander McCall Smith.
Tales of the City is set in San Francisco, known for its cable cars.
Mary Ann Singleton, the character in the book, arrived in SF from Cleveland. On her first night in the boarding house in Barbary Lane, her landlady Mrs Madrigal pinned a joint to the door of her room as a welcome present.
Mary Ann's best friend in Barbary Lane is Michael Tolliver or "Mouse" (as in Mickey).
The novel is set in the 1970s.
It was televised with Olympia Dukakis as a memorable (to me anyway!) Mrs Madrigal.
I hope there weren't any red herrings - if there were, it was my fault entirely and not intentional.
Thanks for sticking with it.
Rosemary
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IMHO the honor for solving the quiz belongs to PEDLN.
Had she not mentioned San Francisco, the pearl of Northern California, I'd never have made he connection. I was lost in the South :)
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Straude, thank you for your good wishes. After a very long day indeed, the girls and I arrived at our temporary home (in my friend's house in the country) at past 8pm. I am not used to driving in the dark on unlit roads any more, so it took ages to get here - but dear Heather had prepared a wonderful roast chicken dinner for us, and now I am lying in my bedroom (in the flat that forms the basement of her house) - the sheets are pure white linen with a beautiful cream bedspread, the window looks out onto the garden, beside my bed there is a little table with an antique lace cover - I feel like I am in a luxurious country hotel, but with all the added blessings of good friends.
Snow forecast for tomorrow - but we don't need to go anywhere ;D
Rosemary
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Sounds like bliss Rosemary - enjoy. Hope the rest of your move goes well and painlessly.
I'm so relieved to know I haven't read your quiz book - should I? I keep adding to my TBR pile so often lately - and then instead of reading one of those something else captures my attention... though when I think about it I realise how lucky we are to have books always on hand.
Traude So good to 'see' you - I had noticed you were having computer problems - hope they go away permanently.
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pedln - Well, as you say it could be South anywhere. We even have a South Australia. As Dr Who is a TimeLord, he can be anywhere, or for that matter, anyone. I do admit that I was being a bit flippant. I often am when I don't know things, one must have some recourse. Gum caught on.
rosemary - Your temporary sojourn with a friend sounds just like what you needed. A bit like landing in a beautiful city between long airline journeys with a friend to greet you. I do hope your moving is proceeding as you wish. I really can empathise with you on moving.
straude - How frustrating. We are so dependent on these confounded PCs, that a glitch or two (or 500) can ruin one's whole week.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Gumtree - I love the book, but one friend I lent it to gave it back half read and said "it's just an excuse to write about gays" - I was really surprised because I don't agree at all, and as I mentioned earlier, husband enjoyed it, as have many other friends. IMO it encapsulates what I imagine to be the San Francisco of the 70s. I visited SF in 1979, and also stayed with a friend in Berkeley in the early 80s, and the book reminds me of that time, - something about the general feeling of freedom and experiment (although I hasten to add that the high point of my personal experience there was seeing a humming bird in the botanical garden!)
I particularly enjoy Anna Madrigal (the landlady), but I don't know how much that is coloured by having seen the TV series, in which Olympia Dukakis was just wonderful.
It's an easy quick read if you want to try it.
Roshanarose - thanks, I am still in bed at 9.23am Saturday! it is so quiet here, it's like a rest cure. Am trying to avoid thinking about what is past and what is to come (which may well be good, but will inevitably involve more upheaval), and just enjoy the moment :). Miss my cats though - they would normally be curled up on my bed by now, but they are already down in Edinburgh with my husband.
Rosemary
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HOORAY! A winner! It looks like Pedln got in ahead of Traude, but you two can always fight a virtual duel for the honor.
As usual, some of the clues seem more obvious with hindsight, but I don't think I would ever have gotten it.
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No, no real red herrings, Rosemary, except maybe saying this would be easy. And then “The South” was a conundrum. South where? Traude, I was so impressed that right off the bat you knew about the Amy Tan and McCall Smith connections. Wow. Liberal city was a good clue for me, along with the transportation and unconventional marriage. As we used to tell our Quiz Bowl kids when practicing for a tournament, “If you only know of one possible answer, give it.” And Maupin was the only one I knew to be gay and writing about San Francisco. Anyway, it was a very good puzzling selection. Fun.
I’ve spent a little time in the area. My middle daughter has lived mostly in Berkeley and Oakland for over 20 years and my youngest lived a few years in Santa Cruz. They both had just started grad school right before the big quake of ’89.
Rosemary, enjoy your sojurn in the country with your friends before you have to tackle the big stuff. Can you stay there a while or do the girls have to start new schools on Monday?
I see that Netflix has Tales of the City (three discs) and also More Tales of the City.
Please give me a couple days to get some clues ready, and I also need to do some checking back and make sure I don’t pick something that has already been done.
Author, Character, Book – right??
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Ok, are you ready? I hope my clues will make sense.
AUTHOR I completed one novel
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Sorry about "The South" - I suppose I thought that as most of you are American it would obviously be that south!
No changes of schools yet - Anna boards and doesn't want to change school at all, Madeleine will stay at her current school till Easter (which means almost an hour driving each way, but thankfully it's only for 6 weeks), then she will move to her new Edinburgh school after Easter.
I really enjoyed the TV series of Tales of the City, and watched it again on DVD recently.
Pedln, looking forward to the next quiz - it's more fun guessing than setting, IMO!
Rosemary
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I hadn't heard of the book or the TV series, but it sounds like something i would enjoy. i've never seen Olivia Dukakis where she disddn't do a great job!
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At last my conscience is clear again. The list of books at the top of this page is up to date. Sorry it had to go into your post, rosemarykaye, there's no way of inserting an extra post.
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PatH, that's a big job that you have, getting all the authors and books in the heading.
Okay, I hope this is right – a clue for Author, Book, and Character?
No more until tomorrow? I bet somebody will get this right off the bat.
Author: I completed one novel
Book: Set in a fictional town, based on a real town
Character: I am the teen-aged narrator
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Peyton Place
Grace Metalious (spelling?)
Alison McKenzie
A guess.
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I couldn't remember the title at first, but it surfaced.
Book : To Kill A Mockingbird
(A novel about the segregated American South, not that many decades ago.)
Author : Harper Lee (a childhood friend of Truman Capote)
Child narrator: Scout
(She calls her father by his first name, Atticus. He is a lawyer who saves a falsely accused black man from a lynch mob.
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Beautiful - Traude!
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Good heavens, I hadn't even started! Well done ;D
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Sorry, Ladies, but your excellent suggestions do not quite hit the mark. How does this work? Are you supposed to guess all three A,B, and C or just the author. If y ou get the A &B here, that should be enough.
Author: I completed one novel
Author: I majored in journalism and worked for a newspaper.
Book: Set in a fictional town, based on a real town
Book: When this book was first published a little over 25 years ago it sold over one million copies.
Character: I am the teen-aged narrator
Character: I think what my grandfather is doing is okay
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Excellent work Straude!
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What? No guesses for a day? Well, I'll add one more clue for the author
Author: I also wrote family stories dictated by my parents.
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Pedln: No guess from me because no clue as to who this could be.
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I'm stumped. I'll have to think harder.
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It's probably easier when the clues are all grouped. Adding the book and character for today. Surely someone will guess this now.
Author: I completed one novel
Author: I majored in journalism and worked for a newspaper.
Author: I also wrote family stories dictated by my parents.
Book: Set in a fictional town, based on a real town
Book: When this book was first published a little over 25 years ago it sold over one million copies.
Book: There's a tree that's named after the town
Character: I am the teen-aged narrator
Character: I think what my grandfather is doing is okay
Character: I went fishing and got run over by a train. Did you see that on TV?
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pedln, nothing comes to mind at the moment.
Could we have another clue about the author? He/she seems to have been very close to his/her parents.
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Author: I completed one novel
Author: I majored in journalism and worked for a newspaper.
Author: I also wrote family stories dictated by my parents.
Author: When I was diagnosed with a serious illness I made my stories into a novel
Book: Set in a fictional town, based on a real town
Book: When this book was first published a little over 25 years ago it sold over one million copies.
Book: There's a tree that's named after the town
Book: The name of the town, rife with gossip, is in the title
Character: I am the teen-aged narrator
Character: I think what my grandfather is doing is okay
Character: I went fishing and got run over by a train. Did you see that on TV?
Character: Grandpa said a wife was cheaper than a housekeeper and that's why he married Miss ___________ three weeks after Grandma died.
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No posts for two days? Oh my ;D
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Sorry, I'm still stumped.
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Me too, though there is something playing around at the back of my mind that makes me think I should know this. Unfortunately that is where it is staying ???
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Author: I completed one novel
Author: I majored in journalism and worked for a newspaper.
Author: I also wrote family stories dictated by my parents.
Author: When I was diagnosed with a serious illness I made my stories into a novel
Author:I didn't have time to finish my second novel. It was published incomplete
Book: Set in a fictional town, based on a real town
Book: When this book was first published a little over 25 years ago it sold over one million copies.
Book: There's a tree that's named after the town
Book: The name of the town, rife with gossip, is in the title
Book: Although the book starts with one death and ends with another it is also a coming of age novel.
Character: I am the teen-aged narrator
Character: I think what my grandfather is doing is okay
Character: I went fishing and got run over by a train. Did you see that on TV?
Character: Grandpa said a wife was cheaper than a housekeeper and that's why he married Miss ___________ three weeks after Grandma died.
Character: My mother said Miss ______ was almost a damn Yankee, her coming from Baltimore. I gave her and Grandpa driving lessons -- the first car in our town.
Surely I'm not the only damn Yankee who's read this book. After all, it was a book-of-the-month club alternate in 1989 (or thereabouts). :-X Sure glad I didn't choose a Ferrol Sams.
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Sure glad I didn't choose a Ferrol Sams.
So am I, since I never heard of Ferrol Sams.
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He's really good, a doctor from Griffin, Georgia, has written three rather autobiographical novels from childhood throught med school -- Run with the Horsemen, Whisper of the River, When all the World was Young.
The very last clues
1924-1990
Commerce
__________ ____________ Tree.
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All I can think of is A Tree Grown In Brooklyn, so I think I must give up. I don't think I can have read this novel - at least I hope I haven't!
Rosemary
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You and me both Rosemary - I'm pretty sure I don't know anything about the book or the author... Maybe it will turn out to be something else for my TBR pile
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Yet again, obfuscation sets in.
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It's beginning to ring a very faint bell.
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I have found out what it is, but only by digging around on the internet - I haven't read it and I had never even heard of it, so I will keep quiet and see if anyone gets it by the proper means :)
I don't think any of we non-Americans would have had a hope! Good quiz Pedln!
Rosemary
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Pedln, nothing at all comes to my mind, except the certainty that I never read the book in question. Sorry.
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I dimly remember a movie where a boy goes fishing and gets run over by a train, but can't remember the name. Was it "Fried green Tomatoes"?
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JoanK, I had forgotten about that happening in Fried Green Tomatoes. No, that is not the book and Fannie Flagg is not the author. That was a little boy there and he lost his arm.
No, Will Tweedy escaped harm by lying flat down and letting the train roll over him. He had been on the trestle that was over the river.
Rosemary, if you have found the book or the author, speak up. After all, you can't expect somethng to be in your brain if it's never had a chance to go there. ;D
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Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns?
I take no credit for this if it's right, I found it on a site about novels set in the southern states.
The teenager appears to be called Will Tweedy. Please do tell us about the book - the synopsis makes it look good.
Pedln - many things are "not in my brain" that have had plenty of chances to go there - and many did, but sadly did not remain.... :D
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Rosemary, congratulations, you are absolutely right with Olive Ann Burns and Cold Sassy Tree. To everyone else, I apologize for picking something so obscure. I didn't realize it was. I'm not sure which I did first, see it on TV or read the book. And I remember discussions with friends about whether Olive Ann Burns was writing a second novel or not. Have not read that one.
The town of Cold Sassy is based on Harmony Grove, which later became Commerce, Georgia. Basically the book is about life in a small southern town in the early days of the 20th century, narrated by young Will Tweedy. The big scandal is that Will's grandfather has married Miss Love, this young woman from Baltimore, three weeks after his wife of many years died. Of course Will's parents and the rest of the family are appalled. What will people think.
Olive Ann Burns was primarily a journalist, but when she was diagosed with cancer in 1975 she started to put her family stories in the form of a novel. It's nice to know, that unlike Mary Ann Schafer (Guernsey Potato Peel Society), she at least was able to know about the success of her work.
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pedln, before Pat puts this quiz ad acta, , please tell us when the train event took place. I'd love to know
because my life falls neatly into two parts - before our coming to this country, and after. It has become a gauge, a test of sorts, of what Icould and should ostensibly have known. :)
One quick question: One clue said the author wrote (other) 'stories dictated by the grandfather'. Was 'dictated' to be taken literally, and what were the stories about ?
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The author clue was: I also wrote family stories dictated by my (the author's) parents.
Perhaps "told" might be more appropriate than "dictated." We all have heard stories about other family members, neighbors, and friends told by our families. I remember as a kid being fascinated with family stories about Nettie Lee, a distant cousin not known for her housekeeping skills. As for the train incident -- the story is set in the early years of the 20th century -- way before any of us were around.
Olive Ann Burns, and Ferrol Sams, too -- both good reads. Fiction based on real life.
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Rosemarykaye, are you going to assume the burden of winning and do the next quiz? We could draw lots or ask for volunteers. I'm glad you figured it out. I've certainly heard of the book, but haven't read it. Looks like I ought to.
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Yes Pat - I too now want to read this book that I had never heard of - I have just looked at it on Amazon and it is not too expensive (typically my library does not have it) so I am sorely tempted, blithely ignoring my TBR list, which, as I think Barb said, is set to outlive me by several centuries even if I live to be 100.
I am happy to do another quiz, but if it turns out to be no good, I'm also happy for someone else to take over - whatever! So here it is:
Author: was born in Yorkshire and is still alive
Book: would probably be described as a "novella"
Character: has a life changing experience
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Quite a number of writers were born in Yorkshire - a novella? - life changing experience? - WOW - I'd better wait for some more clues...
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Here they are:
Author: Has also written for stage and screen, and has performed as well
Book: Is fiction, but is set mainly in a very real location
Character: Is associated with a certain breed of dogs, who appear in the book
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And here's some more:
Author: has written celebrated monologues that have been televised
Book: is set in London
Character: has a somewhat troublesome family
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Sorry, been a bit busy - here are some more clues
Author: Wrote a successful play based on something that happened in his own front drive over a period of years
Book: Shows some of the (fictional) inner workings of a very famous London landmark (though they are not the main subject)
Character: Is a close relative of someone who is very topical at the moment
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Intriguing clues - but I'm still in the dark.
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The author's a "he" and the character is probably a relative of King George VI.
Is it Alan Bennett, and the book Uncommon Reader?
And the character is Queen Elizabeth.
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Pedln - I think maybe you're a genius. The clues certainly fit.
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Not a genius, Gumtree. As we used to tell the Quiz Bowl Team, if you only know ONE thing, make that your answer. There aren't many British authors at my fingertips.
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No, I think you're a genius, Pedln. That's got to be it--it fits perfectly. Now I'm looking at all the clues and thinking why didn't I see it. We had a very good discussion of it a while back--very funny book.
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Hello Pedln and Gumtree (faithful followers both...) - yes, Pedln, you are the WINNER!!!
It is indeed Alan Bennet, who was born in Leeds, and who wrote the play "The Lady In The Van" about the elderly woman who parked her van in his drive in London and stayed there for many years. He also wrote "Talking Heads", a series of monologues. I love his work, especially his diaries. I also liked The History Boys.
I see you have already done the book, so I don't need to say much about it! It is set mainly in Buckingham Palace, and the dogs are the royal corgis.
The Queen has a life changing experience when she discovers the mobile library parked in the palace courtyard. The King's Speech is about her father, George VI. And as we all know, HRH has had plenty of trouble with her offspring.
Over to you Pedln! And thanks for sticking with it.
Rosemary
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I never heard of The Lady in the Van, but a lifetime ago I saw Bennett and friends (Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and Johnathan Miller) in Beyond the Fringe--extremely funny.
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The Uncommon Reader is a delightful book, and the only Alan Bennett that I've read. Enjoyed the movie The History Boys. Netflix has Beyond the Fringe, but while it gets high marks for content, it fails the technical aspects. I'm glad to hear about these other Bennett works. I hope my library has them.
Bennett and Reader were a good choice, Rosemary.
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Here we go. Someone is going to get this right off the bat; no other clues will be necessaary
Author: I was educated in New England
Book: Historical fiction, set in New England
Character: No specific characters, there are many, based on real persons
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Rosemary, I agree with pedln; that was a great quiz. However, pedln, I don't seem to be getting this quiz "right off the bat".
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I agree.
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No - it sounds right outside my limited literary orbit.
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Pedln, this is a link to Alan Bennett's "Untold Stories", which is a great book IMHO
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Untold-Stories-Alan-Bennett/dp/0571228313/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299148904&sr=1-1
and one to Amazon (uk)'s page about him:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Bennett/e/B001H6O0IY/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
No idea about your clues so far! Will keep trying!
Rosemary
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Rosemary - Congrats on a great quiz. Your stretch our mental capacity and then enhance it.Well done!
Gum - Sorry, but I really have to disagree about your "limited literary orbit". ;)
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Thanks for the Alan Bennett update, Rosemary.
It's a little early, but here's another Author clue, since no got it off the bat. I'm sure this will start bells ringing.
Author: I was educated in New England
I wrote this book between my undergraduate and graduate years
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iF gum has a "limited literary orbit", then I'm circling around on one spot.
Still no lights dawning!
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Yes, I fear I have spectacularly failed to launch so far :)
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You know this. I know you know it. Here’s another book clue.
Author: I was educated in New England
I wrote this book between my undergraduate and graduate years
Book: Historical fiction, set in New England
This book follows events described in another, much, much earlier book
Character: No specific characters, there are many, based on real persons
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I know we're going to be mad at ourselves when someone finally gets it, but so far no inkling.
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How about The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane? (I wonder if anyone other than me has read that book.)
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I haven't read it, but it's on my TBR list. It fits, as far as I know.
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Sorry, it's not The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. Hmm. I remember someone suggesting that a while back.
There will be another clue tomorrow.
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Is it anything to do with Henry James?
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'Limited literary orbit'
It's true you know - I may have read a fair amount of stuff but only in limited areas - there are huge gaps I can never hope to close. I don't read much mystery, thrillers, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, political history, and and and... ... I've read a lot of the English writers but not so many American apart from the greats - and likewise with other nationalities BUT I'd take a bet that I've read more Australian literature than most readers here :D ... even there I have serious oversights.
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No, sorry, not Henry James
But isn't it amazing how much we all learn from each others "limited literary orbits." Who recommended Deliverance Dane? I think it was a friend of the author, not sure.
Time for another Character clue --
Author: I was educated in New England
I wrote this book between my undergraduate and graduate years
Book: Historical fiction, set in New England
This book follows events described in another, much much earlier book
Character: No specific characters, there are many, based on real persons
Most of the characters are helping a colleague with an important project.
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Maybe The Dante Club?
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WINNER!! WINNER!! WINNER!!
Hurrah for deems2. I'll bet it's sitting on your bookshelf someplace.
This would have been the last clue -- I have a Facebook page. An age indicator.
Matthew is such a sweetie, and has given us so much time. Good for you, deems2
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Well done Deems! Sorry to be dim, but who is Matthew?
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Matthew Pearl is the author of The Dante Club and The Last Dickens, both of which we discussed here. I wasn't in Dante, but in Dickens, he participated copiously, giving us all sorts of interesting details about where he got his ideas, what parts of the plot really happened, background,etc.
Goodness, pedln, that was an ingenious one. Though I haven't read it, I know enough about the book that I should have gotten it, but I wasn't thinking of a contemporary author. Good job, deems 2.
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Rosemary, he wrote The Dante Club when he was something like 22 or 23. He also won some prestigious award from the Dante Society, and he is a lawyer -- Harvard or Yale, not sure which. I don't know if he's practicing or is mostly writing.
He also wrote The Poe Shadow, which probably wasn't as well received as his other two novels, but all were discussed here on this site, and he participated in all of the discussions, especially, as PatH says, copiously in The Last Dickens.
He's just a really nice person.
As for The Dante Club, one of my all-time favorites, folks like Oliver Wendell Holmes, Robert Lowell and others are helping Longfellow translate The Inferno from Italian into English. Along the way, they realize a connection with the horrendous murders that are occuring in the Boston area.
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Well done deems 2. I had no idea.
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Gumtree - I note that you said you had read a lot of books by Australians. Although Bryce Courtenay is originally from South Africa he has been in Australia long enough to be regarded as an Australian author, I guess.
The strange thing is is that I have never had any desire to read any of his books. I suppose I should try at least one and give him a chance, but my reading life is much too short, and my instinct tells me that I wouldn't like him anyway. Have you read him?
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Gumtree - Which Australian authors would you recommend?
Sorry for the delay. I am trying to think of a book. Back soon with a new quiz.
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Roshanarose: No, I didn't say I'd read a lot of books by Aussies but I've certainly read some and I just was guessing that I've read more than most of our friends here have. :D
Bryce Courtenay - spare me from him. He was so hyped up by the publishers and his oen self-promotion when Power of One came out that DH bought me hardback first edition thinking I'd be delighted - I was hard pressed to read it through and have never opened one of his efforts since. IMO he is very commercially driven and his writing shows it - he is very popular but as you say, 'life is too short' - I still regard him as a South African.
Deems 2 I always hesitate to 'recommend' an author as I find reading is such a personal occupation and so much depends on what type of reading you're after.
If you want a quintessential colonial Australian classic novel try Henry Handel Richardson's The Fortunes of Richard Mahony or the more harrowing Marcus Clarke For the Term of His Natural Life
Here's a few of today's crop - Thomas Kenneally Peter Carey, David Malouf, Geraldine Brooks, Kate Grenville, Elizabeth Jolley, Thea Astley, Murray Bail, Robert Dessaix, Michelle de Kretzer, Drusilla Modjeska, Tim Winton, Shirley Hazzard, Helen Garner, Richard Flanagan, Marcus Zusak.
Older writers: Christina Stead, Miles Franklin, Eleanor Dark, Xavier Herbert, D'arcy Niland, Morris West, Randolph Stow, George Johnston, Neville Shute, Coral Lansbury (Angela's cousin), Kylie Tennant.
There's always our Nobel prizewinner, Patrick White - and another South African now naturalised Aussie and Nobel winner, J.M. Coetzee.
I suppose I'd better mention Colleen McCullough - one I love to hate.
Then we have Clive James, Germaine Greer and and and...
Most of those mentioned are fundamentally novelists. Have you read many of them?
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I'm ashamed to say that the only one I have read is Clive James. What a great list you have given us!
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Gumtree - Yes. An excellent list of some of Australia's finest. Makes me pink with pride, it really does.
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Wow! That's an exciting list, Gumtree. I have read some of them, but many are unknown to me. When I was a child, I finished all of the books in the children's section of the library. I was distraught because I thought that adult books were all non-fiction and there weren't any more stories left to be read. I was thrilled to discover that there were novels in the adult section of the library. You have just added another room to the library. Thank you.
Okay. New quiz. The problem is that I have read some really odd things. I am not sure if any of them are known. :-\
Author: I was born poor and worked my way into this literary life. It took me a while to achieve some notoriety.
Book: Is a parable/philosophical discourse/run-on sentence.
Character: I fake an illness for love.
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I seemed to have killed this game. I am sorry people. Here are some more clues.
Author: I was born poor and worked my way into this literary life. It took me a while to achieve some notoriety.
I am an award winning author and I am highly controversial.
Book: Is a parable/philosophical discourse/run-on sentence.
Was an excellent book but was made into a really bad movie.
Character: I fake an illness for love.
I don't have a name. But no one else does either.
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Goodness, I feel like this should be obvious, but it isn't to me.
deems 2, there are often non-posting gaps in this game.
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Sorry Deems2 - I've been preoccupied with MDH who had a slight mishap last week - he's Ok just a few stitches and bruising - maybe a little shock too!
Will come back later.
PS: you mentioned I had given you another room in the library .... believe me there are many more rooms from Australia - a complete household in fact. I mentioned a few of our novelists but there are diarists, essayists, biographers, historians, poets, critics and our indigenous voices are beginning to be heard in numbers as are our migrants and refugees. Hope you enjoy the feast.
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Is this science fiction or fantasy. I may have heard of it, but I'll bet I never read it.
Run-on sentence? No names -- just you and you and hey you?
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Why am I thinking about Hemingway?
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Deems - you haven't killed it! I am thinking hard, I just can't do it! My lack of reading, not your lack of question-setting ability :)
Rosemary
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Gumtree - Gosh! I do hope your DH is recovering. These mishaps really can mess up one's confidence. My best wishes to him on a speedy recovery and a steady step.
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Yes Gumtree - my best wishes too. Take care.
Rosemary
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Look! People! :D
I am sorry to hear about YDH, Gumtree. I hope that he is feeling better now.
Nope. Not Hemingway.
Author: I was born poor and worked my way into this literary life. It took me a while to achieve some notoriety.
I am an award winning author and I am highly controversial.
I married my translator (into Spanish).
Book: Is a parable/philosophical discourse/run-on sentence.
Was an excellent book but was made into a really bad movie.
Has humorous bits in a Kafka-esque humor kind of way.
Character: I fake an illness for love.
I don't have a name. But no one else does either.
My husband tried to help in the beginning.
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Some of those clues bring to mind Frida Kahlo. Although it needs to be said that she did not fake her injuries. Also she was more famous for her art work than anything she wrote.
Is the protagonist male or female?
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As far as I know, Frida did not fake any of her extraordinary injuries. But they were certainly extraordinary, weren't they. Nope, not Frida Kahlo. Also, this author's books need translation into Spanish not out of it.
Author: I was born poor and worked my way into this literary life. It took me a while to achieve some notoriety.
I am an award winning author and I am highly controversial.
I married my translator (into Spanish).
I am male. My mind sparkles. And I am highly opinionated.
Book: Is a parable/philosophical discourse/run-on sentence.
Was an excellent book but was made into a really bad movie.
Has humorous bits in a Kafka-esque humor kind of way.
This novel takes place in a realistic but unidentified place.
(Let's see that makes realistic but unidentified setting, realistic but unnamed characters,
and not much punctuation to speak of. The lack of punctuation makes the book read fast.)
Character: I fake an illness for love.
I don't have a name. But no one else does either.
My husband tried to help in the beginning.
Because I am not ill, I am able to help.
I help the people within the book and I help the author tell the story of the book.
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A guess. Author Portuguese Nobelist José Saramago, the book Blindness.
Saramago' wife, Pilar del Rio, a journalist, is known for having kept a sharp eye over the translations of each of her husband's books.
Blindness was made into a movie. I happened on it on TV one night and found it unwatchable.
Gumtree, I too hope your DH is is improving every single day.
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WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
Well done, straudetwo. Of all the books to make into a movie, this is the worst. But the book is excellent. I picked it up by accident in a bookstore, read the first fifty pages, bought it, took it home and read the rest that day. Then I read it again.
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Θαυμάζιο ! Straudetwo :)
Means Wonderful! Equivalent to Wunderbar, I guess.
By coincidence I was looking through a long list of ebookσ online yesterday and there were quite a few books by Saramago. I paused and wondered if he was a good writer, but didn't purchase. Small world.
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Congratulations, Traude.
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Yes,well done Traude! I hadn't got the faintest glimmer of an idea ???
Rosemary
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Traude does it again! - but no surprise in that - Congratulations once again!
Roshanarose: If you're still wondering whether Saramago is a good writer or worthwhile read all I can say is that he was Nobel Laureate for Literature about ten years ago - must have something going for him wouldn't you say?
Deems Great Quiz - had me foxed but then I wasn't really concentrating. Excuses - excuses!
Thanks to all for your good wishes to MDH. He's OK again now though resting more than usual.
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Good for Traude! I would never have gotten it, didn't know anything about the book, though should have. Excellent quiz.
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Deems 2 and Co-Puzzlers,
Thank you for your kind words. I haven't really done anything remarkable and was caught up in lethargy. But last night
an epiphany came and I posted my guess. I'm happy I was right, as proof that I "still have it together" :).
I was in Europe in the early fall of the year before the Nobel Prize in Literature was to be announced. In Europe there's always an intense guessing game with speculation as to what country will be honored , this being allegedly the foremost consideration. Sage people in-the-know decided that Portugal would be chosen that time, and they were right.
Saramago was the favorite. But at the time there was a contender, also a Portuguese, 2\
0 years younger than Saramago, from a very different background. His name is Antonio Lobos Antunes. He lost.
Blindness, the book, defies rules, conventional form, and concentrates on the abstract. Unless the abstract is understood, the attempt of writing a script will fail.
I realize I'm now IT. But rest assured I'll not inflict Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Torquato Tasso or Giacomo Leopardi on you :) :)
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Did you see in the last Bytes that we will offer a discussion of Paul Scott's Staying On? Can I count on your presence ?
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A digression about Frida Kahlo: her injuries were real and horrendous. In a bus accident she was shot through by one or more metal bars, leaving her an invalid for a while, and later, having to wear a brace and suffering a lot of pain. But she was an extremely manipulative person, and at least in later years used her illness as a weapon. Her husband, Diego Rivera, was also manipulative. They drove each other crazy with their massive infidelities and stormy interactions.
Even so, I think they were right for each other. I wouldn't want that kind of life, but they sucked up conflict and used it to feed their art, which was the better for it. And on a basic level, they really understood each other.
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Traude, you were posting while I was writing. Inflict what you want. One of the things I like about this puzzle is that we get oddball things that not all of us know. I just hope that if someone misses a few turns they don't give up. Your turn will come, and you will puzzle the ones who puzzled you.
Staying On has been sitting on my coffee table at the ready for half a year. I find I do best in discussions reading only slightly ahead, so my first reactions are fresh, so I've resisted reading more than a few pages, but I'm definitely with you.
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PatH, just saw your post.
Frida Kahlo was an important person and artist. In some ways she was more remarkable than her husband, once her teacher.
That's why Barbara Kingsolver's book The Lacuna is so very relevant.
The local book group discussed it, but there's no way 2, 3, 4, or even 5 hours could remotely cover the subject matter of the epoch and the US/Mexican relationship.
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PatH That was a brilliant summary in a nutshell of the Kahlo/Rivera relationship.
Traude Antonio Lobos Antunes - I don't know about him - should I read him and is he available in English translation? I'll have to check him out now you've mentioned him.
I'm looking forward to the Staying On discussion. I haven't read the book yet - saving it until closer to our discussion. It will be great to finally wind up the Raj series - then I plan to start reading them all again.
As for Goethe, Schiller et al - they're not an infliction but offer a chance for us to either air our knowledge or to learn something new. Either way, we all win.
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PatH, thank you for the excellent description of Frda Kahlo, a scintillating personality and artist.
I learned a great deal about her, her marriage(s) to muralist Diego Rivera and the entire epoch of U.S.-Mexican relations from Barbara Kingsolver's book The Lacuna. (The title is meaningful.)
Our inveterate live book group discussed it in a somewhat rambling fashion because a book of such vast scope and historic importance cannot be given due justice in the course of an afternoon. Rather, it calls out for a forum like SL where we have the luxury of more time and structure.
The Lacuna is one of the books on which we are voting at present, and we have to wait and see whether it gets the quorum and the nod.
Gumtree, I too had never heard of António Lobos Antunes before but thought I felt duty-bound to find out since he had been a contender for the Nobel Prize. I started with Fado Alexandrino, an interesting title : 'Fado' is a soulful, nostalgic folk song. A few years ago a group of AAUW friends and I attended a performance in a Portuguese restaurant in Fall River by a locally famous female Fado singer. It was very moving. Fal Rier and New Bedford on the Southeastern Massachusetts coast still have a predominant Portuguese population of fishermen. (The exuberant TV Chef Emeril Lagassi was born in Fall River.)
As a boy of 7 António decide to be a writer and literally never stopped. When he was 16, his father, a prominent neurologist, sent him to medical from which he graduated, specializing in psychiatry. After that he did his military service in Angola during the Angolan War of Independence (1961-1974). He served in a military hospital for four years and many of his books deal with that subject.
Fado Alexandrino is indeed a melancholy tale of a reunion of officers and men, and how the war and its aftermath affected each of them. I have not read anything else by him. So many books, so little time ...
Happy Sunday!
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Traude Thanks for that run down on Antunes- how interesting having that medical background in psychiatry and then to write about the effect war has on the men - I'll see whether I can track down anything of his at my libraries - just to have a taste so to speak.
I haven't read Kingsolver's Lacuna yet -it's another one I've been holding off in hope of a SL discussion. 'scintillating' is exactly the word to describe Kahlo's paintings. There is nothing muted about them either in subject matter or in her choice of colour.
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Dear Fellow Puzzlers,
Thank you for not losing patience with me because of this longish pause. I wanted to make this interesting but had a few private hurdles to overcome. Here I am now.
Author : Led a peripatetic life
Book : The history of a family
Characters : The family unit as such
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Let's get The Forsyte Saga out of the way for a start....Galsworthy travelled around when young but I rather think he was settled in his more mature years. Didn't he sail with Conrad?
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Quite right, Gumtree. Galsworthy i is not.
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And we should probably do the same for Mark Twain and Puddinhead Wilson.
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That's correct, Pedln.
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Huh -- is that a yes for yes, get it out of the way or
yes, that's the correct answer. If the latter, you've gotta be kidding!
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More clues.
In addition to novels, the author also published several volumes of short stories and translations.
When first published, the book occasioned lackluster reviews and negligible sales.
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Pedln, the 'yes' was for the correct assumption that we can rule out Mark Twain and Pudd'nhead Wilson.
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Well, Hemingway traveled a lot and wrote short stories as well as novels, but I don't think he ever translated anything. I actually think I've gotten away with not reading any of his works so far.
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Frybabe, sorry, not Hemingway, either.
I chose the author for a specific reason - two actually. I'll elaborate later.
The author is not one of the "usual suspects", but please don't be discouraged. It's still early :).
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More clues.
Th book : The reissue of the American edition in the mid-sixties brought the novel to a larger audience.
The author : Unlike Hemingway, Mark Twain and other contemporaries, the author did not attain their fame.
The book describes the history of a family.
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Louisa May Alcott - Little Women
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Roshanarose, Louisa may Alcott was a good guess, but our author was born a bit later.
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The Waltons?
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Roshanarose, sorry, not the Waltons.
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More clues.
To repeat, the story in the book represents the family dynamic, but it is not a happy family.
At the editor's insistence, the author changed the locale of the story to Washington, D.C.
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I hope I haven't read this because I haven't got any ideas at all :D
Rosemary
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I'm the same Rosemary - I had a few things in mind but the clue about setting it in Washington sent them all out of the window.
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I was going to say "Little House on the Prairie" which I now know is incorrect.
straudetwo - please excuse me if I seem rude, but rosemarykaye and I are not the same person. Although I must say it sounds as though rosemarykaye has a much more interesting life than I.
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Traude: something's nagging at me that this could be an Australian author?
Many of our writers, particularly those of the first half of 20th century left home for England, the Continent and America - some never quite settled anywhere - until they came back home again.
I'll have to think about this one.
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What do we know? We know the author was born after 1832, when L M Alcott was born.
We know the book is about family dynamics
We know the author doesn't have the following that Hemingway and Twain has
We know that the book was reissued in the 1960's -- that sounds like a big clue
We know the setting -- Washington, DC
We don't know -- gender of author, status quo-- alive or dead, nationality
We don't know when the book was FIRST published
I'm throwing my thoughts out. I doubt it's Tolstoy -- you know that first line -- "Happy families are all alike, but unhappy families . . . . "
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Is it Sinclair Lewis?
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Democracy by Henry Adams????
I hope this isn't right. I don't have a lot of time to spare right now.
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Thank you for your participation.
I did not mean to be deliberately obscure or keep you on tenterhooks. Besides, we don't generally give away the nationality or gender of an author right away.
Actually I had banked on Gumtree and Roshanarose (and Roshanarose came close by suggesting a female auhor), since Australian writers had been listed here recently following a question by Deems 2.
Yes, indeed, Rosemary, one would have to have either read the book or heard about it - for example, a few months ago in a NYT essay about the underrated literary virtues of this particular author by one of our much talked-about American novelists, Jonathan Franzen.
I'd be happy to provide the answer if you are tired of guessing.
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It's Christina Stead - The Man Who Loved Children.
I woke this morning with it clear in my mind. I hadn't quite got there when I went to bed - don't think we've had an Australian author before.
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I just checked the last listing of our titles - No Aussies - so Stead is a first! :D
It's actually interesting to read down the list - amazing that almost all are classics of one kind or another.
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Gumtree, wonderful ! , that's the answer. Christina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children.
As you said, we have not had an Australian writer as subject of a quiz, and so this is an occasion to be celebrated. But since I've been told to "rest", the celebration may e slightyl delayed.
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Traude I am sorry you're not quite up to par at present. Do follow your doctor's orders and "rest" for as long as it takes.
Christina Stead has been required reading in some curricula though I'm not sure if she still is. I doubt that her work has ever been the flavour of the month but she is always 'there'
She went overseas in the 1930s when she was quite young - lived in England, France, Spain, America - finally coming home around 1970.
The Man Who Loved Children is now regarded as her masterpiece and is largely autobiographical - 'The Man' is based on her eccentric father.
I think her most popular and accessible novel would be For Love Alone which again is largely autobiographical.
How great to showcase an Aussie - thanks Traude!
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I'm a very reluctant 'winner' at the moment.
I'll have to think of a challenge for you - will probably post later today or tomorrow.
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Gumtree - Well said. Congratulations. I had no idea. Could be because I have not read the book, although it was on my reading list for Australian Lit at Uni.
Straude2 - Thanks for thinking of us. Take care and rest up. We are thinking of you.
Did a bit of reading about Christina Stead. It said she was married to William Blake, was it THAT William Blake? Ooops. Checked again - just a couple of centuries out ::)
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Roshanarose: Stead's William Blake was actually born Wilhelm Blech sp?and changed thespelling of his name when they moved to America - do't quote me I'm relying on my memory. - not always a good thing these days.
Still thinking about a suitable subject for our next quiz. Will put something up tomorrow.
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I'd change my name too if I was named blech (blech!). Great game, traude.
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Thank you for staying with me on this last quiz. Two reasons made me choose The Man Who Loved Children - surely one of the most abominable fathers in literature - : (1) Christina Stead's name was on the list of Australian writers posted here recently, and (2) I did so out of a sense of frustration that the importance of this particular book was not recognized even after the American edition was reissued. So I was grateful and very impressed by Jonathan Franzen's essay carried by the NYT in June of 2010 as a tribute to Christina Stead and in remembrance of the publication of the book seventy (70) years earlier.
Stead's biographer, Hazel Rowley, reports that publishers Simon & Schuster didn't think American readers would care about Australians (!!), so Stead made the setting Washington, D.C. It was a blow that Mary McCarthy (The Group) wrote an especially caustic piece in The New Republic, finding fault with the novel's anachronisms and imperfect grasp of American life.
I read the book in 1967 in a marvelous book group in Arlington, Virginia, and it made me literally gasp for air. Those were the heady days of women's liberation and nothing would have been more fitting and logical than holding up this book alongside Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and so many others, including Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch.
Stead finished her education in Australia, taught for a few years, then moved abroad with American Marxist writer and business man William Blake, born Wilhelm Blech, whom she married after he had obtained a divorce. After his death she returned to Australia and died there.
JoanK, I agree, Blech (= cheap metal) is not an auspicious name. Untold numbers of immigrants changed their names to carry in their new life, often shorter and more to their liking. And that's as it should be.
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Traude Christina Stead doesn't get her full due even here in her country of birth even though she is regarded as one of our first rate novelists -so much so that she is sometimes bracketed with Patrick White.
I searched out Jonathan Franzen's review and was impressed with his grasp on what Stead had tried to do. As you say, his essay was a tribute to the writer though I wonder whether it would have gained her many new readers. How amazing for you to read and discuss the book in 1967 when the air was fairly buzzing with the women's liberation movements - I read it maybe 10 years later and well recall the impact it had.
I don't possess a copy of The Man Who Loved Children but the quiz motivated me to take down another Stead novel, For Love Alone and after browsing for a little, I settled in to begin reading it. Stead's father is depicted there as well and is just the same, bold as brass and so loquacious it would drive one to ... well!
It may be that I'll undertake a rereading of Stead's output. I like revisiting writers from my past reading life.
Thanks for the quiz - especially for choosing Stead as the subject.
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New Quiz
This is an easy one:
Author: Has succeeded in more than one field.
Book: This book is an acclaimed biography.
Character: Was one of seven sons born to an impoverished family.
Extra clue: The author is not Australian - but there is an Australian connection.
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Not for me it isn't! (Easy that is...)
Rosemary
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They're not supposed to be easy on the first set of clues.
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:) i know,it's just that Gum said it was easy! Maybe the next set will reveal all.....or maybe (in my case) not...
R
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Gosh Rosemary: I can't give it all away so soon - not enough fun in that!
Author: Has succeeded in more than one field.
This is my first book
Book: This book is an acclaimed biography.
won several awards and has been translated into several languages
Character: Was one of seven sons born to an impoverished family.
Left home and family at a young age to undertake studies and learn new skills
Extra clue: The author is not Australian - but there is an Australian connection.
This book hit the best seller charts in Australia and elsewhere.
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It seems that it may be best to focus on the book's character, one of seven siblings. Hmm.
There's no spark in the darkness yet but I have aimed at ghosts like V.S.Naipul, Paul Theroux, his (unauthorized) biographer (Sir Vidia), and Alan Paton (Cry The Beloved Country). Alas, none looks like "it".
New clues may lead us closer to a solution.
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Traude - No, none of those you mentioned.
Here are some new clues...
Author: Has succeeded in more than one field.
This is my first book.
Family values are integral to my life.
Book: This book is an acclaimed biography.
won several awards and has been translated into several languages.
A successful film was made based on the book.
Character: Was one of seven sons born to an impoverished family.
Left home and family at a young age to undertake studies and learn new skills.
Worked hard and was selected as a foreign exchange student.
Extra clues: The author is not Australian - but there is an Australian connection.
This book hit the best seller charts in Australia and elsewhere.
The producer, director and screenwriter for the film were all Australian.
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Somehow I think that the character may be Asian.
Turning my brain inside out - or may be a Kiwi connection?
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Was the subject of the biography perhaps an outstanding sportsman ?
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Roshanarose - you're on the right track - keep thinking Asian.
Traude not an outstanding sportsman but a discipline which requires just as much physical effort, training and stamina.
You've almost got it between you.
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This is tantalizing--I feel like I must know it, but I doubt I'm as close as Traude and Roshanarose.
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I'll be darn if I can think of the name of the guy, but I remember running across an author whose passion was deep sea fishing all over the world. He wrote several fishing books, one of which was recently reissued at a humongous limited edition price. In spite of that he was not well known for his fishing books. Still, he wasn't Asian so it probably isn't who you want. He did fish around Australia a lot, though.
Addendum: Zane Grey. The reissued edition was Tales of the Gladiator which was the name of his boat.
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Aaaaarrrrgggghhh.
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I think I've got it. Mao's Last Dancer. I have seen the film but not read the book so I don't know the author.
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Frybabe - Another famous American (actor) used to fish for marlin in Cairns. See if you can guess who?
Sorry Gum. Not stealing your thunder.
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Well done, roshanarose Good thinking. I've got the film in my N queue and would also like to read the book.
Li fell in love and married an American girl in 1981 which resulted in him being held against his will for twenty-one hours by the Chinese Consulate in Houston. It became a huge international incident during which the FBI surrounded the Consulate and sealed the airport. The American government, led by George Bush, Sr., managed to negotiate with the Chinese government to eventually secure his release
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Good for our guys. Can you believe?
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Sorry I've not been in - am a bit 'under the weather' so to speak...
Congratulations to our WINNER - Roshanarose
It is Mao's Last Dancer the character is Li Cunxin who also wrote the book. I was being a little devious there saying it was a biography instead of autobiography - happened by accident but I decided to leave it.
Pedln - thanks for this bit - the substance of which would have been in the next set of clues:
Li fell in love and married an American girl in 1981 which resulted in him being held against his will for twenty-one hours by the Chinese Consulate in Houston. It became a huge international incident during which the FBI surrounded the Consulate and sealed the airport. The American government, led by George Bush, Sr., managed to negotiate with the Chinese government to eventually secure his release
The marriage with the American girl was very short-lived.
Li Cunxin was selected to receive training in ballet as part of Madame Mao's Cultural Programme and at age 11 was taken from his family to undertake a seven year training programe at Beijing Dance Academy.
He went on to graduate as one of China's best dancers and became one of the first two cultural exchange students under Mao's regime allowed to go to the US to study.
However, after defecting to the US he was locked up in the Chinese consulate in Houston, causing a political stand-off between Washington and Beijing before he was released as a free man.
Li went on to dance with the Houston Ballet for 16 years and performed around the world, meeting and falling in love in London with Australian born ballerina Mary McKendry. They married in 1987 and moved to Melbourne in 1995 where Li embraced the Australian life.
At 34, he studied with the view of becoming a stockbroker while juggling his career as a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
As a father, he has helped his daughter Sophie overcome difficulties after she was diagnosed with profound hearing loss aged just 18 months.
Sophie, now 20, was one of the first Australian children to receive bilateral cochlear implants and went on to complete her Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in 2008, finishing in the top 5 per cent of the state.
Li Cunxin was named as Father of the Year 2008 and says he was humbled to have received the award and it was even more poignant following the death of his own father earlier that year.
Li now works with a major stockbroking firm and is in high demand as a motivational speaker. He has worked hard for folk with hearing impairment. He and his wife have three children.
It is an interesting biography and made an excellent film with some superb ballet scenes.
Lots of Australian connections there so I wasn't at all surprised that Roshanarose was the one who won the prize.
Over to you Roshanarose!
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Give me a couple of days, please. I like to assemble all my clues before I start. I can't help it and put it down to the importance of preparedness while teaching ;) I just adore ballet movies and books, but my quiz will be about something entirely different. Gird your loins!
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Roshanarose: that American big game fishing out of Queensland - wasn't that Lee Marvin?
I'm girding - I'm girding !
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Gumtree, this was an excellent quiz about a remarkable human being at whose strengths and talents we can only marvel. The nut was a bit hard to crack but Roshanarose did so effortlessly. Congratulations are well deserved.
We never cease to learn, and that's as it should be.
Thank you.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Gumtree - You girding is an interesting thought :o Yes. It was Lee Marvin who loved marlin fishing. The biggest fishing adventure I had was fishing for mega trout on Lake Taupo in New Zealand. It was so much fun. We took the mega trout back to our hotel and the chef cooked it to order - yummy.
straudetwo - Thanks for your congratulations. If I answered "effortlessly" one can be assured that it is just about the only thing I do "effortlessly" these days. ;)
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Traude: Thank you. Li Cunxin is indeed a remarkable person. He has outstanding physical, inner and moral strengths and his resilience and determination are indeed enviable. His story is one of perseverance in the face of poverty, and what must have been loneliness and intense longing for his family and his home especially during those first long years of training. He has been an inspiration to many.
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Oooooh. So sorry to be late. I have been draining my brain on a theory in the Classics Book Club re The Odyssey and Colonisation. Soon, I promise. Brain tired out now.
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Hmmmm - My PC had a dummy spit this pm. I completely lost a poem in Babr's forum and my clues in this. So here I go again:
Author : Born poor, barely above the status of the laboring class.
Book: One major character and three minor characters make up the protagonists.
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Hmmm! Is there a character clue?
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Author : Born poor, barely above the status of the laboring class.
The eldest of four children, had to home schooled by his mother at first.
Book: One major character and three minor characters make up the protagonists.
The major character inherits a large property.
What sort of character clue would you like JoanK.?
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H'mm H'mmmm H'mmmmmmm ?
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And more hmmmmmm......
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C'mon guys. They even made a film of this novel, c.Alfie, and two of the actors are both alive and well and still making movies.
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No, I'll need more clues.
Was interested last night watch 1st Tuesday Book Club discussing Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children which was the subject here a couple of weeks ago.
It was most revealing that those on the panel who had read the book in the past had found it hard to read again now and while they appreciated Stead's achievement thought the book too claustrophobic. Those who had not read it before were divided in their opinion - one for and one against.
It's made me rethink plans to reread Stead - maybe I should leave well alone.
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Gum - Yes I watched the 1st Tuesday's Book Club as well. In general I think that they gave the book a caning, leaving me with the feeling that after what you had said about it that I should read it for myself. I watched the program about Lake Mungo - very disturbing.
Author: Born poor, barely above the status of the laboring class.
The eldest of four children, had to be home schooled by his mother at first.
A sickly child he began school at eight showing particular interest in literary, biblical and local lore.
Book: One major character and three minor characters make up the protagonists.
The major character inherits a large property.
After seeing the major character from a distance one of the lesser characters becomes infatuated.
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That's got to be recognizable, only I'm not recognizing it.
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The author is from a particular part of the UK which may or may not be actual.
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So far, there's one concrete clue : the book was made into a film about the time of Alfie.
The author, one of four children, was home-schooled - something that families living in abject poverty cannot afford.
The last clue regarding the author's provenance from a place that or may not be "actual" only adds to the mystery.
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Which Alfie, the one with Michael Caine (1996) or the one with June Law (2004)?
This sounds like a Jane Austen type story what with the inheritance and infatuation from a distance - but this is a male author.
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I will comment on Frybabe and straudetwo comments first.
It was the first (and best) Alfie with Michael Caine, but your date is wrong Fry, it came out in 1966 not 1996. The movie of this novel came out a year earlier.
I am so sorry, straudetwo, I mean that the story is set in a place in the UK which may or may not be actual. If I gave the name it would give it away immediately.
Author: Born poor, barely above the status of the laboring class.
The eldest of four children, had to be home schooled by his mother at first.
A sickly child he began school at eight showing particular interest in literary, biblical and local lore.
The author studied the Classics and French after finishing school.
Book: One major character and three minor characters make up the protagonists.
The major character inherits a large property.
After seeing the major character from a distance one of the lesser characters becomes infatuated.
The major character helps to save the life of the character who is infatuated with her.
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oops! Sorry for the typo. Yes, 1966, and I agree.
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Is it anything to do with Julie Christie?
Rosemary
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Rosemary - Yes!
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Is the author Ray Bradbury ?
And the book Fahrenheit 451 ?
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Sorry, straudetwo it is not Ray Bradbury. This novel is very "earthy".
Rosemary you are on the right track. Unintended Pun there somewhere.
Author: Born poor, barely above the status of the laboring class.
The eldest of four children, had to be home schooled by his mother at first.
A sickly child he began school at eight showing particular interest in literary, biblical and local lore.
The author studied the Classics and French after finishing school.
He began writing poetry. Also wrote his first novel which was published anonymously in 1871.
Book: One major character and three minor characters make up the protagonists.
The major character inherits a large property.
After seeing the major character from a distance one of the lesser characters (Tom)becomes infatuated.
The major character helps to save the life of the character (Tom) who is infatuated with her.
[I will call the 'infatuated' character, Tom. Although not his real name I am hoping to keep the flow by using it].
After the major character saves Tom, his infatuation turns to love which, unfortunately for him, is not reciprocated.
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Is the author Thomas Hardy? Far From The Madding Crowd?
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H U R R A H
Rosemary is our new champion. I am glad you got it R, with three interested suitors it was going to get kind of difficult and confusing giving clues. i
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Thanks Roshanarose - it was the film clue that got me thinking. The ironic thing was, I thought that I had (illegally, as in I was not old enough for the film certificate)) seen Julie Christie in Ryan's Daughter at around that time - so I could not link up that film with an author. Then I eventually realised that it was Sarah Miles I had seen in Ryan's Daughter - I think I saw FFTMC later.
Oh well, my aged brain cells got there in the end....
Rosemary
PS Will think about new quiz over the w/e - off to the East Neuk today and hope to walk part of the coastal path with visiting friends. As I type, the sun is shining over the rooftops of Edinburgh, and the Fife hills look misty blue across the Forth.
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Good one Roshanarose - I had just got to rolling the 'writing poetry' and 1871 date around in my mind - hadn't quite reached Hardy though -
Congratulations to Rosemary -
Julie Christie - one of my most unfavourite actors of all time. She never convinces me of anything.
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Bravo, Rosemary. And the clues were great, Roshana, but alas, my thoughts were empty.
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Great, Rosemary ! I'm afraid what I know best is Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscurre.
Happy weekend to all.
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straudetwo - Mt two favourite Hardy's are "Far from the Madding Crowd" and "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". I read "Jude the Obscure" in my teens and I remember that it was all a bit overpowering for me. When Old Father Time "solves" his parents' poverty problems, I actually felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. I love his poetry too. "The Ruined Maid" is a favourite. Evidently Hardy outraged the Victorian sensibilities so much and was treated to so much outraged criticism he gave up novel writing and turned to poetry.
FYI - The cast of the movie "FFTMC" is:
Bathsheba Everdene - Julie Christie
Gabriel Oak - Alan Bates
Bolderwood - Peter Finch
Sergeant Frank Troy - Terrence Stamp
Worth another read and look for me.
"The Ruined Maid"
Thomas Hardy c1901
"O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?"
"O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she.
"You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she.
-"At home in the barton you said 'thee' and 'thou,'
And 'thik oon,' and 'theäs oon,' and 't'other'; but now
Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!"
"Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she.
"Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!"
"We never do work when we're ruined," said she.
"You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem
To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!"
"True. One's pretty lively when ruined," said she.
"I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!"
"My dear a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined," said she.
I love Hardy's use of irony with this poem. He thumbs his nose at Victorian society who were outraged by his books and sums it all up in this wee masterpiece.
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Thanks for that Hardy poem Roshanarose...
I think I 'like' Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Woodlanders best but Jude the Obscure is probably his masterpiece. I wonder if anyone would be interested in reading something by Hardy for a discussion - must ask the powers that be...
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Gumtree, what an excellent idea !
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I've finally gotten the heading up to date again. I really like the way these quizzes have been going. They've been hard, but interesting. Not everyone has known the answers. (Of the last 4, the only one I could possibly have gotten was the Hardy, and Rosemary beat me to it.) But if you don't know the answer to one, you might to the next.
I hope no one gets discouraged if they don't get anything for a while. Your turn will come.
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PatH Thanks for hosting this board and keeping an eye on proceedings - I know it involves some work for you but you always make it sound like a labour of love - thank you for all you do.
I love this game and am never discouraged when I don't 'get it' - it's such fun - though sometimes I could cheerfully kick myself for not coming up with the answer.
. I think all readers love to revisit 'old forgotton far off' things and to learn of others one has missed.- somehow, even when I don't have a glimmer of an idea to work on, the clues still make me think...and think again.
And I love going into battle with such a group of perceptive readers as are our fellow contestants. What more could we want!
Even the 'prize' for the winner has its own reward.
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PatH - thanks for posting as I had completely forgotten that it was my turn.
Off to Musselburgh just now to deliver daughter to choir course, but will think on the bus (there won't be much conversation from her at 9am!), and hope to be back with something later today or tomorrow.
And yes, i absolutely endorse everything Gumtree said - I love this quiz and have already learned lots from it; thanks for all your hard work.
Rosemary
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Apologies for the delay, here is the new quiz:
Author: Born in London, but has lived in at least two other countries
Book: Author's first; very successful, and controversial at the time
Character: Is forced to leave a comfortable but dull, middle-class, existence by a sudden change in personal circumstances
rosemary
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I'm not ignoring this - I just haven't a glimmer...
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hmmmmm!
Anthony Trollope might fit the author description, but I can't think of a book that fits. Did you all know that Barchester Towers is only the first of what is called the Chronicles of Barsetshire series? Also, I notice that he wrote a book called Rachel Ray. No, it isn't about cooking.
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Anthony Burgess just popped into my weary head. "Clockwork Orange"
Weary because my best friend, Maryan, "shouted" me to see "Riverdance". It was quite superb. My friend Maryan is as Irish as Paddy's pigs, and I delighted in watching her face and the clapping of her hands. Even though I have no trace of Irish blood, it was most wondrous to experience the audience's reaction and find myself joining in. One of life's true joys.
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Did you all know that Barchester Towers is only the first of what is called the Chronicles of Barsetshire series?
Actually, Barchester Towers is the second, the first being The Warden. They're the only two I've read. Trollope seemed to have trouble thinking up female romantic leads, as he uses the same woman in both, she having been widowed between books. I hope he varied things in future books, so the poor woman didn't have to keep on losing husbands.
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There was another one that was set in Barsetshire, but it wasn't part of the series, The Two Heroines of Plumpington.
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Ahhh, Riverdance. I've never seen it live, but watch everychance I get on PBS. Interesting that I understand that the rules about not moving the arms or upper body were so that the dance wouldn't get too "sexy", but some of the Riverdance couples manage to be quite sexy anyway. Where there's a will, there's a way.
I had an Irish friend in Maryland who would take me to every local demonstration of Irish dancing, mostly by children, some as young as six, but already quite proficient. They were delightful.
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More clues:
Author: has also written successful children's books (although this is not one)
Book: is set in what was then a seedy area of London
Character: proceeds with a course of action that meets with social disapproval - but would not now
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Ahh, if we only knew when "then" was !!
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... or whether knowing of seedy areas of London would help :) arrrrggg
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Within the sound of that bell area, maybe, ie Cockney?
East End is it? Sorry Rosemary this is probably the only area I know of in London that was/is seedy, and that is because of a lot of convicts to Australia came from there. I recently read a roll-call of passengers who came out as convicts, their length of sentence, and their crimes. Many of the men were sent because they had stolen fine linen from their mistresses' house and the men for pickpocketing or sometimes stealing food.
Would this character be responsible for maybe making prisoners' or asylum inmates' lives and conditions better?
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No, sorry, you are all barking up the wrong tree :)
Here are some more clues:
Author: Lived for some time in Israel but now lives in southern England
Book: Is set in the 20th century; the seedy area is a part of south west London, now quite fashionable
Character: Has worked in the theatre, but no longer does
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The only ones I can think of so far are all dead.
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Was this person a playwright, Rosemary?
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Sorry Roshanarose, no.
More clues:
Author: is female
Book: examines (fictionally) an issue to which attitudes have changed greatly over the past 40-50 years
Character: has a choice about how to proceed; that choice (in general terms) later became a political issue
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Does it have anything to do with suffragettes and/or women's liberation?
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Or maybe the question of abortion?
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Gumtree - you are on the right track! I will be back with more clues later - got to dash now as it is Madeleine's first day at her new school.
Rosemary
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Good luck to her. It's hard on kids to transfer to a new school.
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JoanK - thanks. She seemed to be fine when she came out of school in the afternoon, but there were plenty of tears at bedtime - not about anything specific, just overwhelmed I think. I hope everything sorts itself out; sometimes there isn't a lot you can do (except WORRY of course!)
I am posting this as fast as I can as I have already posted new clues twice today and twice my internet has cut off just as I pressed "post":
Author: Was one of the first female TV journalists in Britain
Book: Was made into a successful film, but with changes to some major features
Character: My luck changes at the end of the book, when I receive an inheritance
Rosemary
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Rosemary,
I'm s sorry to hear about daughter's tears, but it is a big change for her and will take a little time.
It happened to me when I was ten years old. My father was transferred in mid-June from a small picturesque town on the Rhine to a large industrial city in the south of he country. The class I joined had been together since after Easter, the traditional beginning of the new school year at that time. At first no one spoke to me during the long recess in the schoolyard. Then I found out that they thought I was giving myself airs, simply because I did not speak the broad unattractive dialect of the region. The class leader said "Where you come from, even the maids speak hochdeutsch ...!"- true enough but hardly logical. Class consciousness in ten-year olds ! To my great relief, that settled the matter to their satisfaction and I was accepted.
Just give daughter all the support you cam. This too shall pass.
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Rosemary - Sorry, but I am going to have to give a very vague response to this. About the film - if Gum is on the right track as you say the book may be about abortion or an abortionist. There was a movie on about two weeks ago that I had seen before about an ordinary everyday housewife who "helped" women get rid of unwanted children. I can't recall the actor's name but I do remember her from one of the Harry Potter movies as a virago in pink. Sorry for the vagueness. Just checked the actor's name in Harry Potter is Imelda Staunton.
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Hello,
Many apologies for delay in replying - my internet connection is getting worse and worse (although I can't really complain as it is somebody else's!) and yesterday my reply button disappeared (Jane has sorted that now - thanks!).
Straude - thank you so much for your words of support. I spoke to M's class teacher yesterday and she was very helpful and nice, promised to keep an eye on her and said I could contact her 10 times a day if I liked until M was settled, so that at least made me feel better. Last night M seemed a bit happier and there were no tears - her elder sister is now here for a few days and I think she will jolly her along. On the way home from school I took M to a new cafe that ha just opened - she had a cake called a "lumberjack, which I have never heard of but she said it was good. I have a horrible feeling that lumberjacks eat a zillion calories a day, but never mind!
Roshanarose - the film you are thinking of is Vera Drake, a wonderful film about a back street abortionist in 1950s (?) London. Vera's family's flat, in the south London estates, was identical to those in which many of my mother's family grew up. Imelda Staunton was absolutely brilliant in the title role, and the whole film, IMO, was genius, and showed so well the situation that women were in before the 1967 Abortion Act. Unfortunately, however, it is not the film that I was thinking of!
More clues:
Author: Has also written a biography of the Bronte family (but it's not famous, whereas this book is)
Book: The title refers to the accommodation found by the character; the film of the book was made in 1962
I have given two clues for the book because at the moment i can't think of another clue for the character.
Rosemary
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Oh my - there are gazillions of books about the Brontes - I've several on my shelves - Juliet Barker comes to mind but her Bronte books are famous - at least in Bronteland.
I'm getting the feeling that I should know this book -
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Gumtree - this author is not famous for the Bronte book. It's the one I'm thinking of that's famous, and it is a work of fiction.
I hope somebody gets it soon because I'm running out of clues!
R
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Here are some more clues, sorry they are a bit random:
In the film of the book, the heroine's nationality was changed from English to French and she was played by a French actress (though the film was still in English), and the location was moved from the original part of London to a more fashionable area. The film was directed by Bryan Forbes.
One of the author's other books - written for children - is about a girl who moves from London to the Australian outback.
Does anyone want me to reveal the answers?
Rosemary
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As I type, there is a movie on one of the stations (didn't look to see which) that I ran across while cruising with remote about Enid Blyton. I only watch a few minutes of it.
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Does anyone want me to reveal the answers?
No, don't reveal the answers. This is very difficult just relying on memory alone, and too, there are no doubt many of us who have never read anythihng by this author and wouldn't have a clue. But you have given many clues that would enable one to find this title if a little search was put behind it.
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Can't think who this author can be but hold off a little longer with the answers - that last clue about a children's book set in the Australian outback is rolling round my mind...
If the author was one of the first TV journalists in Britain then she can't be a spring chicken which rules out a lot of the younger writers....
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I think I must surrender -
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Is everyone else happy for me to post the answers?
Rosemary
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Post away, Rosemary. It sure has me puzzled.
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Author: Lynn Reid Banks
Book: The L-Shaped Room
Character: Jane Graham
Lynn Reid Banks also wrote the Indian In The Cupboard books for children, and several other books - including Saving Stacey, about a girl who is sent to live with her grandmother in the Australian outback - , but this was her first. Although born in the UK, she was evacuated to Canada during the war. She also spent 8 years on a kibbutz in Israel, where she met and married her husband, but they now live in Dorset.
Jane Graham is a middle class girl in late 1950s/early 60s London, whose father throws her out when she discovers she is pregnant. She goes to live in a seedy boarding house in Fulham (the L-shaped room being her room at the top of the stairs), where she meets a variety of interesting characters, including a Jewish writer, a gay black musician, and two prostitutes who live in the basement.
The doctor whom Jane consults tries to persuade her to have a (then illegal) abortion, but she decides to keep the baby and to suffer the huge social disapproval that this decision will being. Eventually, after having her baby, she is left a cottage in the country by her late aunt, and goes to live there.
The film of the book changed Jane into a French girl (Jane Fosset), played to great acclaim by Lesley Caron. The boarding house was relocated to Notting Hill (better than Fulham, but nothing like as fashionable as it is today). At the end of the film, Jane returns to her parents in France.
The book addresses social issues of the time, particularly the terrible treatment meted out to "unmarried mothers", but still contains quite a bit of homophobia and some antisemitism, both of which were presumably still considered normal when Reid Banks was writing. It emphasises that women as well as men are entitled to sexual pleasure, but the fact that, at the end of the book, Jane effectively "falls on her feet" with the inheritance of the cottage, shows how class will still out in the UK - the other characters in the boarding house, all of them far more "outsiders" than Jane, do not receive any such handy gifts.
I gave this book to my daughter to read when she was about 14, and she liked it so much that she did a study of it for a school project. The English teacher was apparently quite taken aback, but I feel that it is the ideal novel for teenage girls to read, enabling them to see what women still went through only 50 years ago. It ties in with Oranges & Sunshine, and also with the film that Roshanarose mentioned, Vera Drake, another brilliant depiction of 1950s London.
Sorry if my clues were too difficult! Can somebody else take over now?
Rosemary
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Ah, now I have heard of Indian in the Closet because of the movie. In fact, I think I saw it listed on cable the other day. Is it worth watching?
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That was a good choice, Rosemary. I don't know if I'll get to reading the book -- there's a long line already, but I would like to see the film sometime in the near future.
I'd heard the title L-Shaped Room, but always associated it with a film, and didn't know what it was about. Likewise, Indian in the Cupboard.
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That was a good choice, Rosemary, even if no one got it. I'd heard of it, but didn't know enough to get it.
Are there any volunteers for next puzzle?
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I've heard of Lynn Reid-Banks but haven't read her and didn't know she had bee n in TV - actually the clue about the TV journalism made me think of Angela Rippon and I couldn't get past her... and the novel about a girl who spent time in the Australian outback made me think of Lucy Christopher - so I was way off the target.
Thanks Rosemary - I enjoyed that - though 'enjoyed' is not quite the word...
PatH - I don't think I should volunteer for the next quiz - still not feeling up to scratch.
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Not to worry, Gumtree; if necessary I'll torture someone into volunteering, but probably we'll get someone. take care of yourself.
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Gumtree - I am sorry to hear you are not feeling well. It is ironic that as I was grumbling about the weather remaining hot, today it is delightfully cool. I actually have a built-in barometer - my thighs - if they are cold the weather must be getting cooler. The only thing that really keeps my thighs and knees warm are leg-warmers. They are pretty hard to find in the shops. I hope you feel much better soon. Take care!
Rosemary - Good choice and well done. I do remember seeing the L-Shaped Room. I was a fan of Leslie Caron and loved her in Gigi. I think about that time London film studios were making many movies with similar themes. "Room at the Top", something about "Poor Cow" and of course, "Alfie". I ate them up at the time.
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PatH , if I may have few days, I'll suggest a new puzzle to keep us going.
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Traude--my hero! If you decide it's too much, let me know and I'll fill in.
Roshanarose, do ballet leg-warmers work for you? They might be available at dance supply places.
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PatH - Considering I feel the cold most in my legs - Yes! But they must be pure wool to work well. I may even knit myself a pair. They will be purple or red. ::)
Straudetwo - You are our hero.
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Purple sounds great!
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JoanK - Do you have a favourite colour? A colour that you seek out in clothing stores. I love red and purple, probably because they suit me (not worn together) and I have received compliments when I wear clothes of that colour.
I also love beige, but for some reason it is quite difficult to find tops in that colour. Plenty of pants though. The only colour I just can't wear is orange. I leave that to the monks!
I haven't knitted since I was a teenager, but will look at some wool today and give it a go. I daresay it will be more difficult than reading "The Odyssey". :o I guess the easiest way to knit them would be as though they were a large scarf and then stitch them up the side with hat elastic at top and bottom to keep them in place.
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Roshanarose, I bet you already know this if you used to knit, but when you first start knitting after a long dry spell, you will hold the yarn more tightly at first, and your gauge (number of stitches per inch) will be different than when you settle down. So it's good either to knit a practice swatch first or to count on possibly having to unravel your start when you see that it's changing width.
I'm not sure I want to figure out relative difficulty of knitting and reading the Odyssey. :)
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Roshanarose - your post about purple reminded me of the poem by Jenny Joseph - I expect you know it:
http://labyrinth_3.tripod.com/page59.html
Not that you are in any way "old" - as the poem says, just practising... ;D
Rosemary
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Rosemary - Sometimes you are scaringly (is there such a word?) perceptive.
There was also the little old lady who requested that her coffin be lined in white silk with just a touch of purple... I could relate to that as well.
PatH - I am a piker. I realised that my every day is full to the brim with no time to knit....so I searched the net and found just what I wanted at a company called Bloch's that specialise in ballet and dance wear. I felt like a fraud when I ordered them. How were they to know that the person who ordered them was an old impostor with cold thighs and knees and not some lissome ballerina (ah I wish)? btw I couldn't find any in purple - the ones I ordered are in burgundy.
I enjoy reading the Odyssey, but am not so keen on interpreting it for the modern reader.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O. Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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The next puzzle is going to be posted shortly.
It's what Italian train schedules call in arrivo - meaning punctual ...
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New Puzzle .
Author : Philosopher, historian, dramatist and poet
Book : The magnum opus brought success as well as scandal.
Character : Even a privileged childhood does not preclude an unhappy life.
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Oh, this sounds interesting. Thinking!
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Author: John Fowles?
As you have probably noticed, dear Straudetwo, I guess a lot ;)
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Not Fowles, Roshanarose. (I loved his books, The Collector especially The Magus, which we rewrote completely.)
The author in this new quiz is of an earlier age.
Moe clues tomorrow.
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Moliere? (I am also clutching at straws....) :)
Rosemary
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the author ... is of an earlier age
So, this is not a novelist. Is the work a play, a history, or maybe a work of philosophy ? ? ? ? ? ? Please don't say it is one of those lo..ong poems like Byron's Don Juan or Childe Harold's Pilgrimage though I don't see Byron as much of a philosopher.
I wonder if Traude is going back to her native soil for this one - is it Freidrich Schiller ?
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Not Moliere, Rosemary.
None of those you mentioned, Gumtree, nor German dramatists, as much as I love Schiller, Lessing and Kleist.
More clues
The author was one of the most influential thinkers of all time.
The book describes the character's peregrinations.
The character follows his life's journey eagerly, undaunted by misadventures.
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Voltaire - Candide
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Oooh, Frybabe, don't know if you're right, but it's a great guess, fits well too. Good quiz, Traude :).
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I think you are right Frybabe - as soon as I read about the character's peregrinations it clicked.
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Very well done, very quickly, Frybabe. Congratulations!
Voltaire it is. Born Francois Marie Arouet, he took the pen name in 1718 (when he was sufficiently emancipated from his father, who had other career plans for his youngest son.) Voltaire is an anagram of his Latinized last name : Arovet LI LI (LI for le jeune = the younger. He had an elder brother.)
Voltaire was adamantly opposed to organized religion, fanaticism, superstition and bigotry. One of the most vocal, influential philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, he was known for his biting wit and persistent criticisms of government and religious practices. (He rather liked the Quakers, though.)
Not surprisingly, this landed in prison with some regularity. On one occasion he asked that he be permitted to serve his sentence in exile in England. The French Government allowed it. It was a period of extraordinary productivity for Voltaire.
When Voltaire was 42, he received a very flattering letter from the Crown Prince of Prussia, who later ascended the throne as Frederick II the Great. The Crown Prince wrote that he was greatly intereted with the new thought, that he was also writing poems in French, and invited Voltaire to come to Berlin.. Voltaire was indeed flattered and wrote nack. It was the start of a correspondence between two great men and lasted for decades. At some point Voltaire did accept the oft-repeated invitation and spent three years i Berlin at Charlottenburg Castle, painstakingly correcting the meter and orthography of the king's French poems.
It's late and I will finish this post tomorrow. I've spent hours today ending e-mails to the ergonis company in LinzAustria, inventors of PopChar, originally for Apple computer only. It has long been available for PCs as well. It is an ingenious system to put diacritical marks i place with a minimum of fuss in an absolutely amazing range and number of foreign languages.
An upgrade was recently offered, I tried to order it, but my license key number was allegedly not in the database, which was an error. As a result I temporarily lost access to everything I previously had. It irritates me not to be able to put accents where they belong. Well, today there appeared light at the end of the tunnel. But oh my, the time it took ...
PatH, thank you. I know that you with your scientific bent would have found the solution with the next the next clues. We must try something like that again.
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Yes Frybabe - well done! you are a genius! My next (wrong) guess was going to be John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress - way off the mark!
It's a shame we don't have prizes - as I've mentioned elsewhere, Madeleine just received a bag of "gold" coins as a prize at school, so we will just have to send you some virtual ones, which are, at least, less fattening :)
Rosemary
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Thank you, thank you!
Give me a few days. I am at the moment procrastinating over a paper due on Monday, plus, homework and review for last classes on Monday. My finals will be next Monday. I think I can have something ready by Tuesday.
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Frybabe : Congratulations! Good luck!
Traude : You had me working on that one until as with Roshanarose 'peregrinations' got me on the right track. Thanks. Hope you sort out your troubles with PopChar.
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Such good company! Such brilliant minds!
Great quiz Straudetwo.
Well done Frybabe - Here's hoping you do as well in your exams.
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Such good company! Such brilliant minds!
Very true.
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Frybabe, good luck with the paper tomorrow and with finals.
Now to conclude this puzzle with a few words about Candide or Optimism, or All for the Best.
This short novel is a satire which pokes fun at the theory of Gottfried Leibniz, philosopher and mathematician, inventor of the infinitesimal calculus, that "All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." In the novel, Dr. Pangloss, mentor to the hero, Candide, is the embodiment of that very theory, maintaining it through thick and thin, despite the most blatant evidence to the contrary.
Candide's troubles begin after he is kicked out of castle Thunder-ten-thronkh for making love to the Baron's daughter, Cunigonde. She leaves with him. Singly and together, Candide, Dr. Pangloss and Cunigonde embark on a series of disastrous adventures. In Bulgaria, Candide is imprisoned and nearly beaten to death. The three escape to Holland, from there to Lisbon, where they arrive just in time for the historic earthquake of 1755, and run afoul of the Inquisition. More misadventures await them. The disasters in the novel all have historical precedents.
In the end, when Cunigonde is "very ugly", they all settle together on a small farm. Dr. Pangloss, ever the unreconstructed optimist, insists that all their calamities were for the best.
Later writers and artists have picked up this action-filled, satirical portrayal of the human condition; possibly the best known of these is the operetta Candide (1956) for which Leonard Bernstein composed the music. Lillian Hellman wrote the original libretto which did not reflect the witty nuances of Voltaire's novel. A new libretto written by Hughh Wheeler, first produced in 1974, is a more faithful adaptation of Voltaire's work and still in use.
I had fun with this one and hope you did too. Thank you.
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New quiz:
Book: An historical novel based on the life of a relative.
Character: Raised in poverty near the Mexican-American border.
Author: Still living, he is a teacher, writer, poet.
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Frybabe, you deserve a lot of kudos for getting Candide so quickly. I've even read it, and I wouldn't have gotten it from those clues. Also kudos for coming up with a new quiz so soon after exams.
Traude, that was a good quiz subject. The original Bernstein operetta had brilliant songs, with brilliant words, but everything in between was pretty ho hum. I saw it long before Hugh Wheeler, but it looks like I should be alert for a chance to see it now.
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I was surprised I was right, PatH. Voltaire and Rousseau popped into my head from the philosophy and scandal, and earlier than Moliere. I know a little about Voltaire, but not Rousseau. Candide was definitely a guess. It happens to be the only title of his I know. Even though I have never read it, do remember reading an essay about it for lit class years ago. The two names kind of go together.
The book title for the new quiz is in my TBR pile. It looks terribly interesting.
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More clues.
Book: An historical novel based on the life of a relative.
The story opens in 1873 in Mexico.
Character: Raised in poverty near the Mexican-American border.
Raised by an abusive aunt and raped when she was sixteen.
Author: Still living, he is a teacher, writer, poet.
Inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
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Frybabe - My mind is a complete vacuum re this. But then it is re many other things as well. ???
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I've no idea on this one.
The Latino Literary Hall of Fame is new to me - as is most of the Latino literature - sigh!
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Me too - am woefully ignorant ???
Rosemary
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Frybabe, ah, there are so many candidates!
Should we focus on Mexican writers ?
Can we assume that the author is of the same generation as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa (neither of whom is Mexican) ?
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I'm thinking it may be someone from the current crop - about whom I know next to nothing.
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Book: An historical novel based on the life of a relative.
The story which begins in 1873 is set entirely in Mexico.
Twenty years in the making.
Character: Raised in poverty near the Mexican-American border.
Raised by an abusive aunt and raped when she was sixteen.
She apprenticed with a local medicine woman who recognized her gifts as a healer.
Author: Still living, he is a teacher, writer, poet.
Inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
Born in Mexico. Father Mexican, mother American.
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New clues:
Book: An historical novel based on the life of a relative.
The story which begins in 1873 is set entirely in Mexico.
Twenty years in the making.
Sequel, encompassing the American years, will be released near year's end.
Character: Raised in poverty near the Mexican-American border.
Raised by an abusive aunt and raped when she was sixteen.
She apprenticed with a local medicine woman who recognized her gifts as a healer.
Joined in the Mexican revolution fighting against the dictator, Diaz.
Author: Still living, he is a teacher, writer, poet.
Inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
Born in Mexico. Father Mexican, mother American.
A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 for one of his non-fiction books.
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Burgandy is a great color -- it's one of the ones I seek out. But I'm sure you toes will twinkle in any color.
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??? ???
More clues in the morning.
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I really hope I don't turn out to have known this one, because at the moment I have not got the glimmer of an idea.... :)
Rosemary
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All the clues in the world won't help me.
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Next clue addition
Book: An historical novel based on the life of a relative.
The story which begins in 1873 is set entirely in Mexico.
Twenty years in the making.
Sequel, encompassing the American years, will be released near year's end.
Movie deal that was to start in Jan. 2010 with Antonio Banderas as the heroine's father fell through.
Character: Raised in poverty near the Mexican-American border.
Raised by an abusive aunt and raped when she was sixteen.
She apprenticed with a local medicine woman who recognized her gifts as a healer.
Joined in the Mexican revolution fighting against the dictator, Diaz.
Catholic Church condemned her as a heretic. (not in the book, she was later canonized and known as the Saint of Cobora)
Author: Still living, he is a teacher, writer, poet.
Inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
Born in Mexico. Father Mexican, mother American.
A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 for one of his non-fiction books.
He was among those who tried to save his great aunt's home in El Paso's Secundo Barrio from demolition. The building was also home to the first African-American graduate of West Point. Not sure if he was successful.
Where is Barb when you need her. I bet she knows who this is. BTW, feel free to Google.
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Aha !
Author : Luis Alberto Urrea
Novel : The Hummingbird's Daughter
Character : Saint Teresa or Teresita) de Cabora
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We have a WINNER!
Hurray Traude!
http://www.luisurrea.com/home.php
Mr. Urrea is quite a blogger, although he seems to have slowed down a little this year. He has a wide range of subjects besides his books, including his "evil" cat, Boo-Boo (check out his blog in the April 2010 link for "Boo-Boo is Evil"), and includes some of his poetry.
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Frybabe, the last clues did it for me, and checking Google, which you had sanctioned.
But I do not really feel entitled to claim this "win". Could I ask for an impartial judgment ?
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Straudetwo - You are being too modest. Very well done!!!
JoanK - Was that lovely message for me and my new leg warmers? If so, thanks :D
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Well done Traude! You're our Winner
Frybabe What a great quiz. This writer is right off my radar and for a while I thought you, as challenger, were going to be the winner.
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Ditto to both!
Rosemary
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Thanks Rosemarykaye. I thought the clues were a little hard, for the most part. The book was a bestseller back in 2006, but I don't think it won any awards. Urrea was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his Devil's Highway which was about the human smuggling across the Mexican/American borders. He has won several awards for his books and an Edgar for one of his short story mysteries.
I thought his blogs on his website a bit fun to read. Urrea appears to be a chatty, upbeat, fun kind of guy. He is or has been active in Mexican/American (as well as other minority immigrants) cultural heritage projects. He is currently teaching creative writing at the U. of Illinois at Chicago according to his website bio.
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Thanks for that info Frybabe, i will have a look at his blogs, they sound interesting.
Rosemary
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Traude--you're the winner fair and square. Good job. You filled in for Gumtree recently, and you have a lot on your plate at the moment, so if you don't want to do the next quiz, I'll either do it or recruit someone.
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PatH: As I 'owe' one to Traude I'll be happy? to even the score but only if Traude doesn't wish to do the next one - and if anyone else would care to do it I'll be really happy to step aside.
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Gumtree, you are most kind. But given the shortness of the "guesswork" last time, I'd like to give it another whirl. Thank you so much.
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Thanks Traude -
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Here is a new quiz
Author : American novelist and short story writer
Book : A novel about loneliness in families
Character : The perceptive young narrator
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Did the author die last year?
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No, PatH, not this one. Sorry
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I was thinking along the same lines PatH - durrh, back to the drawing board.. ::)
Rosemary
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New clues
The author, critically acclaimed and championed by Graham Greene and Arthur Miller, to name two, died in the sixties.
The book was adapted for the stage by the author.
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Here's what we have so far :
Author: A novelist and short story writer,
was critically acclaimed by respected peers,
and died in the sixties
Book : A novel about the loneliness in a family adapted for the stage by the author
Character : A perceptive narrator
Additional clues :
The author was a southerner
The book is a growing-up story, later made into a film.
The young narrator is radiant throughout
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I was beginning to think around Jack Kerouac who died in the 60s- but he doesn't fit... certainly he wasn't a southerner.
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More clues
The author devoted five years to writing this novel.
It takes place in a small town.
The young daughter misses the mother she's ever known and has no friends her own age, only a much younger cousin and the colored
cook.
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Oh, now that last clue is ringing vague bells in my head. Sounds like a movie I might have seen once upon a time. No, I think the one I am thinking of was set in South Africa.
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Imitation of Life? Don't know the author, sorry.
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Frybabe, the book has been adapted for the stage, motion picture and television.
The story takes place in the American South.
Roshanarose, an interesting guess. I remember the movie with Lana Turner, Sandra Dee and Susan Kohner with lots of glitz and romance.
The novel in the current quiz cannot be said to be a romance. Rather, it addresses the emotional loneliness and the difficulties of teenagers growing up motherless.
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The only thing I could think of was To Kill A Mockingbird, and Harper Lee did not die in the 1960s.
Am stumped :D
Rosemary
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Is this Carson McCullers, Member of the Wedding? But I don't know the name of the young girl.
All I remember is that Brandon DeWilde played the part of the younger cousing.
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Pedln, since I never heard of Carson McCullers I looked him up and discovered he was a she and I have heard of several of her books. The Member of the Wedding certainly sounds like it is a fit.
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Yep. Pedln has got it - I am sure of it.
StraudeRe "Imitation of Life". I was a very impressionable teenager when I saw that movie. Yes. Lana Turner was all glamour and glitz, but always seems a bit seedy to me. Sharon Stone has the same quality. That quality was/is often perfect for the roles they chose. No. My favourite was Susan Kohner. When she found out about her "mixed heritage" she was devastated. I often wonder if attitudes to those of mixed heritage have changed much in the South.
I never really liked Sandra Dee. She was too plastic and I was jealous of her because she had a tiny waist, one of my major ambitions at the time.
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We have a winner ! Congratulations, pedln, well done !!
Carson McCullers is the author, The Member of the Wedding the novel (1947)
More on this tomorrow.
Also about Lana Turner et al in Imitation of Life.
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Well done Pedln! I wouldn't have got that one in a million years.
Roshanarose - I was always similarly jealous of Barbie (her waist not her lifestyle/choice of men), but Anna assures me you would actualy de if you were her shape :) Having just seen the photos taken at my parents-in-law's party, I now realise I look about 192 on a good day, so waist size now seems largely irrelevant >:(
BTW, has anyone see Toy Story 3? The scene with Ken and Barbie is absolutely hilarious.
Rosemary
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Good one Pedln :
Can't say I've ever read anything by Carson McCullers so I wouldn't have guessed it in a month of Sundays.
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It's been years since I read any Carson McCullers, and I don't remember much about her works -- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Ballad of the Sad Cafe. But I can still picture the younger cousin -- those great big eyes and those great big glasses -- portrayed in the film version of Member of the Wedding.
Just in case you want to start pondering, our next author died in this decade, the book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
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It's been decades since I read her. thanks for reminding me. Maybe I'll revisit her books on Kindle.
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It was too late to conclude last night.
We lived in Washington, briefly, and in northern Virginia for the next twenty years. It didn't take me long to discover that I knew nothing about southern literature, had never heard of 'southern gothic', and set about remedying that, beginning, of course, with Faulkner. Two women authors caught my attention on the way, one was Flannery O'Connor and the other Carson McCullers. Both suffered from chronic illnesses, but their work is very different.
Loneliness was part of McCuller's life and work; and sexual ambiguity. I thought that pedln with her past as librarian might would be more familiar with is author who also wrote Reflections in a Golden Eye, also made into a film with Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor and caused some raised eyebrows.
Adaptations of The Member of the Wedding are, first, the author's own for a Broadway production, which opened in the Empire theatre in 1950 and starred Ethel Waters, Julie Harris as Frances "Frankie" Addams, and Brandon de Wilde.
The actors reprised their roles in the 1952 movie to high critical acclaim.
A television adaptation followed in 1987, andin another movie with Anna Paquin and AlfreWoodard.
The Young Vic Theatre in London produced a stage version in 2007.
Thank you for paricipating.
\
Roshanarose, I never cared much for Lana Turner; there seemed to be something "plastic" about her. Never a hair out of place and the latest couture. She "paraded" more than she acted, I thought. I agree with you about Susan Kohner, a fine actress, and Sandra Dee, who did not appeal to me. I may be forgiven for being candid because de gustibus non est disputandum :)
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Just in case you want to start pondering, our next author died in this decade, the book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
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Excellent win pedln. Excellent quiz Straude 8)
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The author died in this decade.
The book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
There is conflict here, between father and son.
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Another clue will be welcome, pedlen.
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The author died in this decade.
The book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
There is conflict here, between father and son.
I think this is probably the best-known of the author's works, but what I remember most is about a character in another of the author's books. In that book, there is a small child, a 3-year-old, who loves to paint and draw. He's painting and can't get the color right until he takes ashes from his mother's cigarette and mixes them with water.
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The author died in this decade.
The book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
There is conflict here, between father and son.
New clue: The time span is six years, from 1944 -- 1950, set in -- that might give it away.
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I'm not getting any vibes yet.
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Me neither I'm afraid...
Rosemary
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The author died in this decade.
The book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
The time span is six years, from 1944 -- 1950, set in -- that might give it away.
There is conflict here, between father and son.
New clue: The author was ordained in 1954 and served as a chaplain for 15 months during the Korean War. The author later received a PhD in Philosophy from the U. of Pennsylvania in 1965.
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Good grief, I'm totally befuddled.
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I thought of Kurt Vonnegut, but he doesn't fit the criteria. While we are on the subject of Vonnegut, I enjoyed reading the rules he wrote that every short story writer should abide by:
"I his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
Start as close to the end as possible.
Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense.
Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. "
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That's amusing. Very like Vonnegut's writings.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
:D
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I'm not a big Vonnegut fan, roshanarose, but I like his suggestions for short story writers, especially give the reader a character to root for. Very important. And I like his "Harrison Bergeron."
The author died in this decade.
The author was ordained in 1954 and served as a chaplain for 15 months during the Korean War. The author later received a PhD in Philosophy from the U. of Pennsylvania in 1965.
The book is the author's first, a novel published in 1967.
It was later made into a film and won three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival.
The time span is six years, from 1944 -- 1950, set in -- that might give it away.
There is conflict here, between father and son.
New clue: The book has two protagonists, two 15-year-olds, who met, as enemies, on the softball diamond, one pitching, one batting.
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I know one thing for sure - I haven't read this one. :(
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Now I absolutely know I haven't read it. Sounds interesting though!
Rosemary
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Might we assume that this novel is about the author's war-time experiences ?
Is this first of the author's novels his only work ?
Pedln, my post originally had one line, a short time later I modified it, adding another line; then I saw Frybbe's post, which alerted me to your last clue.
Quite obviously I was on the wrong track. About softball, pitching and batting, or baseball I know absolutely nothing. Sorry
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Well, that leaves me out. I have no clue when it comes to books about boys and softball.
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I'm pretty sure I haven't read this one, but sort of feel I ought to be able to figure out the author anyway.
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To answer a few questions -- I'll bet some of you have read this book, or perhaps have seen the movie.
It is not a book about boys and softball, although the batter later admitted he wanted to kill the pitcher. Instead, his slammed ball only put the pitcher in the hospital. But a friendship did develop.
No, the book is not about the author's war-time experiences, although religion-wise, the author's experience in South Korea was a transformative experience, learning that Koreans prayed too.
No, this is not the author's only work. A sequel to the first book continued the story of the friendship. The author wrote not only nine novels, but plays, short stories, children's books, and some non-fiction, including one about a famous violinist.
You know this author who even had an appropriate small role as a professor in the movie.
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Aaaaarrrggghhh! Good quiz, Pedln, you're really keeping us guessing.
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PatH, I'm sure you and your sister have read the book and seen the movie.
I think this song was in the movie, am not sure. My son learned to play it on the piano and he loved because he could BANG it out. I can’t think where else I would have seen the men dancing in a circle.
BAM BAM la da da BAM BAM la da da BAM BAM la da da bam li di da BAM!
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Ok, is it "The Chsen"? By Chaim Potek. I've read a number of his books and I get the titles mixed up. Not sure I have the right title, but it's about two Hasidic boys who meet when one accidently takes the other's eye out in a baseball game, and pursue their different brands of Judaism.
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WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
Congratulations, JoanK.
Indeed it is The Chosen by Chaim Potok, the story of Danny Saunders, a Hasidic Jewish boy and Reuben Malter, who came from a more orthodox home. A lot of conflict between Danny and his father, as the boy wanted to become a psychologist and tradition demanded that as the eldest son he follow in his father's footsteps and become a rabbi. The story was set in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, which probably would have been a giveaway.
It's been years since I read any Potok, but the one I liked best was My Name is Asher Lev. And here again tradition makes demands on the young to follow the father.
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JoanK - Brilliant! I had no notion. I had heard of the author somewhere in the dim dark past.
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Brilliant quiz Pedln
Brilliant winner JoanK
Dumb Gumtree - at least I should have known the author....
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Yes, well done Pedln and JoanK!!!
I had never heard of the books or even the author, but I am going to look them up now, they sound very good.
Game on - as my son would say - JoanK! :)
Rosemary
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Brilliant indeed, JoanK. It's a good thing you got it. I was sure stumped.
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Congratulations JoanK.
What a stumper, Pedln. I have heard of My Name is Asher Lev but not The Chosen. I've not read either and don't know the author.
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I like Potok. My SIL gave me :"My Name is Asher Lev" for Christmas one year. I sat down to read it, and didn't get up til I'd finished it. Thanks for reminding me: there are some of his I haven't read: I'll get them on my kindle.
Now to think of a worthy followup. Back as soon as I do.
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Congratulations, Joan K. !
This is a complete surprise for me because I read Chaim Potok, not only The Chosen but The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev , - but I would never have guessed this one.
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Roshanarose, thank you for sending Vonnegut's 8 Rules. What a pleasure !
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I had reread "The Chosen" fairly recently, or I might not have remembered the baseball game.
OK, I'm hoping this will be an easy one:
The author: spent many years on an island
The book: has been made into movies, and is also popular on stage
The character: went through many changes in hisd life
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Well, I can think of three authors who lived on an island at some time or other in their lives. All three have had movies made of some of their works, but I don't know about a play or what book so I'll keep my mouth shut for a while and ponder some more.
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Daniel DeFoe and Robinson Crusoe? :-*
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Axel Munthe - The Story of San Michele?
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Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
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Robert Louis Stevenson, but which book? Dr. Jykell and Mr. Hyde?
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Frybabe, I think you must be right! Never even thought of him, and here I am living a stone's throw from a house he used to live in in Heriot Row ::)
Rosemary
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Wow, Rosemarykaye. Do they do tours of the house?
Well, when JoanK said the author live for years on an island, I thought immediately of Ernest Hemingway (Cuba), Arthur C. Clark (Sri Lanka) and Robert Louis Stevenson (Samoa). I am sure there are more. It could very well be any of the three, or not. Clark is not likely, but Hemingway? Since I have never read Hemingway someone who has will have to come up with a title that fits the life changes bit.
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What great guesses!!! But THE WINNER IS (TAH DAH) -----GUMTREE with Victor Hugo and Les miserables.
Hugo was thrown out of France and lived for a short time on Jersey and then for 15 years on Guernsey.
The book is "popular on the stage" (notice I didn't say in a play. Of course, I'm thinking of "Les Miz" which just had its 25 year anniversary production broadcast on PBS. I've been humming the music ever since I watched it: was humming it and trying to think "What book should I do?" When it clicked. I didn't mean it to be THAT easy, though.
OK, GUM, over to you!
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Very impressive, Gumtree.
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Congratulations, Gum!
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Oh my! - Hugo was an automatic response - I didn't think about it at all -
now I have to pay the consequences....
Easy one this time-
Author: wrote novels, a few plays, short stories. historical pieces.
Book: An immediate best seller.
Character: Was married after a very short courtship.
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Thackeray/Vanity Fair/Becky Sharpe?
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JoanK, sorry to have missed the last quiz completely.
Wild weather hit Massachusetts on June 1st, several tornadoes (not experienced here before) caused destruction and death in 19 communities in the western part. In the eastern part, we had downpours and heavy thunderstorms until late night. Thankfully, we did not lose power.
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Tornedos in Massachusetts? How terrible!
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I think it is about time that whoever is responsible for these climactic (and seismic) catastrophes should take a looong holiday :(
ONYA GUM !!!!!!
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Stumped so far, waiting for more clues.
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Sorry to keep you waiting PatH - More clues ...
Author: wrote novels, a few plays, short stories. historical pieces.
was one of the most popular authors of the day
Book: An immediate best seller.
was adapted for stage and had a good run - has twice been successfully adapted for TV - and as a film became a classic
Character: Was married after a very short courtship.
I am the narrator of the story but am not actually named
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Oh dear, I still haven't got a glimmer ::)
Rosemary
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May we have some hint on either era or location ?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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"was one of the most popular authors of the day". Was is past tense. Is author still alive; or maybe he/she is not writing any longer?
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Wot! no guesses at the title?
Author: wrote novels, a few plays, short stories. historical pieces.
was one of the most popular authors of the day
a British writer with some French ancestry - published
many books from early 1930s to 1970s
Book: An immediate best seller.
was adapted for stage and had a good run - has twice been
successfully adapted for TV - and as a film became a classic.
This book is a blend of mystery, suspense, gothic horror and
romance. The writing has been criticised for not being intellectual
enough but it is well crafted and the book has had an enormous
readership.
Character: Was married after a very short courtship.
I am the narrator of the story but am not actually named.
I am not confident in myself and feel I do not measure up to
my predecessor.
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I was thinking maybe Evelyn Waugh or James Hilton, but neither of them were alive in the 1970's.
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A blind stab : Daphne du Maurier ?
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Yes - Rebecca?
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And you're right on target Traude! Daphne du Maurier it is -Congratulations!
You too Rosemary - the novel is of course, Rebecca.
I guess we're all familiar with Du Maurier and her books - she certainly wrote plenty - main novels were Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel - she also wrote the short story The Birds which Alfred Hitchcock filmed to such good effect - he directed Rebecca too which won the Oscar for best film.
A South American writer, Carolina Nabuco made claims of plagiarism against Du Maurier saying that the plot of Rebecca was very similar to one Nabuco had written. Although denied, when the film was released Nabuco was offered a settlement if she would refrain from further claims. Du Maurier's defence was that there were many stories with similar plots - for example elements of Jane Eyre are very similar to those in Rebecca . Du Maurier knew the Brontes' lives and work very well and wrote a biography of Branwell Bronte so maybe she was influenced by Charlotte's work when she wrote Rebecca.
The Du Maurier family story is fascinating. Daphne wrote a fictionalised account of her French forebears The Glassblowers which incidentally gives a picture of the French Revolution and its effect on the ordinary folk - and a couple of other biographies of family members... A French forebear, Robert Mathurin-Busson, fled the French Revolution for England where he posed as a member of the French aristocracy calling himself Du Maurier after the farmhouse where he was born. Thereafter the family believed they had owned the Chateau Maurier which was destroyed during the Revolution. The myth was finally discarded but they kept the name, because, as they said, it had a certain ring to it
Daphne's father Gerald was a leader of the London stage and destroyed part of the tradition of the drama by turning the villain of the piece into the hero in such roles as Raffles,"The Gentleman Crook" - His performances as Raffles were so memorable that the part became associated with his name. He also played parts like Bulldog Drummond with great success.
Daphne's grandfather was artist, George Du Maurier who gained fame and fortune as a cartoonist for Punch Magazine. It was he who wrote Trilby , the Svengali story.
Daphne herself was educated privately in Paris. For most of her adult life she lived in Cornwall whose wild weather and scenery contribute settings and atmosphere for her tense romances. She became Lady Browning when she married Sir Frederick 'Boy' Browning also known as 'Tommy' who was a military man. After she herself was made Dame of the British Empire in 1969 she became "Lady Browning, Dame Daphne Du Maurier"- she was perhaps one of our most under-estimated writers.
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Gumtree - my mother's oldest schoolfriend has lived in Fowey, Cornwall for many years - Daphne Du Maurier had a home on the Fowey River, and we also used to walk across the fields to a lovely little bay, Polridmouth, which is the beach nearest to Menabilly, the large house that she lived in before she moved into the house on the river. We used to love going there for picnics, it seemed so remote and peaceful - and of course it was always hot!
Rosemary
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Good work, Traude and Rosemary. Which one of you is "it"?
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Traude I think - I would never have got the novel if she hadn't got Daphne Du M. But Traude, if you don't want to do it, happy to think of something.
Rosemary
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Gumtree, than you for the additional information on Daphne du Maurier. I loved her book, tholse you mentioned and Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek. Both were made into movies, like Rebecca.
A good puzzle. Thank you.
PatH and Rosemary, I'd like to be 'it', if you don't mind: One of my previous quizzes was solved after only one clue (by Frybabe, Voltaire for Candide).
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Congratulations you two. Brilliant, as always. I looked up D. du Maurier, and as Gum says she and her family have an interesting history. If I had a name like du Maurier, I don't think I would change it either. Although I have just changed my name from my Ex husband's surname to my maternal grandmother's which is Dominish. Out of Austria. What a business it has been though changing my name on accounts etc. The worst drama was changing the name on my Title Deed. Set me back $127, and would have cost me another $34 if there had been any mistakes. Got my lawyer son in law to help. We got it right first time.
Gum - When I was reading what you had written about du Maurier I noticed that you mentioned "Raffles" the gentleman thief. Aeons ago, do you remember there was an excellent BBC series on TV? I can't remember the name of "Raffles" on TV, but I can see his face clearly. A kind of reptilian charm. Anthony Valentine something like that. I shall look it up. Yes. It was Anthony Valentine. Sometimes my memory works well, rare though. That series was made in 1977, it's amazing that I remember it as I was only two at the time. :o
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Roshanarose : Ha! So young ? you probably saw it as a rerun. Don't think I've ever watched it.
Dominish - isn't there a place of that name somewhere in Sydney - maybe near Camden?
I got interested in the Du Mauriers when I noticed the name of her forebear, the refugee who went to England, Mathurin-Busson, which is a name that occurs in DH's genealogy.
I realise it's superfluous but I should perhaps say that the character was the second Mrs De Winter. I always thought it brilliant of Du Maurier to call the novel 'Rebecca' after the first Mrs De Winter who is dead but whose presence permeates the novel at every turn. It would be interesting for students to consider the question - which is the main character - the first or the second wife?
Traude - Over to you!
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Gum - My Dominish ancestors did settle in Camden. There are streets and plaques etc dedicated to them. How on earth do you know about that???
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With apologies - the erratic weather has gotten to me. After sweltering temperatures more likely in July and August, the temperature dropped drastically. Three days ago I put the hea back on.
Now here is a new quiz.
The Author : Novelist, short story writer, poet
The Book : the author's acknowledged magnum opus, set in a ficticious future
Character : An aspirant to the highest rank of the community
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Brave New World - Aldous Huxley. One of the most brilliant books ever written.
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Am excellent guess, Roshanarose, but not the one I have in mind.
The Author : Novelist, short story writer, poet
The Book : The author's acknowledged magnum opus set in a ficticious future
Character : An aspirant to the highest rank of the community
New clues
The author was famous for his boundless imagination and the accuracy of his psychological observations
The book focuses on an idealistic society for a chosen few
The character's journey is the story
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Wow, Roshanarose - I really thought you had it there!
Rosemary
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:( Thanks Rosemary. In one way it is good that I didn't guess it. I feel so low at the moment.
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I thought you had it there, roshanarose. My thoughts were on Orwell and 1984, but I don't think he wrote short stories or plays.
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Yes - I thought Roshanarose had nailed it too.
Sounds mavbe a bit like Utopia - Thomas More.
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Gumtree, utopian, that's the right direction.
Additional clues -
The author was prolific, incredibly imaginative and a painter (which I forgot to mention before).[/color]
The book focuses on a fictive province in Europe many centuries in the future.
By political decision, the province was reserved for the life of the mind and is presided over by an austere group of intellectuals.
Interesting is the interplay of the main character with those surrounding him.
Good luck !
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This isn't JoanK, it's PatH using her computer.
I bet Thomas More was too stuffy to write plays. This is really interesting. I feel like I really should know it.
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Right PatH. I went down the list of all the Utopian titles and authors I could think of and not one of them painted as far as I know. If I know this book, it is only by reputation not by having read it. Plenty of writers in the 1800s wrote utopian type novels. Many of the Scifi genre are utopian in nature too.
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Is it anything to do with HG Wells?
Rosemary
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I wondered about Wells too ... h'mm - I doubt he was a painter but he was into sketching - I think I remember he did loads of sketches of his wife - and didn't he illustrate some of the books?
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No, not Wells either. Sorry.
New hint : The author we are looking for was not an Anglo Saxon.
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Well, that's a whole new ball game... I'm going to bed - G'nite
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More clues
Influenced by Romanticism early on, the author retained an intense interest in music, for example.
He sought to forge the ideas of widely varying times and cultures into a single whole.
The book : The residents of the community have a two-fold objective : teaching boarding school boys, and learning to play the game.
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AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!
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This doesn't sound like anything I've run across. I'm stumped.
"playing the game" reminds me of Kim.
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Is the author Indian / Sri Lankan, Chinese or African?
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I thought of that Roshannarose, but Traude said the book is set in a future Europe. I was thinking maybe the author is German/Austrian (Prussia before the war) since we can pretty much rule out English and French (Anglo-Saxon), and I believe they went through a romantic period. Or am I going way off base?
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I wouldn't rule out French; I don't think they would be called Anglo Saxon. (Not that that helps much.)
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I expect you are right, PatH. I had always thought of the Angles as English and the Saxons of French/Dutch origin. I looked up Saxon, and lo and behold, both the Angles and the Saxons were of Germanic descent. Even the French were essentially descended from conquering Germanic tribes. I must have gotten my time periods muddled somewhere along the line. So the Angles and the Saxons were the first conquering bunch, the Francs came later being but one branch of the Germanic tribes that managed to gain separated distinction later on. I am going to have to read up on early European history to refresh my grey cells. I could never get historic names and dates coordinated when I was in school.
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In order to not s-t-r-e-t-c-h this out for too long, clues as to nationality of the author and year of publication.
The fictitious province in Europe is a definite clue, but the answer to this somehow eludes me.
I was thinking Salman Rushdie, but he has written several books and I can't place what his magnum opus was, or even if there was one..
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I'm sure I haven't read the work ... so have to work on the author...
Author - painter - music interests - ?? Not Anglo Saxon ??
Could this be Rabindranath Tagore?
Roshanarose: I like a little bit of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g ... it gives the grey cells a work out. Date of publication is sometimes a dead giveaway.
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Got it, but I had to cheat, so I'll slap my fingers and sit on them a while.
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Frybabe is on the right track.
Sorry, must rush to an appointment and expect la long wait. I'll check in as soon as I can/
In haste
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We have a community set in the future, admitting only certain people, focused on teaching boys and playing the game. Written not by an Angle-Saxon, but by and author who also paints and loves music. I have read so little compared to others, I know I have not read this.
And Frybabe is on the right track -- for playing the game? or her self-admitted cheating? :-*
Who is NOT Anglo-Saxon? Asians, Africans, and Spaniards? Italians? Russians? Maybe it's easier to list who is.
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I don't think it was for cheating, pedln. If it is who I think it is, I have never read any of the books, but have heard of some of them. I think Traude was talking about ruling out the English and French.
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I'm home after a very, very long wait. Checkup results excellent. Hot tea has re-energized me.
Thank you for your responses to this (admittedly) difficult quiz.
Please don't be cross with me. I did not intend to "string" you along indefinitely :( I know well enough that often clues can not be understood unless we've read, or at least heard of, a given work/authlr. So I'd never "put anyone "on the spot", but I think this author, this work, taken together with his others writings, are indeed part of world literature and worth knowing and marveling about.
Pedln, Frybabe came closest in her post # 1957 when she wondered if "the author may be German, Austrian ...". BTW I did not see that post when I sent my message minutes later., only after coming back.
Frybabe, when something "rings a bell but doesn't quite come together", it's reasonable to explore available references - we do so every day. But before that is classified as 'cheating', other criteria come into play (such as motive, intent, gain ,among others) None are applicable here IMHO. We are not competing against each other, there's nothing to be gained, not even a medal (thank God for that!).
I hope Rosemary,our in-house lawyer concurs.
Frybabe, if you don't mind, please post your guess. Thank you.
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Herman Hesse - The Glass Bead Game.
I have heard of, but never read Der Steppenwolf and Siddartha. Siddartha is now on my find list.
Traude, what is it about stories of India. I am also trying to find E.J. Buck's Simla Past & Present which was published in 1904.
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Wow, Frybabe! I'm sure that's it. I'd never even heard of it, but it fits perfectly.
I started Siddartha, but got a bit impatient with it. Sure, he is the Buddha, and has to pursue his path to enlightenment, but I didn't like the way he discarded people along the way like so much useless trash. Maybe I should try it again; I might feel differently now.
Traude, what is it about stories of India.
Well for one thing, we've just been working through Traude's magnificent summing up of Staying On. And we read Kim a year ago. It doesn't take much to hook one on such an interesting topic.
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I agree with you there pedln. A list should be given of who is NOT Anglo-Saxon, relating to this literary game. We are all over the world. I was thinking Franz Kafka, I read some of the Castle. Quite esoteric and not exactly to my taste. I will keep looking.
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Straude, I don't think you need to apologise! it's meant to be a quiz, so if we can't get it that just makes it more of a challenge. I haven't got the faintest idea what the answer is, so I will learn something new when somebody gets it.
As to the rules of combat, don't ask me!
Shame we can't have a prize of chocolate buttons :)
Glad your test results were good, those sort of things are such a worry.
Rosemary
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I was working on a post this afternoon when the computer shut down on me. The same thing happened again just now, hours later.
I'm going to try a third time to confirm that Frybabe's literary sleuthing and clever deductions paid off.
It i Hermann Hesse, and the book is The Glass Bead Game (Das Glaperlenspiel), also known as Magister Ludi = the Mater of the Game.
The author was born in 1877 in Swabia, a province in southwestern Germany, the son of Protestant missionaries who had served in india under the aegis of a Mission Society based in Basel, Switzerland, where the family lived for several years before returning to the German city of Hesse's
his birth.
In 1923 Hesse became a citizen of Switzerland where he lived until his death in 1962 (in Montagnola, in the Italian-speaking Ticino region.)
in 1911 he took a long trip, alone, to India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Borneo, an Sumatra. He used his personal experiences when he wrote Siddhartha. That book and his novels Demian, published under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair, and Steppenwolf were very popular in this country in the seventies. In the last twenty years of his life Hesse wrote shorter works, essays, critiques, memoirs and countless letters.
In Germany he was considered a "traitor" i Germany because of his outspoken pacifism. The Glass Bead Game was rejected by a German publisher in 1931 and published in Switzerland in 1943. In 1946 the author was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
The Glass Bead Game contains many literary and political allusions but is harder to access than his other writings.
Thank you again for participating in thes quest to solve this puzzle.
I'm glad the computer did not act up again. ;D
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CONGRATULATIONS FRYBABE A very worth quiz Straudetwo. I recall when I was at Uni that "Glass Bead Game" and "Dice Man" were THE books to read among the literati. I didn't read either. Enough said.
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Good quiz, Traude, good sleuthing, Frybabe. Tag, you're it.
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Yes, well done Frybabe! Not only have I not read the books, I don't even have Roshanarose's technical ability to write anything in capitals, and/or in colour ???
Straude, thank you for your notes about Hesse, I knew nothing about him and that was very interesting.
Rosemary
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This should be pretty easy to figure out.
Author: Poet
Book: Begins with the creation of the world.
Characters: Numerous
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Milton, Paradise Lost?
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Nope!
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That was my thought too, but you beat me to it, Rosemarykaye.
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And much good did it do me, Pat! :D
Rosemary
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Ah yes, the first clue is always rather vague.
Absent a virtual dowsing fork, a few more clues should help :)
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Hesiod, Theogony
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I thought of The Bible, but I suppose we don't really know who wrote the first bit!
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No and no.
Next clue:
Author: After schooling, he held some minor position in law, but did not like it or politics.
Book: It is the only classical "mock epic" with an epilogue. This epilogue expresses the notion that an author gains immortality through his writings.
Characters: The first part of the book focuses on Greek mythology.
Well, that should give it away. Many of you have read all or parts of this.
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I am thinking Plato. A famous Greek dishwashing liquid.
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Or maybe - Jonathan Swift - Gullivers Travels. First part read a lot like Odysseus (to me anyway).
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I've got it but I'll keep mum to give everyone else a chance... Traude handed it to us on a plate.
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I am thinking Plato. A famous Greek dishwashing liquid.
;D ;D
I needed a laugh, Roshanarose, but no. Guliver is not it either.
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Oops ! sorry - I should have said Frybabe handed it to us on a plate
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Seeing Gum has implied that I must be as thick as a whale sandwich, my last choice is "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" by Shakespeare.
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Approximate date of publication would be good.
Maybe : Ovid's "Metamorphosis"
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Roshanarose - Ovid was my choice too!
Thick as a whale sando - you? never!
BTW - hope you and SIL are feeling better. Don't forget all you've been through in recent times in Qld. It takes a toll so be kind to yourself.
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Winner! Winner! Winner!
The Australian contingent is on the ball.
Laurels to Roshanarose.
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Well done Roshanarose! Genius!
At a well-known fish and chip restaurant in Aberdeen called the Ashvale, you can order something called "the Ashvale Whale" - and if you manage to get through it you get another one free. I hasten to add that it is not whale, but haddock (large). I don't like to think too much about a whale sandwich :o
Rosemary
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Bravo Zulu, Roshanarose. Well Done.
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Congratulations, Roshanarose/ Brava !
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Thanks folks. :)
RosemaryKaye - I remember my mother used to serve us haddock, which my father (being English) adored. I liked it too. Too salty for my taste now, though. Whale Sandwich is a Blackadder creation.
Gum - SIL has been cleared. Strangely enough the day they were going to put the paddles on his chest, his heartbeat righted itself naturally. A message for him though - don't work so hard! As for me, I am seeing the doc on Monday. Thanks for your good wishes.
I was determined to get that one right as at the end I was the only one in the race. I have my quiz topic chosen, now I just need to get it together.
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Author : Lost his mother at a tender age.
Character: I was born to luxury in a relatively remote part of the world.
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Gum : Visit to the doctor. I suffer from hypertension and my readings often go up and down. Doc and blood tests found nothing wrong with me. I can only deduce it was my BP.
SIL is fine, although should be resting.
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Author : Lost his mother at a tender age.
Was a sickly child and was home schooled until age 15.
Character: I was born to luxury in a relatively remote part of the world.
My career was greatly influenced by my location, and complex civilization.
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Is it something to do with China?
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Or even Australia :D
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Not China or Australia. Strictly speaking I was of Arab background, but preferred to think of myself of almost legendary background.
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I am on the horns of a dilemma - and it is none too comfortable. It makes me happiest when I see everyone participating, it really does. My quiz this time is reasonably difficult, but that is the norm here. If you think about the sorts of quizzes I have created in the past you will note that the Classics is a favourite theme. This quiz is also a "classical" quiz. By that I mean Anno Domini, but not by many years. Like my Themistokles quiz this one is also part of a book of biographies. If you recall, Themistokles was included in "Plutarch's Lives" of Greece. This one is not by Plutarch, however. So onwards, please participate, and if it is just too difficult, tell me and I will give more clues.
Author : Lost his mother at a tender age.
Was a sickly child and was home schooled until age 15.
Started college at 15 with an erudition that startled his teachers.
Precocious, he would often question his teachers on religious matters.
Character: I was born to luxury in a relatively remote part of the world.
My career was greatly influenced by my location, and complex civilization.
I was of Arab background, but preferred to think of myself of almost legendary origin.
I became fluent in Greek, due to the tuition of a "sublime" Greek tutor; and was also fluent in the Syriac and Arab languages.
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I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
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I am also thinking, but I mostly think I am not going to get this, owing to the vast lacunae in my historical knowledge. Will keep trying however :)
Rosemary
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Thanks Roshanarose - You've narrowed the field for us....
So Ok, - I'm thinking ...
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Very good, clear clues and the faint sound of a distant bell. Too far, for now.
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arrrrggggghhhhhh!
Cleopatra keeps popping into my head and I wish she wouldn't; she doesn't quite fit since her family were originally Greek.
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Author : Lost his mother at a tender age.
Was a sickly child and was home schooled until age 15.
Started college at 15 with an erudition that startled his teachers.
Precocious, he would often question his teachers on religious matters.
During his time at college he befriended a Roman Catholic student, and to his father's horror converted.
(In my ramble I said that the character was part of a book of biographies. Strictly speaking, that is not true, sorry. The character is a mere player in a much larger story.)
Character: I was born to luxury in a relatively remote part of the world.
My career was greatly influenced by my location, and complex civilization.
I was of Arab background, but preferred to think of myself of almost legendary origin.
I became fluent in Greek, due to the tuition of a "sublime" Greek tutor; and was also fluent in the Syriac and Arab languages.
My city had become part of the Roman Empire, and due to the collapse of an Empire and an assassination, I became ruler with my son.
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the clue - 'sublime' Greek tutor - brings Longinus to mind so I'm guessing we're talking about Zenobia
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Wow - well done Gum, it brought precisely nothing to my pathetic brain cells ::)
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Congratulations Gumtree!
Not something I am familiar with. Going to have to look him up.
PS: Good heavens, how is this possible that I knew nothing of Zenobia!!!
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Gum, you got it! Must be something in the water where the swans swim. It is Zenobia indeed. But who is the author? Several have written about her. It is a SHE, Frybabe.
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I'd heard of Zenobia--she was one of my childhood heroes--but I don't think I would ever have guessed her from the clues to date. We still don't have the author, though.
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PatH - I couldn't make it too obvious, as I had a sense that some of you knew of her.
I am a little curious. How did you all know that Gum had the correct answer?
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Well, Gum hasn't quite answered it all just yet...
The character is a mere player in a much larger story.
From that clue I'd guess you're referring to Edward Gibbon and his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
If not, then it's anyone's guess....
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My parden, Roshanarose. I was thinking of the Longinus when I said He. As for Zenobia herself, the name sounds vaguely familiar, but other than that I know absolutely nothing about her either. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=morris&book=greek&story=zenobia
Obviously I can't help as far as the author is concerned.
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Roshanarose, you had already said Gum was right when I came in, but I saw that Zenobia fitted well.
I'm sure Gum is right about the author too. I looked Gibbon up, and his life fits. In spite of his conversion to Catholicism, he managed to offend the Church deeply with parts of "Decline and Fall".
This gives me a chance to tell my Gibbon story. When Bob and I were engaged, he told me he had heard that married men spent a lot of time waiting for their wives, so he thought he would fill in that time by reading Gibbon. So I gave him the 3 volume set for his birthday, but in 47 years he never even finished the first volume. :D
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:D
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GUM WINS AGAIN - WELL DONE.
PatH - A good story about Gibbon. Actually his "story" about Zenobia is well-written, although he doesn't seem too sure if he likes her or not. A bit chauvinistic in that way. If you or anyone is interested it is all online, Gibbon, that is (see "The Rise and Fall of Rome" Chapter 11, Part III) She also appeared in Chaucer's "A Monk's Tale". Boccaccio also wrote about her and he, Chaucer and Gibbon all agree that after her capture at the hands of Aurelian she was marched into Rome so laden with chains of massive gold, and covered with pearls and gems, that she could scarcely support the weight.
PatH - There are always two sides to every story. When my ex and I went shopping he was always very happy. We had a technique that we would meet at a coffee shop after two hours of shopping. This satisfied his all but insatiable need to buy CDs. When we went our separate ways he had more than 2000 Cds in his collection. We must have spent a lot of times at the shops. :o
Frybabe - Zenobia was a great admirer of Cleopatra and that may have been one of the reasons she learned Greek. Strangely enough even though Palmyra (her city) was in constant contact with the Romans she never really bothered to learn much Latin.
A picture of Queen Zenobia:
http://www.illusionsgallery.com/Zenobia.html
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That's a gorgeous painting of Zenobia - complete with wristcuffs and golden chain. No doubt she would have had a few trinkets about her person but do any of the ancient sources cite the 'weighed down with jewels' or was it Boccaccio who started that idea?
The clues about Gibbon were meaningless to me as I don't know anything of his life so now, like PatH I'll have to go look him up..
I learned about Zenobia at school and of course met her again in later readings. The real giveaway was the 'sublime Greek tutor' which is naturally a play on Longinus' great work 'On the Sublime' ...
which is often published together with Aristotle's Poetics. Here's a tiny sample:
... sublimity consists in a certain excellence and distinction in expression, and that it is from this source alone that the greatest poets and historians have acquired their pre-eminence and won for themselves an eternity of fame. For the effect of elevated language is, not to persuade the hearers, but to entrance them; and at all times, and in every way, what transports us with wonder is more telling that what merely persudes or gratifies us. The extent to which we can be persuaded is usually under our own control, but these sublime passages exert an irresistible force and mastery, and get the upper hand with every hearer. Inventive skill and the proper order and disposition of material are not manifested in a good touch here and there, but reveal themselves by slow degrees as they run through the whole texture of the composition; on the other hand, a well-timed stroke of sublimity scatters everything before it like a thunderbolt, and in a flash reveals the full power of the speaker.The translation is by T.S. Dorsch in a 1965 Penguin edition
There's a suburb here named Palmyra and naturally it has a Zenobia Street - and a Cleopatra, Petra, Solomon et al.
So now I guess I've got to pay the consequences and think up a new quiz... back later or maybe tomorrow.
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Gum- I couldn't find any ancient sources for Zenobia. Not a lot has been written about her, that's why I chose Gibbon, as I figured he would be the only source that anyone here could guess. There is a coin or two, a sculpture and some inscriptions. I think Aurelian wrote something about her somewhere, but my research didn't turn it up. As far as I could research, it was Boccaccio, but I am sure that Aurelian would have mentioned it somewhere. Took me back to studying Classics at Uni. I would most definitely have had to trace it back to a primary source if possible, a secondary source if nothing else was available. I did check out Herodotus, rather the index, but she was not mentioned by him, which is unusual as Herodotus had a penchant for the "sensational" as we all know. Maybe a bit of embroidery with this "fact".
I had a most beautiful Abbysinian cat called "Zenobia". She was a tiny thing but she could jump higher than any cat (or dog) I had witnessed. She was also brave and pity help any dog who came nosing around her kittens. We just wanted her to have one litter (?) and then had her desexed. Makes me sad to think that none of her progeny are left.
Rosemary - I have been meaning to ask you to give my sincere best wishes and congratulations to your son on his achievement. A three year contract is nothing to scorn.
Re Sources for Zenobia:
"The fullest extant account of Aurelian's campaign against the Palmyrenes is given by Zosimus (Zos. 1.50-61). It dovetails roughly with the more capriciously condensed and anecdotal account in the Historia Augusta Life of Aurelian (HA Aurel. 22-31); the late antique epitomators and Byzantine chroniclers provide important details both corroborative and supplemental "
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Thanks very much Roshanarose, and I have also been meaning to say a big thank you for your tips re layout, etc!
I don't think it's really fair to keep breeding from a cat. One of my friends is doing that at the moment - just letting the cat out to breed at random. She is barely more than a kitten herself and has already had two litters. I think one is fine but after that it's only fair to have them neutered, especially if, as in this case, the cat is a mongrel - there are so many unwanted cats in all the shelters. Yours of course was different, being a pedigree, but I expect she lived a longer and healthier life because you had her "done".
Rosemary
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Roshanarose: Thanks for checking for any Zenobia source material - interesting that there are so many books written using her name in the title - whether they are all about her or not I simply don't know.
Great Quiz.
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New Quiz
Author: Also wrote stories, essays and commentaries on English and foreign literature.
Book: This novel is a classic of modern fiction. A prominent novelist
described it as "one of the great lonely books"
Character: Is one of the aristocracy watching as the world changes and his
influence wanes.
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Kittens are like humans - they are so cute when they are little. Well, most of them anyway :o Zenobia's kittens were all desexed. Like you, Rosemary, I don't think it is fair to the cat to just go on having kittens, and the tragedy is that in the long run there is no one to look after them.
Sorry Gum, for interrupting your Quiz.
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Author: Also wrote stories, essays and commentaries on English and foreign literature.
Thought about writing this novel for 25 years. Was 58 when he started to write it. Publishers rejected it in his lifetime. It was finally published posthumously.
Book: This novel is a classic of modern fiction. A prominent novelist
described it as "one of the great lonely books"
It is full of observations of various classes and the tensions between the aristocracy and the up and coming mercantile class.
Character: Is one of the aristocracy watching as the world changes and his influence wanes.
Is an excellent horseman, a tireless shot and a fair womaniser
Should be clear as crystal now!
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I think my crystal ball has a crack in it.
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PatH - No it's not cracked - it just needs polishing up a little...
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I didn't forget this somehow real life intervened as it sometimes does. New clues below:
Author: Also wrote stories, essays and commentaries on English and foreign literature.
Thought about writing this novel for 25 years. Was 58 when he started to write it. Publishers rejected it in his lifetime. It was finally published posthumously.
Was himself one of his country's aristocracy. His ancestral home was destroyed during WWII.
Book: This novel is a classic of modern fiction. A prominent novelist
described it as "one of the great lonely books"
It is full of observations of various classes and the tensions between the aristocracy and the up and coming mercantile class.
It is set during the second half of 19th Century against the background of great political changes
Character: Is one of the aristocracy watching as the world changes and his influence wanes.
Is an excellent horseman, a tireless shot and a fair womaniser.
Has an affection for and is amused by a younger penniless kinsman whose future he secures by arranging marriage with an heiress from the mercantile class.
Who will be the first to venture a guess ?
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My apologies for being "lost" for a few days. The last quiz was truly inspired. Belated congratulations.
Trying to be more "with it" this time around.
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The silence is deafening!
Gum - Thank you for making my brain work :D
As for the aristocratic background and ancestral home of the writer, I can only think of Winston Churchill, and I don't think he wrote any fiction.
Come on players - Have a go.....
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Sorry, I just haven't got an inkling. ???
Rosemary
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If this was made into a movie with Burt Lancaster in it, it think I know the book, but I'd have to look up who wrote it.
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Frybabe: Yes, this was made into a movie with Burt Lancaster in it.
Great movie - wonderful ball scene - and Alain Delon to boot...
I think you could be excused for not remembering the author's name as this is the only novel he wrote - nonetheless it is an acknowledged classic of world literature -
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Then it is The Leopard. It might be worth putting up for a future discussion. Period piece. Lots of changes revolving around the eventual unification of the Italian states into modern Italy.
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And the authlr is Giuseppe di Lampedusa, a Sicilian, I believe.
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Gumtree, as usual a wonderful job! I'd never have gueseed Lampedusa,, though I should have known. Lampedusa and Luigi Pirandello (Six Characters in Searh of an Author), both Siciians. Great brain teaser/awakener, hahaha
And, oh, BTW yhe itle of the book is Il Gattopardo
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Well done all!
Rosemary
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I think it was just last year that they released a restored "special" edition of the movie.
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Oooohhh! That's clever!
Kudos to Frybabe for getting it, Traude for knowing the name of the author, and Gumtree for her usual skill in presenting all the relevant information in a way that totally tells everything while totally misleading us. Frybabe, I wouldn't have thought of it without a lot more clues, even though now it's staring me in the face.
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Goodness, it's been over 30 years since I read "The Leopard". I tried to reread it about 15 years ago, but I had recently lost a Sicilian colleague, and the voice and mindset of the Prince were so much like my friend that I couldn't take it. (Not the morals, I hasten to add--my friend was a totally moral person.)
But one bit stuck with me for 30 years, so I want to share it. The arranged marriage turns out not to be happy, also childless, but the couple had a wonderful courtship:
"Those were the best days in the lives of Tancredi and Angelica.... But of that they were still unaware, in their pursuit of a future which they deemed more concrete than it turned out to be, made of nothing but smoke and wind. When they were old and uselessly wise, their thoughts would go back to those days with insistent regret........
Those days were a preparation for a marriage which, even erotically, was no success; a preparation, however, in a way sufficient to itself, exquisite and brief; like those overtures which outlive the forgotten operas they belong to and hint in delicate veiled gaiety at all the arias which later in the opera are to be developed undeftly, and fail."
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The movie had the misfortune to be up against the likes of Gone with the Wind at the 1964 Academy Awards. As it was, I believe, it was only nominated for one Oscar. It did win a bunch of foreign awards in 1963 and 1964.
I looked the author up on Google. There doesn't appear to be much information about him. One site suggested that The Leopard was loosely based on his great-grandfather. I like one bio I found in which he was quoted as saying that he "liked things better than people". He was a reader. He liked Stendhal very much.
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Well done to all concerned.
It did occur to me that we weren't talking about an English writer, and I also thought of "The Leopard" but did not action it. Frybabe did !YAAAAYYYYY FRY - WELL DONE.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
WINNERS! WINNERS! WINNERS!
FRYBABE AND TRAUDE DO IT AGAIN
Yes indeed! Il Gattopardo or The Leopard by
Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
And as PatH intimated the character was The Prince, Don Fabrizio
Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was himself a Sicilian nobleman, Duke of Palma and Prince of Lampedusa. He was born in Palermo in 1896 and died in Rome in 1957. He lived the life of a literary dilettante, was familiar with the great literature of the world, and was widely travelled. He published nothing during his lifetime, but bequeathed, in addition to his great novel, a memoir, some short stories, an incomplete novel and some fascinating appraisals of English and French literature...including work on Stendhal among others.
Tomasi wasn't alone in liking Stendhal - I do too- very much, though I won't live long enough to really appreciate him - nor do I have the necessary mastery of French to do so.
Lampedusa was bitterly disappointed that the centuries old palace in Palermo that he called home and which had survived the Germans was destroyed by the Allies during WWII.
It truly is a wonderful book - and yes, as with PatH it was about 30 years since I had read it until the restored movie came out and I read it again -
The novel tells the story of the passing of power in the 1860s from the ruling aristocracy to the new Republican Italians symbolised by Garibaldi. It's set in Sicily with Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina - the old Gattopardo -observing the changes but too old to change himself whilst his penniless nephew Tancredi Falconeri embraces the changing Italy. The novel encompasses the main revolutionary events of the 'Risorigmento' as the movement for the unification of Italy came to be known and the great changes brought about. Despite this it is fairly short - around 200 pages in paperback. The book is something of a requiem for the past and the passing of an era but above all it is superbly crafted by the author - in all there are only eight chapters each telling one part of the story and the novel is almost entirely seen through Fabrizio's eyes. Fabrizio realises that his family's only hope for survival lies in going with the tide of change. -
as Tancredi says in the famous quote, "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change"
And things do change but the Salina household is not swept away. As Lampedusa suggests a ruling class that knows how to compromise will defeat attempts to overthrow it.
"...a work that transcends its creator, achieving a sensitivity and intelligence without parallel ... one of the most moving meditations on individual mortality in literature..."
The film is superb - nothing less - and directed by Luchino Visconti (who also did one of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice). One reason the film didn't sweep up the Oscars is that when it was released in 1963, it was only shown in the English speaking world in a shortened version and dubbed into English. It was finally shown in full length (three hours) in 1983 but the colour had begun to suffer, and it was only comparatively recently that a full restoration brought the film back to its original glory. The restored film had a very long run here at an art house theatre around 2003/4 and they released the DVD here in 2005.
There's so much to like about the film but the major thing that pops up is the stunning ballroom scene- "the longest and most magnificent thing of its kind in the history of cinema" - the scene runs for close to an hour and is simply sumptuous and without one second wasted.
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Frybabe mentioned that The Leopard could be a contender for a discussion and I couldn't agree more. Lots to learn about that period and of course Lampedusa's writing is so wonderful - even in translation there's a precision and lucidity which is all too rare.
As Traude says, Lampedusa was Sicilian and of an arostocratic background.
Lampedusa Island:
The first prince of Lampedusa and Linosa was Giulio Tomasi, ancestor of the famous writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who received the title from Charles II of Spain in 1630.[citation needed] A century later the Tomasi family began a program of resettlement. In the 1840s the Tomasi family sold the island to the Kingdom of Naples.
Curiously, this evening I watched a current affairs programme which dealt with the Lampedusa Island and the problem created by a large influx of refugees from Tunisia. Within a very short time the island's small population of around 6,000 which economically relies on fishing and tourism was outnumbered by the refugees. the Italian government seemingly ignored their plight for political reasons until matters reached crisis point when they stepped in to remove the refugees to Sicily for processing.
The coincidence to that programme screening tonight and this quiz today was just amazing -to me anyway!
So, now it's over to our winners... she's says with relief. :D
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Frybabe and Gumtree, if you think "The Leopard" would make a good discussion, why don't you propose it in the Suggestions for Future Book Discussions?
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Here's the link:
http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=52.0 (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=52.0)
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he movie had the misfortune to be up against the likes of Gone with the Wind at the 1964 Academy Awards.
Me, what a dope!
I meant to say Cleopatra. The Leopard was compared to Gone with the Wind for its costumes. I just looked up the list of 1964 Academy Award winners. It appears that Tom Jones won for best picture, best director, best writing/screenplay, and best music score-original work. Amazing, that Tom Jones gave Cleopatra a run for its money. Also amazing is that a movie called Papa's Delicate Condition won the best original song over the likes of Charade and Mondo Cane. I do not remember what song that might have been.
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Frybabe the movie was Italian, wasn't it ? Made in Italy, I mean. The director, Luchino Visconti, one of the best; most actors Italian, including Claudia Cardinale. Only Burt Lancaster was the only American and Alain Delon French.
Was it in Italian with English subtitles ? Or did they synchronize it there ? That's what they still do there because European audiences find subtitles irritating. I know the feeling.
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The one released in the US was dubbed, Traude.
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Straudetwo - My apologies for not acknowledging you as part winner of Gum's Quiz.
HOORAY FOR STRAUDETWO !!!!!!!!!
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Traude: The film was directed by Visconti and was in Italian and originally cut by about an hour and dubbed into English - the restored version shown here in recent years and the DVD have subtitles. I prefer subtitles to poorly dubbed English.
Visconti resisted casting Burt Lancaster as Don Fabrizio whom Lampedusa describes early in the book as -
- Between the pride and intellectuality of his mother and the sensuality and irresponsibility of his father, poor Prince Fabrizio lived in perpetual discontent under his Jove-like frown, watching the ruin of his own class and his own inheritance without ever making, still less wanting to make, any move towards saving it.
Lancaster gave that role such strength and dignity and of course he always had a huge screen presence. IMO he played the character to perfection so it's hard to imagine anyone else.
Frybabe - strange you mentioned Cleopatra which I have just received from my version of Netflix - I'm planning to watch it at the end of the week. - I've never heard of Papa and his Delicate Condition :D
PatH - you are too kind offering that link to the Suggestion Board - will think about it...
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I'm on a wrong title roll here. It is Papa's Delicate Condition starring Jackie Gleason and Glynnis Johns.
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My kids gave me both book and film a few years back, and I did watch the film, then DIL's mother wanted it so it was at her house for a few years. I just got it back recently. I have not yet read the book.
To answer Traude's question. I have the Criterion Collection which has both the original with the English subtitles, and also the one with Burt Lancaster's own voice, in English. (3 discs)
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If no one objects, I can take the next round.
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I'll look forward to that Frybabe.
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Okay, here we go again!
Author:
Novelist, short story writer, and a home and garden designer.
Book:
A love triangle set amid the strict high-society "rules" of New York.
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Is it something to do with Edith Wharton (whom I have never read but I've read about her)?
Rosemary
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Yes Rosemary - Edith Wharton does spring immediately to mind. I think she designed her own house in the states and had a great garden there - she did much the same when she lived in France... and she wrote stuff about gardens and decorating a house. I read some of it when I was enraptured with Sissinghurst gardens and their creators Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson. But it's a long time since I read any of Wharton's novels - Could be Buccaneers or maybe Age of Innocence....
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Well, that was way too easy. And here I rejected two other possibles because I thought they would be too easy. Sigh.
You are both right, Edith Wharton, and yes, the book is Age of Innocence.
Gum, I have never read any Wharton. Shame on me. I see another download from Gutenberg in the near future.
The neat thing about this quiz is I get to learn about or more about authors I know little or nothing about.
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Hey Frybabe - Don't be so hard on yourself - no one can read everything - I know - I tried :D
Wharton is worth the read - she can handle the language. I think she wanted to be Henry James.
Sorry, I shouldn't have rained on your parade - at least not quite so soon. Why not try us out on one of the ones you rejected?
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Gum, didn't I read that she often traveled with Henry James when she was in Europe?
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Yes Frybabe - have another go. But don't make it too difficult, that's the first one for ages that I've had the faintest idea about ::)
Rosemary
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Okay, we'll try again.
Author:
British born non-fiction, novel and short story writer.
Book:
A tale of exploration.
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H'mmm...
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Daniel Defoe?
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No, not Daniel Defoe.
Author:
British born non-fiction, novel and short story writer.
At least two of his books were made into movies, but not this one.
Book:
A tale of exploration.
The name of the program responsible for this exploration was used by NASA when they initiated a similar project that is still ongoing.
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Sounds a bit like Arthur C. Clarke. I know that Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama were not made into movies. Two of my favourite SF books.
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You are right, Roshanarose. Arthur C. Clarke it is, and the book is Rendezvous with Rama. Not everyone is a Scifi fan, so I thought I might get a little more mileage out of this one.
Regarding Rendezvous with Rama, Morgan Freeman was working to put together a movie project for it, but then he had is accident. Nothing came of it. Now, Freeman is hosting a series on the Science Channel called Through the Wormhole. It is nice to know that his interest in space exploration, inner or outer, is long standing. Here is the website for those who have not seen it and are interested. Episodes include such topics as the speed of light, the sixth sense, time travel, multi-dimensional space, consciousness, near death experiences, and how the universe works. http://science.discovery.com/tv/through-the-wormhole/
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Well done Roshanarose! As usual I had no idea... ???
Rosemary
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Good one Frybabe - way out of my league anyway...
Roshanarose: didn't know you were into sci fi - or did I?
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I forgot to mention that Clarke devised a program called Project Spaceguard that was to detect near-earth objects likely to be a collision hazard to earth. This program, in the book, was what detected the Rama object. In 1992, the Congressional report, named Spaceguard Survey Report, led to a mandate to NASA to locate 90% of the near earth asteroids within 10 years. A number of countries have started similar projects. Here is a like to the UK site. http://www.spaceguarduk.com/
One sponsored by the ESA: http://www.esa.int/esaMI/NEO/SEMS58OVGJE_0.html Here is a Spaceguard page from Australia. I think it is sponsored by the Australian Planetary Society. http://users.tpg.com.au/users/tps-seti/spacegd.html There are others.
PS: These projects became more important (and less laughed at) after the Shoemaker-Levy Comet hit Jupiter.
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Excellent, Roshanarose. Congratulations!
Thanks for the link. I've never been a fan of Science Fiction, perhaps because I did not explore it long enough.
Years ago, in the former WREX (Writers' Exchange) in SenNet, we had two contributors, one a Canadian female writer of science fiction; the other an incredibly versatile male writer of Irish ancestry who wrote long chapter novels on space travel, other futuristic matters, historic fiction on native Indian history (that was his true love, I believe), as well as humorous short stories onany number of topics.
The then-leader brought the group over to SN from AOL, and she retained total control of the material. At regular intervals, the participants would e-mail their entries to her, and she then forwarded them to the rest of us. We in turn had to critique the entries -- which was not always easy. (The Irish writer was miraculously exempted from this requirement. ) The DL's stated objective was to get the pieces into
the proper "shape" for publication. (That too was not always easy and sometimes impossible.) Ah - temi passati.
checked the "Wormhole" and it looks very informative. On the topic of Necromancy I had to think of Madame Blavatsky...
Frybabe, in Edith Wharton. She is perhaps best known for her books on New York society around the turn of the century
Several years ago we discussed The House of Mirth in this forum. I'd like to describe it as a period piece, and probably a very good depiction of NY society and its mores and unwritten rules. It was a long way from there to the glass ceiling for women.
I felt incapable of empathy for Lily who has only two goals, to marry, and well, and to acquire great wealth. She could have avoided what happened to her if she had shown more common sense. After all, she was 29.
The (not so veiled) antisemitic sentiment expressed in the book had a distinctly negative impression on me.
One thing, of course, has not changed : we still worship at he altar of money.
Wharton's property, The Mount near Lenox, Massachusetts, has fallen into disrepair in the last decades. But a new foundation has been raising money for the restoration of the great house an gardens.
The only other book by Wharton I've read is Ethan Frome , written in 1911 and based on the tragedy of a poor rural Massachusetts family.
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omg !!! I am not really a fan of SF at all, Gumtree. My ex, though adored SF and in particular Arthur C. Clarke. He almost had to hold me down to get me to read the two books I mentioned above. ::) The trade off was that he had to read "Brave New World" and "Jane Eyre" he loved BNW, but not so much Jane Eyre. ;)
Time, time _ I need time to prepare for my next quiz.
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Traude: Sad to read about Wharton's home and gardens falling into disrepair. Shows how difficult it really is for humans to leave that kind of mark on the landscape. Hopefully, restoration will enable generations to come to enjoy her achievement. Makes me wonder what happened to her garden in France.
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Well, my face should be red. :-[ I just finished reading Rendezvous with Rama for my f2f sci-fi discussion group, and I even knew about Spaceguard.
Good job, Roshanarose!
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Thanks Pat :) Just give me one more day. In White Rabbit mode just now.
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Greetings carbon-based bipeds! (Apologies to Arthur C. Clarke)
Ok. Off we go!
Author: A famous and controversial author.
Character: Achieved fame before this book was written.
Book: The plot revolves around preparation for a long journey.
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The usual baffling first set of clues. ???
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Author: A famous and controversial author.
Earlier in his life he had been a successful reporter.
Has a BA and a PhD
Character: Achieved fame before this book was written.
Actively participated in WWII.
Book: The plot revolves around preparation for a long journey.
The book is based on a series of interviews with the participants.
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??? ???
Rosemary
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Sounds like this is not fiction - Did the participants also go on the 'long journey'?
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I agree, Gum. Is this non-fiction?
Studs Terkel? The Good War?
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Not all the participants went on the long journey. The main character didn't.
My PC is acting up.
The book is non-fiction. Sorry, it is not Studs Terkel.
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Too bad. Studs terkel is who I want to be when I grow up.
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Roshanarose - I don't think it's your computer. I have had nothing but trouble with this site all day - it's only in the past hour that it seems to have sorted itself (or maybe one of our esteemed leaders has been working away on it?). I've had not trouble accessing any other sites.
Rosemary
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Rosemarykaye - I think you are right. While I was attempting to add my clues nothing was happened. I was concerned that I wouldn't have any new clues for everyone.
Did you know?: Today is the anniversary of the day Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon.
Author: A famous and controversial author.
Earlier in his life he had been a successful reporter.
Has a BA and a PhD
His first book, which evidently became a best seller, was completed while he was still working full-time as a reporter.
Character: Achieved fame before this book was written.
Actively participated in WWII.
During his time fighting in WWII, he evaded capture and with the aid of the French Resistance, made his way across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain.
Book: The plot revolves around preparation for a long journey.
The book is based on a series of interviews with the participants.
Inspired by the danger and risks the participants and the main character were taking, the author set out to explain a certain quality that his subjects had.
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JoanK - Realising that I knew nothing about Studs Terkel, I did a search for him. I like this definition and quote:
Terkel was a self-described agnostic,[9] which he jokingly defined as "a cowardly atheist" during a 2004 interview with Krista Tippett on NPR's Speaking of Faith. Movie critic Roger Ebert claimed that Terkel was an atheist.[10][11]
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I like that too. That's not the quality I want to emulate though. It's the way that he has of getting people to talk about themselves so that you can really SEE them, and share their life experiences.
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From his site there are many interesting interviews. One day when I connect my speakers (and they work) I look forward to hearing them.
The quote made me laugh because I know many atheists who are not brave enough to own up to it, so the term "cowardly atheist" seemed particularly apt.
Hey where are the quiz takers? I will not add any more until someone attempts to answer with the clues already given. There is a very broad hint in one of my posts.
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The hint is so broad I can't see it, but I'll keep thinking. There is a lot to go on, but I can't seem to think who it is.
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The hint is not actually part of the clues.
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Is it something to do with space exploration? Neil Armstrong?
Rosemary
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I wondered about the Neil Armstrong mention too... otherwise what's the mysterious broad hint?
C'mon Roshanarose - More clues needed...
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For some reason I started thinking about Nancy Wake - Pyrennes & Spain etc...then Chuck Yeager took over my head - I haven't read much about him but I think he did something like escaping into Spain after being shot down -
The more I think about it the more I think it must be Yeager -
At one time DH and sons were all agog over his exploits so there's probably a book around here about him... If so, I haven't read it and I don't know title or possible author.
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Hey Gum - Are you absolutely sure that you want to guess the right answer for this quiz? It seems to me that we have the monopoly on writing up the quizzes. Am I being a tad too cynical, do you think?
I was kind of surprised that the Moon Walk anniversary was not mentioned on any of the media I saw anyway. It seems that Rupert Murdoch is far more famous than Neil Armstrong. pffffttt spare me the media.
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Yep, Gum. The character is Chuck Yeager. Now for the book and the author. For the Americans this should be a doddle.
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Oh dear, never heard of him I'm afraid...
Rosemary
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Rosemarykaye, you probably have and just don't remember it. Chuck Yeager was the test pilot who first broke the sound barrier. He later had a hand in training our first astronauts. The book is The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager
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Roshanarose: I'd scarcely call it a monopoly - we've just had a good run lately.
That title mentioned by Frybabe sounds familiar... I'd never have thought of it in a million years - haven't read it.
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WINNERS! Good job!
Gumtree for thinking of the character, and Frybabe for knowing book and author, probably character too, if she'd shown up first.
I guess Frybabe is it, since Gum couldn't have gotten the book, but the two of you can settle it.
I'd forgotten Yeager's name, and though I knew enough bits to have gotten the quiz, I don't think I would have put them together.
What a remarkable career Yeager had!
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Thinking cap is on. Will be back with something a little later.
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Congratulations Gum and Frybabe.
Gum - It wasn't a boast, unfortunately it reflects the number of players.
Chuck was quite a guy. I suppose they still have test pilots and what have you. I love flying, but I don't know about testing ! Yeager was the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. I have often though that it must be lonely up there, flying solo, so fast. Sam Shepard portrayed him well in the Right Stuff, and Ed Harris who played John Glenn, was wonderful as always.
Tom Wolfe seems a bit of an enigma. The Right Stuff (1979) is quite a departure from his normal style. One of his major literary influences was "Vanity Fair", Thackeray. Wolfe also wrote "Bonfire of the Vanities" (1987)which I couldn't get into. He was the self-styled man in the white suit, a sartorial choice he began wearing exclusively, publicly in the 60s'. The choice of theme for "The Right Stuff" was a canny move. The book became a bestseller and won the American Book Award for nonfiction, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters Harold Vursell award for prose style, and the Columbia Journalism Award.
www.tomwolfe.com/bio.html
Why did I choose this particular book? As a small child I had an uncle who had been a pilot in the RAAF during the war and his backyard was built almost on the runway at Richmond Air Force Base in New South Wales. Whenever I heard a plane coming in to land I would rush down the back and wave to the pilot. Sometimes he would wave back - it was that close. In those days they were still flying bombers from WWII. My favourite plane was a huge black Neptune bomber, and they used to land every hour up until 9pm. My Uncle Ron used to tell me the names of all the planes and where they had flown during the war, their capabilities etc.
One day there was a catastrophic event. One of the Neptune's had crashed into a riverbank not far from the air field. We rushed down there. There was a lot of smoke, but the plane was intact and the pilot OK. That experience and seeing the big planes come in formed a life-time love of planes (and speed).
What really happened when that Neptune crashed. My memory has played truicks on me once again.
www.simplesite.com/raafansw/17754252
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I see the site is extremely slow again today. I am heading off to the grocery store before it gets too toasty out again (it is already 80 at 7:50am). Hopefully, the site will be acting better a little later.l
Some progress. I know my author, I just need to decide which book to use.
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Alrightty then:
Author:
One time journalist turned writer/historian.
Book: Non-fiction
While not the focus of the book, as a narrative device the author follows a central figure who lived through much of the period.
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I have a feeling I know this, but can't put a finger on it yet.
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I think it’s time to retire Title Mania. No one has posted there for 5 months, and we had all kind of run out of titles. Is there any reason to archive it rather than just trash it? We had some good conversations there, which I wouldn’t mind rereading, but realistically, no one is going to look for them. Let me know what you want.
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PatH - May I humbly put forward a suggestion for this board?
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PatH - May I humbly put forward a suggestion for this board?
Certainly, roshanarose, what is it?
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Anthony Powell? A Dance to the Music of Time?
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Sorry, no, Rosemarykaye. The series sure sounds interesting though. Have your read them?
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Yes Frybabe - I have read them all and they are absolutely wonderful. The books start in the early 1900s, when the narrator is at Eton, they continue through his time at Oxford, the war, etc and end when he is in his 70s - there is an enormous cast of characters, for the purpose of untangling which I eventually bought Hilary Spurling's excellent guide, "Invitation to the Dance" (she was the one who wrote "Pearl Buck In China"). The series was written in 12 books, but I have it in 4 volumes of 3 novels each.
It was televised some years ago with a fantastic cast, including John Geilgud, Edward Fox, Miranda Richardson, and Nicholas Purefoy. Paul Rhys was the beautiful but doomed Charles Stringham, and Simon Russell Beale was brilliant as Widmerpol. The lovely James Fleet (from The Vicar of Dibley and Four Weddings and a Funeral) played Moreland, another tragic figure.
You can get the TV series on DVD and I can't recommend it highly enough - it is one of my all time favourites.
Although unfortunately it's not the answer!!
Rosemary
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I second everything Rosemary just said about Dance to the Music of Time. Bob and I started reading them in the early '60s, when only 5 had been written, then eagerly awaited each new volume. They are worth rereading, too; I've done so several times over the years.
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New clues.
Author:
One time journalist turned writer/historian.
Won two Pulitzer Prizes, but not for this book.
Book: Non-fiction
While not the focus of the book, as a narrative device the author follows a central figure who lived through much of the period.
The book seeks to show how people viewed and reacted to the numerous events that happened during this period, and how the events shaped the future of this area of the world.
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Nothing is jelling. I want to say Doctorow, but he wrote novels.
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PatH - I sent you a message with my suggestion.
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Not jelling for me yet, either.
Aussies rule today! Cadel Evans won the Tour de France today, the first Australian to do so. He started yesterday a whopping 57 seconds behind (that's a lot) and dramatically pulled ahead of the three front runners, pretty much assuring he would win today, which he did. Good job.
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Frybabe - forgive this intrusion into your quiz... haven't a clue about who you're talking about...
PatH Being a modest Aussie I wasn't going to say anything about Cadel's great win - except perhaps
WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER ...
He was always the one to beat - it's a huge achievement for him and for the country as a whole - we always punch above our weight in sport as in other things. We watched the entire TV coverage for the full three weeks - DH is a great fan - so is son who lives in Sydney.
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WELL DONE, AUSTRALIA! " we always punch above our weight in sport as in other things."
You certainly do! The US is a great sports nation and, as a sports junky, I benifit from being able to follow so many sports. But we pay a price! If an American had won, people here would have said "Oh thats nice", and turned the page of the newspaper. There are almost no sports acheivements that would bring about the surge of national pride that other nations feel.
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Author:
One time journalist turned writer/historian.
Won two Pulitzer Prizes, but not for this book.
Covered the Spanish Civil War for The Nation.
Book: Non-fiction
While not the focus of the book, as a narrative device the author follows a central figure who lived through much of the period.
The book seeks to show how people viewed and reacted to the numerous events that happened during this period, and how the events shaped the future of this area of the world.
The person the book follows over much of this time period was a nobleman who married the daughter of a king.
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A guess -
Author : Barbara Tuchman
Book : Bible and Sword
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Brilliant, Traude! It's certainly Barbara Tuchman, but I think the book is probably "A Distant Mirror".
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Winners
Traude is right with the author - Barbara Tuchman
PatH has the book right - A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Congratulations!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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I think Traude deserves more applause than I do, but if you like, Traude, I'll gladly take the next turn, since you've done a lot lately and I haven't.
Tuchman remarked about writing the book, that when she studied it, she didn't altogether care for the 14th century, and, reading her book, I found that I didn't either. I only got about half way through, though it's very interesting and well written. Too brutal a time for me.
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Roshanarose, I sent you a message.
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Traude and PatH. Brilliant, both of you. I haven't read the books but they comment a lot on it in my GoodReads forum, which I suspect many others of you are in as well.
Yes. Cadel is our man. I was impressed how though down, and being kicked, he made that final supreme effort. Look at that chin! Full on determination. You can learn a lot from chins.
Thanks Pat. I got the email and agree.
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PatH, yes, do take the net turn, it's eminently fair.
Roshanarowe, warm congratulations to Cadel Evans and Australia on his splendid victory.
Yes, he does have an energetic chin. And while physiognomy may be considered as 'pseuo-science' in some quarters, it is often quite accurate.
Once again the computer is agonizingly slow today.
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Congratters to Traude and Pat H You are truly amazing.
And so is Frybabe for posing that quiz - had me all over the place but nowhere near Tuchman.
Roshanarose - yes, Cadel Evans has determination written all over him. It hasn't come easy for him - we've followed him for years and we
re very glad he made it this time.
Should I check out Good Reads forum?
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I'll get busy.
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Could you give the link to the Goodreads forum?
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descriptionInterested in history - then you have found the right group. This group's focus includes the following - autobiographies, military history, British history, World history, American history, SCOTUS, POTUS, ancient history, historical fiction and non-fiction books, current events, poetry, music, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, the American Civil War, all World Wars, 50 books and movie challenges, history of Africa, art and architecture, European History, Latin American hist…more [close] Interested in history - then you have found the right group. This group's focus includes the following - autobiographies, military history, British history, World history, American history, SCOTUS, POTUS, ancient history, historical fiction and non-fiction books, current events, poetry, music, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, the American Civil War, all World Wars, 50 books and movie challenges, history of Africa, art and architecture, European History, Latin American history, history of religions, the Napoleonic Wars, naval history, Native American history, history of Asia and all other historical genres; but with a heavy focus on non fiction books.
Our Spotlighted discussion will feature A Distant Mirror The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman [06.20.11]. The Presidential Series will feature My Life by William Jefferson Clinton [06.13.11] Our historical fiction discussion in progress is the classic All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. An upcoming read will be historical fiction great - Fortune's Favorites (Masters of Rome #3) by Colleen McCullough on [07.18.11].
Buddy-reads - in progress:
Russia - A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People (Dimbleby)
Jane Eyre (Bronte), Apache (Macy). Black Hearts (Frederick) - on-going as well as Millenium (Holland) and None Braver (Hirsh)
Upcoming - Later this Year:
Byzantium by Judith Herrin - 12/04/11
Upcoming Buddy-Reads:
The Road Gets Better From Here (Scott)
All are welcome; but we do have rules and guidelines for the group.
[close]
categoryBooks & Literature -> History
tagsafghanistan, air-force, alternate-history, amendments, american-civil-war, american-history, ancient-history, architecture, army, and art
websitehttp://www.goodreads.com/group/show/8115...
group typeThis is a public group. Anyone can join and invite others to join. This group is for adults only. rulesRead req'd group guidelines: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5409...…more [close] Read req'd group guidelines: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5409... + no spam/ads/mktg/self promotion/bookcover spam/flaming/flamebaiting/trolling or trolls allowed; no marketing of any kind to our membership list. [close]
NB For some strange reason the 5409 link is to some obscure Iranian venture and not relevant (I don't think).. I suggest you try either www.goodreads.com to enter the site; and/or if you want to see the workings on the one I am a member of try www.goodreads.com/group/show/8115. This should take you into the history group. If you are interested in joining the group you should scroll down the page and choose your period of interest, and then go to Introductions link. Good luck.I enjoy this site. But it is a bit too comprehensive for me to explain in detail as there are many many groups. I am only in three. btw my ID on there is "Karolina" . I have a bit of a passion (perhaps an understatement) for Greek history and horses, so jusdt now I am interested in the role of horses in wars and history in general. But when you get into the site you can check all the other brands of history. Many are listed above in the first part of this post.
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NEW QUIZ
Sorry for the delay--I'm not quick at this.
Author: I led a sophisticated life but my end was sad.
Book: became very popular.
Character: I'm very proper.
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Hmmm.
No inkling yet. Waiting for the next clues.
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Oscar Wilde?
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WOW! that was fast, Rosemary. Yes, it's Wilde. The rest should be easy, you probably don't even need more clues..
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Actually I'm not sure about the book! Is it The Importance of Being Earnest - Lady Bracknell? I thought of that and then thought it can't be because it's a play, but maybe that's allowed? Or am I completely wrong? I don't think it's Dorian Gray.
Rosemary
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Come to think of it, I don't think we have had a play before, but we have had the Savoy Operas and a small book of poems. I'm sure you can buy "Earnest" as a stand-alone book though.
Yes, it's Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest".
WINNER! Rosemarykaye.
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Thanks PatH. I was beginning to despair of ever having the faintest idea lately.
However, we are moving house over the weekend and may well have no internet for a week or so, so would you like to do another one?
Hope that's OK.
Rosemary
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Yes, that's OK. I wouldn't mind making up for how short my turn was. You can fill in for someone sometime down the road.
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EXCELLENT WORK ROSEMARY!
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Well Done Rosemary
I think any form is allowed - I put up Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman not so long ago and we've had Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Paradise Lost and all sorts of things in between.
I do hope your move will go without a hitch. I can imagine how glad you'll be to have it all behind you especially as it's been such a long time coming.
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Thanks Gumtree - I'll let you know how it goes!
Rosemary
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It's our game, made up by Ginny, so the rules can be whatever the players think is fair. We've been pretty lax about them anyway. We don't always have a character, sometimes not even a book, but just an author. And our friend Anonymous has appeared. If anyone has ideas for changes, feel free to suggest them.
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NEW QUIZ
Author: a member of a noble family.
Book: a best seller.
Character: is very protective of one of the other characters.
I hope these clues are obscure enough to keep things going for a while.
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Oh for heaven's sakes. My favorite play.
Congratulations, Rosemary!
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I should have gotten it from the author clue. He certainly did go from sophistication to sadness.
Brilliant, ROSEMARY!
I've seen the play at least 3 times -- it's the darling of repetory theater here -- and read it, but I still can't remember the plot. I remember in the movie, people wondering that Colin Firth wanted to play Algernon when Jack had all the good lines (or was it the other way around?)
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Oh for heaven's sakes. My favorite play.
Yes, it's good, isn't it.
One of the times I saw it was at a summer stock theater at a vacation resort. There is a scene in which Jack and Algernon are having tea together, with one of them hogging all the cucumber sandwiches. As they stood talking, a cat wandered onto the stage, becoming increasingly distracting. Jack (or maybe Algernon) picked up the cat, holding it and stroking it to keep it still, while continuing to deliver his lines. He then rang for the butler, due to be called a bit later. When the butler appeared, Jack wordlessly handed him the cat. The butler, after visibly gulping, took the cat off as if it were a tea tray, and the scene continued, almost without a break in lines. I don't know what happened to the cat--nothing violent, I hope.
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My favourite play too.
Every Saturday afternoon for a Semester a group of us used to gather at my house to perform the play, just for fun. I was always Lady Bracknell, complete with posh English accent. Good times.
PatH - Very obscure :o
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PatH - is it anything to do with Antoine De St Exupery?
Rosemary
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I believe my first exposure to "Earnest" was the TV play with Ian Carmichael as John and Patrick McNee as Algernon. Susannah York was Cecily and Lady Bracknell was played by Pamela Brown. Wilfrid Brambell of Steptoe and Son fame played the reverend.
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Good grief, Rosemary, you've done it again.
YES, it's Saint Exupery. Now how about the book and character--shouldn't be hard.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Two in succession from the first set of clues!
That's got to be the record.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ROSEMARY
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I just better not try to keep any secrets from Rosemary. She seems to be able to read my mind. ;)
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Faantaabulous, Rosemary !
Antoine de Saint-Éxupéry, writr and passionate aviator, was best known for Le Petit Prince, The Little Prince. Trulya gem.
I also loved Vol de nuit = Night Flight.
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PatH - that was a real shot in the dark, based on the fact that he was "of noble family". I have to admit that I haven't even read Le Petit Prince, although I do have a copy TBR. So on that basis I definitely think you should have another go (if you want to), and I will promise to keep my mouth shut. I don't think I'll get a third one anyway!
Rosemary
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Please do, PatH, take another turn!
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Rosemary: you're too much!
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Well, if no one wants to claim a turn by saying the character and book, it's "The Little Prince", and the character is the Prince. Rosemary, you should try it, it's charming and touching and whimsical and philosophical and very, very French. I've read it in French, as well as English. It's very easy French, especially if you've just read it in English. ;) I read "Night Flight" and "Wind, Sand, and Stars" so long ago I don't remember much except the flow of the language.
Saint Exupery disappeared in 1944 while on a reconnaissance flight, and I learned when checking facts for the quiz that in '98 his ID bracelet was found in the Mediterranean near Marseille, and later, some pieces of his plane were found nearby. It was a P-38, which I always liked because it was the only WWII plane I could identify.
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TRES BON MADAME KAY !!!!
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;D
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Super, Rosemary! The name Saint Exupery rings no bells with me, but Night Flight does. I ran across that title when reading about early air flight somewhere, possible when reading about Beryl Markham.
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NEW QUIZ
Many apologies for may delay, but here"s the next quiz. Warning to rosemarykaye: if you get the third one in a row, you really will have to take your turn.
Author: I am rather portly.
Book: I'm sure almost all of you have heard of it, probably read it.
Character: I may seem inept, but I really know what's what.
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I hadn't realised someone had written about me :o
PatH - I think rosemary is PC less just now.
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Sorry, roshanarose, you don't look anything like the character. Rosemary is in the process of getting back online. If she can stay on long enough to guess it (I admit that seems to take about 10 seconds) she can either pose a new quiz or pass the baton to someone else.
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Is this an apparently bumbling detective?
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Oh, good grief! Yes.
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The clues make me think of
Author - Rex Stout
Character - Nero Wolfe
Book - League of Frightened Men (because it's the only title I can think of)
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Actually, although that fits it's not what I had in mind.
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The author is not American.
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And there I was thinking you'd made a brilliant play on words with the author being 'rather portly' ie. 'Stout' :D
The only other one I can think of is Inspector Jacques Clouseau - The Pink Panther series - written by ?? somebody - maybe Blake Edwards...
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I thought of Clouseau, too, Gumtree, but ruled him out because I couldn't find a real author attached to it. The other one I thought of, bumbling wise but only as a ruse, is Peter Falk's character, Colombo. However, he is also American and I don't have a clue if it came from a book or not. Still thinking.
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Not as bumbling as Clouseau, and older.
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Was it here we were talking about Dorothy Sayers and Margerie Allingham? both their detectives would fill the bill, although I don't know that either of the authors were stout.
Bertie Wooster is bumbling enough for anyone, but I don't think he knows what's what.
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Miss Marple also appears bumbling: again, was Christie stout?
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Bumbling is too strong to describe the detective, who seems clumsy and dowdy and socially a bit inept, while being totally accurate in seeing the motives of the people around him/her.
"Stout" isn't a good clue unless you happen to know what the author looked like, but s/he weighed 21 stone (290 pounds).
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PatH,
Here's a really wild guess.
Author : Umberto Eco
Book : The Name of the Rose
Character : Franciscan friar William of Baskerville
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Traude, that was a good book, wasn't it? However, it's not it. You can deduce nationality as British from the fact that I gave the author's weight in stones. (If you wanted to say that a 21 stone person must be male, you would be right in this case.)
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The next set of clues:
Author: My religion is important to me.
Book: short stories, several books. Any one will do.
Character: in several of the stories, I associated with a disreputable person. I eventually got him to clean up his act.
I know JoanK has read these, and I bet someone else has too.
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Nobody? How about some really blatant clues.
Character: Religion is absolutely central to me too. My costume is easily identified. I am sometimes seen fumbling around for my umbrella.
If this doesn't do it, we'll have to wait for JoanK to come out from the woodwork. I know she knows it.
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PatH - Rather off topic, sorry, but I am very excited to learn that you and your sister Joan will be guiding us on our next classical foray.
I have no idea who this person is, but fear I should. The emphasis on religion and helping someone to "clean up their act" suggests that perhaps the main character is "a man of the cloth". Perhaps that is what the clue "My costume is easily identified" indicates as well. A cassock??
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You're right about the cassock. You probably haven't read the books or you would know who. There aren't that many priest detectives.
I'm excited about the classics too, though I'll have to work pretty hard to be worthy of following in Ginny's footsteps. Fortunately, Joan is the senior, and I can bow to her greater experience. ;)
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It's Father Brown by Chesterton! I knew I'd feel like an idiot when I found out who it was. The bad character is the theif (can't remember his name) who reforms and becomes a sidekick.
I bought "The Complete Father brown" for my kindle (for $1.99) and I've been rereading them, so I have no excuse for not getting it sooner. They hold up fairly well. Of course, there are little sermons in them.
I didn't know Chesterton weighed 21 stone, but somehow I'm not surprised. The scenes of Father brown and friend eating and drinking are drawn with a food (and wine) lovers pen.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
I knew you'd get it, JoanK. The thief is Flambeau. Not only was Chesterton massive, he used to go around in a long flowing cloak with a broad-brimmed hat. Must have been quite a sight.
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FANTASTIC JOANK, WELL DONE AND CONGRATULATIONS AND BLOODY BEWDY MATE.
I was looking at Brother Cadfael, but knew I was on the wrong track. There was no fiddling with umbrellas way back in Matilda's day.
Yeah - Ginny will be a hard act to follow, but every individual brings something different and unique to such discussions.
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Hooray for JoanK
I should have guessed Chesterton - but it's been soooo long since I read him!
PatH & JoanK - you're just 'a natural' to make a great combo in the classics discussion :D - I think the hardest part will be for the voters to whittle the giant list down.
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I will have to look up Chesterton and the Father Brown series. I do remember someone talking about Father Brown before, but it isn't something I would have thought of.
Great catch, Joan K!
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Give me a bit to think of something, and I'll be back.
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OK, the list says this one hasn't been used. here goes:
the author: wrote many books, both fiction and non-fiction
the book: not his/her most popular
the character: young and ready for adventure
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No bites on those vague clues. Next set:
the author: wrote many books, both fiction and non-fiction
one of his other books has become controversial.
the book: not his/her most popular
is best known for it's setting
the character: young and ready for adventure
learns a technical skill during the book.
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??? ???
Rosemary :)
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Ditto - ??? ???
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Likewise ???
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Same here! ???
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the author: wrote many books, both fiction and non-fiction
one of his other books has become controversial.
is famous for portraying the speech of ordinary people
the book: not his/her most popular
is best known for it's setting
combines autobiography with tall tales
the character: young and ready for adventure
learns a technical skill during the book.
is the author.
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Kind of sounds like Will Rogers. Boy, I used to like watching him on TV. http://www.cmgww.com/historic/rogers/
That aside, are we talking about Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)? Life on the Mississippi, maybe?
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Wow, Frybabe, that's got to be it. Good job!
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Mark Twain "Life on the Mississippi' it is. Good job, FRYBABE.
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YOU ROCK BABE ! ! !
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FRYBABE DOES IT AGAIN !!
Good Quiz - I was nowhere on that one.
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Ditto! Well done!
Rosemary
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It was the last set of clues that did it. Previously, I was thinking along the lines of Robert Louis Stevenson what with the "young and ready for adventure" and "learns a technical skill".
I hope to have something up for you later on today. Right now I want to take advantage of the cool down and dry to mow part of my lawn.
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Okay, I think I am ready now.
Author: Born in England, but now lives in the US.
Book: Novel about growing up as a first generation American.
Character: Named after a writer.
This one should be pretty easy.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Boy, that rings no bells at all.
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The author is still living. I take that as a definite. So set in the 20th century (that should make it easy 8))
Perhaps the "novel" is semi-autobiographical?
I keep thinking "musician" as the character.
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The character is not a musician.
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Is the author of Chinese origin?
Rosemary
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No, not Chinese.
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Author: Born in England, but now lives in the US.
First book, of short fiction, won a Pulitzer Prize
Book: Novel about growing up as a first generation American.
The author's only full length novel so far, it was made into a movie.
Character: Named after a Russian writer.
The story follows our character from birth to his divorce and his mother's return to her homeland.
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Is it The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri? And the character is the boy named after Gogol.
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Hurry, Pedln Wins!
Lahiri, as far as I know, still writes pieces for The New Yorker and other literary review rags.
She is currently serving on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Good for you, Pedln!
It's all a sinister plot, though. I just got the heading up to date earlier today. I'll show you. I'll do it right now.
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;)
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Named after a writer and first generation American was what tipped me off, Frybabe. Loved the book and the movie, both.
Okay, coming up
Author
American writer of non-fiction whose works depict particular events in history.
Book
Lots of characters; focuses on a good guy and a bad guy
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If anyone gets it from that, I will look into staging a virtual 21 gun salute.
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What? You want more, already?
Author
American writer of non-fiction whose works depict particular events in history.
Graduated college summa cum laude in the 1970's
Book
Lots of characters; focuses on a good guy and a bad guy
The book is quite site/location specific
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pedln - I didn't get a chance to congratulate you. Well done - I regret I have never heard of the book.
btw Because I am from a different part of the world - could someone explain to me what "summa cum laude" means?
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Pedln Congrats on that quiz - I haven't read it either.
Roshanarose: summa cum laude - with the highest praise. Enrolments are now open for Ginny's Latin course if you'd like to learn more - much more. :D
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Thanks, roshanarose.
and at the college level -- cum laude (good grades) magna cum laude (better yet) summa cum laude -- with highest distinction, or something like that.
Author
American writer of non-fiction whose works depict particular events in history.
Graduated college summa cum laude in the 1970's
Won an Award for this book
Book
Lots of characters; focuses on a good guy and a bad guy
The book is quite site/location specific
Focuses on the preparations for a very specific event; at the same time, the bad guy was up to no good.
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It5's not "Berlin 1961" is it? I don't know anything about the author.
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No, it's not Berlin 61. The event in this book occurred much earlier.
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Author
American writer of non-fiction whose works depict particular events in history.
Graduated college summa cum laude in the 1970's
Won an Award for this book
The author's most recent book, not this one, was published this year.
Book
Lots of characters; focuses on a good guy and a bad guy
The book is quite site/location specific
Focuses on the preparations for a very specific event; at the same time, the bad guy was up to no good.
To paraphrase the author -- he liked the idea of light and dark, ying and yang -- the massive act of civic good will alongside the crimes.
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I think I know the author but I am not sure yet so I'll keep my mouth shut for now. Was the author's latest book mentioned in one of our forums recently?
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Pedln - Was it preparation for an event of a martial nature?
Gum - I have decided to forego Latin and learn German instead. Keeping it in the family, so to speak.
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Was it preparation for an event of a martial nature?
Nope, I think civic good will describes it very well.
This book is not like it at all, but for some reason it always makes me think of Sister Carrie.
(How's that for a red herring? :D )
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While I was preparing for the TH session on Aging, I missed the fast-paced developments here altogether. Especially Jhumpa Lahiri. I read her first book, a collection of stories, titled The Interpreter of Maladies, which was awarded the Pulitzer.
No clue yet on the latest quiz. Not much time either. Daughter just flew in, and I could not be happier.
In haste, as usual...
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straudetwo - I am so happy that your daughter is visiting. It probably sounds a bit warm and fuzzy, but daughters are great, aren't they?
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Erik Larson
Author
1. American writer of non-fiction whose works depict particular events in history.
2. Graduated college summa cum laude in the 1970's
3. Won an Award for this book
4. The author's most recent book, not this one, was published this year.
5. The author lives in Seattle. When asked if he/she would have written the book if he/she lived in New York, the answer was in the affirmative.
Book
1. Lots of characters; focuses on a good guy and a bad guy
2. The book is quite site/location specific
3. Focuses on the preparations for a very specific event; at the same time, the bad guy was up to no good.
4. To paraphrase the author -- he liked the idea of light and dark, ying and yang -- the massive act of civic good will alongside the crimes.
5. This book is not like it at all, but for some reason it always makes me think of Sister Carrie. (How's that for a red herring? )
6. The bad guy went to med school, got involved in insurance fraud, bought a small pharmacy, was not the only builder in the book.
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Surely you know now, the name of this book.
If not, I'll be back tomorrow to tell you who was at this big event civic good will.
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Pedln, I guess I waited too long to put up my guess. The bookis Devil in the White City. The event was the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Random House has put up a very nice website for the book.
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html
I'm kind of surprised no one guessed it.
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WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
Frybabe, what do you mean you waited too long. You got it. Congratulations. And obviously you know the author -- Erik Larson. I had tons of clues left -- like all the people who attened the Exhibition -- Jane Adams, Buffalo Bill, Tiffany. Not to mention of course, the architect Daniel Burman. And that's where we got Cracker Jack, Juicy Fruit, and the Ferris Wheel. Such a super book.
Has anyone read any of his others? I have not, but am on my library list for his new one -- In the Garden of the Beasts. A fried has read the Marconi one and another, but did n't like them as well as Devil.
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BRAVO FRYBABE
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Well done Frybabe!
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Give me a day or two to come up with another quiz. I have only a few days left to get my books, etc for classes which start this coming Monday, AND George is on his way over with his laundry. I guess he doesn't want to wade through water and attempt to carry stuff down to his basement just yet. He is feeling much better, but is still not quite up to par. Most of the current water situation, BTW, comes from his neighbor changing his downspout and drainage which, of course, has affected George's nice new basement entrance. Grrrrrrrrr! George's contractor has tried a fix or two, but it hasn't worked so far.
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Ready!
Author: Best known writing novels, this author also wrote short stories, a libretto for a well known opera, several biographies, travel writings, and sundry other writings.
Book: Based on the author's experiences, the book represents a clash of cultures, racial tension and prejudice.
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I sat in front of my screen, racking my tiny worn out brain and came up with James Baldwin, having to admit I have never read anything he has written.
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Not James Baldwin.
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Author: Best known writing novels, this author also wrote short stories, a libretto for a well known opera, several biographies, travel writings, and sundry other writings.
All of the author's novels were written early in his career. After extensive travels, he returned home to write this book.
Book: Based on the author's experiences, the book represents a clash of cultures, racial tension and prejudice.
The story revolves around four main characters and a false accusation.
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I have a feeling I knw it, but I'm sure not coming up with it.
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Maybe "Atonement" by Ian McEwan? Although I am trying to recall any racial tension.
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Paul Scott? Raj Quartet?
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Yes, I thought Paul Scott too - but don't know that he wrote opera libretto - I've only read the Raj and a couple of his other India based books - didn't know he wrote opera libretto ... but the clues for the book fit the Raj fairly well.
I've been intending to read Hilary Spurling's biography of Scott - maybe I should get on with it.
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Nay to both, but Gumtree has the right part of the world.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
India? EM Forster? (Passage to...)?
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Yes, that would be my guess now too - Forster did write the libretto for at least one opera - Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd - though I think he really collaborated with someone else for that one.
All the other clues seem to fit Forster too.
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Wow, good guess, Rosemary! It sure fits well.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Rosemarykaye, I thought that last clue would do it. Congratulations, you are IT.
Aside from E.M. Forster, Kipling, and Scott, I can't think of any other well known writer that tackled the Raj era, but there must have been many.
Right now I am in the middle of reading a free ebook from Gutenberg called Caravans by Night: A Romance of India by a guy named Harry Hervey. The story begins in post WWI India with a mass theft of jewels, runs through Burma and then into Tibet. It is kind of Kiplingesque what with stolen jewels, spies, a secret weapons cache, and what is beginning to look like political intrigue in Tibet. Since the book was published in 1924, the story must be taking place after 1919 and before 1924. Tibet had, in 1912, thrown off the first Chinese invaders who tried to rule them, but for the next 36 years they fought with Chinese Warlords over control of certain areas of Tibet.
PS: Well, this is interesting. I just looked up Harry Hervey. One site said he was a "forgotten" writer from Savannah, but no further info. The very little info I gathered is that he wrote quite a few books and was involved in writing many movie scripts including Road to Singapore and Road to Morocco.
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Rosemary, congratulations. Well done.
And Frybabe, thanks for the uptick about Caravans by Night. I'd never heard of it before, but have just now downloaded it to my Kindle.
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ΤΗΑΥΜΑΖΙΟ ΡΟΣΑΜΑΡΙΑ !
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Thanks all. Will think about it today and try to get back to you this evening or tomorrow.
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Sorry for the delay - I have at last thought of something, but can anyone tell me where the list of what we have already had had gone, as I wanted to check it hadn't been done before?
Thanks
Rosemary
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Sorry, I hadn't put it at the top of the current page yet. It's now there, but I haven't yet added the last two authors.
If this happens to you again, just go back a page and you'll find it (or two pages if I've been very lazy).
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Thanks Pat - it's a good thing I looked, as someone had indeed done my idea alaready - never mind, it gave me something to think about when I was awake last night! Back to the drawing board - will come up with another one asap.
Rosemary
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Don't worry, ROSEMARY. We'll wait. :)
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At last, I hear you cry, here is a new quiz:
Author: of Scottish origin
Book: is a classic
Character: I am wealthy
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Is it too obvious to be Sir Walter Scott?
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No it's not Walter Scott, sorry!
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Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Book: Master of Ballantrae
Character: Henry
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No, sorry!
Here are some more clues:
Author: left Scotland at an early age
Book: has been made into a film, adapted for stage, and read on radio
Character: is fortunate in having reliable friends
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The plot thickens. I wonder where the author went when he/she left Scotland.
Do they still read books on radio? NPR used to do it, do they still?
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I don't know, but the BBC definitely does! We have A Book At Bedtime, the daily serial, and various other readings.
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Yes we have radio reading here - though I only know about the ABC's efforts. They're usually very well done - haven't listened to one for some time but when my kids were youngsters I tuned in every morning while I had a restorative cuppa after the morning breakfast melee. Heard some great readings - they were doing a series of English classics - Thomas Hardy, Oliver Goldsmith, George Moore, George Eliot et al... Good stuff.
BTW has anyone heard anything from Traude - seems a while since she posted.
The only Scottish authors I can think of right this minute are Muriel Spark and Cunninghame Grahame - but I don't suppose our author is either of those.
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No, it's neither of those! I'd never even heard of Cunningham Graham...
It may help if you don't try to think of this writer as Scottish, despite his/her birthplace. Scotland does not feature in the book.
Rosemary
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Gum, look above. Traude has been busy hosting a most interesting Talking Heads about Retirement, planning, etc.
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Och
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Pedln - thanks - I don't look into the Talking Heads board so didn't know Traude was so fruitfully engaged at present - thought she might be ill. So happy to know otherwise...
Still no idea about this quiz of Rosemary's -
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More clues:
Author:
Of Scottish origin
Left Scotland at an early age
Worked in a bank, but wanted to go to university
Book:
Is a classic
Has been made into a film, adapted for the stage, and read on radio
Is fundamentally about friendship, but has a mystic interlude
Character:
I am wealthy
I am fortunate in having reliable friends
I am very impulsive
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More clues?
Author:
Of Scottish origin
Left Scotland at an early age
Worked in a bank, but wanted to go to university
Wrote mainly for children, this work starting life as stories written for his son
Book:
A classic
Has been made into a film, adapted for stage, and read on the radio
Is fundamentally about friendship, but has a mystic interlude
One of the best received stage adaptations was by another famous children's writer
Character:
I am wealthy
I am fortunate in having reliable friends
I am very impulsive
Two of my obsessions are forms of transport. One of them gets me into a lot of trouble.
I'm sure you'll get it now!
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This does not ring any bells for me.
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It does for me. Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad.
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Brilliant Pat! You are the winner!
Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh but the family soon moved to Inverary for his father's job. Unfortunately his mother died when he was 5, his father was unable to care for the children, and they went to live with a grandmother in Cookham Dene in Berkshire. Cookham is on the upper reaches of the Thames, and it is thought that Grahame developed his love of the river there, and that this influenced his writing of The Wind in the Willows.
The book has been made into films, plays and has been read on the radio many times. The writer Alan Bennett wrote one of the stage adaptations and starred in it as Mole, but it was the earlier stage adaptation by AA Milne, "Toad of Toad Hall", that made it famous. The story revolves mainly around Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad - Toad is very rich and always getting into trouble, and his friends are forever having to save him. Ratty and Badger's homes, the one in the riverbank and the other in the Wild Wood, are beautifully described by Grahame. The mystic interlude occurs when the Otter family lose their cub, Little Portly. Father Otter sits up all night looking for him on the river. In the early morning the "piper at the gates of dawn" appears, with Portly asleep in his arms. The piper - Pan - makes them forget that they have seen him, as the memory of it would be too much for them to bear.
Toad first becomes obsessed with travelling in a gypsy caravan, and persuades Ratty and Mole to go along with him. After an encounter with a motor car, Toad abandons the caravan and buys himself a car instead. This leads him into all sorts of trouble and eventually imprisonment, which he escapes by exchanging clothes with a laundry woman.
Whilst Toad is away, the evil weasels have taken over his palatial mansion, Toad Hall. Badger, Ratty and Mole help him to reclaim it by engineering a surprise attack on the weasels. After this they all live happily ever after.
Although the book was written for children, it is a wonderful read for anyone, as Grahame's prose is so elegiac, and the plot moves along at a cracking pace too.
Over to you Pat!
Rosemary
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Congratulations PatH.
I sometimes get the feeling I missed out on lots of good reading when I was little. I never read Wind in the Willows, or Winnie the Pooh, or any of the Oz books. What was I reading early on? All I remember of my earliest readings is Reginald Rabbit and Marmaduke Mouse and Mother Goose.
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Actually, I never read Wind in the Willows either, Frybabe, but I know the story. I did read Winnie the Pooh and some of the Oz books. Remarks in SeniorLearn tell me that I should dig out the copy of W in the W and read it.
Rosemary, a masterful job of clues that should give it to you but don't.
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PatH beat me to it! The forms of transportation gave it away. I just read the book for the first time recently, and it's WONDERFUL. Yes, it's about friendship, but it's also about the river (what river, you can decide). I recommend it to you all!
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PatH - JUST SUPER !!!!!
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Congratulations, PatH. I've never read Wind the Willows either -- a great choice, Rosemary -- but have read some stories about Toad and Frog. Are those Kenneth Graham's also?
Thanks for the wonderful summary, Rosemary. What would be the earliest age to read it to? I've only one grand left in that age group, and I'd love to get it for her. (the others are all college or HS.)
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Pedln, I'm not sure. I have to tell you that all three of my children refused to read it at all! I think a very young child - say 4 or 5 - might enjoy hearing all the bits about toad, and about the adventures of Mole and Ratty on the river and in the woods - they would probably not get the bit about Pan, but you don't need to "get" it to enjoy it. Once a child gets to 10 or so, they seem to get terribly cynical these days! My Madeleine, who is a great reader, is only 13 but reads mainly spy stories, books about teenagers being miserable (!), and things like the Princess Diaries. She also likes historical fiction - Sally Gardner's The Red Necklace, about the French revolution, was a huge hit - but lyrical works like Grahame's would leave her cold. She was also, as a younger child, never much impressed with the Alfie & Annie Rose stories by Shirley Hughes (which I love), and always preferred books about children being naughty - My Naughty Little Sister and Bad Harry, the Horrid Henry stories, etc.
However, I think The Wind In The Willows would be a wonderful gift, and your granddaughter may well come back to it later. There are many editions, but the ones with illustrations by E H Shephard are, IMO, the best. If you look on the dreaded Wikepedia, there is an interesting excerpt from a letter written by AA Milne's son (the original Christopher Robin) - he says that the WITW was one of his parents' favourite books to read to him, and that his mother always looked for her handkerchief when reading her favourite part, the Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I can sympathise, because it always makes tears come to my eyes too, it is so beautiful.
Rosemary
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Many apologies for the delay, but anyway, here's the next one.
Author: My books continue to be popular, and are never out of print.
Book: One of my lesser known works.
Character: My future is very uncertain.
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Could this be a Jane Austen?
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A likely guess, but no. Later than Austen.
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Dickens?
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Not again! Rosemary, you've got to stop reading my mind. Indeed, it's Dickens. What's the book?
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Now that is where I am stuck....
Tiny Tim?
Charles Darnay?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
May we please have a new clue that might allow for further guesses ?
At this point I'm not ready to accept that we are looking for a British author, again.
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Traude, yes, it really is Dickens, as I told Rosemary. All that's needed is the book, and character. Clues:
Book: One of his lesser known works.
Of a somewhat different type than most of his books.
Character: My future is very uncertain (that's a bigger clue than it looks).
I broke my engagement.
That should do it.
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StraudeTwo - I am kind of surprised regarding your comment about the fact that you are "Not ready to accept that we are looking for a British author again". Knowing your appreciation of books from many different parts of the world, I am surprised that you have made this remark. Or, perhaps, I have misread it. Please enlighten me.
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Is it Edwin Drood?
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Yes, it is. Drood's future is uncertain because, although he is presumed to have been murdered, the book is unfinished.
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WINNERS!
Rosemary for the author--Charles Dickens
Gumtree for book and character--Edwin Drood
You can fight a duel for the honor: pistols at 48 million paces.
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STRAUDE: we American are brought up on US and british literature. We must rely on you to broaden our horizens.
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pistols at 48 million paces.
Whew! That's a long way - maybe twice as far as we need!
Actually, I wouldn't have guessed Drood except for Rosemary naming Dickens so I think she is the winner.
What say you, Rosemary -
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pistols at 48 million paces.
Whew! That's a long way - maybe twice as far as we need!
Gumtree, you're very right; I was speaking off the top of my head. Assuming you and Rosemary are 9500 miles apart (determined by the elegant method of stretching a string on my globe and measuring it off on the scale) and also assuming a hearty British and Australian stride of 2.5 feet--my own stride is 2 feet, but I'm short--then you are only 20 million paces apart. You'll still need pretty good pistols.
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Rosemary, are you OK with being next? If not, I'll provide a fill-in.
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Only 20 million paces? PAT: I insist you pace that off! I know you can walk on water.
CONGRATS, AUSSIES!
Great to see an Aussie tennis player winning a Grand Slam event!
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Thanks again JoanK, we are seriously chuffed and proud of Sam.
The Rugby World Cup happening in New Zealand is grabbing all the attention.
With Sam it is another one for the girls!
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RR - It's rugby only if you follow rugby -
Tennis does it every time for me. Sam Stosur is the first Aussie grand slam female winner since Evonne Goolagong Cawley got her last one in 1980. It's a well deserved win - Sam's worked hard and paid her dues.
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PatH I'll do the next quiz if you like - provided Rosemary agrees...
And yes, 20 million paces is more like it although my stride would be flagging after the first 19 million :D
Podes to antipodes is interesting - lots of work going on in relation to the question of measuring that distance - but I think these days they're using more sophisticated methods than your tried and true string and scale. :D
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Gum - please do :)
Rosemary
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Go for it, Gum.
By the way, you and I are very close to antipodal; I make it 11,600 miles, 24 1/2 million paces.
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RR - It's rugby only if you follow rugby -
Gumtree - I don't understand what you mean here.
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PatH If we both leave now I think could meet in the middle in time for Christmas - though we'd have to make sure we both go the same way or we'll each end up halfway but still be antipodal one to the other.
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New Quiz Get your thinking caps on:
Author: I'm a novelist, non fiction writer, as well as a journalist and war correspondent who achieved a certain fame due to my wartime dispatches during WWII.
Book: This is the first volume of a classic trilogy. It's semi-autobiographical and an award winner
Character: Is one of two brothers whose lives and personalities are contrasted throughout the novel.
Lots of obvious clues there to get you started :D
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Not a bite from anyone... here's another clue or two...
Author: I'm a novelist, non fiction writer, as well as a journalist and war correspondent who achieved a certain fame due to my wartime dispatches during WWII.
I left my native country and for ten years, together with my second wife, I enjoyed an ex-patriate life on an idyllic island
Book: This is the first volume of a classic trilogy. It's semi-autobiographical and an award winner.
The novel was adapted for the stage as well as a very successful series for TV.
Character: Is one of two brothers whose lives and personalities are contrasted throughout the novel.
My brother is my hero. He is brave, noble and courageous and represents the aggressive male. I regard myself as being none of those things. I am something of a social (and family) misfit.
More obvious clues - go! go! go! :D :D
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Well, I'm stumped. There are a number of well know WWII correspondents I could list, but I am not familiar with a trilogy about two brothers.
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Has everyone gone to ground?
- except for Frybabe ...
Author: I'm a novelist, non fiction writer, as well as a journalist and war correspondent who achieved a certain fame due to my wartime dispatches during WWII.
I left my native country and for ten years, together with my second wife, I enjoyed an ex-patriate life on an idyllic island.
I wrote a few novels jointly with my wife and was also successful in writing thrillers under a pseudonym.
Book: This is the first volume of a classic trilogy. It's semi-autobiographical and an award winner.
The novel was adapted for the stage as well as a very successful series for TV.
Deals with the aftermath of WWI, the interwar period and WWII and considers the question of identity on several levels - personal - family - social - community - national.
Character: Is one of two brothers whose lives and personalities are contrasted throughout the novel.
My brother is my hero. He is brave, noble and courageous and represents the aggressive male. I regard myself as being none of those things. I am something of a social (and family) misfit.
My brother is a tough, honest salt-of-the-earth type whilst I have an intellectual and cosmospolitan outlook which alienated me from my brother and my family.
Special Clue for Frybabe: The author was one of the journalists on board the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrender was signed.
Handed to you on a plate now :D
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Not gone to ground, GUm. Just can't get all the pieces to fit together. Of course Ernie Pyle was my first thought, but no fit there, nor some others.
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Same here. I've got to know it, but sure can't think what it is.
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Gumtree, an intriguing new quiz, bound to stimulate ! Gosh, I've thought of (and dismissed) a few illustrious persons - none fitted.
Your elegant, alacrious clues are linguistic gems and sheer pleasure.
Sorry to have been AWOL. A (hopeful) participant in the ongoing discussion here of Berlin 1961 I've been reading virtually around the clock, and the library copy is overdue ... There are 2 grace days, the daily fine is small, but I have ethical questions, especally if there's a long waiting list for a book. Just by way if excuse.
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Traude, it's good to see you back here. Yes, the Berlin discussion is time-consuming, but I hope you will continue your valuable input. I'm struggling to keep up, but enjoying it.
Gumtree is the master artist of clues that actually tell you everything, but in such language that you don't realize what you have. I just thought of another promising candidate, but when I looked him up, he didn't fit well enough.
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Since Gum is an Aussie, I thought of Alan Moorehead, but he doesn't fit either. Has anyone read his books? I remember seeing some of his titles throughout the years, but never read any. (Gallipoli, Darwin and the Beagle).
Whenever anyone brings up WWII journalists in the Pacific, I immediately think of Ernie Pyle. He didn't live to write books.
Still puzzling.
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Traude & PatH Such accolades! I'm blushing - but happy to know at least I've managed to get you thinking.
Pedln & Frybabe: As you've discovered, it's not Ernie Pyle.
It's not Alan Moorehead either - but that was a good guess as his career has certain parallels to that of our mystery author but I doubt that Moorehead wrote any fiction - he was an acclaimed war correspondent and went in for writing history. Gallipoli is recognised as one of the definitive texts on that campaign. He wrote a biography of General Montgomery - and there is one on Aussie explorers Burke and Wills and their legendary but ill fated last journey - I've been meaning to read that one for years....
and yes, Frybabe - Gum is an Aussie :D
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;D
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Gum, we need more clues. This is driving me crazy and I can't tell you how much time I've spent investigating different thoughts. They're either too young, no second wife, not an ex-pat or not a journalist. I thought I had something with Irwin Shaw and Rich Man, Poor Man, but it doesn't all fit.
But what a great list of authors/and books TO BE READ and/or revisit -- like John Hersey's The Wall. I think I want to read that again. Peter Carey's on my shelf.
In the meantime - aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhc >:(
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A stab in the dark. Could it be one of the Durrell brothers? Perhaps Lawrence?
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I checked - The Alexandrian Quartet is a tetralogy.
I think the one Gum wants is George Johnston - "My Brother Jack".
I remember he and his wife (Charmian Clift) because they spent some time on Kalimnos and Hydra, both Greek islands. Also my ex husband had to study it for his final year at school and hated it. I haven't read it. I tried one of Clift's books about life on a Greek island, but it didn't hold me.
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Oooh! I looked up Johnston, and he totally fits. Good thing you got him, roshanarose, I'd never heard of him.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Roshanarose to the rescue! I thought you might be the one to twig
the answer. I agree with your assessment of Clift's work - pretty second-rate in my view though a great fuss has been made of her at times.
and Yes, George Johnston and wife Charmian Clift lived on Hydra for about ten years and were really the central focus of an ex-patriate group who came and went - writers, artists, film stars etc - Sidney Nolan, Peter Finch et al. Johnston and Clift's relationship has been likened to that of Zelda and F Scott Fitzgerald.
Johnston was an acclaimed journalist - the first Australian war correspondent - worked for the Times -nicknamed 'The Golden Boy' by his Australian editor - he was later appointed to head up the Associated Press office in London - all the while writing novels etc as well as his work for the press. He had a great facility with words and could and often did write 10,000 words a day.
My Brother Jack and the others in the trilogy - Clean Straw for Nothing and A Cartload of Clay - were begun after Johnston became seriously ill with tuberculosis which he contracted on Hydra. It's semi-autobiographical and follows events throughout Johnston's life fairly closely but My Brother Jack is a novel not biography and deals with many aspects of Australian life over a period of about thirty years. The questions he examines can be read in the particular sense and in the broader general sense. It is one of the best and truest accounts of the period in Australia. There are some powerful passages which stay in the mind.
My Brother Jack and Clean Straw for Nothing both won The Miles Franklin Award - Australia's most prestigious literary award - Johnston died just before completing the third novel but there was sufficient for it to be published as a novel - and it certainly doesn't leave one up the air or wanting more - being unfinished adds a note of realism to the end as the character was dying along with the author.
When people ask me what novels to read to find out what Australia was like I usually recommend Johnston's Meredith Trilogy for 20th century along with Henry Handel Richardson's trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony for the gold rush era of late 19th century. There are lots of others too...
I guess it's now over to Roshanarose...
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Thanks for the congrats. One tries to keep one's mates happy. :o
Give me a couple of days please.
I was kind of surprised that Johnston contracted TB in Hydra. Come to think of it, all those islands, wouldn't be the best place to be during a Greek winter. Cold, bleak and damp. Did you know that to this day Hydra doesn't have any motor vehicles. If transport is needed donkeys and mules help out.
Leonard Cohen was in Hydra too. It's a nice little island, but there are others that are much more beautiful, imho. Maybe it was the company of expats that appealed.
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I meant to ask whether anyone here had actually read My Brother Jack.
- I think Johnston is the first Aussie I've put up. I always hesitate to nominate Australian writers - they're not widely read elsewhere and even the best are often overlooked in other countries.
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Good Job, Roshanarose!
No, Gum, I haven't read any of Johnston. My loss, obviously.
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PatH - Ta muchly.
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Congratulations, Roshanarose !
Gumtree, to you many thanks for another intriguing quiz, enhanced by your elegant phrasing of both the initial presentation and any clues. Therein lies a special pleasure for me - even when I have no earthly idea of the solution, as in the present case. Just to be here edifying !! And there's always interesting tibits to learn.
For Roshanarose and Joan K.
As I typed that earlier post I was not being critical or judgmental (not my style), and for a brief moment I actually considered not sending it. However, thinking of the richness and infinite varieties of world literature from all ages and parts of the globe, I felt a tinge of sadness, a feeling I could not suppress and thought to share with you. I did not want to offend anyone's sensibilities and apologize if I have unwittingly done so. Please forgive me. May I throw out a name at this point ? Here it is Rabindranath Tagore.
Gumtree,, I'm still here. More demands have been made on me this summer than usual. But when it has to do with family, our place is by their side. Thank you for asking.
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STRAUDE: Since you mentioned Rabindranath Tagore, we are celebrating the birth of PatH's new grandchilds. And I was just thinking of one of hios poems abouit children: "COLORED tOYS"
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/rabindranath-tagore/colored-toys/ (http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/rabindranath-tagore/colored-toys/)
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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OK, Joan, you brought a lump to my throat with that one.
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StraudeTwo - No problem. It just seemed rather uncharacteristic. Seeing I am the "lucky" winner of the last contest. Just PatH and I at the end was very disappointing, although PatH is a perfect companion. We seem to have lost so many players. My next quiz is more "universal" shall we say. The author is from the US though :) We all put a lot into our quizzes and it seems a waste of brain spaceto have them left. For example I woke up at 6am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep pondering a book with which we would all be happy. That is the Libra in me. The Scorpio in me says Australian Literature is on a par with the UK, the US, NZ and anywhere else for that matter.
I read this book in the 60s and could not put it down. Masterfully researched on a topic still current.
Yes. StraudeTwo - I started reading Rabindranath Tagore's (Bengali) poetry in the 60s too. I remember I found him in the old Municipal Library in Brisbane City. I was in a very unhappy marriage with a man prone to domestic violence and had two very small children. I could find no way out. Divorce had a whole different set of rules then. The library was my escape. My babies seemed to understand their mother's need (and the library's) need for peace. Tagore was salve for my soul then and I still love reading him,.
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Author: The author is from the US. Not too broad, I hope ;)
The character: is one of those people who has made a difference to the way we live now (literally).
This is in a sense a biography, but fictionalised to some extent.
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Traude: Thank you. I too enjoy and take the opportunity to learn more about the authors of this world, their lives and their work. Always something new presents itself whether one knows the author or not. I actually prefer it when I have little more than a glimmer of who the author might be as I so enjoy endeavouring to dredge the answer from the depths of memory - sometimes it's there and sometimes not.
PatH A new grandchild is a joy - congratulations!
Roshanarose I don't think we've lost any players - they come and they go - some come in and post - others just read and only post if they have an idea. It's the same in all the discussion - at least it's what I do.
You're absolutely right about our literature holding its own with that of other countries. It has it's own intrinsic value to us as Australians but also to readers of other nationalities who may choose to read about our country and its people just as we do theirs. The great pity is that only a few of our writers gain true international acceptance while the work of so many other equally worthwhile authors languishes perhaps for want of greater promotion.
As for the new quiz: as yet I've not a glimmer of an idea to work on.
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"The great pity is that only a few of our writers gain true international acceptance while the work of so many other equally worthwhile authors languishes perhaps for want of greater promotion."
I've looked up several Australian authors on Kindle, and they just aaren't there!
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Gum - Spot On with your assessment.
Author: The author is from the US.
The book was written in 1949.
The Character : is one of those people who has made a difference to the way we live now (literally).
His academic career included medicine, philosophy and obstetrics. He obtained his medical degree and a lectureship in obstetrics in 1844; and as a surgeon in in 1846.
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Doctor Spock?
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This is very frustrating. I'm sure I know who the character is, but I don't know of any book about him written in 1949.
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Author: The author is from the US.
The book was written in 1949.
The author was born in 1908. He had occupations including writer and journalist and screenwriter.
He died in 1953 at the age of 45 years old.
The character: is one of those people who has made a difference to the way we live now (literally).
His academic career included medicine, philosophy and obstetrics. He obtained his medical degree and a lectureship in obstetrics in 1844; and as a surgeon in in 1846.
The character is European and worked mainly in Vienna, although he was not Viennese.
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Well, the character I had in mind, Ignaz Semmelweiss, still fits, but I sure don't know either book or author.
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It brought Albert Schweitzer to mind but he doesn't fit.
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PatH - You are a genius. It is Semelweiss. Now all you have to do is tell me the author and the name of the book. Wow - I am impressed. That search engine sure looks tempting 8) Looking at my notes it is "Semmelweiss" with two m's. Not one "m" as I have spelt it. How did you know the answer?
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Never heard of him. Looked him up on Wikipedia. Now I know the author and book title, but I never heard of either of those either. The next time I watch 12 Monkeys, I'll have to listen to the reference to Semmelwiess.
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How did you know the answer?
I just did. He popped into my mind as soon as I saw the obstetrics clue, and everything fit. I admit I then checked the date of his appointment, but that's fair if you're already sure you know the answer.
Semmelweis was a pioneer in antiseptic technique. He observed that the death rate from childbed fever in his clinic was much higher in patients attended by medical students than those attended by midwives. By some clever detective work, he concluded that the problem was that the students were bringing something in on their hands from the corpses they autopsied, and by making them wash their hands in bleach, he cut the death rate dramatically. Nobody knew what a germ was back then, and he had trouble getting his ideas accepted.
I particularly like the clever double meaning in the clue "...made a difference in the way we live now" since he both made a difference in behavior and made a difference in how many people lived.
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Someone else is going to have to guess the book, though. I've read Semmelweiss' story in several places, but can't remember one that fits the clues.
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Frybabe, we were posting at the same time. OK, now I know the book and author too, and I'm glad I looked it up, because I haven't heard of the book or author either. And I totally don't remember the reference in 12 Monkeys, I'll have to watch for it too.
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Is anyone going to come up with the book, or am I stuck with the next quiz by default?
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PatH, excellent !! Congratulations.
I believe the author is Morton Thompson, the book is The Cry and he Covenant.
Roshanarose, a thoughtful quiz, pertinent clues were given for the character. Still in my time bind, O regrett not having given enough attention to this quiz. It really could only have been Ignaz Semmelweis. And I remember clearly that not so long ago we have discussed him briefly, although I do not recall where or in what context.
Semmelweis was born in 1818 in the Buda section of the city of Budapest, Hungary, at the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ( At the end of WW I, the Empire was abrogated in the Treaty of Versailles.)
Semmelweis went to Vienna, studied medicine and became an obstetrician, or so we wod call him today. The German term was "Geburtshelfer" = birthing helper. Puerperal fever was rampant at the time, causing the death of thousands of new mothers. In his work, S. found that the incidence of puerperal fever was markedly lower when the attending doctors had first washed their hands. S. became a pioneer forbetter hygiene, kept statistics and charts to document his findings, but was hesitant to publish the data. When he did so in an "Open Letter to the Professors who were Birth Helpers", they scoffed at the findings, ridiculed him and then fired him from his clinical post. Tragically, as in other such instances before and since, the significance of his work was not fully appreciated and lauded until after his premature death in 1865.
Thanks again.
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Who's it? I was first with the character, but couldn't get the book or author. Traude got them all.
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Traude, I'm willing to be it if you don't want to.
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PatH, Yes, pleaee go ahead.
(I've been granted an extension of time by the library for the return of Berlin 1961, and although I'm behind in the discussion, I'd like
to make the best of the extra week.)
Thank you.
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OK, glad to do it. I think your viewpoint is particularly valuable for the Berlin discussion, and don't want to hinder you. I'm having trouble keeping up too. One more week will do it.
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As I was quite young when I read this, and quite sheltered, I was shocked that such injustice could occur due to the ignorance of so-called learned men. As I got older Semmelweis's story and others like it became all too familiar. Tall poppies have been around for thousands of years, but I don't think Semmelweiss is a "tall poppy". His story is rather that of a man who had the statistics to prove that his theory on the prevention of pueperal fever actually worked, and who wasn't taken seriously because old and so-called proven techniques were preferable to new.
At that time professors and their students strutted around the wards after having visited the dissecting room where they had practised obstetrics using cadavers. They would examine the pregnant women without hand washing, after their hands had been up to the wrists in cadaverous material. After the examination the professor would wipe his hands on his pus and blood encrusted waistcoast and continue to the next unfortunate patient.
Semmelweiss knew his statistics and knew that pueperal fever was much less prevalent in many other European countries. Semmelweiss also noted that women who gave birth directly on arrival at the hospital tended to not die. The explanation (and advice) regarding childbirth fever given by Dr Klein was :
""Henceforth, Dr Semmelweis, you will regard puerperal fever as an ailment traceable to milk ....
Klein also gave Semmelweis some more advice. This time he quoted the word of the Emperor of Austria himself, which were spoken when he founded the division.
"Keep yourself to what is old, for that is good. If our ancestors have proven it to be good, why should we not do as they did? Mistrust new ideas. I have no need of learned men. I need faithful subjects. He who would serve me must do what I command. He who cannot do this or who comes full of new ideas may go his way. If he does not. I shall end him. Do you understand, Dr Semmelweis?
Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.
—Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.
Somehow we still manage to be going backwards in our hospital regarding sepsis. MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is rife in public hospitals and many public domains. I have suffered it and argued with the surgeons to remove the plaster on my leg as the pain underneath was so bad I required morphine. Finally one day in the hospital bathroom, blackish red blood shot out across the room from under my plaster. Then they decided to remove the plaster. The ankle was black and hugely swollen. When I asked the registrar what was my problem was, ie did it have a name?. She told me that I had a little bit of "staph". Similar to being a little bit pregnant, I guess. As it was I had to have 6 further operations while I was in hospital to purify my blood, and I was also fitted with a blood filter. I had to stay in hospital for 5 weeks; I couldn't walk for 3 months and had to stay in my upstairs apartment unless I was having screws and new titatium plates adjusted at the hospital. Happy Days: All because the strict hospital guidelines that we expect today were not followed. Often nurses would ask the surgeons to wash their hands only to be ignored. A dark, terrible experience. At least the surgeons in Semmelweis' day were ignorant of the cause of sepsis; surgeons today are not. Big rant, I know. But this subject is very personal and is happening to others as we speak.
"
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Ok, new quiz:
Author: you've all heard of me
Book: same
Character: my father in law was against me from the start
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Pat - I know this isn't the answer, but the first thing that came to mind was Shrek ;D
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Well, I had my laugh of the day already. Thanks, Rosemarykaye!
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Hee hee, Rosemary, I love your suggestion, but, as you say, it isn't the answer.
New clues:
Author: You've all heard of me.
I'm very prolific.
Book: You've all heard of me.
A tale with issues of faithfulness, trust, and betrayal.
Character: My father in law was against me from the start.
I've had a colorful and adventurous career.
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Is it anything to do with Jeffrey Archer?
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Rosemary, it can't be Jeffrey Archer, since I never heard of him until now, although I see he fits the clues. This author is SO different.
New clues:
Author: You've all heard of me.
I'm very prolific.
There's a lot of controversy about my life.
Book: You've all heard of it.
A tale with issues of faithfulness, trust, and betrayal.
Has been a success on stage and screen.
Character: My father in law was against me from the start.
I've had a colorful and adventurous career.
But I have a fatal flaw.
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"But I have a fatal flaw".
Don't we all. ;)
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Lots, in my case... :)
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Yep plenty of flaws and no idea for the answer to this quiz
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Could this possibly be a Shakespeare?
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YES, Frybabe, it could indeed be a Shakespeare. Which one?
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Othello?
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WINNERS! WINNERS! WINNERS!
[/size]
Frybabe gets the author, Rosemary gets the title (and character). good job.
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Using Othello gives me an excuse to share my favorite quote from it. Emilia is the wife of Iago, the wicked schemer who deceives Othello into thinking his wife is unfaithful. Emilia is honorable, but being a Shakespearean wife, has to go along with whatever her husband does. Here she is alone with Desdemona, who has seen, for the first time, Othello acting jealous.
Emilia. 'Tis not a year or two shows us a man:
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;
They eat us hungerly, and when they are full
They belch us.
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Rosemarykaye, would you like me to take this one?
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Frybabe - that would be lovely, provided you don't mind :)
I would never have got Othello if you hadn't got Shakespeare. After all, i thought it was Jeffrey Archer!!!
Rosemary
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Okay, Rosemarykaye, I hope to have something later on today. I've got to run some errands this morning.
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I'm not sure how I am going to manage this without someone guessing right away, but I'll try.
Author: Novelist and short story writer
Book: An American Classic which was once (don't know about now) pretty much required reading in high school.
Character: One of three main characters, I am much older than my wife.
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Ha. I sense a love triangle here, but don't know the story.
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don't know the story.
Sure you do JoanK.
George got carted off to the hospital this evening. I am beside myself. He is at his other residence. I am glad he didn't take the cats with him this time. They are being taken care of by his neighbor, and I drop in occasionally. He has friends who will keep an eye on him up there, nevertheless, if I disappear then it's a safe bet I had to make a trip upstate.
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Oh no Frybabe - I hope he gets better soon. Will be thinking of you.
BTW, is it anything to do with F Scott Fitzgerald?
Rosemary
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Sorry, not F Scott.
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O'Henry?
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Hawthorne?
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Congratulations! Pedln has the author, now the book should be easy.
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Maybe, if you are American.... ??? ;D
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I always assumed that Nathaniel Hawthorne was a world wide classic author like Mark Twain and Walt Whitman might be. Maybe not! Who or whose (American authors) books are considered world wide classics like Dickens and Shakespeare? Interesting question.
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Well I am pretty ignorant but I think maybe F Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, JD Salinger, Harper Lee, Jack Kerouac. Robert Frost's poetry. Also Laura Inglis Wilder (?), Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan Coolidge.
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Oh dear, I don't know much beyond Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, which, as you say, was pretty much required reading in high schools. I don't know if it's still required reading or not.
Frybabe, I hope your George is doing better.
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We have our Winner. PEDLIN
I don't know much beyond Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter
Which is why I chose it over his other books, Pedln. I thought it, above the others, would be recognizable. I can't remember whether I was very happy about having to read it or not. I believe I've read a few of his short stories, but never read The House of Seven Gables which is another popular book of his. His writings seem to have a psychological component to them.
George is perking up quite well on the saline solution. Thanks for asking. The doctor discovered muscle tissue damage (I believe he said extensive) which he believes was caused by the statins George is taking. The doctor said he has Rhabeomyolysis. They are keeping him in hospital to flush his system out good. We are wondering why, with all their fancy tests and specialists down here that was missed. Apparently it is reversible. Good for that anyway.
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Tomorrow? Will try to get it started.
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Happy Healings to George. Take care Fry.
CONGRATULATIONS PEDLN!!!!!!
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Maybe, if you are American....
Rosemary - I agree - Hawthorne is not read much here either - some literature courses include something by him usually Scarlet Letter which is only one of his I've read - and maybe a couple of short stories.
Who or whose (American authors) books are considered world wide classics like Dickens and Shakespeare? Interesting question.
Frybabe: That really is an interesting question - I think I'll ponder it for a while before attempting to answer ... though I think I'll exclude trying to find one to equal Shakespeare - American or otherwise.
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Here we go, with fiction. I think I've already given it away, but one must start at the beginning.
AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
CHARACTER
I, too, never met my biological father, the impregnation of my mother being rather unique.
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FRYBABE: So glad he's doing better. thanks for keeping up the quiz.
I'm not sure Hawthorne is read much anywhere, except in US High School classes.
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Congratulations, Pedln.
I'm a rare bird who didn't read The Scarlet Letter in high school. When I wanted to read it in college for a pick-your-own-choice book report, the prof made me promise solemnly that I hadn't already read it. But he believed me. I wonder if that would happen now. I sure understood it better for reading it when I was older.
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pedln - It is a novel and not a myth. The mention of the uinque method of impregnation of his mother made me think of Leda and the Swan. Another unique method is parthenogenesis - a virgin birth.
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Roshanarose, I should probably qualify that statement and say that it was a bit one-sided. Enough said there. Not a myth as time will show. Definitely a novel.
More clues tomorrow. Off to bed now.
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New clues
AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
I had a learning disability and trouble reading when in school, but did graduate from college and went on to the creative writing program at U of Iowa, where Kurt Vonnegut was one of my instructors.
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
It received the National Book Award
CHARACTER
And I never met my biological father, the imprenation of my mother being rather unique.
I am a writer and my mother is also a writer.
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Oh dear, no idea..... :(
Rosemary
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I can think of one set of Mother/Daughter writers: Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. I have not read any of their books.
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We don't actually know the character is a woman.
But I don't have any idea either.
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New clues -- you know this, everybody does.
AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
I had a learning disability and trouble reading when in school, but did graduate from college and went on to the creative writing program at U of Iowa, where Kurt Vonnegut was one of my instructors.
I have written 12 novels, my 13th, also about a writer, is scheduled to be published next summer.
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
It received the National Book Award
The title of this book is inserted in the last sentence of the novel
CHARACTER
And I never met my biological father, the imprenation of my mother being rather unique.
I am a writer and my mother is also a writer.
My mother was a feminist who established a center for troubled and abused women. Some of these women used extreme methods to emphasize their cause.
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Yikes! I was getting author and character mixed up. Still not ringing any bells.
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AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
I had a learning disability and trouble reading when in school, but did graduate from college and went on to the creative writing program at U of Iowa, where Kurt Vonnegut was one of my instructors.
I have written 12 novels, my 13th, also about a writer, is scheduled to be published next summer.
Some of my other books have been made into films. I received an award for the Best Adapted Screenplay for a different title, not this one.
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
It received the National Book Award
The title of this book is inserted in the last sentence of the novel
This book was made into a film of the same title. It was the first film for a very well-known actress, obviously she was not fatally atrracted.
CHARACTER
And I never met my biological father, the imprenation of my mother being rather unique.
I am a writer and my mother is also a writer.
My mother was a feminist who established a center for troubled and abused women. Some of these women used extreme methods to emphasize their cause.
I'm a loving parent, though my spouse and I have fidelity problems.
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AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH1
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Pat - I hope that is an Aaaaargh of recognition, because I still don't have an inkling.....
Rosemary
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I sympathize ladies. I can't stand it either. Give-away clues coming up. Now, watch your tongue.
AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
I had a learning disability and trouble reading when in school, but did graduate from college and went on to the creative writing program at U of Iowa, where Kurt Vonnegut was one of my instructors.
I have written 12 novels, my 13th, also about a writer, is scheduled to be published next summer.
Some of my other books have been made into films. I received an award for the Best Adapted Screenplay for a different title, not this one.
Bears, wrestling-- I was inducted into the Nation Wrestling Hall of Fame
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
It received the National Book Award
The title of this book is inserted in the last sentence of the novel
This book was made into a film of the same title. It was the first film for a very well-known actress, obviously she was not fatally atrracted.
Bears, wrestling
CHARACTER
And I never met my biological father, the imprenation of my mother being rather unique.
I am a writer and my mother is also a writer.
My mother was a feminist who established a center for troubled and abused women. Some of these women used extreme methods to emphasize their cause.
I'm a loving parent, though my spouse and I have fidelity problems.
Bears, wrestling
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Is it something to do with Glen Close (as in Fatal Attraction)?
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Where is my son, the wrestling fanatic, when I need him.
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New clues. Surely now you know. I've been out all day. Thought you would have had it by now. Back later. Watch your tongue. Rosemary, the book is not about Glen Close.
AUTHOR
I grew up without ever meeting my biological father
I had a learning disability and trouble reading when in school, but did graduate from college and went on to the creative writing program at U of Iowa, where Kurt Vonnegut was one of my instructors.
I have written 12 novels, my 13th, also about a writer, is scheduled to be published next summer.
Some of my other books have been made into films. I received an award for the Best Adapted Screenplay for a different title, not this one.
Bears, wrestling-- I was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Many of my books are set in New England, some at schools similar to Phillips Exeter which I attended.
BOOK
This was my fourth novel, and the one that broke the ice for me.
It received the National Book Award
The title of this book is inserted in the last sentence of the novel
This book was made into a film of the same title. It was the first film for a very well-known actress, obviously she was not fatally atrracted.
Bears, wrestling
An Atlanta rock group took the name of the group the character's mother helped.
CHARACTER
And I never met my biological father, the imprenation of my mother being rather unique.
I am a writer and my mother is also a writer.
My mother was a feminist who established a center for troubled and abused women. Some of these women used extreme methods to emphasize their cause.
I'm a loving parent, though my spouse and I have fidelity problems.
Bears, wrestling
I had two sons. One lost his life. The other lost his eye. The guy in the car ahead lost his . . .
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Is Glen Close wrestling bears with Robin Williams?
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Pedln - I haven't got the remotest idea.
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And neither have I ???
Rosemary
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Out with it, roshanarose. Ha ha ha. You know you know it. ;D
Or will someone beat you to it.
Maybe you haven't read it, though that's hard to believe of this international bestseller of 1978.
Did you really forget that car accident? Or what all those Ellen whatevers did to themselves?
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pedln, though am certain I never read this "1978 international best seller", I'd still like to throw out a wild guess, based on a process of elimination :
The extremely prolific West Virginian author Mary Lee Settle had 17 novels and memoirs and 3 non fiction works to her credit.
Her book Blood Tie won the 1978 National Book Award. Could that be IT ?
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Sorry, Traude, it is not Mary Lee Settle. Though published in 1978, I believe it was the author's paperback that won the National Book Award a year or two later.
I can't believe that you don't know this book which has been so positively reviewed. Here is just one example:
The main story in this not-named book […] is of a man with a famous mother, a man who reaches toward fame himself. XXX is the black sheep daughter of an aristocratic New England family; she becomes, almost by accident, a feminist leader ahead of her time. Her son, YYYY (named for a father he never saw), has high ambitions for his artistic career, but he has an even higher, obsessive devotion to his wife and children. Surrounding YYY and XXX are a wide assortment of people: schoolteachers and whores, wrestlers and radicals, editors and assassins, transsexuals and rapists, and husbands and wives. It is the author's special gift that all his characters, even the least lovable among them, are portrayed not just vividly but affectionately.
In the film, the actress who plays YYY's mother and the actor/actress? who plays his best friend were both nominated for best supporting actress and actor. Also in the film were two old favorites Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.
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Ahhhhhhh,
John Irving, The World according to Garp
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Ahhhhhhhh, Thank you, Traude. Yes yes yes
WINNER!!!! WINNER!!!! WINNER!!!!
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YEEEHHHAAAHHHH - Straude Two - Well Done {{ }}
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Well done, Traude.
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pedln - Now you can tell me how Glen got pregnant. Was it something to do with a car? Great film and I loved the book equally. I find Robin Williams annoying sometimes but he was very good in "Garp" and, another favourite, "The Fisher King".
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Thank goodness you got it, Traude. That was driving me bananas.
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Traude, are you sure you haven't read this book? :D
This was a fun one to do. I've only read a few John Irving books, but learned a lot about John Irving during the research process for this game. Interestingly, in one of the online polls, A Prayer for Owen Meany was rated the favorite, with Garp following immediately behind. That would be my thinking also. Irving insisted that the film version of Owen Meany be retitled (Simon Birch) as it differed from the book.
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pedln,
Thank you. Your research was excellent and so were the clues. But, speaking for myself, it was a hard nut to crack.
Some bells were ringing, faintly and not in harmony. I think I had deliberately closed my mind to Irving. Your last clue about New England shook me awake - with a bit of a shudder.
Because, you see, I don't like John Irving's writings, and if that makes me a heretic, so be it. >:( God knows I tried.
No, I did not read Garp and I knew nothing about the movie. I've held the library book in my hand and leafed through it and picked it up a few times. There were many strands to the plot, I recall. Yet I simply could not tune into the sensibilities of the author (wrestling appalls me), or how humor of all tings can be found in a horrendous accident. That's when I stopped. I tried The Hotel New Hampshire when it was chosen by our live book group, years ago. It deals with themes Irving has focused on in other books - private education in institutions resembling Phillips Exeter Academy here in Mass., to which he had personal, familial connections. Variations on a number of themes recur in his books; he is a very forceful writer, and you can see that in his piercing, passionate eyes. I made one last attempt, A Prayer for Owen Meany, which I actually finished.
Forgive me for being candid. Of course this is a question of taste and we know that there is no accounting for our differences - de gustibus non est disputandum.
Please give me a day or two to come up with an equally absorbing quiz with similarly seductive clues :D.
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straudetwo - Candour needs to be applauded, not forgiven.
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I really like how we get such a spectrum of opinions about a book on this site. I learn both from the "likes" and the "dislikes".
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Has anyone seen my mate, Gumtree?
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I see she hasn't posted since Oct 6, and the same on the other site. I wonder if she's all right? ???
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Gum - We need to know that you are OK.
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I just sent her a Personal Message (her email is hidden) asking her. These also generate an email, so if anyone's looking, it should get through. :( ???
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Please forgive the delay in my suggesting a new quiz. I am very sorry, but I was torn between several different choices, unable to decide. This evening I found the inspiration in my own book case. This is one that I can present with confidence, and you will have an easy time as we get going, I promise.
Author : World-renowned, passionate author has written novels, essays, short stories, non fiction and poetry.
Book : Acclaim came with the first novel. It describes a failed marriage.
Characters : The unhappy couple and their servants.
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Wild guess - Flaubert - Madame Bovary?
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Sorry, Rosemary, it's not Flaubert.
New clues follow tomorrow.
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New clues
We need to concentrate on the author first.
A great deal of the author's voluminous body of work is autobiographical.
The author's intense commitment to social justice, severe criticism of repressive regimes, and concern for the dispossessed all over the world is well known -- but has not always been 'popular'.
Despite this serious engagement in the topics of the day the author has consistently avoided being identified with movements or ideologies, political or literary.
In addition to the information in the first clue, the author also wrote science fiction and children's literature.
The book, as stated, put the author on the literary "map" but the magnum opus was yet to come.
There is nothing special about the unhappy couple in that first book - except their particular circumstances.
All wild guesses are welcome ! ;)
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Sounds a bit like that Russian man who was sent to Siberia. I know him but can't remember how to spell his name.
The author could be Russian, or perhaps Scandinavian.
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This is tantalizing. I really feel like I should know it.
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Do you mean Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Roshanarose? I remember when Gulag came out. Did anyone read it? He wrote quite a bit. Sorry to say I've never read any of his works.
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All wild guesses are welcome ! ;)
Well, my really wild guess would be Yevgeny Zamyatin, but he only sort of fits. And the only one of his many books I know anything about is We, which wouldn't be the right book. And I don't think he wrote poetry.
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Thank you for your posts. I'm off to an appointment but will answer when I get back.
A quick word before you continue your diligent search : Our author is neither Russian nor Scandinavian.
In haste, Traude
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Author : World-renowned, passionate author has written novels, essays, short stories, non fiction and poetry.
Semi describes Rudyard Kipling or C. S. Lewis. The additional information makes me doubt them, however. I am throwing them out there just to rule them out, I guess.
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Thanks for the elimination of the Russian and the Scandinavians, Straude.
Yes, you were right it was Solzhenitsyn I was thinking of, and No, I haven't read any of his books.
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Eliminating Russians and Scandinavians has brought us in to closer proximity to our author.
As for Communist leanings, several European and other authors veered left, many in their youth, only to abandon it later. One writer who remained firmly on the side of the downtrodden in favor of socialism was the 1998 Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. As far as I know from the writings of his I read, his ideology did not spill over in to his work.
New clues.
Our author is still alive.
The large readership of the author's fiction did not like the switch to science fiction (and I was one of them, I confess), but for the author it was the most important, according to a statement to the press.
The author won many prizes, including the Nobel Prize.
Regarding the book : A Swedish company made a movie of the story in 1981.
I hope this helps.
ake heart ! The record shows clearly that you have unearthed more complicated puzzle than this one.
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Margaret Atwood?
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pedln, Now we are getting somewhere !!
It's not Atwood but you are on the right track !
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A Canadian? Robertson Davies? Doesan't really fit!)
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Davies didn't ever turn to Science Fiction.
On the other hand, though it's no longer relevant, Kipling actually did write several Sci-Fi short stories. They mostly concern members of the Old Boy's Establishment setting things "right" behind the scenes.
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Unfortunately, you have turned away from the "breakthrough", Atwood -- but we are not looking for a Canadian author.
PatH, that's right. Also, Robertson Davies did not receive the Nobel Prize.
Will check back later this evening. Please don't give up!
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Oh, gosh. I missed the Nobel Prize clue, but it still doesn't help. I thought of Carl Sagon, but his is no longer physically with us, and I don't know if he ever won a Nobel Prize. Must think. If this person is still alive, then the prize was relatively recent. Doris Lessing is still hanging in there, but no SciFi to my knowledge. Must think more!
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OOHHHH! Frybabe, I'm sure you've got it.
Yes, Doris Lessing did write some Science Fiction--a series of books, overall title Canopus in Argos. I tried the first one, Shikasta, and couldn't get into it. Two of them have been made into operas with music by Philip Glass (The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, and The Marriages between zones Three, Four, and Five)
I knew that as the resident Sci-Fi nut, I would be embarrassed when someone else got this, and I am.
Good for you, Frybabe.
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Winner ! Winner! for the author. Brava, Frybabe . Doris Lessing is right, a summary of clues no longer
necessary.
I took pains to avoid personal pronouns (did you notice?). The first guesses were all for males, and dead ones at that. So I was pleased when pedln guessed Atwood. I considered that a 'breakthrough' because of the gender, not as pointing toward geographical provenance.
The magnum opus is, of course, The Golden Notebook, which was praised by the critics and instantly seized on by the feminists of the day when it was published in 1962. and hailed as a feminist classic -- to Lessing's chagrin. She herself preferred the science fiction Canopus in Argos sequence. I thought PatH would surely guess it because of her knowledge of science fiction.
More tomorrow about the book, Lessing's first and easy to guess.
Thank you all.
P.S. and off-topic : We have not seen Gumtree hereabouts for a while. Is she all right ? Does anyone know ?
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I wasn't even close to guessing, even though I knew all the relevant facts. A clear win for Frybabe. That was an excellent quiz--meaty and interesting.
Gumtree hasn't been online since Oct 6, including in the Latin course she's taking. Her email address is hidden, but I sent her a personal message on the 16th (which also generates an email). No answer. :( If anyone can think of any other way to contact her, please share.
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Well done Frybabe! All I could think of was Nadine Gordimer and she didn't fit.
No ideas as to how to contact Gumtree, I hope she is OK. Let's hope it's just computer problems.
Rosemary
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Good job, Frybabe, and a good choice, Traude.
Contests like these teach me so much about what I don't know.
Gumtree lives in Perth?
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Thank you, PatH and pedln.. And I agree, Frybabe [/i] deserves the credit.
The book is titled The Grass is Singing, was published in 1950 and is more a novella than a novel. It caused consternation because it exposes the racial tension, hidden prejudice and, most especially, the fear of whites of black power in the former Southern Rhodesia (where the super-prolific, beloved Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith wa born and raised).
I chose this book because I believe it shows the author's uncompromising stance in favor of racial and gender equality at an early time in contemporary history, and tswetting her course.
Incidentally, the movie adaptation of the story made in 1981 by a Swedish company was filmed in Zambia and featured John Thaw, )Inspector Morse), American Karen Black, and John Kani as Moses.
This was fun for me to do and more 'findable' than the other possibilities I had tentatively considered. Thank you for guessing.
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Gumtree lives in Perth?
Yes. She and I worked out recently that we're only about 600 miles away from being exactly antipodal.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, #2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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PatH, our posts almost coincided.
Yes, let's hope we hear from Gumtree soon, or perhaps about her by Roshanarose who's untold miles away but on the same continent.
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Author: Born in the US of Russian immigrant parents.
Book: Originally written as a screenplay, it was expanded to a book when movie plans stalled. The movie was eventually made.
Character: 40ish scientist.
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I am Australian, so Gum and I share the same country. But as we have both pointed out our states are a long way away from each other. The Northern Territory sits between our states If you care to check a map of Australia and note the distance between Brisbane in Queensland (where I live) and Western Australia (where Gum lives) I can't really pop in for a chate and a cuppa (although I would like to). I confess I am worried about her. I hope she bounces back soon and tells me not to be such a worry-wart, but still... If we knew her surname I could perhaps look her up in the Perth telephone directory if she is away much longer. Although I do not want to be intrusive.
Well done Frybabe - Has anyone read Shirley Hazzard and/or Iris Murdoch. I have been meaning to read both.
Traude - Yes I noticed that there were no personal pronouns. Good quiz.
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Roshanarose,
I have read Iris Murdoch and didn't like her at all. I think I must have been missing something, as she is of course widely celebrated, and the backs of the books always remark on her humour, which I just don't get. It's funny that you should mention her, as just yesterday the newspaper was raving about another author with whom I struggled, Rachel Cusk. Obviously she isn't as famous as Murdoch, but the literati love her. I found the two books of hers that I read boring and hard to follow. I was telling my daughter about this, and comparing Cusk to Murdoch, in that, to me, both of them write in a sort of "murky" way, so that I feel there is a kind of fog between me and the characters, and I don't much care for, or identify with, any of them.
Did, however, enjoy the film "iris" - though husband didn't, as he felt it was just like watching his own parents (ie both "other wordly", academic, confused by daily life, etc).
Rosemary
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Author:
Born in the US of Russian immigrant parents.
An early interest in nature eventually turned into a focus on space.
Book:
Originally written as a screenplay, it was expanded to a book when movie plans stalled. The movie was eventually made.
Mathematics, time travel, extraterrestrials and faith are all part of this novel.
Character:
40ish scientist.
At the novel's beginning the character is director of a radio telescope project.
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Oh dear, no idea as usual...... ;D
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Carl Sagan, Contact, Eleanor Arroway
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Right you are, PatH.
I didn't read the book, but I did see the movie. There were some major (to my mind) differences between the book and the movie. Wikipedia has a list:
In the novel, Ellie is well into her 40s, as is Palmer Joss.
Attempts to cut funding for Ellie's project are not prominent in the novel.
Ellie's romantic relationships are different.
Ellie's mother is still alive, and re-married after her father died.
The President of the United States is a fictional woman, not Bill Clinton.
The contents and the coding of The Message are different (polarity modulation vs between lines of video).
The work on The Message causes a major thaw of international relations in the novel.
The Machine transports only one inhabitant (an American) in the film.
A bomb destroys The Machine during its construction in the novel.
The entire last chapter of the novel was not included in the film.
I was trying not to get the two confused. At some point I may get the book to read. It sounds just as interesting with the differences. One wonders how much would have been changed it Sagan had still been alive when the movie was finally made. The screenplay was written in 1979, the book came out in 1985 and the movie came out in 1997.
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I read the book before the movie came out, and IMHO, it's better than the movie, though I liked the movie too. I think you would enjoy it. I didn't know the history of the screenplay.
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I'm sorry to learn that we've lost Gumtree. She died suddenly on October 7th. Ginny has posted a picture in the Library, as well as a link to a profile.
It's surprisingly painful to lose her.
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I am glad I am not the only one who so keenly feels Gumtree's passing, PatH.
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We all do, Frybabe. She was a very vibrant person who most definitely left her mark.
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Just so shocked. I knew that something was wrong.
I have encountered many great and learned people, but none such as our dear Gum. In "author, author" all knew that Gum would have the answer up her sleeve, but would not always reveal it, wanting to see who got it first, just to be fair. A patient teacher, always humble, and a good friend.
I shall miss you my fellow Australian. I always looked forward to reading your posts and appreciated your Australian sense of humour. You were the only one who could calm me with just a word. My tears are for our and your family's loss.
Wherever you go we are with you in spirit.
Always
roshanarose
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I can't really believe I won't see her posts again. Whatever we were into, she jumped in with both feet, with her humor, kindness, intellegence, wide knowledge.
Gum trees are common here in Southern California. Whenever I see one, I shall think of her.
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Fellow players - You will remember that I dedicated a poem called "Egrets" to Gum. Barb did some research and found some interesting symbolism regarding egret/herons. You can read her post and the poem in "Poetry". I did a bit more research and found this link. The descriptions from various cultures are so spot-on that it is quite eerie, but in a good sense.
btw I had no idea of any of this when I found and dedicated that poem to our dear friend Gum.
I just knew that it fitted her perfectly.
www.dallasegrets.org/EgretArt/symbolism.html
JoanK - So just as you will always be reminded of Gum by gumtrees, so shall I with herons.
Footnote: I only read two poems before deciding upon "Egrets" by an Australian poet called Judith Wright. Also coincidentally I knew her family, especially her younger brother. They come from the same part of NSW as I, ie Armidale. I didn't know that either until I posted the poem.
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Fascinating! Since I'm a bird-lover, I will be happy to associate my friends the herons with my friend Gumtree.
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I've been very remiss, but here at last is the next quiz.
Author: My writings are both prose and poetical.
Book: One of my best known works.
Character: My war experiences influenced my life.
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@ first guess, Kurt Vonnegut, but I don't know about his writings being poetic.
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Clever guess, roshanarose, but wide of the mark.
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New clues:
Author: My writings are both prose and poetical.
My personal life pushed the boundaries of what was accepted.
Book: One of my best known works.
Partly deals with an esoteric skill.
Character: My war experiences influenced my life.
I'm sort of a stereotype.
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Intriguing clues, but nothing comes to mind - yet.
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Brideshead Revisited? Evelyn Waugh?
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Good guess, Rosemary, but not right. Don't think Waugh was poetic. At least this time you didn't guess it in the first ten seconds like you usually do, but I bet the next clues will give it to you.
Author: My writings are both prose and poetical.
My personal life pushed the boundaries of what was accepted.
Religious issues are important to me.
Book: One of my best known works.
Partly deals with an esoteric skill.
Was televised--brilliantly IMHO.
Character: My war experiences influenced my life.
I'm sort of a stereotype.
I lead a pretty posh life.
Additional clue--this work is not poetic.
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I thought that the author might be Arthur Conan Doyle and the character Sherlock Holmes, but I note that PatH has already used Sherlock Holmes for an earlier quiz.
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Not Doyle/Holmes, but you're on the right track, roshanarose, or should I say "the game's afoot"?
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Dorothy L Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey, The Nine Tailors?
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I think you have it Rosemarykaye.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Yes, she's got it. Good job, rosemarykaye!
The clues:in addition to the Wimsey stories, Sayers translated Dante, a version I like a lot. She went to Oxford at a time when women couldn't even be granted degrees. She had an illegitimate child, though this was kept pretty quiet.
The esoteric skill is, of course, bell-ringing. The BBC television version, with Ian Carmichael as Wimsey, did a super job of capturing the feel of the book, and all the characters are well-cast.
Wimsey's WWI experience left him somewhat shell-shocked, and that's where he met Bunter, who had been his batman, and became his butler and partner in detection.
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Impressive, Rosemarykaye, and what a good choice, PatH. I've read that book, and seen that film, but sure didn't have a clue to this puzzle. I've seen a few Wimsey films, but Nine Tailors is the only Sayers I've read.
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Thanks Pat and Pedln. I remember seeing the BBC version years ago - it was very good, I can still clearly see Ian Carmichael in the bell tower (or at least I think I can - sometimes when I say that I discover that I've actually made it up :D)
I love Dorothy L Sayers.
I will start to think.
Rosemary
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Jolly good work Rosemary.
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Congratulations, Rosemary. Well done.
I have Author! Author! bookmarked and checked every day - but there was nothing (!!!) after PatH's post confirming Gumtree's home town. Finally impatient, I just cecked to the list of discussions - and hurrah, THERE I found it.
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Hi Straudetwo - Perth is a city worth visiting, but due to its location on the far west side of Australia, not many of us do. I have given you the wiki link, sensing Gum's displeasure, because I know there are better sites, but I don't know which.
Enjoy.
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth,_Western_Australia.
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Rosemary, you're it. If you don't want the honor, does anyone else want it? If I do it, you'll get the answer right away again, so you can't escape that way.
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Sorry Pat - it's been on my mind but so has my OU course! I will try to think of something tonight/tomorrow. If I can't I'll let you know and someone else can take over (I hope...)
Rosemary
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Here I am at last.
Author: English
Book: is about a trip
Character: travels with (amongst others) a relative
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Aaaaaah. This is still wide open for speculation. Is the book fiction or nonfiction ?
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The first that comes to mind is Graham Greene's Travels with My Aunt.
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Sorry, not Travels with my Aunt - although there is a certain similarity.
Author: English
writer of novels, travel books and biographies
Book: is about a trip
is fiction
Character: travels with (amongst others) a relative
identity is in one way ambiguous throughout the book
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, #2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Robert Louis Stevenson?
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It still sort of fits the Greene. Aaaak.
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Just a guess - Gerald Durrell.
Also thought of Patrick Dennis, but he was from the US.
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Sorry, not Greene, Stevenson, Durrell or Patrick Dennis.
New clues:
Author: English
Writer of novels, travel books and biographies
Was a childhood friend of Rupert Brooke
Book: Is about a trip
Is fiction
Explores, amongst other things, High Anglicanism
Character: travels with (amongst others) a relative
identity is in one way ambiguous throughout the book
is racked with guilt
I have just found out that the book was a bestseller in the USA, so I'm sure these clues will allow someone to get it now!
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Never heard of Rupert Brooke so I looked him up. Now I shall have to find a copy of his poem of "The Soldier".
Ah, hah! Found it. Project Gutenberg has his poems.
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It's still wide open; we have no idea of time period or author's gender e.g.
Is it Evelyn Waugh ?
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E. M. Forster?
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No sorry, neither of those. I think Rupert Brooke does give you an idea of time period - no?
Anyway, new clues:
Author: English
Writer of novels, travel books and biographies
Childhood friend of Rupert Brooke
Female, never married, but conducted a long adulterous affair, which informs the book
Book: Is about a trip
Is fiction
Explores (amongst other things) High Anglicanism
Starts in London and proceeds, by way of various adventures, to Turkey
Character: travels with (amongst others) a relative
identity is in one way ambiguous throughout the book
is racked with guilt
makes a pilgrimage riding a very particular animal
I hope this does it!
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Rosemary, was it Gertrude Bell ?
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No sorry, not Gertrude Bell.
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Darn. That looked good to me. Everyone I can think of doesn't quite fit.
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I am thinking Virginia Woolf. She did have an affair with Vita Sackville-West. I think I would need to read all Woolf's books if it were she in order to know the right one. The unusual conveyance sounds a lot like a camel.
Darn It! It is not Woolf. She did marry.
Who then?
A member of the Bloomsbury Group or that set?
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Roshanarose - she was not exactly a member of the Bloomsbury Group, but she was certainly around at that time. Virginia Woolf was quite rude about her. You are, however, doing well with the animal.....
Author: English
Writer of novels, travel books and biographies
Childhood friend of Rupert Brooke
Female, never married, but conducted a long adulterous affair, which informs the book
Won the James Tait Black Memorial prize for this book
Book: Is about a trip
Is fiction
Explores (amongst other things) High Anglicanism
Starts in London and proceeds, by way of various adventures, to Turkey
Has a famous first line, that begins "Take my ----- dear....."
Character: travels with (amongst others) a relative
identity is in one way ambiguous throughout the book
is racked with guilt
makes a pilgrimage riding a very particular animal
has been involved in a life-changing accident
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If it's what I think it is, Rosemary, it's a great choice. I love the search, but it would never have come to mind on its own. But this is why nothing ever gets done around here. Gotta go get out. And what I don't need to know is where to buy turkey in Virginia.
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There's one name that seems to "fit" all the clues :
Rose Macaulay for The Towers of Trebizon.
I admit that the information was furnished by Google. :(
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Hooray - yes Straude, it is indeed The Towers of Trebizond!
It's a wonderful book that I only discovered a few years ago. It's about Laurie, the narrator (whose gender is never disclosed), his/her aunt Dot and Father Chantry Pigg, who go on a mission to Turkey accompanied by Aunt Dot's camel. The famous first line is:
"Take my camel dear" said Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass"
The first part of the book is hilarious, as the four of them have all sorts of adventures along the way, meeting a variety of people who 'happen to be wandering about in the Levant this year' - it was apparently fashionable to go there at the time. They even encounter Billy Graham. As the novel progresses, however, Laurie is left on his/her own with the camel whilst Aunt Dot and Father Chantry Pigg make a detour across the Russian border. Laurie's journey on the camel to Jeruslaem becomes one of faith, as he/she debates the nature of religious belief and the impossibility of reconciling this with adultery.
Eventually everyone meets up again, and in a most poignant ending, we discover what has happened to Laurie before the trip.
I know that this may make the book sound self-consciously funny, but it really isn't, it is beautifully written. Macaulay throws in all sorts of references to Anglicanism, Muslims, Judaism, mystic philosophy, etc - she never patronises the reader by explaining them, which IMO makes it all much more interesting.
Macaulay had a long affair with a married ex-priest, Gerald O'Donovan, and it is thought that much of the book is autobiographical. She knew all the literati of her time and was a tireless party-goer. Virginia Woolf called her "too chittery-chattery" (which for me is yet another black mark for VW :)). She was a friend of Victor Gollancz and Elizabeth Bowen.
I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Well done Straude!
Rosemary
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Congratulations, Traude. This was a fascinating, but difficult puzzle. (I thought I had, but not so, due to confusion and memory lapses.)
Rosemary, this was fun to work on, and certainly introduced new material. I was not familiar with either the book or author. What a great first line, and how very clever of you to introduce it as you did. (That one would have really stumped our LA students when working on a first line puzzle in the library.)
Delighted to learn about the James Tait Black Awards, which, if I've read correctly, are Britain's oldest literary awards, awarded by the University of Edinburgh.
In accordance with the wishes of the founder, eligible works of fiction and biographies are those written in English, and first published or co-published in the UK during the calendar year of the award.
The nationality of the writer is irrelevant. Both prizes may go to the same author, but neither to the same author a second time.
Cormac McCarthy was a winner, but I don't know how many others were not from the UK.
James Tait Black Prize (http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/people/tait-black)
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Good for you, Traude, I was nowhere close to getting it.
Rosemarykaye, that quiz was a lot of fun, because there were so many authors who almost fit but didn't quite.
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Wonderful catch Traude. I hadn't a clue.
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Good for you Traude.
Great quiz, Rosemary.
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Rosemary, thank you for this intriguing quiz and clues. For the longest time I had no idea - until finally a forgotten drawer of my memory sprang open and produced the name Maccaulay. Thank you also for the synopsis. The relationship between the book's character Laurie and the married former Jesuit priest must have been solid, for it lasted until his death in 1942. I'm going to check he library for the book.
I was interested in your remark about "black marks' in re Virginia Woolf. Would you please comment briefly, if time permits ?
Years ago, when we had just arrived in Massachusetts, I took a course on VW offered by he marvelous Harvard Extension Program, an exhilarating experience, also because of the participants. I came away with a fuller understanding of her sometimes uneven work, but could not come to grips with the person of the author. Evidently she had strong opinions (which she confided to her diary). Initially she wrestled extensively with her husband's Jewishness in surprisingly uncharitable (even tactless) words. Later she took exactly the opposite stance. It seems she took snobbishness to new heights.
I am sorry to have fallen behind again.
But we had water damage on the roof and in the garage where the chimney abuts the shingles, water-logged bricks abutting the shingles, and rotting fascia board, all of which had to be replaced, new bricks re-jointed, and had gutter repairs also. Three brisk, clear days of hammering. A water-logged window and the side door to the garage had to be replaced.
Checkups came up Monday and Tuesday of this week, the latter at the ophthalmologist's and unpleasant. It took the ret of yesterday and last night before my vision turned to half-normal.
I will be ready with a new quiz before the end of the week.
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Goodness, Traude, you're certainly working under difficulties. If you need someone to spell you, just let us know.
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Here is the new quiz
Author : Poet, short-story and screen writer, playwright, critic
Book : Author's most famous short story
Character : An Aging Woman
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Vita Sackville-West? 'All Passion Spent'? Or is that a novel? Just guessing :)
Rosemary
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Than you for guessing, Rosemary.
It is not Vita Sackville West, however.
This time we are looking for an American writer, a celebrated wit and pblic figure.
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Dorothy Parker?
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It is, Rosemary ! Excellent !
I bet you can also guess the story !
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Straude, I have to confess I have never read any of her work, I just guessed her from "celebrated wit and public figure". So I'm afraid the only way I would be able to get the story is by googling it. Perhaps Frybabe or Pedln or Pat or Roshanarose (or indeed anyone else!) would be able to help us out here?
Rosemary
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Not me, I've read some of her stuff, but not her fiction.
Good job, Rosemary.
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The only thing I know by Dorathy Parker is a jingle:
The older I get,
The further I roam,
The less I care about
Who sleeps with whom!
I hope her fiction is better than her poetry.
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I don't believe I have ever read any of her works. I always thought of her as a columnist and one of the founding members of the famed Algonquin Round Table. I expect there is a bio of her out there. It should be interesting. How did she ever come to the point that her ashes shuffled around for many years, including (according to Wikipedia) seventeen years in her lawyer's file cabinet, without being claimed?
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Ouch!
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Your responses and reactions to Dorothy Parker, the subject of the latest quiz, are appreciated, and all deserve responses.
Yes, there is a biography of her with many photographs of contemporaries, titled You Might as Well Lice : The Life and Times of Dorothy Parker, Simon & Schuster, 1970, from which I'll quote a little later on this Thanksgiving day. I promise. Things are a bit hectic right now ...
Traude
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Are we allowed to Google for the name of the story?
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Rosemary, PatH will know the answer to that question.
In the interest of saving time please let me provide the title of the story we sought now. It is Big Blonde, the best known of her short stories, for which Parker was awarded the O.Henry Prize.
A great number of her quotations can be found on the net, among them
"Men rarely make passes
At girls who wear glasses"
and the "spoonerism" "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobomy".
Just after World War One, DP was one of the brightest and newest people on the cultural literary scene in New York. For a while she was rich, famous and powerful, the most talked-about woman in America. She was a central figure at the celebrated Algonquin Round Table with Alexander Woollcott, Charles MacArthur (husband of Helen Hayes), Art Samuels and Groucho Marx. She wrote for Vogue, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker in various capacities and, later in life, book reviews for Esquire. Before any of that, she published to volumes of verse that became bestsellers. Her short stories ( wickedly funny, sometimes sad) were hailed by the critics. She skewered perceived hypocrites mercilessly; there would be some hurt feelings. Hearing of the death of Calvin Coolidge, she is reputed to have said : "How could they tell?"
Theater people treasured her remark that one of Katherine Hepburn's performances "ran the whole gamut of emotions from A to B."
In her lifetime she became the inspiration for several plays. Parker herself wrote and/or cowrote plays during her screenwriting days in Hollywood's hey day. She became a political activist during the trials of Sacco and Vanzetti (protested and was arrested for a brief time) and an early champion of the civil rights movement. In her will, she bequeathed her estate to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation. Her executrix, Lillian Hellman, unsuccessfully contested the disposition. As a result, Parker's ashes were held in different places over some 17 years -- until 1988, when the NAACP claimed the remains and commissioned a memorial plaque for display in the garden outside the NAACP's Baltimore headquarters. She died of a heart attack in 1967 at 73. She was an intelligent woman living in a man's world where a woman's intellectual pursuits were not encouraged, and she died too soon to learn that new vistas have opened for women since then.
I had fun with this quiz and hope you enjoyed it too. Thank you for guessing along.
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Straude - One of the best parts of preparing these quizzes in what you (the quizzer) find out about the book and the writer. The best type of learning takes places between the student and the teacher, ie what they teach each other.
When I was a student teacher our lecturer wanted to discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic values of being a teacher. We , as impoverished students, were all on the side of the extrinsic value. In retrospect, I was so wrong.
I was in a department store recently, at the cosmetics counter, and two beautifully made up young ladies approached me and told me how good I looked in glasses. Somewhat taken aback (WHO ME???) they proceeded to tell me that the intellectual look is very fashionable just now and that many young fashionistas are wearing glasses with no lenses to make them look more intellectual.
Afterthought: I have been wearing glasses since I was sixteen and never suffered the predicted fate of Dorothy Parker's "girls". But to be told how terribly fashionable they now are because they supposedly made one look intellectual was a bit of a shock for me.
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Straude - thank you for that information, I knew almost nothing about Dorothy Parker - I can see that it would be worth reading her biography (one day...)
Roshanarose - I have worn glasses since I was 12. I had a brief flirtation with contact lenses but they were just so much trouble, I was relieved to go back to spectacles. This afternoon Madeleine and I were walking along the beach in gale force winds, all the sand was blowing straight into our faces - I managed a lot better than she did because the glasses shielded my eyes. I often think that when I clean my glasses - there is so much muck on them, all of which would presumably have gone into my eyes if I hadn't been wearing glasses. I now have varifocals and don't find them great for reading - usually I just take them off, although the optician says I just need to look through them at the right level. ::)
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This isn't JoanK, it's PatH using her computer. Any giggles you may hear coming from California are us talking.
Are we allowed to Google for the name of the story?
Googling is a grey area. Of course you don't just do a search for an author when you have no clue. If you think you know the author but aren't quite sure (I think it's X__, but I didn't know he served in the Foreign Legion) then it seems OK to check your facts, find out if X__ served there before making your guess. We don't usually Google for books, but sometimes when nobody knows the book we do, and admit it.
The rules are kind of a moving target anyway. Whatever seems fair.
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Rosemary, in this case you're the clear winner anyway, since Traude supplied the name of the book.
Congratulations. Tag, you're it.
If you're too busy, I'll fill in.
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Joan - could you. I am a bit up to my eyes at the moment. Thanks lots!
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heading
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That was me, not Joan agreeing to take over the next quiz. I haven't forgotten--I've been traveling back home. I'll put one up tomorrow.
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OK, back to reality after a splendid time laughing with my sister. Next Quiz:
Author: I've lived in several countries.
Book: A best-seller.
Character: I'm not a person, but I'm crucial to the book.
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Wild guess: Annie Proulx "Accordion Crimes" ?
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Annie Prouix! That's the name I was trying to remember, talking to my daughter about a book of hers based on a book of knots. I'll bet you're right, Rosemary.
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Joan, I think that was The Shipping News, and I remember it well because we lived in Newfoundland around then.
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That's a good guess, but not correct. Rosemary, for once you didn't guess my book in the first five minutes. :)
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;D
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Just had another idea: John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley?
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My first thought was Black Beauty, but I don't thing Ms. Sewell lived outside of England. She did frequent spas in Europe though.
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So the character is not a sentient body ? Hmmm
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More clues:
Author: I've lived in several countries.
I had a long life and a happy marriage.
Book: A best-seller.
Nonfiction.
Character: I'm not a person, but I'm crucial to the book.
The character isn't going to help you much, but I thought I'd better have one. Most people are fond of me.
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Re: The Character -- are we talking about an animate or inanimate item here? (A piano, or the mouse that plays it, for example).
re: google. Why not? For me, the hunt is more exciting than the memory, especially remembering something one didn't know about in the first place.
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That was exactly my question also, Pedln, a sentient being or an inanimate object ?
Thank you for specifying "nonfiction", though.
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The "character" is inanimate. The book is the author's first of many, and I'm sure you've all heard of it.
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Is it something to do with chocolate?
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ROSEMARY: good thought. I don't know if it's right, but I'm thinking chocolate at this time of year too. (Actually, I'm always thinking chocolate!)
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David Macaulay -- Cathedral
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I thought of Salt by Mark Kurlansky, but I don't see anywhere that he ever married and his is still alive. That "had a long and happy marriage" makes me wonder if our author is still alive.
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I apologize for leaving things hanging. 'Tis the season where, before I get to be jolly, I get to be busy. Frybabe, the author isn't alive.
New clues: Author: In addition to my literary success, I was successful in another entertainment medium.
Book: There are co-authors.
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Could it be Bob Hope, the ultimate entertainer, friend of presidents ?
He did write a number of books, some co-authored.
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New clues: Author: part of my life was in a recent movie.
Book: it changed some things for a lot of us, much for the better.
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This is beginning to sound like we are looking for a medical person or scientist of some sort. Still no idea of who it is.
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Me neither. Is it something to do with feminism?
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What we know --
Happily married author
Dead author
Part of author life in recent movie
Book made things better for a large(?) group of people
Subject/character of book -- inanimate object
Book has co-authors
Author successful in another medium
Nothing is coming up. Lot of thoughts, but they're all still alive except for the one who wasn't married.
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Is it something to do with a medical discovery?
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Happily married author -- married to Paul
Dead author -- died 2004
Part of author life in recent movie -- Julie and Julia?
Book made things better for a large(?) group of people -- who like to eat
Subject/character of book -- inanimate object -- French Cookery
Book has co-authors -- Simone, Luisette, and ?
Author successful in another medium -- had a TV show
Could it be Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cookery?
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Pedln, I think you've got it!
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YES!! You got it, pedln.
Her co-authors in the first book were Simone Beck and Luisette Bertholle.
The book spearheaded a wave of American interest in learning to cook the French dishes. Her recipes actually worked well and tasted like the food we were coming to love from the newly available cheap travel to Europe.
One of her later books, The Way to Cook, is an excellent general reference, fairly comprehensive, with many recipes simpler, quicker, and less rich than Mastering, and lots of pitfalls pointed out.
She had several very popular TV cooking shows.
Julie and Julia is the recent movie. I was afraid it wouldn't be very good, but it is. Meryl Streep is excellent, and the whole thing is a lark.
She lived in Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Norway (Paul was in the State Department) and I've probably left out some countries.
I didn't expect anyone to get the character, just put it in for fun. It's butter--arguably her most important ingredient.
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Ha ha, I totally missed the butter.
I've posted it elsewhere, but DIL just finished reading As Always, Julia for her f2f group. It's a collection of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, who was instrumental in getting Mastering the art . . . published. Avis was the wife of Bernard DeVoto, historian, whom Julia had written regarding his comments about spoons or napkins or some such in a periodical article. He passed that on to his wife and she and Julia became very close pen pals, through several years and events. I've asked my library to get that book, and hope they do.
What a great choice, PatH. You really had us going there for a while. I was coming up with everything from Oliver Sacks to Randy Shilts.
Please give me a day or two to come up with someone puzzling.
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This author is probably considered modern, contemporary. Let us say 20th Century. Born then, died in the 21st.
Like many novelists, the author developed this book from an earlier short story.
One might call the book preppy. It's a story of friendship and competition.
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That was fast. So far, no bells ringing for me.
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This was the author's first book.
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Intriguing clues evoking, for me, the uncertain shadow of a distant memory. Am working on it.
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Traude, are you seeing perhaps a tree?
I think I've lost a post as I know I typed this earlier, but there was a film several years after publication, supposedly not a very good. Later, a TV network produced another film version.
The author grew up in West Virginia, attended an elite prep school and Ivy League college.
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I'm afraid the only thing West Virginia says to me is The Waltons :)
Sorry ::)
I'll keep trying.....ignore me.....
Rosemary
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Actually, Rosemary, the Waltons lived in Virginia, which borders WV. And no, we won't ignore you. :D
Has anyone read Spencer's Mountain, the book on which the TV series is based? I've got the first three seasons of Waltons on DVD. Am currently working periodically through season one.
Offhand I can't think of any books right now that are set in West Virginia. I hope someone here can set me straight.
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Haven't read Spencer's Mountain, but would like to. Would also like to see all the programmes again, I loved them.
Rosemary
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Is "Stand by me" a book?
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I think it was based on a novella by Stephen King, who is I believe still alive.
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John Knowles, A Separate Peace?
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WINNER!! WINNER!! WINNER!!
You got it Frybabe, just in time too 'cause I'm flying to Seattle tomorrow, and was wondering if I'd be able to keep up on this. Congratulations.
It's been years since I've read the book, likewise the film, which I remember enjoying, despite all its criticisms. The book was published in 1959, the film in '72. Then Showtime had a TV production of it in 2004. Knowles wrote about 7 or 8 additional novels, but none achieved best seller status or the high ratings of A Separate Peace. We had Peace Breaks Out in the high school library, but it was never one that was real popular with the students.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays to everyone.
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Have a good trip, Pedln, and a wonderful holiday.
Now I'll have to put my thinking cap on.
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No, pedln, there were no trees in my vague memory, and I may have been on the wrong track. :-X.
West Virginian authors are also referred to generically as "Appalachian" writers which, given the extension of this age-old mountain range, includes several U.S. states, for example Kentucky, and therefore Kentuckians Barbara Kingsolver and mystery author Sharyn McCrumb.
The author we are trying to identify was clearly not a "typical" West Virginian and, due to influences from ivy league institutions, was able to write a "preppy" novel. Admittedly, I did not once think of John Knowles, but Frybabe may have hit on the solution in the last post.
This is getting suspenseful, pedln !
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Okay, I have one. In keeping with the holiday, this should be pretty easy.
Author: Also illustrates the books
Book: Children's book written 25 years ago.
Character: Jolly fella
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WELL DONE FRYBABE!!!!As for me - Alas, I have never heard of the book. Don't feel too bad Rosemary - all I could think of were the two British athletes in "Chariots of Fire". :'(
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Ok, I'll bet the character is Santa claus. But I don't know the book.
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Is it the Jolly Postman, Allan & Janet Ahlberg?
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Sorry, Rosemarykaye, it is not The Jolly Postman.
JoanK is correct the characer is Santa (no big surprise there). Ho Ho Ho!
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Next clues:
Author: Also illustrates the books
Winner of a number of medals and awards, including two Caldecott Medals
Book: Children's book written 25 years ago.
Made into a popular movie six years ago
Character: Jolly fella is Santa - JoanK
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The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg
The answer is a family affair. I just asked daughter if The Grinch was written 25 years ago and she said, it's older than I am. Then in she comes with the above title -- water-marked, stained, and well-used,
Merry Christmas. We're here in Seattle waiting for the rest of the crew to come on the late plane from Oakland.
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A Merry Christmas Winner
Hurray for your daughter, Pedln. Polar Express it is. I was surprised at how old the book is. The 25th Anniversary Edition was published in 2009. Scroll down the link to find a letter from the author, and a few recipes and activities that are printable. http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Express-Chris-Van-Allsburg/dp/0395389496/ref=sr_1_80?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324603469&sr=1-80
Have a wonderful time with your family.
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Well done Pedln and Family :D
Today was Xmas Day. I rose at 6am thanks to my youngest grandson who could not contain himself a second longer, asking me to come downstairs and open the presents. A coffe was my saviour. I got books, sweets, soap (I love soap!), money, and a voucher for a pedi and a mani (Oh Joy)!!
As I sit here looking at the screen I wait for a Christmas Carol to come to me, one that is worthy of posting here for my dear friends, and now it is here:
Enjoy - and have a wonderful day with your loved ones.
Star of Wonder
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
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Congratulations to recent winners Pedln and Frybabe. Excellent work,; and a pleasure, as usual.
Thank you for your post, Roshanarose.
Our small family group opened gifts on Saturday, Christmas Eve, according to the tradition with which I was brought up up in Europe, where Christmas, Easter and Pentecost (still) encompass two holidays, the 25th and 26th. My family has followed the same tradition after we came to this country (when I was 30 years old) and continued it after my husband's death. The children were well pleased. Ditto for my grands.
It's safe to assume that most people celebrated Christmas on Sunday.
But since the holiday fell on a Sunday this year, it was officially observed today, Monday - which means that all state and federal government offices, and also banks, were closed, and their employees had the day off. Otherwise it was a Monday like all others, everything open, business as usual. Over so soon. Perhaps too much emphasis on material things, too little attention to the origin for this particular holiday ?
Be that as it may, I hope all of you had a wonderful, special time with your loved ones.
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Straude, Monday and Tuesday are both public holidays here, as Monday was a public holiday anyway (Boxing Day), then Tuesday is one to make up for Christmas being on a Sunday. We have a few 'normal' days then another 3 days off for New Year (January 1st and 2nd are public holidays in Scotland). We all tend to feel that it drags on too long - the weather is depressing and most people would rather have more time off in the summer (when there are no public holidays in Scotland). My children don't go back to school till 10th/11th Jan. Is New Year a public holiday in the US?
Needless to say all the shops in town are open, but out here nothing much is till today, then everywhere will close early on Saturday and not re-open till Wednesday of next week. At this time of year I would be happy not to see a shop for some time. My son and I have been doing some long walks, but the ferocious winds we have been having have spoiled them a bit; daughters flatly refuse to come, so sit at home all day on their laptops ::) or watching TV.
Having said that, the three of us watched the Downton Abbey Christmas Day special last night (recorded) and loved every cheesy minute :)
Now that Madeleine is at a Steiner school, they celebrate St Nicholas (I hope i have that right) earlier in December. They also place much emphasis on Advent; every morning they lit candles and sang songs around an advent garland in their classroom. Their teacher also took them to the German market in Princes Street Gardens. She really enjoyed it all. I love the way they maintain all these traditions; they are keen on preserving the 'rhythm' of the year.
Rosemary
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Please forgive me for dragging my tail on a new puzzle, but computer time has been very limited here.
So, our new author is contemporary, first book published in 1988. He/she has written both fiction and non.
Probably the author's best-known book is the one we are concered with here -- a novel narrated by different women. It is not the author's first book.
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A blessed Christmas, spent with people I love. Roshanarose, thank you for your carol--it hit an important note for me, and was much appreciated.
Pedln, if you thought you felt someone waving at you from the south, that was me in Portland, thinking about you. Now I'm home, back to business, but definitely clueless about the new quiz.
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Nothing so far. I had thought of Amy Tan. However, upon checking, her Joy Luck Club was her first and was published in 1989. Back to the ol' thinking cap.
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Tomorrow is a travel day, so will get these clues in quickly.
The author earned a BS in Biology and a masters in related science endeavors.
The author has written several books, but this book was the last novel until 2009.
The author almost tossed his/her first book (a novel) in the garbage as the literary agent was awaiting an unfinished non-fiction title. "Can you use this" was asked about the novel written only for oneself.
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PatH - What a wonderful Christmas you must have had! The way that Carol came to me was by a technique I sometimes use. I used it for Gum's farewell poem as well. I sit with my eyes closed and go into a kind of trance and think of many poems, songs, carols whatever. The one that calls (although that is not quite the correct word)to me, I choose, or rather it chooses me. Glad you liked it. It means a lot to me too, especially now that I know it hit "an important note" for you as well.
pedln - Is it a sci-fi story?
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Not sci-fi, Roshanarose, but very nitty gritty fiction.
This past year the author joined the ranks of Studs Terkel, Elie Wiesel, Nicholas Kristof and Geraldine Brooks as the winner of a special award. This year’s award was presented by the widow of Richard Holbrooke. This author has won so many awards, it's almost impossible to keep up. Last year also, the Award for Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts, and the author's latest book received the Orange Award. It also won a literary prize in Virginia. Probably the most prestigious was when the author received the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts, presented by President Clinton.
As a child, the author lived in the country where this novel is set, but experienced a much different life than the family in the novel. This family not only brought their religion to a foreign land, but also everything they thought they would need, most of which was totally unsuitable.
And I need to correct an earlier statement -- The book we're dealing with here was published in the late 90's. I incorrectly said it was the last novel until 2009. This is not so. There was another novel and we discussed it.
Shortly after reading this book, I met a family that had lived more or less in the same area. They assured me that the statements about the unpassable roads, the mud, the isolation, were all true.
I am really enjoying what I'm finding out about this author.
New Year's Day is a holiday here,Rosemary, and I think tomorrow is too, since today is Sunday. I'm with you on not wanting to see a shop for a while, though I do most of my shopping online. But I ate down the house before I left home and the larder is bare. So tomorrow I'll have to face up to it. It was just nibbles at 9 pm last night, and this evening will be an easy pasta. But I hate being without fruit.
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Is it Barbara Kingsolver, 'The Poisonwood Bible'?
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WINNER!! WINNER!! WINNER!!
You are so right, Rosemary. Congratulations.
It has been such fun reading about her and all she has accomplished. She also has established a prize, The Bellewether Award for someone who has published short stories, but has an unpublished novel. Rather a neat way to encourage writers.
A few years back, my daughter, who then lived in Charlottesville, was helping a friend with a library project in southwest Virginia. Kingsolver had been present and then later, while dining at a local restaurant, my daughter had another chance to meet and visit with Kingsolver and her husband. They had a farm in the area and are very involved in the produce what you eat movement. One of her recent books -- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle -- tells how her family did this and what they learned from it.
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Thanks Pedln, good quiz. I had no idea until you mentioned 'bringing religion to a foreign land' - that was the clue that made me think of Kingsolver.
I had no idea Barbara Kingsolver was so multi-talented. I just had a look at her website and she also looks completely different from how I imagined her. I started The Posionwood Bible once, but for some reason I don't think I ever finished it. It will have to go back onto that teetering TBR pile.
I will have a think - only got back from Cumbria this afternoon - and will hope to post a new quiz shortly.
Rosemary
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Good job, Rosemarykaye! I was clueless.
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Super catch Rosemarykaye.
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Wow. I've been wondering if things in the Congo have changed much from the days of the Poisonwood Bible. Read on. This is horrible -- from today's NYT
Food Rationing like Electricity (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/world/africa/in-congolese-capital-power-cut-applies-to-food.html?_r=1&hp)
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SUPER ROSEMARY !
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New quiz:
Author: Is British and writes under a pseudonym
Book: Is the first of a trilogy
Character: I was retired
This looks very easy to me :)
I am going away this morning, back Sunday night, so will give more clues on Monday if you haven't got it by then.
Have a good weekend,
Rosemary
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Well Rosemary I have come up with British trilogies so far, but none of the authors use pseudonyms:
Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Nick Banrock - Griffin and Sabine
Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials
Melvyn Peake - Gormenghast
Mary Stewart - ?
Perhaps the books and author are not as recently written as those listed above. As using a pseudonym usually suggests a woman using a man's name for the purposes of propriety. More clues needed please.
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It may look easy to Rosemary, but it's not to me.
Roshanarose, I've read some or all of the first 4 of your suggestions; I'd love to have your comments on any of them.
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I am thinking of John La Carre (real name: David John Moore Cornwell) and the "Karla" Trilogy.
The only reason I even thought of him is because a new movie is being advertised for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The other two are The Honorable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. I was glued to the TV when PBS ran the spy series years ago, both of Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People. For some reason, they didn't to the middle book. I'll be interested to see how this new Smiley stacks up against Sir Alex Guinness.
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Magnificent, Frybabe, I bet you're right.
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I think you're right, Frybabe. That would be my guess.
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Sounds good to me as well, Frybabe.
PatH - I have only read bits of Gormenghast, and that was because my ex loved his work. I read some of Mary Stewart's "Arthurian" books when I was about 15. Griffin and Sabine and His Dark Materials look interesting but I have not read either of them. Loved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - esp Marvin the Paranoid Android with whom I found I could identfy :o
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Well done Frybabe - you are of course right! Saved me thinking of any more clues too ;D
Le Carre wrote the Tinker Tailor trilogy after earlier success with A Murder of Quality and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
For most of us Smiley will forever mean Alec Guinness, in one of his best ever roles, but I understand that the new film is also good. Smiley was brought out of retirement to find the Mole who was passing secret service information to Russia - doesn't that all seem such a long time ago now? There were many brilliant performances in the TV adaptation of the books - Beryl Reid still personifies Connie for me. Last year (I think) Radio 4 presented a new adaptation with Simon Russell Beale as Smiley - unfortunately I only heard a bit, but it was a much praised performance.
Over to you, Frybabe!
Rosemary
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GOOD JOB FRYBABE !!!!
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;D ;D Thank you. Thank you. ;D ;D
Actually, the character of George Smiley showed up in other books as well, but the three I listed are considered a trilogy, and Smiley is the central character in them rather than just another character among a bunch.
I will have something for you perhaps by tomorrow evening. I may not have a chance before evening.
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Coming up with a quiz is not a trivial matter.
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@ PatH :D So true.
Is it Colin Firth who plays George Smiley in the movie? Or is it Gary Oldman? Fine actors in the movie. I saw Tom Hardy play Heathcliff in a recent TV series of Wuthering Heights. He was fantastic. Then I heard that Hardy had signed up to play Mad Max in another sequel, and I thought. "What an odd choice". I think he is a bit of a chameleon.
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heading
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It's Gary Oldman, and he seems to have done quite a good job. Firth plays Bill Haydon.
Oldman seems to be a bit of a chameleon too. I've seen him as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies and the evil Zorg in The Fifth Element, and he's had a variety of other roles.
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Really? I could never place a face with the Gary Oldman. As many times as I've watched The Fifth Element(just last night, as a matter of fact), I never paid much attention who played what. How about that. Gosh, I love that movie.
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It is a good movie, isn't it? And indeed, Oldman isn't recognizable. I only realized it was him a few years ago when I looked him up.
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Puts hand up - I loved "The Fifth Element" as well. Gary Oldman was the best part of the most recent?? "Dracula" interpretation. If you will pardon the pun - he nailed it! He was also marvellous in Leon: The Professional with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman. So many good movies. It is an experience in itself to recall them - don't you think?
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Sorry, I am running a bit late.
Author: 19th century writer
Book: Although it isn't the author's first manuscript, it is the first one published.
Character: Caught between romantic ideals and the reality of living in the country
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The old "Title Mania site is active again. Come on over and play.
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Flaubert - Madame Bovary? (I know, it's a wild guess....)
Rosemary
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Winner already. Good guess, Rosemarykaye.
We must be on the same brain wave length. I didn't think that would be guessed so quickly.
The last of my classes start tomorrow.
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Oh my goodness, I am amazed.
Now I will have to think of something ::)
Will try to come up with a new one tomorrow.
Thanks Frybabe, and apologies for cutting it short. I did 'Madame Bovary' to death at college, really should read it again as I might appreciate it this time.
Rosemary
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ROSEMARY TRIUMPHS ONCE AGAIN !!
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Hey Frybabe, before you go to class, someone is crying for an E over in Blanko. :D
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ROSEMARY: brilliant!
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Thanks Joan!
New quiz:
Author: British born
Book: Is on one level about a crime
Character: Is an orphan
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Sounds like Dickens.
Or maybe Hardy?
Or maybe more recent?
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No sorry Roshanarose, it's neither of them. It is indeed more modern.
Rosemary
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More clues:
Author: British born
Heavy drinker
Book: Is on one level about a crime
Is not set in the UK or the US
Character: Is an orphan
Crosses a line
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Kim?
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Sorry Joan, not Kim. But you are getting warmer....
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There have been a few unexpected distractions that left me little time for other things. Am trying hard to catch up.
Rosemary, Kingsley Amis was a heavy drinker, and his son, Martin Amis, was a good chum of the hard-drinking Christopher Hitchens, who recently died.
Amis père would at least fit the approximate era : post Kipling bu before, say, Ian McEwan.
I've read other modern English and Scottish writers, but it's impossible to link any of them to this novel based on he clues on the plot we now have.
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Perhaps the setting of the book is India?
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Roshanarose, you are correct :)
Maybe you can guess it now? If not I will post some more clues later today.
Rosemary
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Sounds like Paul Scott, The Raj Quartet (forget the title of the first book off hand). Character is Kumar.
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Frybabe - you are RIGHT!
It is Paul Scott, The Jewel In The Crown - the character I was actually thinking of was Daphne Manners, who is sent out to India after her parents die, and who crosses a physical line (the river - when she visits Hari's aunt's house) and a class/colour one (in her relationship with Hari) - but you're right, that clue could equally well apply to Hari (who will forever in my mind be Art Malik).
It's hard to believe that over 25 years have passed since we first saw the TV series. I watched it again recently and it was every bit as good; loved it still.
Well done!
Rosemary
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Ah, okay. I was thinking of Kumar and crossing racial lines, but Daphne did too, didn't she.
Thinking cap on for next quiz. Stay tuned.
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Of course, Frybabe, ad for some of us so recent an experience !! !
Rosemary, before you joined us, the first volume of this tetralogy by Paul Scott, Jewel in the Crown, was one of our choices in this forum several years ago. Some of those who had participated in the discussion of a story that covers the period from 1942 to 1947 and Partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, were anxious to take on the other 3 volumes, all of which have their own individual title.
Over a period of some months, a few of us - including our unforgettable friend Gumtree - did just that on a separate site and without time constraints. We then followed it up with the discussion of Staying On, the "coda" to the tetralogy, made into a delightful movie with the same title, starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. It was this slim volume that earned Scott the literary recognition that had eluded him until then. By that time he was too ill to accept the award in person and died a short time later.
We became "involved" in the dying years and months of the Raj and the lives of fictional people who became very real to us in the process.
It was a fantastic experience and is a memory to be cherished.
Again, congratulations, Frybabe !
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Thanks Traude. We did have an exceptional discussion of the Raj Quartet and Staying On, didn't we?
Unforgettable.
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FRYBABE - U R 2 GOOD !!!!!
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I am going to have a whinge!
Last night on TV they had on three series at the one time, 8.30pm, that are on my list of must sees. TV here is such a wasteland, normally, so this occurrence is quite rare.. One is "The Killing" the episode where the female detective (Sarah)is in the house with Hartmann and discovers he doesn't have an alibi, and then sits down to share a pizza with him. Another was the first episode of "Homeland" which I have been looking forward to very much; and the other was the first episode of Zen - so frustrating. @#$%^^&. I don't have a recorder.
Wahhh! Thanks friends I feel a little better now.
Off topic I know. But the man who plays Hartmann is Lars Mikkelsen, and it came as no surprise to me that his brother is Mads Mikkelsen, one of my favourite actors. Before they became actors Mads earned his living as a dancer and Lars was a juggler.
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It seems that I have that problem too. If I'm lucky, I hope they will rebroadcast one of them.
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Got one.
Author: Travels a lot
Book: Memoir of the first half of a journey.
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Dervla Murphy?
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Basho?
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Sorry, no to either one.
Author: Travels a lot
In fact, the author is working on a new book, traveling now and posting to Facebook.
Book: Memoir of the first half of a journey
One of the first books to popularize adventure travel
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Jon Krakaur?
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Nope!
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Nationality please?
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Author: Travels a lot
In fact, the author is working on a new book, traveling now and posting to Facebook.
Most of this American's books are of journey in the US, two other of travel in China.
Book: Memoir of the first half of a journey
One of the first books to popularize adventure travel
Hiking from New York to New Orleans with a dog, this author stopped along the way to talk to,
live with, and work with people including a Virginia mountain man, a poor black family, a hippie
commune, and Gov. George Wallace.
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Good clues, Frybabe. They enabled me to exclude wrong guesses.
Not knowing anything about Facebook, I hazard a guess : Bill Bryson
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Sorry Traude, no, but by a strange coincidence, Bryson was born the same year as my author. Everyone has good such good guesses.
I had to look up Dervla Murphy. She is someone I had not run across. Her main sphere of travel was in Africa, mostly by bicycle. She is 20yrs older than my author having turned 80 last year.
My author is not as well known as he used to be, but he has some devoted readers following his current roadtrip in a 1957 Chevrolet station wagon. I am thinking of Sandy and her travels across the States.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Dervla Murphy's first book - I think it was called Full Tilt - is a marvellous account of riding a bicycle from County Waterford to Afghanistan. In those days she was able to pass relatively easily through all of the places that have now become no-go areas, and I seem to remember that the book had some great photos of Afghanistan villages.
She is a very strong woman - nursed her parents till they died, then set off on her travels. Never married, but had a daughter who later accompanied her on some of her trips. My Irish friend and I were obsessed with her books when we were young free and single - Marian, who is much more intrepid than I am, did undertake some remarkable journeys of her own, including working in Ethiopia for Concern for a while. I think Dervla could take the credit for a lot of that - she was a great inspiration.
No idea who this author is!
Rosemary
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A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins?
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We have a Winner!
Yea, Pedln.
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Well done Pedln! Never heard of him :D
Rosemary
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Well, I'd heard the name, but that was all. But Traude was so close, with Bill Bryson and A Walk in the Woods made me look up A Walk Across America. Most of the others I thought of were much older or long gone.
A new one up tomorrow.
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As I recall, his walk made something of a splash at the time. On his way south, he stopped into the National Geographic offices. They were interested enough to ask him to write several articles during the course of his journey, and according to one source I read, they gave him photography gear to augment his articles. This was back in the 70's, after the Viet Nam War, and the hippie movement was on the downswing. The trip took six years. Along the way lost his dog to a car accident, and he gained faith and a wife. His second book covered the trip from New Orleans to Oregon.
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Huzzah, pedln !!
Congratulations !
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Pretty generic clues, but more later.
The author has written both fiction and non-fiction.
The author is/was also a journalist.
The author has travelled the world, but always returns home to his/her city.
The book we’re concerned with here is fiction, is the most recent, and the only one by this author that I’ve read.
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Oh, good. All we have to do is think of all the books you've ever read and we've got it. ;D
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PatH, ;D We aim to please
The author was walking next to Robert Kennedy when the latter was gunned down.
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Is it Jan Morris?
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Sorry, it is not Jan Morris.
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Well, there is a name I haven't heard in a while - Jan Morris. I must check see what she is up to these days.
Pedln, the person I have in mind I always associate with non-fiction. He is another character whose name I have not heard mentioned in a while. You know, I never read any of his books but always enjoyed seeing him on TV (assuming it is who I think it is). I think Rosie Grier was there too. Wonder if he is still doing needlepoint.
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Frybabe, I don't know if our author has been on TV a lot.
Author -- wrote a lot of articles about 9/11
the city is such a part of the author, and the author is such a part of the city
Book -- it didn't have anything to do with him, but it sure makes you think of Rupert Murdoch
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Well, in that case it probably isn't George Plimpton.
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George Plimpton sounded perfect to me, Frybabe, - the very embodiment of New York. He also was in that hotel kitchen in CA where Robert Kennedy was gunned down 5 years after JFK, and so were Rosie Grier and Rafer Johnson.
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There were four men who disarmed Sirhan Sirhan.
The author has written 20 books, 11 of them novels, as well as innumerable articles. He is also a collector of comics.
There is a crime in his latest novel, murder, as well as the death of what one might call a cultural institution of the city.
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Am rushing around today, but will get these clues better organized.
The author left high school at age 15, but was awarded a diploma in 2015. He attended college in Mexico on the GI Bill, later wrote a book about one of Mexico's favorite sons.
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2015? ??? ??? :)
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Obviously a time travel story. ;)
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The author has written both fiction and non-fiction.
The author is/was also a journalist.
The author has travelled the world, but always returns home to his/her city.
The author was walking next to Robert Kennedy when the latter was gunned down.
wrote a lot of articles about 9/11
the city is such a part of the author, and the author is such a part of the city
The author has written 20 books, 11 of them novels, as well as innumerable articles. He is also a collector of comics.
The author left high school at age 15, but was awarded a diploma in 2010. He attended college in Mexico on the GI Bill, later wrote a book about one of Mexico's favorite sons.
The book we’re concerned with here is fiction, is the most recent, and the only one by this author that I’ve read.
Book -- it didn't have anything to do with him, but it sure makes you think of Rupert Murdoch
There is a crime in this latest novel, murder, as well as the death of what one might call a cultural institution of the city.
One of the main characters has his own kind of double murder, though it’s hard to say what he mourns the most.
The book – 24 hours and 14 characters.
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Good work on your Win Pedln! Like Rosemary, I have never heard of him. I am waiting for someone to write about Anthony Bourdain :)
Rosemary - Dervla is now on my TBR pile.
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Could it be the crusty Pete Hamill ?
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It sure could be, Traude, and the book is the one that came out early last year -- Tabloid City -- right about when we were hearing lots more about the hacking by Murdoch's crew.
I find these games, especially this one, are a lot fun because you're either learning from "its" clues, or trying to dig out new ones yourself. I had not a clue that Hamill was present when R. Kennedy was shot.
Another coincidence, right about when Tabloid City came out, Paul Collins' (Sixpence House) new title about two NY tabloids having a scoop war in the late 1800's over the discovery of a body floating in the river also came out. Can't think of the title.
Take it away, Traude!!
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Good job, Traude! I hadn't heard of it.
I agree, pedln, we learn so much.
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Congratulations, Traude. I haven't heard Pete Hamill's name in years.
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Yes - well done, i had never heard of him - but I've looked him up now. As you say, Pedln, we learn so much from one another. Thanks for a good quiz.
Rosemary
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Well Done Traude - Well this time I can't say I have never heard of Pete Hamill, as I have. Wasn't he a companion of Jacqueline Kennedy as well?
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Knocks very gently on the door. Says Pssstttt! Is anyone there?
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Forgive me for having fallen seriously behind. The reason was the erratic weather in Massachusetts with rollercoaster-like temperatures of 20°F one day and 54°F the next. Today the barometer climbed to 60°F (!) Such abrupt changes are hard on arthritic bodies. Now I have to catch up fast and continue the game.
Roshanarose, the name of Pete Hamill came to my mind when I recmembered that Robert Kennedy was a Senator in New York, and there had to be a strong connection between them in New York, because of their Irish family background. I'm not sure if Pete Hamill was a close friend of Jackie Kennedy.
But she had a family connection with political activist and author Gore Vidal through her mother: After the divorce from "Black Jack" Bouvier, Jackie's father, her mother, Janet Lee Bouvier, married Hugh Auchincloss who had been divorced by Gore Vidal's mother. A prolific writer (of fiction, non fiction, plays and screenplays) and unambiguously outspoken about his sexuality, Gore Vidal had homes in California and in Italy, but has returned to the U.S. in recent years. He was born in 1925, Jackie Kennedy Onassis in 1919.
Thank you for not giving up on me. A new quiz will be posted tomorrow afternoon.
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Eccoci = here we are.
First I need to correct a typo : Jackie's birth year was 1929, not 1919. Sorry.
New quiz
Author : Versatile, successful, popular
Book : A novel, made author an instant celebrity
Character : Restlessly searched for the perfect life
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Additional clues
The author wrote in more than one genre, including a biography of early life; political essays; horror stories.
The novel that catapulted the author to fame was adapted for the stage and the screen.
The perfection/happiness seeker was a woman.
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Not a clue.
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I don't suppose it's 'Eat Pray Love'?
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?????????????
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Sorry, none of the guesses are close (yet).
New clues.
The novel became a bestseller because readers saw it as a perfect description of the era (now bygone) in which the slightly satirical story takes place.
It is a story of the proverbial bright young people who often emerge after a disastrous period in history, their verbal smartness, their yearning to create change, and their firm conviction that life can be re-made to order, if one tries hard enough.
The author was a bit of a dandy.
I hope this brings us a bit closer.
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No, but it makes me want to read the book.
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Well, that leaves out Tom Wolfe. He is still alive. Anyway, he didn't write horror.
Another one I consider a dandy was Truman Capote, but there again, no horror stories as far as I know.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald? I don't know if he was a dandy, but the era he wrote about it certainly bygone.
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"Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James?
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All very good guesses. (I haven't thought of Tom Wolfe in ages; loved Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full,.
We may be able to narrow things down : pedln is in the right era, Roshanarose has the right location.
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Evelyn Waugh?
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Sorry, not Evelyn Waugh.
The author for whom we are lookinwas not born in England.
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May we assume, then, that the author is American?
The location clue: It is set in Europe, mostly England and Italy. My guess.
The era: 1920 - 1940. Pedln's.
Is the information above correct, straude?
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Not born in England -- that lets out Anthony Powell
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Elizabeth Von Armin? The Enchanted April? Oh no, just realised we are looking for a 'dandy' ;D
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Don't rule out females, Rosemarykaye. There are female dandies. Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe-Hall, poet, was considered one. Female dandies were called dandizette. There must be plenty, but I can't find much on them. I can find more information on quaintrelles, who are similar but apparently encompass more than just the fancy dress of a dandy.
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Well Frybabe, I really do live and learn! I have just looked both of those terms up, had never heard of either of them. Thanks for that :)
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I like "quaintelles". Do we have any out there?
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I am delighted by your fabulous guesses and (associations d'idées). Yes, I too looked up 'quainttrelle(s)'. Coco Chanel and Marlene Dietrich inter alia are apparently counted among them. U'm sure, JoanK, there were (and are) others out there. :)
Brava, Frybabe! Mind-stretching is good for the soul, I think. Also, I agree that we should never fail to consider women's contribution to the arts. However, the author of this book was a man.
Roshanarose, pedln was right, the era is the twenties. Our author's picture graced the cover of TIME at the time.
Rosemary, Elizabeth von Arnim would have been a perfect match for Enchanted April (1922), except she was not the author of the book in question here. BTW, there was another Elizabeth von Arnim née Brentano. Her husband, Joachim ("Achim") von Arnim, and Bettina's brother, Clemens Brentano, belonged to the Heidelberger Romantik. (The preposition "von"between first and last (name(s) denotes nobility and generally appears in lower key.)
More clues
The author's first writing appeared under his birth name. His parents had expected him to have a university career, but he soon turned to writing full-time.
He changed his name and became anEnglish subject,
One of his psychological thrillers was adapted for a segment of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock presents.
After having achieved fame and fortune with the novel, he wrote mostly political essays.
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Frybabe - I loved those names you mentioned. When I was a teenager and was beginning to learn a little about life, I asked my mother if boys were also called "virgins". She quietly took me aside and told me in hushed tones that boys were not called virgins, but "boydens". I had a chuckle remembering that conversation and was reminded by your "names". I guess you could say that they are euphemisims?
Straude - I feel perched on the edge of enlightenment with this author. I was a great Hitchcock fan and read a couple of stories he had edited, but remain baffled by your quiz. I saw "The Birds" on TV a few weeks ago. It was so good, even by today's standards.
It is a little confusing about the author in that he was born in US but changed his nationality to English. Was this before or after he wrote this novel?
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Traude has given us so many clues that I really feel I should know it. I'm having trouble remembering them all, though, so I collected them (hope I didn't leave any out).:
Author:
Versatile, successful, popular
The author wrote in more than one genre, including a biography of early life; political essays; horror stories.
The author was a bit of a dandy.
The author for whom we are looking was not born in England.
The author of this book was a man.
Our author's picture graced the cover of TIME at the time.
The author's first writing appeared under his birth name. His parents had expected him to have a university career, but he soon turned to writing full-time.
He changed his name and became an English subject,
One of his psychological thrillers was adapted for a segment of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock presents.
After having achieved fame and fortune with the novel, he wrote mostly political essays.
Book :
A novel, made author an instant celebrity
The novel that catapulted the author to fame was adapted for the stage and the screen.
The novel became a bestseller because readers saw it as a perfect description of the era (now bygone) in which the slightly satirical story takes place.
It is a story of the proverbial bright young people who often emerge after a disastrous period in history, their verbal smartness, their yearning to create change, and their firm conviction that life can be re-made to order, if one tries hard enough.
the era is the twenties.
Character : Restlessly searched for the perfect life
The perfection/happiness seeker was a woman.
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PatH, thank you so much for summarizing the clues.
I realize that should have been done by me, just as our Gumtree used to and pedln did recently. I truly appreciate this special favor, Pat, because I dropped a bowl today and got nicks on my fingers picking up a multitude of shards. ;D
Can't remember when I did that last,
Roshanarose, may I clarify one detail : I did not say say that the author was American; there is no such clue in Pat's summation.
More tomorrow
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This additional information renews my interest in Joseph Conrad. I have downloaded several of his books to my Kindle but have not read them yet.
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Frybabe, , Sorry. It is not Joseph Conrad.
Conrad was born several decades before our author, and he died in England.
Our author did not die in England.
More clues later.
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Frybabe, I'll be interested to hear how you like Conrad. Reading him as an adult, I like him a lot, all except for Heart of Darkness. I see perfectly well what he is trying to say and the effect he is trying to have on me, but as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't pull it off. I'm in a tiny minority. It does have some good touches, though. The short story Youth is hilarious--a tale of sailing halfway around the world in a rotten coal ship with a mad captain.
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More clues
Character
The heroine has been called a femme fatale.
On her continuous travels she sought new associations with bright new people to ward off boredom rather than for spiritual growth.
Ultimately the search was futile.
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I'm still stumped.
PatH, when I get around to Conrad, I will probably read Secret Agent first. I will see if I can find Youth.
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Would you like me to post more clues or what is your pleasure ?
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Yes please, I'm afraid I still don't know.
Thanks,
Rosemary
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I'm stumped too. I'll probably kick myself when I learn what it is.
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PatH, it is possible that the author is just not as well known in this country. It may is likelier, I feel, that Rosemary knows of him.
I did not mean to make this so hard, in fact I didn't think it was.
I have the book in the German translation; it was one of the books I brought with me, almost 60 years ago when we sailed for the New World, in my father's old footlocker from WW I. But I still mourn for all those I had to leave behind.
More clues.
The author wrote in a colloquial style uniquely his own with unusual inflections, inversions and in "a heightened exotic pitch" that became known as (name)esque.
The novel was made into a play and produced on Broadway with Katherine Cornell in the starring role.
The author wrote the script for the American film, a silent.
Some of the material was considered "daring" and, in order not to disgruntle the Hollywood censors, alterations were made in plot/theme details; new names given to the characters, and a title different from the book's title.
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Dear Fellow Puzzlers, there seem to be no "takers" of my last clues, and so I'm making a last attempt.
The author was good friends with D.H. Lawrence and spent time with him in Florence where the latter was working on Lady Chatterley's Lover.
When, in 1941, questions were raised in the House of Commons about the author's loyalty to England, he moved to America.
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I thought about Aldous Huxley, but too many things don't fit.
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Frybabe,
Fitting guess. It's the right epoch and literary environment.
The author and Aldous Huxley were contemporaries. There was an occasion when Huxley had reason to be wildly jealous of our author.
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straude - I have done quite a bit of research on your quiz, several hours at least. I came up with these names that have similarities to your author, but not one of them fits the bill exactly.
S.S.Koteliansky
Rolf Gardiner
Ray Bradbury
H.G. Wells
Philip Heseltine
Norman Douglas
Maurice Magnus
John Middleton Murry
Aldous Huxley
Wittel Bynner
Christopher Isherwood - Cabaret
As you can see I have not been idle. I am still looking.
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I too thought of Huxley and Isherwood, but neither of them seemed to work.
I am completely stumped ??? ???
Rosemary
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I'm both stumped and interested. Maybe the way to get it is through Katherine Cornell, if we're reduced to research.
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Research is not unacceptable. The question is how to approach it. ;D
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PatH, , yes, I agree with pedln and would definitely recommend the "digging" you mentioned.
You have all posted excellent, thoughtful guesses ; now it is only a matter of time before the big secret will be revealed.
Roshanarose's list shows the extraordinary efforts she has made.
So, don't give up now.
Corraggio (as the Italians say) = courage; take heart!
and
Adelante (to quote Spaniards) = Forward !
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pedln - I approached my research in different ways. First I checked out all the Time magazine covers between 1920 and 1930; then I checked out the episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (there were too many of them); then I went into the German 20/30s scene and the only one that looked remotely possible was the movie "Blue Angel"; then I checked Katherine Cornell; then I checked Florence with D.H. Lawrence; then I checked Aldous Huxley. We all have different ways to research, it is not really a race. I find it challenging and enjoy researching immensely. I usually don't give up until I get the answer, by whatever means.
This chap is the literary version of a needle in a haystack. However, in the true nature of research I have learned many new things along the way.
I am now going back to check those Time covers. ???
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Eureka - straude
My final guess (make that thoroughly researched information) is:
Michael Arlen - The Green Hat (made into the movie "A Woman of Affairs") starring Greta Garbo.
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Hurrah. We have a winner!
Congratulations, Roshanarose
That was a hard nut to crack. If I may be candid, , pedln, the consummate librarian, has known the answer for a while but held back in order to give everyone else a chance. Thank you, pedln, for this selfless gesture.
We still need to mention the author's birth name, the contry of his birth and his ethnic background. Tomorrow I'll have a few further comments on this interesting writer.
Thank you all for responding to the challenge with enthusiasm and perseverance. I loved every minute.
Traude
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WOW That was a great one! Good work Roshanrose!
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Wow! Great job, Roshanarose. Arlen is not a name I am familiar with, and the movie is not familiar either. I'm not even sure I ever saw a Garbo movie, Dietrich yes, Garbo, no.
Pedln, yes, isn't the chase (research) wonderful? I get to meet new people or learn more about ones I already know, and discover new places, old and new. I just never know where the trail will lead.
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WELL DONE Roshanarose - I hadn't got a clue and I'm quite relieved to see that I've never heard of him. I did do some research re DH Lawrence and Aldous Huxley but I didn't come up with this.
It's true, the best things about these quizzes are all the other things you find out along the way - maybe they ought to teach like this in school, although on second thoughts, pupils like my son would just say 'Whatever' and go back to the X-box ;D
Thanks Straude for such a good quiz.
Rosemary
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GOOD FOR YOU, ROSHANAROSE!
My face should be really red. I looked up Katharine Cornell, and saw that was one of her important stage roles. I had heard of the book, knew the subject matter had been thought controversial, knew it had been made into a movie, and STILL didn't get it. I even started to read the book once, but I was too young to make much sense of it, and gave up. I didn't know anything about Arlen's life, though.
Traude, that was a lot of fun. Like everyone else, I enjoyed the search a lot.
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Thank You - Ευχαριστώ.
I have found one and will start tomorrow, but in the meantime will wait, as a courtesy, for traude to supply further details on Michael Arlen.
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Here is the wrap-up for Michael Arlen.
The author was born Dikran Kouyoumdijian in Bulgaria in 1895, one of four sons of a well-to-do Armenian couple. Fearing the Turkish persecution of Armenians, the family left Bulgaria. The plan was for Dikran to study medicine at Oxford but he inexplicably "got lost" at Edinburgh University for a few months. That "silly mistake" was ever explainaed in the author's first novel, he london venture
Though he eventually found his way to London, his his "silly mistake" was not explained in his sWith no more houghts of eeiineany -whereemi-autobiographical novel "The London Venture".2Onn
gone, Dikran wholeheartedly embraced the lifestyle of London society o of the day, he became an exuberant part of it and was a familiar sight in his yellow Rolls Royce. In all, he wrote 9 novels, The Green Hat was his third, which made him rich and famous. But he went on writing. His vivid interest in politics was obvious early on and it continued. He became a British subject. In 1940, Arlen was appointed civil Defense ublic Relations Officer for the east midlands,, but when his koyalty to england esd wuestioned in the House of coons in 941, Arlen resigned and moved to America.
Greta Garbo was praised for her performance in the silent movie made with the title A Woman of Affairs. I never saw this silent (or had patience for any silents- some of them appear now and again on TCM). But I have always admired Garbo as magnificent and insuperable. There are too many marvelous performances showing the incredible range f emotions in e..g. Anna Karenina, Mata Hari, Camille, just to name three.
Dietrich was never my cup of tea.
Thank you all.
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Author: Is from United Kingdom. Does not belong to the DWN brigade.
Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.
Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.
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? DWN
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DWN? Dead White Nobility???
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Down With Novelists?
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So glad you all asked. I'm waiting with baited breath.
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Close - ;D Dead White Novelists.
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Author: {Is from United Kingdom.} Does not belong to the DWN brigade. DWN = Dead White Niovelist.
Oh Oh! I will be tarred and feathered for this (or worse) BUT the author is NOT from the UK, but is from within the vicinity. Sorry! ??? The author is still living.
Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.
Has allusions to history; geography and science.
Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.
The tragedy results in his father remarrying and having a child with his new wife.
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Aaah, theauthor is not from the UK but from within the vicinity.
But how close or how far away is "within" ?
Let's see, the UK consists of Great Britain, Scotland (which wants independence) and Northern Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland (established in 1922, whose currency is the Euro) is an independent entity, and therefore might be considered "within".
The Isle of Man and the Guernsey Channel Islands are dependencies of the Crown. France and BeNeLux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) are on the Continent, and even Denmark, the closest to the British Isles of the Scandinavian countries, does not qualify.
A good challenge.
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:o What, neglect Wales? For Shame!
I doubt I am going to know this one.
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What is the "DWN brigade" that s/he doesn't belong to?
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JoanK - Dead White Novelists
Traude - You are warm.
Author: Does not belong to the DWN brigade. DWN = Dead White Niovelist.
Oh Oh! I will be tarred and feathered for this (or worse) BUT the author is NOT from the UK, but is from within the vicinity. Sorry! The author is still living.
The author spends time in both US and his home country.
Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.
Has allusions to history; geography and science.
Also contains mythology and fairy story influences.
* Please note: The book is NOT a children's book.
Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.
The tragedy results in his father remarrying and having a child with his new wife.
The boy appears to be on the verge of some kind of breakdown. He can hear his books whispering to him.
The young boy steps through a mysterious portal just after seeing a war plane crash into his back yard.
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Author: Does not belong to the DWN brigade. DWN = Dead White Niovelist.
Oh Oh! I will be tarred and feathered for this (or worse) BUT the author is NOT from the UK, but is from within the vicinity. Sorry! The author is still living.
The author spends time in both US and his home country.
The author is from Northern Ireland.
Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.
Has allusions to history; geography and science.
Also contains mythology and fairy story influences.
* Please note: The book is NOT a children's book.
"The departure" noted above is from writing mystery and thrillers.
The young boy thinks he hears his mother's voice
Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.
The tragedy results in his father remarrying and having a child with his new wife.
The boy appears to be on the verge of some kind of breakdown. He can hear his books whispering to him.
The young boy steps through a mysterious portal just after seeing a war plane crash into his back yard.
The young boy thinks he hears his mother's voice in this "Other world" he has stepped into.
He has been tricked by the antagonist - a character loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin.
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Why can't I think what that is? I've got to know it.
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The young boy steps through a mysterious portal just after seeing a war plane crash into his back yard.
Why does this sound familiar. I know I haven't read such a book. Was it made into a movie?
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I'm ashamed to say that the only Northern Irish writer I can think of is William Trevor. Don't suppose it's him?
Rosemary
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Sorry Frybabe - as far as I know the novel hasn't been adapted to a movie yet.
Rosemary - No, it's not William Trevor. A search for Modern Republic of Ireland Novelists may appear fruitful.
More tomorrow.
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I thought the writer was from Northern Ireland, not the Irish Republic? Did I misunderstand that? (Not that it helps me ;D)
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I thought Northern Ireland, too, Rosemary.
For some reason I keep thinking that Robert Wilson, who writes mysteries about the Portugese detective is Irish. It's not him, is it?
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No. Sorry, Rosemary and Pedln. He comes from the Republic of Ireland, Dublin. My copied notes say he comes from both, which is obviously wrong.
No it isn't Robert Wilson. Don't give up. Sorry for the confusion about his home country.
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Author: Does not belong to the DWN brigade. DWN = Dead White Niovelist.
Oh Oh! I will be tarred and feathered for this (or worse) BUT the author is NOT from the UK, but is from within the vicinity. Sorry! The author is still living.
The author spends time in both US and his home country.
The author is from the Republic of Ireland.
The author is a great admirer of James Lee Burke and emulates his style.
His "Charlie Parker" (not to be confused with Charlie "Bird" Parker) novels are often set in Cajun/Louisiana settings.
Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.
Has allusions to history; geography and science.
Also contains mythology and fairy story influences.
* Please note: The book is NOT a children's book.
"The departure" noted above is from writing mystery and thrillers.
The young boy thinks he hears his mother's voice.
This book is set in UK c.WWII and was published in 2006.
Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.
The tragedy results in his father remarrying and having a child with his new wife.
The boy appears to be on the verge of some kind of breakdown. He can hear his books whispering to him.
The young boy steps through a mysterious portal just after seeing a war plane crash into his back yard.
The young boy thinks he hears his mother's voice in this "Other world" he has stepped into.
He has been tricked by the antagonist - a character loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin.
David then meets the Woodsman, but the pair are in danger from a pack of wolves and Loups.
The character of the Woodsman is based on the woodsman from Little Red Riding Hood.
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The author's provenance seemed important, so I tried to pinpoint what is part of the UK and what is not. The Repblic of Ireland is not.
From the wonderful description of the plot I can tell I never read the book.
But since it has been my feeling all along that that this might be a woman author, I'll take a stab: is it Connie Shelton ?
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traude - that is where i got confused as well, i.e. knowing the difference between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. From what I have read the difference appears to be mostly political and goes back a fair way in history.
The author is a man. A relatively young man. He attended Trinity College in Dublin and worked as a journalist.
I just did a search for Connie Shelton and she has written a series of mystery novels with Charlie Parker as the protagonist. Something of a coincidence I think, and is in no way connected to this author's work. Good try, though.
More details tomorrow.
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Roshanarose, I think you are the Queen of Red Herrings!! >:( :D
I'd never heard of Connie Shelton, but after looking her up I was convinced that Traude had done it again.
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Just to set the record straight, and I'm sure everyone already knows this - the Republic of Ireland is a country in its own right. Its predominant religion is Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland (or 'the six counties') is part of Great Britain; it has large Catholic and Protestant communities. The Troubles that you will all remember from the 1970s concerned a small part of Northern Ireland. Although this is a vast oversimplification, the RC communities in NI generally want to join the Republic and have what they would call 'a united Ireland'; the Protestants are generally much more keen on staying part of the UK. In the 1970s, the nationalist IRA (Irish Republican Army - therefore Catholic) was particularly involved in terrorist activity to try to gain independence, and the loyalist Protestants (led by such people as Ian Paisley) were equally active in fighting back. The British army was sent in to keep the peace, especially in certain very volatile areas of Belfast. There was a huge amount of bloodshed on all sides, much of it by innocent civilians. The terrorism spread to mainland Britain, with many bombings in London, Birmingham and other centres.
Despite its name, Northern Ireland only covers a small part of the north of the land mass of Ireland. For example, Donegal and Galway are in the geographic north but are part of the Republic, not NI. Many Northern Irish terrorists fled over the border from time to time and holed up in deserted farms, etc in Donegal especially. The border - which could not, of course, all be policed, as most of it is open countryside, was an extremely dangerous place during those years. If you wanted to travel on one of the main roads between NI and the Republic, you were subject to massive security checks; the checkpoints were concrete bunkers with machine guns on top of them.
If you meet people from NI and the Republic, they have very different accents, although it would be true to say that Dublin (capital city of the Republic) has a very different accent from the south - eg Co Waterford - too.
Just thought I would clarify things. I still have no idea who this author is!!!
Rosemary
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Someone else reads Connie Shelton! I like her mysteries.
if our author was influenced by James Lee Burke, he's probably a mystery writer, so I should know him, but I don't. I admit to not being a fan of Burke's, either.
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OK, I admit to cheating! I went to "Stop You're Killing Me" and looked up Charlie Parker in the character index. I got what I deserved -- nothing. they didn't have either your author's or Connie Shelton's Parker.
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That's not cheating, JoanK. You're putting your deductive skills to work.
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Try John Connelly, The Book of Things Lost. I new the plane crash in the back yard sounded familiar.
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FRYBABE COMES THROUGH
Jolly Well Done Frybabe. I didn't chose the book because it was difficult to guess. I chose it because it impressed me - except for the Snow White part. A good way to remember it (if you have read it) is to recall the German WWII crashing into David's back garden. When I was a child the family I was staying with lived near an Air Force Base. A big war plane, The Neptune Bomber, crashed not far from where the family lived. As I said, I was quite young, perhaps 9, and the sight of that bomber still smouldering and broken has stayed with me. I only found out quite recently that all four crew were killed.
The book is "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly (note Connolly is spelled with two "o"s). It is easy to find online and Amazon sell it.
JoanK - If the book, author is difficult to guess and there is something of a stalemate on the board, I think it is necessary to "research" it. Like pedln, I don't consider it cheating. It merely helps to keep the game alive.
Rosemary - Thanks for that information. I have learned something today. I know about Paisley and the IRA, Gerry Adams etc from newspapers and books. I always thought that Paisley was a bit of a nutter, but his cause was true. Maybe I was just too young to appreciate the gravity of the facts of the situation.
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Thanks for correcting the spelling and rearranging the last two words. I didn't double check before I answered. I didn't read the book, but I remembered the title and the little boy with the downed plane in his backyard. I must have ran across it somewhere or read a review. I am surprised that no one guessed it.
The interesting thing is that this book is "under development" (but not actively) by John Moore (Flight of the Phoenix, Behind Enemy Lines. That hasn't stopped book fans from making trailers for the book and for the nonexistent movie (apparently for a class) and posting them to YouTube. Very creative.
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Jolly well done is right. congratulations, Frybabe. I agree with roshanarose's stand on research, and like both of you, I always say if I've done so.
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Well done Frybabe! I hadn't got the first idea.
Rosemary
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I often get embarrassed when someone asks me a question I don't know the answer to. Maybe that is why I love researching things and exploring the Internet.
Next up is non-fiction, a biography.
Author: A lawyer, his father was a judge.
Book: Important to the developmental stage of modern biographical writing.
Character: Born in the family home, which was above his father's bookshop.
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Good work, Frybabe !
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Well done, Frybabe.
The only thing I could think of, from the clues, was that movie Hope and Glory, set in Britain in WWII, where the kids find a downed airplane and make it their play yard.
Next up -- An author whose father is a judge has written about someone whose father has a bookshop. Hmmmmmmmmm. Modern, but not current contemporary?
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Author: A lawyer, his father was a judge.
He suffered wild mood swings, gambling and alcohol addiction, visited prostitutes.
Book: Important to the developmental stage of modern biographical writing.
Best known of the biographies of this person.
Character: Born in the family home, which was above his father's bookshop.
He was also a biographer as well as a poet and essayist. However, he was most famous for another kind of writing.
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James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson
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Super Winner!
Congratulations, PatH.
The Life of Samuel Johnson is one of the few books my Dad had that I kept. I read it as a teen, and I'll be darn if I can remember a thing in it. The edition I have is illustrated by Gordon Ross, dated 1948, and published by Doubleday and Company, Inc.
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Splendid, PatH, Congratulations !!
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Bravo, PatH!!!
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Wow Pat - well done!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Alright, PAT!
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Frybabe, I particularly like the way your clues make the author and book seem more modern than they are. I'll try to have something tomorrow.
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FANTASTIC PAT!!!!
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I apologize for the delay. Here's the next one.
AUTHOR: I was supposed to study law, but I ditched that for writing.
BOOK: Has been made into a movie.
CHARACTER: I'm very meticulous, but willing to take a gamble.
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What? No one got it from those magnificently obscure clues? More:
AUTHOR: I was supposed to study law, but I ditched that for writing.
Many of my works are genre fiction.
BOOK: Has been made into a movie.
Has been very popular.
CHARACTER: I'm very meticulous, but willing to take a gamble.
I have a trusty sidekick.
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Sounds interesting. So far I have no specofocl fous into which to tune.
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The Lone Arranger and Tonto? ;)
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I can think of a lot of sidekicks, mostly of the comic super hero kind, and I can think of several lawyers (who were actually practicing) that gave up law to write. Off hand the only writer I can remember who gave up studying law to become a writer is Virgil. I think we are looking for someone a bit more modern.
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Not a Western, and definitely more modern than Vergil. The law clue is pretty useless--I didn't even know it until I looked the author up. Time for some actually useful clues.
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AUTHOR: I was supposed to study law, but I ditched that for writing.
Many of my works are genre fiction.
I don't write in English.
BOOK: Has been made into a movie.
Has been very popular.
Not exactly in the author's main genre.
CHARACTER: I'm very meticulous, but willing to take a gamble.
I have a trusty sidekick.
I was hoping for money, but all I got was happiness.
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I love the last clue, PatH - if only.
If I seem foolish I shall blame it on the Goji Berries I have started to consume. ::)
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That last character clue is actually pretty useful if you've read the book. Guess more clues are needed.
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AUTHOR: I was supposed to study law, but I ditched that for writing.
Many of my works are genre fiction.
I don't write in English.
You've all heard of me.
BOOK: Has been made into a movie.
Has been very popular.
Not exactly in the author's main genre.
The movie had a cast of thousands. (or a lot, anyway)
CHARACTER: I'm very meticulous, but willing to take a gamble.
I have a trusty sidekick.
I was hoping for money, but all I got was happiness.
My astonishing feats were later duplicated in real life.
So you have a well-known genre writer not writing in English, and I bet all of you have heard of this book, maybe read it, and very likely seen the movie, which is not recent.
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Almost sounds like we are looking for a SciFi or an ingenious technological advance of some kind.
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Is this Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days?
Now I'll go look him up and see what kind of guess this was.
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If that's right, I saw that movie over 50 years ago, and the only thing is remember is "Cantiflas"? He was the Mexican actor who played either PatH's character or the trusty sidekick.
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Pedln, I think you've got it.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Good for you, Pedln! That's the book. The character is Phileas Fogg, who was played by David Niven in the Movie. Cantinflas was his trusty sidekick, Passepartout, and rather stole the show.
The clues: Verne wrote a lot of science fiction, but you can argue that this isn't such, since everything in it was real stuff.
The final chapter is titled something like (from faulty memory) "In which it is shown that Fogg gained nothing from his wager unless it be happiness". He had bet 20,000 pounds (about 1 1/3 million of today's dollars) that he could circle the globe in 80 days, but his expenses about equaled that. However, he had rescued a young Indian woman from being burned on her husband's funeral pyre, brought her back, and married her.
The intrepid woman journalist Nelly duplicated the trip (minus rescuing anyone) and made it in 72 days.
Fogg is meticulous because he fired his previous valet for bringing him shaving water one degree too cool.
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Congratulations, pedln ! Your finger was quickly on the button.
Pat, This was a thoroughly satisfying puzzle and the jaunty delivery of the clues, a delight.
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A most wonderful catch, Pedln.
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Bravo. I guessed "forevers" but didn't know the book.
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BRAVO PEDLN DOES IT AGAIN!
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A great quiz, PatH, and fun. Good clues.
Oh my, the clues of sidekick, and huge movie cast, along with Frybabe's comment about ingenious technological advance triggered a thought.
As we used to tell the Quiz Bowl kids, if you only know one thing, give it as an answer.
Please give me until tomorrow.
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Oh well, got started messing around. You'll probably get this in 1 day.
Author: I have written several non-fiction books, including a biography; I have also written fiction under a pseudonym.
Character: Don’t worry about book titles, I’m the big cheese in all of them. (Whoops, should not have said “big cheese.” I don’t speak that way. I’m more academic)
Now, back to bed to get caught up in Bleak House. I've been wanting to do it for a week.
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I've been lurking around but had no idea about the last book since , till last year, I had never read a book or seen a movie
of Jules Vernes work.
The one you chose I didn't read or see so I was clueless.
However the new author I will guess as Simon Winchester who wrote some great non-fiction books. The Biography he wrote was of Alice of Alice in Wonderland fame.
If I had to guess a book you might choose I will say "The Professor and the Madman".
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Hi Jude - Long time, no read you. I hope you are well.
I love Simon Winchester. The book of his that you mentioned "The Professor and the Madman" goes under a different title in Australia. It is called "The Surgeon of Crowthorne". A book i particularly enjoyed.
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Hey Jude, glad to see you lurking around here, and Roshanarose. Simon Winchester is an interesting guess, but not the correct one. I've only read his Professor and the Madman. Interesting Aussie title, R. One year both my SIL and I gave my brother a copy for Christmas.
Guess I'd better get busy and add some more clues.
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Author:
I have written several non-fiction books, including a biography;
I have also written fiction under a pseudonym.
I was a Virgina Woolf scholar.
Character: Don’t worry about book titles, I’m the big cheese in all of them.
(Whoops, should not have said “big cheese.” I don’t speak that way. I’m more academic)
I’m portrayed as a detective and there are 14 novels about me. (However, that's not my day job.
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Aaaack, that's driving me crazy! I'm going over to the Mystery Corner to assemble the mystery fans.
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Well, I was thinking of Avery Aames who writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries series, but there are only three or four of those.
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And here I was counting on you to have the answer, Joan. ;)
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Author: I have written several non-fiction books, including a biography; I have also written fiction under a pseudonym.
I was a Virgina Woolf scholar.
I was a university professor.
I had very strong feelings about women’s issues
Character: Don’t worry about book titles, I’m the big cheese in all of them. (Whoops, should not have said “big cheese.” I don’t speak that way. I’m more academic)
I’m a detective and there are 14 novels about me.
And I am a university professor.
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Oh, its that woman who commited suicide. I can't remember her name: we read a non-fiction book by her, about growing old. AAAAACK. Carol Heilstrom? something like that, but her mysteries were written under a different name.
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Well I tried Woolf Scholars in Wiki and there is a list of 30 ,yes thirty books on Virginia Woolf plus inumerable articles , broadcasts etc.
That certainly is not the way to go.
Is this writer living or dead?
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I put in Carolyn Heilbrun/Amanda Cross this morning but my post has disappeared! The Kate Fansler mysteries - I read them all years ago, absolutely loved them at the time.
Is it her?
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WINNER!!! WINNER!!! WINNER!!!
Congratulations RosemaryKaye. Carolyn Heilbrun and her mystery protagonist Kate Fansler. I loved those books. Back when we were SeniorNet we read Heilbrun's Gift of Time, Life after 60. I knew she was a professor at Columbia, but did not realize that she was considered the "mother of feminism" or something similar to that, there. At age 66, after 32 years at Columbia she just up and quit, was so provoked at the attitude towards women there, she just let the boys have their treehouse club. She had long said that women had a right to choose, even their own death, and that she would commit suicide at age 70. She actually waited until she was 77 to take her own life. Her health was good, she had good relations with friends and family, who knows why. She had said previously that she would not want to be considered useless.
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Jude, amazing, the power of the letter "s."
I googled "woolf scholar" and Heilbrun's name came up on the second article shown.
Tried it with "woolf scholars" and it didn't even make the first page.
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JoanK, I just saw your post -- bad habit of mine -- to click "go down" and read from the bottom up. You and Rosemary Kaye can fight over it.
Heilbrun initially wrote the Kate Fansler novels under the name Amanda Cross because she thought that writing mysteries under her own name would be held against her as an academic. Then some years later someone doing some copyright searching discovered the real Amanda Cross and blew her cover.
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Splendid catch! I Remember seeing the Amanda Cross moniker on book shelves. I have never read any of her books, and didn't know she was no longer alive.
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Thanks Pedln - I wonder if JoanK wants to do the next one, as I am going away next week and am up to my eyeballs in stuff at the moment? Joan, if you don't want to do it, maybe someone else will offer?
Pedln, I think I should re-read Amanda Cross (in my spare time ;D) to see if the books are still as good. I do remember the one thing that used to bug me about them was that her husband was so long-sufferingly patient - but I expect it was just jealousy on my part!
Rosemary
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
I remember her early ones as being good, but then deteriorating.
I'll do it if you're patient while I think of something.
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OK:
Author: was a true pioneer
Book: non-fiction
Character: lived to a ripe old age
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Those don't give you much to chew on. Here are some more:
Author: was a true pioneer
born in England, but spent years elsewhere
Book: non-fiction
Was the author's first
Character: lived to a ripe old age
was described as having "it".
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Clara Bow? :D
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Well done Rosemary!!!
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Thanks Roshanrose :)
Pedln, I thought about Clara Bow but it appears she was born in Brooklyn...
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Well done, Rosemarykaye !
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JoanK,
The gender of the pioneer has not been established, I believe.
Was the pioneering done in this country in horse-and-buggy time ?
Might it have been a woman ?
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Pedlin: was Clara Bow the original "it" girl? No, it is only the author who described the character as having "it". If you haven't read the book, that clue is VERY misleading! I'll have to do better.
Straude: no, not in this country or in horse and buggy time. It might indeed have been a woman (one of my personal heroines). There are many ways to pioneer.
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Time for more clues:
Author: was a true pioneer
born in England, but spent years elsewhere.
Has won many awards, but not for writing
Book: non-fiction
Was the author's first
Is autobiographical
Character: lived to a ripe old age
was described as having "it".
although the book is in English, does not speak English
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Thank you, JoanK.
Now a wild guess :
Could the author have been Gertrude Bell who played an influential role in the Middle East following the Treaty of Versailles ?
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Good guess, but no.
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Author: was a true pioneer
born in England, but spent years elsewhere.
Has won many awards, but not for writing
Decided as a child she wanted to do something that hadn't been done before. She started out by learning to type.
Book: non-fiction
Was the author's first
Is autobiographical
Takes place mostly in Africa
Character: lived to a ripe old age
was described as having "it".
although the book is in English, does not speak English
had many children
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The two female authors I can think of off-hand that were in Africa are Karen Blixen and Beryl Markham. Blixen was from Denmark, Markham was born in England. Neither one of them had lots of children that I know of.
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Good guesses, but neither is right. It was the character who had a lot of children, NOT the author. Don't confuse them. And don't forget that the author's awards were NOT for writing.
Author: was a true pioneer
born in England, but spent years elsewhere.
Has won many awards, but not for writing
Decided as a child she wanted to do something that hadn't been done before. She started out by learning to type.
Is not primarily a writer
Book: non-fiction
Was the author's first
Is autobiographical
Takes place mostly in Africa
Films were made of it, but with the author, not actors
Character: lived to a ripe old age
was described as having "it".
although the book is in English, does not speak English
had many children
is not the author
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Jane Goodall maybe?
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Yes, "In the Shadow of Man" by Jane Goodall. the character is Flo, the chimpanzee that all the males wanted, even when she was old and wrinkled (the Chimp Clara Bow).
Goodall decide when she was a child that she wanred to observe animals in the wild. She had no college education, so she learned to type, and used her skills as a typist to save money to get to Africa, and get taken on as a secretary by Leakey, the Paleantologist. She eventually told him her plan: to go and live with the chimpanzees.
No one had ever done anything like that before: now there are many such projects, but then it was unheard of, especially for a woman. But Leakey believed in her and got her financing. The rest is decades of history, and a whole new chapter in the study of animal behavior.
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YOU BEAUTY FRYBABE.
I had absolutely no idea. Good Quiz JoanK.
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Ditto to both!
Rosemary
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Two other females doing work in Africa that I thought of were Joy Adamson and Diane Fossey. In fact, once I thought of Adamson, Goodall and Fossey naturally followed. Goodall was the best fit. I'll have a new quiz up soon.
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Here is an easy one.
Author: Reporter, poet, writer, ghostwriter, speaker
Book: Non-fiction - Inspirational
Characters: Many
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Could this possibly be Carl Sandberg who was a Poet and Newspaper man and wrote a non-fiction biography of Abraham Lincoln?
The latter won the Pulitzer Prize I think.
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Sorry, not Carl Sandberg.
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Shucks, I was convinced he was it.
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Author: Reporter, poet, writer, ghostwriter, speaker
Born in Florida
Book: Non-fiction - Inspirational
Won several awards
Characters: Many
You may know at least one of the characters
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How about "What Should I do with the Rest of My Life" by Bruce Frankel?
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Bingo, you won PatH.
I think of him and Robby off and on since the discussion. I guess Bruce is still working on his book about dance and the brain. Is anyone keeping up with his blog? http://www.brucefrankel.net/
In the meantime, he ghostwrote a book about an experimental elephant farm in Kenya - or so two internet sources report. Neither one gives the stated author's name or the name of the book.
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That was a good one, Frybabe. I haven't kept up with his blog, and didn't know about the book he had ghostwritten. Interesting.
My f2f group book for April is THe Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein, who was also profiled in Bruce's book, What should I do . . . . . Bernstein wrote this book when in his nineties, he died at age 101 this past summer. From what I've read about Bernstein, Bruce was one of those who helped him celebrate his 100th. The book is about growing up under a cloud of antisemitism. So far, so good.
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Great quizzes,; congratulations to the last two winners.
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BRILLIANT PATH !!!!! :o :o :o :D :D :D
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May I interject and thank Frybabe for reminding me of Bruce Frankel who gave quite an inspiring talk about his book (to the NYC SL group in 2010) on seniors and of course, we all loved that Robby was in it. I've been trying to remember his name for a couple of days as I wanted to see how his tango lessons were going. Thank you, thank you! Frybabe! I will now use your link! [/color]
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I've been very remiss. :( My daughter has been here, and computer time was limited, but here's one:
Author: I'm pretty satirical.
Book: You've all heard of this one.
Character: I started out in the medical profession.
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Jusst guessing here. How many satirical authors do I know? Not many.
Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis?
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Good guess, pedln, but not correct. I guarantee you've heard of this author.
Author: I'm pretty satirical.
I'm also a very indignant type.
Book: You've all heard of this one.
Several movies have been made of it.
Character: I started out in the medical profession.
But I decided I was more interested in seeing distant lands.
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Aha ! Food for thought on the weekend !
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Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
That was quick. I didn't even get to have the character say his travels gave him a sense of proportion.
Good job, Frybabe.
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Wonderful!
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Here is something a little different.
Author: I was born in London over 150 years ago.
Book: While this is not my first book, it is the first in this field. It started a movement.
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Could this be H.G.Wells?
The book War of the Worlds
Wells, together with Jules Verne, started the Science Fiction Genre.
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Heading
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Sounds good to me--bet you're right.
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WOW ! Two quickies in a row ??
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Sorry not Wells or Verne.
Author: I was born in London over 150 years ago.
I participated in four military campaigns in Africa.
Book: While this is not my first book, it is the first in this field. It started a movement.
The ideas in this book began to take shape during the African wars.
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Is this author a woman?
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I want it to be Sir Richard Burton, but I can't make him fit.
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No and No!
Author: I was born in London over 150 years ago.
I participated in four military campaigns in Africa.
I've had many awards bestowed upon me, some of my war efforts but most were for the
movement I founded.
Book: While this is not my first book, it is the first I wrote in this field. It started a movement.
The ideas in this book began to take shape during the African wars.
Originally published in six installments in 1908.
Think a little outside the box on this one. The author is more associated with the movement he founded than with the book that describes it.
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Robert Baden Powell - Scouting for Boys?
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Oh, for goodness sake! How clever can you get?
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Hurray for Rosemarykaye. She is the WINNER!
What an interesting life Baden-Powell led. In 1939 he move the family to Kenya, where he died in 1941 at age 83.
In 1909, at a Boy Scouts rally, a group of girls attended and requested that he form a girl's equivalent.
The Girl Guides was formed in 1910.
Very good Rosemarykaye. I was afraid no one would get this.
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I'm equally impressed with Frybabe for thinking of it and rosemarykaye for guessing it.
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Thanks - it was that mention of Africa that started me thinking - didn't have a clue before that.
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Wow!
You folks are brilliant at finding things I never heard of or would never consider twice. Getting back in this game means getting into a differnt mind set. I'll keep trying.
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Wow, how really impressive. Very good, Rosemary.
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Congratulations, Rosemary !
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Ahem, Rosemary, you're it.
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Sorry, I forgot! Will try to think of something today and get it posted by tonight (but it's school holidays, so it may not arrive till tomorrow morning...)
Rosemary
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New quiz:
Author: British; born in 19th century, died in 20th
Book: Has been made into films, read on the radio, and adapted for the stage as both a play and a musical
Character: Has an unusual ability
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Hmmm. Sounds interesting.
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My first thought is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, but that would be too easy.
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I had a few thoughts, but they either were born wrong or died wrong.
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Sorry, not Conan Doyle. More clues:
Author: British, born in 19th Century, died in 20th.
Lived in Canada, West Africa and Cuba before settling in the US
Book: Has been made into films, read on the radio, and adapted for the stage both as a play and as a musical.
Started life as letters written home from the World War One trenches
Character: Has an unusual ability.
Is a professional, but changes from one branch of this profession to another.
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Well, that kills my idea.
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I haven't a clue now, but have found two very interesting-sounding titles by two different authors while trying to figure this puzzle out. On to the TBR list.
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Author: British, born in 19th Century, died in 20th.
Lived in Canada, West Africa and Cuba before settling in the US
Studied engineering at MIT
Book: Has been made into films, read on the radio, and adapted for the stage both as a play and as a musical.
Started life as letters written home from the World War One trenches
Starts in a fictional West Country (England) village, but involves travel to foreign climes
Character: Has an unusual ability.
Is a professional, but changes from one branch of this profession to another.
Acquires his unusual ability from one of his companions
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Aaarrrggghh!
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Focal points appear to be the author's travels; studies at MIT (before the travels or after ?); experiences in WW I, which became the book.
So far I have no idea.
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I'm thinking "The Invisible Man" by H.G.Wells but there are many holes in this guess :)
He was a suffragist, but he taught someone else the art of invisibility, not the other way around.
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I think wells lived his life out in England.
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Sorry, not HG Wells :)
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Lived in Cuba is ringing a bell, but it is not loud enough.
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I am getting a mix of books and characters and authors. Help me out, Rosemary? Just noting the authors here from around that time. Some dates may help.
D.H. Lawrence
T.S. Eliot
E.M. Forster
John Galsworthy
George Bernard Shaw
Graham Greene (too young)
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Sorry it is not any of those writers..
More clues:
Author: British, born in 19th Century, died in 20th.
Lived in Canada, West Africa and Cuba before settling in the US
Studied engineering at MIT
Died in 1947
Book: Has been made into films, read on the radio, and adapted for the stage both as a play and as a musical.
Started life as letters written home from the World War One trenches
Starts in a fictional West Country (England) village, but involves travel to foreign climes
Was later considered racist, and some parts were re-written
Character: Has an unusual ability.
Is a professional, but changes from one branch of this profession to another.
Acquires his unusual ability from one of his companions
Is given an unusual animal in the hope that this will help restore his fortunes
I hope this does it as I am running out of clues!
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Have no clue.
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Have no clue.
We'll have to get it soon, or Rosemary won't either.
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I hope that this puts us all out of our misery. Let's try:
Hugh Lofting - Doctor Doolittle (did I spell that correctly?)
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Brilliant, roshanarose. That's got to be it, everything fits. I didn't know they'd rewritten bits of the first book, but it sure could use it. In spite of that, I loved those books when I was a child.
Brilliant clues, rosemarykaye.
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HOORAH! WINNER!
Yes Roshanarose, it's Dr Doolittle by Hugh Lofting. As a child, I acquired these books from my cousin, and loved them dearly, although I don't think I understood most of the jokes. Even Madeleine liked them when she was little - they're about the only books that we've both enjoyed.
Lofting was born in Maidenhead (Berkshire) in 1886, and studied civil engineering and architecture at college. He attended MIT but ended up at London Polytechnic. He travelled to Canada as a surveyor and prospector, then worked for railway companies in West Africa & Cuba before settling in New York. He joined the British army in WWI, and began to write and illustrate stories about a kindly animal doctor when he was serving in Flanders and France. he sent these to his children in the US; after the war, on his voyage back to the US, he met a novelist who suggested he tried to publish them.
Dr John Doolittle lives in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh (which doesn't exist but could well - there are lots of villages with names like that in the west country). He has so many pets that they eventually drive his human patients away. so he becomes a vet. He has a parrot called Polynesia who helps him to learn various animal languages. He travels to Africa to help deal with an epidemic amongst the monkey population, and as a reward the monkeys kidnap a pushmi-pullyu (a sort of 2 headed unicorn) and give it to him to take back to the UK, with the idea that he will be able to make money from exhibiting it.
The books were later accused of being racist - the parrot uses racial epithets when speaking of Africans, and in one book there is a black African prince who asks the doctor to bleach his face white. Some of these episodes have been removed or changed in later editions.
This is a link to a very nice biography (with photos):
http://puddleby.tripod.com/author.html
Over to you, Roshanarose!
Rosemary
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Marvelous, Roshanarose ! Congratulations !
Rosemary, this was an enjoyable, challenging quiz with excellent clues.
The Dr. Doolittle Stories were my young son's uncontested favorites. Imitating the animals' voices became a source of endless fun. He was five when the movie (with Rex Harrison) came out in 1967. Even so, I would never have guessed the answer, probably because it never occurred to me to look up the author and his past.
Whether it be the lingering memory of these happy times, or coincidence, just on March 27, playing our Title Mania game, Dr. Doolittle and Hugh Lofting were my reply.
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Wonderful!!! The racist clue should have given it to me. I loved Dr. Doolittle as a kid, especially the push-mi-pull-yu, with a head at each end. The recent series with Eddie Murphy based on it is different.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Wow! Super catch there Roshanarose. Smashing!
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Thank You. I am a wee bit busy just now but hope to have my quiz up in a couple of days.
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Well done, Roshanarose, and an excellent puzzle, Rosemary.
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I have returned after a too busy ten days.
Dr Doolittle was also my favorite as a young child. My first grade teacher would read us a chapter of these books every Friday afternoon. When I could get a library card (You had to be a second grader to get the card) I began reading the series and read all of them. Push-me-pull-yu was my first inkling that language could be fun and be made fun of.
Hugh Lofting probably never knew how much he influenced our generation of readers.
Thanks for the memories, Roshanarose.
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With Dr Dolittle the animal hints were the clues I needed. Thank you all for your congratulations.
OK - My turn:
Author: 20th century British writer.
Book: His debut novel.
Characters: I deliberately put "characters" because the book's plot is driven by only two characters.
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Re British Writers. I was just looking to find out the percentage of British writers who have been the subject of our quizzes, but I couldn't find the list. I know that I generally choose British writers, the reason for this is that I grew up in a culture and a time where British writers were the preference of Australian bookreaders. It may have had something to do with Empire, I am not sure. Also at school we studied British writers and then at University I studied English literature. By that time American Literature was part of the University curriculum bu only in third year, and by that time I was heavily into Linguistics.
So the upshot of this is: Don't groan and say Not another British writer!!! Try to understand that probably what we read in our most impressionable years will (or may) govern our literary choices from then on. Don't give up before you start the quiz.
What I really love about this game is that I have the opportunity to learn about literature and authors on a global scale. After all, that is what it is all about.
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My fault, roshanarose, I have been bad about keeping the list up to date. At the moment, you have to go back 2 pages to see it. I'll fix that. As of 2 pages ago, there were 131 authors guessed, and 41 of them are from the British Isles (England, Scotland, and Ireland, but mostly England). I didn't look up a couple whose origin I didn't know, and didn't count people like J. R. R. Tolkien (born in South Africa, but lived in England most of his life).
I never groan about the origin of the writer, only groan because I don't know who it is.
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It's up to date now. The tally is 136/46.
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For a long time, and perhaps even still, British literature was the gold standard for literature even here in the States. If you were educated, you knew British literature. So the number of Brits is not surprising.
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I apologise if I seemed grumpy. Although I haven't told anyone else on SL, I instinctively know that I can trust people in "Author, Author" so I will reveal that I have Clinical Depression and have had for years. I won't go into what has happened that helped to bring about the illness, as I kinow that many, if not most, of you have had your own suffering to deal with. Having a daughter who is a Clinical Psychologist helps, but she is very vigilant and I can't put anything over her. She is my darling girl, so all is well.
So what I am trying to say is that although I love getting the quizzes right and go to great lengths to do so, I am not so keen on composing a quiz. I strikes me that I am not Robinson Crusoe in this.
As my father always used to say: "Stop grumbling. Get on with it. There are millions who are worse off than you". Isn't that the way most fathers are? So here is more info on my quiz.
Author: 20th century British writer.
A bit of a grumbler as well.
He was brought up in a very oppressive and conformist suburban family home
Book: His debut novel..
Spent four years at Oxford where he was an admirer of Camus and Sartre, whose writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. These themes are reflected to a large extent in this book.
Characters: I deliberately put "characters" because the book's plot is driven by only two characters.
The two individuals are about as different as they can be.
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It's a bit late, so my brain isn't up to thinking too hard right now. Nothing comes to mind yet.
Bless you, Roshanarose. Hugs from someone who has been in that morass.
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Roshanarose, thanks for sharing that with us, it's so nice to know that you feel able trust us, and of course we are all very trustworthy - I myself feel like the people on SeniorLearn are all good friends. And just so that you know you are not alone, I don't like writing the quizzes either - if I guess one, part of me thinks 'great' and the other part thinks 'oh no'!
Haven't a clue so far. Sounds interesting though.
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Roshanarose, you must have been feeling grumpier than you sounded--you didn't seem grumpy to me. Hang in there--you can always grump at us whenever you want.
I hate thinking of quizzes too. Yours is a good one, but so far I'm not coming up with anything.
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{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}
We've all been there, and we're all with you.
The book sounds fascinating. If it turns out I haven't read it, I'd like to.
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Thanks for your understanding. I feel like I am a Musketeer - All for One and One for All (or something like that).
Rosemary I am impressed by how far you have come with your "formatting". Every time I write something bold or italics I invariably forget to turn it off.
I am feeling all warm and squishy now. Thanks for the hugs Frybabe and Joan. PatH I will try not to be too grumpy. Actually you nearly lost me last night. There was a knock on the door and when I asked who it was, the reply was "Police"! I honestly felt my heart start beating too fact and my stomach had a huge knot in it. The two police offices were there to follow up a case of a suspect burglary at my house. The police are a bit on the tardy side. The incident happened in November. It was cleared up and I went back inside and had a stiff drink. Phew!
Author: 20th century British writer.
A bit of a grumbler as well.
He was brought up in a very oppressive and conformist suburban family home.
He received a degree in French and considered becoming a writer.
Book: His debut novel..
Spent four years at Oxford where he was an admirer of Camus and Sartre, whose writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. These themes are reflected to a large extent in this book.
The first draft of the book was completed in 1960 and was published in Spring, 1963 immediately becoming a best-seller.
Characters: I deliberately put "characters" because the book's plot is driven by only two characters.
The two individuals are about as different as they can be.
The two individuals are a man and a woman from two very different backgrounds.
Even their names reflect this difference.
_
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Still drawing a blank.
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Roshanarose, we're so glad you're here with us. Bless you.
Your clues are great. For someone who doesn't like making quizzes you are doing stupendously. I wish I could stick around longer today to "attack ;D " them.
Right now, the only thing I can come up with is that he/she is younger than Camus and Sartre?
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pedln et al - such sweet kind words. Thank You.
Not a lot of movement at the station here on SL. I will try to make the clues less obscure. As a matter of fact I will make them downright crystal clear 8)
pedln - the author is a "He".
Author: 20th century British writer.
A bit of a grumbler as well.
He was brought up in a very oppressive and conformist suburban family home.
He received a degree in French and considered becoming a writer.
After the author wrote this book he wrote several others and a couple of translations from the French and some poetry.
He had spent happy times in Spetsai, an island of Greece. It was there that he began to feel more confident and less repressed about his writing.
Indeed, one of his most famous books was set in Greece.
Another of his books was made into a film, as was the one I am quizzing you on. The other book/film had Meryl Streep as the female lead.
Book: His debut novel..
Spent four years at Oxford where he was an admirer of Camus and Sartre, whose writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. These themes are reflected to a large extent in this book.
The first draft of the book was completed in 1960 and was published in Spring, 1963 immediately becoming a best-seller.
The author's technique is quite unusual in this book, at least it was then. The book is divided into two distinct parts, ie first from the man's point of view and second from the woman's, which is written in diary form. The man gets to have the last say due to a tragedy.
Characters: I deliberately put "characters" because the book's plot is driven by only two characters.
The two individuals are about as different as they can be.
The two individuals are a man and a woman from two very different backgrounds.
Even their names reflect this difference.
The man becomes obsessed with the woman and kidnaps her. The title of the book could be seen as a synonym of "the kidnapper".
The man's name is Frederick. The woman calls him Caliban as in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" as she sees him as somehow subhuman. She is Miranda.
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I figure if you don't know it by now then you probably haven't read the book. That's fine. I have answered quizzes correctly about books I have never read just from deduction and a process of elimination by research. I enjoy that approach, but I know that perhaps not everyone does. Give it a go anyway 8)
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Never read it, whatever it is. The bit about the author spending time on a Greek island sounds familiar, but then I expect he wasn't the only one. Sorry, I don't know this one.
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I'm sure I never read it (hope I don't have to eat those words).
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Is the one that Meryl Streep starred in The French Lieutenant's Woman? By John Fowles?
I'm afraid I don't know anything about his other books. Are we allowed to look it up?
Rosemary
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Roshanarose,
Fabulously formulated clues that give a fine outline of an author and a man; but nothing clicks for me, yet.
t
I'm still puzzling about the author's ultra-conservative upbringing and its effect on him. Was he repressed by it until he found a modicum of happiness in Greece, or did he openly defy conventions ?
It's too soon to give up; I'd like to delve into things a bit longer.
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I'm wondering if the Streep film is "Mamma Mia" which takes place on a Greek Island? The opera is by Abba, but I have no idea who wrote the story it was taken from.
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Googling it, I can't find that the "book" of the musical was based on a real book. So maybe not.
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Is it The Collector by John Fowles? That book is about two people -one THe Collector whose name escapes me and the next part by Miranda.
The man is a lonely butterfly collector.
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JUDE - CONGRATULATIONS
You would have been allowed, Rosemary, and you did get half of the question. Well Done!
straudetwo - I am not too sure if Fowles "openly defied convention" or not. From my notes he was a very clever guy who grew up in a very ordinary household. That is not meant to be an insult. He did become very well qualified as an academic and teacher. He did something out of the ordinary by going to Greece to teach as most of his peers were only interested in teaching at the prestige Universities in Britain. However, the island is Spetsai and is supposed to be rather gorgeous. I have heard from a very good source that Ralph Fiennes goes there for his holidays, so it couldn't be too shabby. To a certain extent Greece did liberate or maybe even inspire him enough to discover his writing talent as I have mentioned in my clues. Another of his books (and films) was "The Magus" which was set on a Greek island.
I saw the movie "The Collector" first and because at the time I was besotted with anything with Terence Stamp in it (he was Freddie), I read the book. The book was unlike anything I had read before. Neither horror or thriller it set the trend for many films and books that followed with its quiet air of menace.
The character of the woman in the book and film is actually Miranda Grey (played by Samantha Eggar) and Terence Stamp as Frederick (Freddie) Clegg. I realised that our Rosemary has a son called Freddie. I wasn't casting aspersions on your son, Rosemary. :o
Terence Stamp was in great demand in the sixties and was an ikon for "The Swinging Sixties". Among the beautiful women he escorted (euphemism) were Brigitte Bardot, Julie Christie and the beautiful model Jean Shrimpton. Stamp also starred in such movies as "Billy Budd", "Blue", "Far from the Madding Crowd" with Julie Christie, and more recently as the man/woman in "Priscilla: Queen of the Desert" which I can recommend highly.
If you can get a hold of "The Collector" either book or film, take a look. I hope you enjoyed the quiz. But even I saw that perhaps it was a bit cryptic. Well done all those "who had a go".
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For the record: I have never seen "Mama Mia" as I really dislike Abba.
Frybabe - I think that there were several writers who were inspired by Greece. Lawrence and Gerald Durrell both lived on Corfu. Leonard Cohen and some fellow ex-pats lived on the lovely island of Hydra. Charmain Clift and her husband also lived on Hydra full-time.
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Well done Jude!!
Roshanarose - don't worry, I don't think all Freddies are mine! As I may have mentioned earlier, we recently found a lost daschund who turned out to be named Freddie :) Actually he was probably better behaved than mine. Would have loved to have kept him, but also v happy that his owners turned up - they were lovely.
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie - both names that evoke an era, don't you think? Far from the Madding Crowd was the first film I ever went to under the certificate age. My friend and I were probably 6 months off being 14, or whatever you needed to be i those days (the classifications were different then), and we felt so guilty you would have thought we were smuggling cocaine :o
I loved Mama Mia, but I know lots of people didn't. Anna said 'it's all about middle aged women' ;D ;D and son apparently went to sleep in it....
Rosemary
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Rosemary
I too loved Mama Mia. Both the play and more recently the film with Meryl Streep.
Give me a day or two to organize this quiz. basically to decide on a writer that is not on the list of "the Chosen" up till now.
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Hurray, Jude!
Not only did I not read this book, I have never read and of John Fowles books, nor have I seen movie.
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Congratulations, Jude !
John Fowles DID come to my mind, particularly of his connection with Greece - but I knew nothing of his childhood or his admiratio for Camus and Sartre. I read The Collector, I saw the movie, twice. I became a fan of Fowles and own several of his books.
His most extraordinary work, for me, is The Magus, published in 1966 and republished in 1977, totally revised. A feast for the mind and the senses.
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Good morning folks. It has been a long, long time since I put up a quiz. I'll try my best.
Author:A Twentieth Century Writer. Famous world wide.
Book:Takes place in the past.
Character:Everyone of you is familiar with this character .
Good Luck!
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We'll need a lot of luck, or maybe a crystal ball. Those clues could fit a horde of books. :) (That's not a complaint; that's how it's supposed to start off.)
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A crystal ball indeed , PatH!! ;)
It will take more clues to narrow down the vast field of (living?)authors who fit the preliminary premise.
Jude did give us a hint, merely a hint, mind you, and not a promise : namely that she'd choose an author who, so far, has not been one of our "chosen"in this circle.
We ae prepared to start the game.
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Well, we have to start somewhere. 20th Century -- that narrows it down a bit. World-wide
F Scott Fitzgerald? The Great Gatsby?
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"The Magus is only $1.99 on Kindle, so I ordered it. "A feast for the mind and senses" sounds pretty good!
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JoanK - Good on You. Why not read "The Collector" as well?
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Not F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Look further afield.
Yes indeed . Not one of the chosen on the list.Wondered why this author wasn't.
More clues tomorrow.
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Good morning.
Author:A 20th century writer.
The Author's older brother and three of the authors six children were writers.
Book:Takes place in the past.
Divided into four main sections.
Character:Everyone of you is familiar with this character.
Comes from a very, very large family.
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The Waltons?
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Not the Waltons.
I also noticed that when I put up my second set of clues I forgot part of the Author clue: Famous world wide.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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I want to make it Evelyn Waugh, but it doesn't quite fit.
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It is not Waugh.
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So, a 20th century author has written about a well-known world wide character from the past.
Well, let's get another one out of the way. William Faulkner?
Is this fiction?
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For some strange reason, thinking of a "very, very large family" reminds me of rabbits.
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Do rabbits make good writers Fry?
The obvious answer is "Cheaper by the Dozen", but answers are rarely obvious here.
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Frybabe - Maybe thinking about rabbits is a psychic connection. Perhaps the large family consists of animals. What say you, Jude? Also would it be possible to have a nationality, please?
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I though of Gilbreth, Roshannarose, but I don't know if any other than his sister Elizabeth became writers. Nor do I know if he had an Uncle that wrote. Wasn't there a movie or TV show with Fred McMurray based on Cheaper by the Dozen?
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Ha, ha Rabbits. Are you thinking of "Watership Down"?
No such luck.
Nationality -I will only say that he is European but spent 13 years in the United States. It is too early in the game to give you the specific country.
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It is not Faulkner.
New Clues
Author: Was married to only one woman and they had six children.
Book:Written after the author had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Character:Overcame adversity of many types and rose to a high position. Forgave many of those who wronged him.
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No one is guessing.
Well todays clues should help.I will combine them with yesterdays clues.
Author:Was married to only one woman and they had six children.
His diaries, which were allowed to be opened only after his death, spoke of his life long
fight against his homosexual yearnings.
Book:Written after the author won the Nobel Prize for literature.
The book took 14 years to complete.
Character:Overcame adversity of many types and rose to a high position.Forgave many of those
who wronged him.
Was exiled from his native country for most of his life.
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Jude, did the author also write screen plays, per chance ?
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Straude
The author wrote Novels,Essays, Short Stories and Social criticism, but no screen plays. Only one of his many books was turned into a movie.
More clues tomorrow.
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I see that my clues are too hard. Hopefully the next ones will help you with the answers.
Author: German
Book: Was said to be influenced by Freuds "Moses and Monotheism".
Character: An interpeter of dreams.
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Jude, AHA !
My guess is Thomas Mann; the book Joseph und seine Brüder - Joseph and His Brothers.
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HURRAH!!
Straude you are correct.
As a young adult I read everything Mann wrote.
People don't talk about him or his books anymore. Yet those ar the books that have stayed with me through a lifetime.
It took Mann 14 years to complete Joseph and His Brothers as he and his family moved around to stay clear of Hitler. They moved to Switzerland in 1933 and to the U.S. in 1939. The book came out in 1943. Mann lectured and taught at Princeton while in the U.S.
He and 37 other German and Austrian authors who escaped Germany after 1933 are know as the EXILLITERATUR group.
Much of Joseph and His Brothers has to do with Pharoah Akhenatan's desire to change the Egyptian pantheon of Gods to a Monotheistic religion.
The San Francisco Museum had a huge exhibit on the time and influence of Akhenatan a few years back and it was brilliant.
In 1952 Mann returned to Switzerland where he remained till his death in1955.
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Wow - well done Straude, I hadn't got the first idea. And well done Jude for a real challenge - one that I certainly wasn't up to!
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Wow. Impressive clues and impressive winner. I have never read any of his works. What was his high position, Jude?
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WELL DONE AND CONGRATULATIONS STRAUDE
Jude - Tense! ;) I, too, am an admirer of Thomas Mann. I studied German literature for a year at Uni and "Death in Venice" was the book chosen for us to be examined on, although we didn't know it! I remember the question so well. It was "Discuss the irony in "Death in Venice". I managed to get a distinction, although I am not sure how. Our lecturer was an Australian with German ancestry. He rode a Harley Davidson (not a BMW??)and would come to lecturers fully clad in black leather. I remember a moment of extreme embarrassment in one of his tutorials. He mentioned the word "onanism", a word I had never heard before. When I don't know what a word means I have this habit of asking the person who said it what it means. He looked at me, then my chest, and blushed. When he told me in front of the class, it was my turn to blush. :o
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Pedlin
Joseph rose from a slave to Vice Regent to Akhenatan.
If you have read the biblical story of Joseph you know the outline of the plot.
However this is a long book and Mann considered it his finest work.
I too think it is his best although Death in Venice is his most accesible. Perhaps because it is the one book in which he let his guard down about his own personal feelings.
Anyone of his books would be a good read for the online Book Group.
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Jude, if you think Mann would make a good discussion, why not suggest one of the books in the Suggestions discussion?
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Sorry not to have immediately followed up on Jude's last post. I really wanted to add a few last comments, but I was exceedingly pressed for time, trying to finish reading three library books, all due on the same day. It caused some anxiety and also led me o follow the wrong track at first.
Sadly, Thomas Mann's work, despite being so important a part of German literature of the 20th century, is not read much any more. And that is true for other emigré authors, as fascinating as some of Mann's works still are. The Budenbrooks is a famly story, largely autobiographical; and in The Magic Mountain Mann drew again on family experiences (his wife was a patient in the sanatorium (presumably Davos). The short novel Tonio Kröger deals with the ambiguity that haunted Mann all his life. The tetralogyJoseph and his Brothers is his magnum opus, the work is scholarly, the writing luminous. His children were all talented, four of them wrote about their father. Daughter Erika and son Klaus, while in this country, were watched carefully by Edgar Hoover's FBI.
Among the authors and artists who found asylum in the United States were Franz Werfel (The Song of Bernadette) and his wife Alma, Gustav Mahler's widow (a bit of a femme fatatale); Bertold Brecht; Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya; Lion Feuchtwanger; Arnold Schoenberg; Max Reinhardt; Bruno Walter, and many others.
Thank you, Jude, and thank you all for giving me a chance to reminisce about one of my favorite authors.
I'll have a new quiz ready by Wednesday the latest.
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Straude, I love the Song of Bernadette - first saw it years ago one afternoon when I think I was off school ill. I will see if our library has it, thanks for reminding me.
Rosemary
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I was never able to finish "The Magic Mountain". I recently tried to reread a book of his short stories ("Death in Venice" and other stories) which blew me away when I read as a young woman. But now, I find the writing too turgid and hard to follow. I'm no longer used to having to stop and think over every sentance. Too many mystery stories and "sound bites" on TV?
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JoanK - I found the same thing when I tried to re-read Axel Munthe. As a 13 year old, I thought The Story of San Michele was one of the most amazing books I had ever read, but when I cam back to it I found it unreadable. Same thing happened with Malcolm Saville's children's books when i tried to read them to my own children - but maybe that was just a case of bad writing that I hadn't noticed aged 8! (My own must be more discerning...)
Rosemary
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The last two posts deserve a response. Both JoanK's and Rosemary's points were well taken.
But I promised to post the new quiz by today, so IT has precedence. However, hoping for your indulgece, I'd like to comment, sooner raher than later.
Here's the new quiz.
Author One of the greatest novelists of his generation
Book Met with some consternation when first published
Character(s) There's a large cast of characters, with one of them outstanding
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I thought of Thackeray and 'Vanity Fair' but it seems that was well received from the outset.
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Sorry, Roemary, not Thackeray.
More clues later.
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New clues
Author One of the greatest novelists of his generation.
A romantic by disposition.
Was actively engaged in the political life of his country
and held public office for a time.
Book Met with some consternation when first published.
Reflects the author's concern for mankind.
Character(s) There's a large cast of characters, with one of them
standing out.
A profusion of episodes involves the many characters.
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Straude
Can you tell us the authors nationality or the continent on which he lives (lived)?
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Jude, with pleasure.
The author in question here is no longer alive. And he was not English.
This should make things easier.
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Proust?
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Sorry, not Proust, JoanK.
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The Divine Comedy by Dante Alligheri?
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Sorry, Jude, not Dante Alighieri.
New clues to follow.
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Good, I need more clues. I am guessing I know this author, put can't come up with anyone who remotely fits just yet.
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I don't think Balzac (La Comedie Humaine) quite fits, does he? Too busy writing to bother with public office.
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Sorry, Rosemary, not Balzac
Additional clues
The Author
His influence on the literature and culture of his country is unrivaled.
Many of his countrymen regard him as their greatest, most versatile literature figure.
Completed after many years of writing, the book was greeted with hostility by the
critics, but it soon became a popular success, translated into many foreign languages,
and is known worldwide.
Characters
The narrative follows the historical events and describes the lives and interchanges of
a large cast of characters.
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Tolstoy?
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JoanK, sorry, not Tolstoy.
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I am thinking French. There were plenty of French writer/politicians, but I can't fit the few French authors that I know into the clues.
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Candide by Voltaire
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I will be away for the next ten days. We are driving to the Shakespear festival in Ashland Oregon with some friends.
Good guessing!
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Roshanarose, sorry, not Voltaire.
He was one of my earlier puzzles (for Candidide), and Frybabe solved it speedily.
Jude, enjoy your time at the Shakespearefestival.
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Yes, sounds great!
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The following additional clues should reveal the solution.
In the author's century, (the 19th), the author's native country experienced violent political upheaval.
The author felt compelled to change his allegiance.
He left the country and lived in exile for a number if years, refusing to return even after a general amnesty was proclaimed.
He was still in exile when the book was published (in Belgium).
The voluminous novel, in which the author elaborated also on many issues of his time, has lived on, adapted many times for the stage, even a film.
The themes of his books have inspired many composers of his time, among them Fauré, Rachmaninoff, and Wagner.
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That's got to give it away. Why am I not coming up with it?
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PatH,
The title consists of two French words. One of them is an English adjective.
The book reveals the author's concern for the down-trodden, the right to justice and the grace of redemption.
P.S. When Rosemary suggested Balzac, the country was 'right'.
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Victor Hugo, Les Miserables (or as it now seems to be known, 'Les Mis'...)?
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HURRAH. ROSEMARY ! We have a WINNER
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Congratulations again, Rosemary.
Les Misérables has been translated variously also as The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, and The Victims before becoming the definitive title.
The story begins in 1815 with the main protagonist Jean Valjean, just released from prison after serving nineteen years; five of them for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister and her family, and fourteen as punishment for his repeated and always unsuccessful escapes. There are 10 major characters and more than twice as many minor ones. Separate parts carry the names of major characters, one of them a little girl, Cosette, pictured on many covers of Les Misérables, standing in deep water apparently in a hovel of a home with a look of utterhelplessness, holding a broom that would be enormous even on the hand of an adult.
Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, wrote poetry from an early age and was an ardent admirer of François René count of Chateaubriand), (1768-1848) who is considered the forerunner of French Romanticism. Hugo's youthful passion and eloquence brought early successes, especially Odes et Ballades, but IMHO the depth of the much later Les Misérables is more akin to the realism of Emile Zola than Chateaubriand's effusive, rather self-involved romantic melancholy.
In 1841 Hugo was (finally) elected to join the Académie Française, the illustrious body who are members for life. Some of them had fought hard to keep Hugo and his "romantic evolution" out.
He served in the General Assembly of France and initially supported the restoration of the Bourbons after the death of Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Napoleon III. seized power in 1851 and established an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly branded him a a traitor to France. Then he left France, went first to Brussels, then settled with his family in Saint Peter Port in Guernsey. There he published anti-royalist pamphlets, that were banned in France, finished Les Misérables and continued to write. The book was publishedin Belgium in
1862.
Not only the critics resented the novel, several writers did too, among them Gustave Flaubert who said it contained "neither truth nor greatness. And Charles Baudelaire ( (The Flowers of Evil = Les fleurs du mal) castigate L.M. in private as "tasteless and inept".
But posterity had other ideas, and the work has remained popular and had many adaptations in the modern media.
Thank you for participating.
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Jolly Good Going Rosemary!
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Wonderful catch, Rosemary.
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For those getting fed up with waiting for me to set the next quiz, many apologies. I had to submit my final OU assignment this week (now done - hooray) and I am having major dental problems at the moment (returned to dentist this morning for second stage of root canal treatment on one tooth only to be told that the adjacent one was infected, so had to have all of that dug out too - yuk. Now have to wait till 21st June for both second stage treatments, and am just hoping nothing else goes wrong in between. It's not been nice!)
I have thought of 2 possible quizzes today but on checking found both of them had already been used. I will continue to try to come up wit something, but if in the meantime anyone else wants a go, you are more than welcome!
Thanks for your patience,
Rosemary
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OUCH!
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Rosemary,
The same fate befell me last year when three (3) of my incisors needed root canal treatment -- and caps. arrrrrg
Good luck !
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Eeeeew, Rosemary. No fun. We'll wait, take your time.
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At last, here I am:
Author: Born and died in the 19th century
Book: Was written very quickly, and became an immediate bestseller
Character: Is unmarried
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Hooray, Rosemary. I was just about to give up. Can't, of course, guess it from those slender clues.
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I know Pat, sorry for the delay. It's just been one minor thing after another here - but thank goodness no toothache at the moment (I hardly like to say that...).
Anyway, more clues tomorrow.
Rosemary
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There's nothing like a toothache to make you appreciate no toothache!
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You said it Joan!
More clues:
Author: Born and died in the 19th century
Suffered poor health since childhood
Book: Was written very quickly, and became an immediate bestseller
Has been frequently adapted for screen and stage
Character: Is unmarried
Is a professional person
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The sickly rings a bell, but I think there were more than a few that were considered sickly either went children or through their entire lives. Still thinking.
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More clues:
Author: Born and died in the 19th century
Suffered poor health since childhood
Came from a family with a very particular profession, the products of which can still be seen in the UK today
Book: Was written very quickly, and became an immediate bestseller
Has been frequently adapted for screen and stage
Is fiction, but examines philosophical issues
Character: Is unmarried
Is a professional person
Narrates the story, but is not the main character in it
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My offering:
Robert Lewis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll and Mrs. Hyde
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HOORAH!!!!
WINNER!!!
[/color]Yes, it's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, which I recently read for the first time to try to get daughter through Higher English (my help was then spurned... :)).
Robert Louis Stevenson was part of the Stevenson family of lighthouse designers. His father Thomas designed lots of them, including Fidra, which stands on an island opposite our local beach, Yellowcraig:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.scottishradiance.com/light/fidra.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.scottishradiance.com/light/light0405.htm&h=438&w=600&sz=78&tbnid=N0B9KTwAyoO96M:&tbnh=92&tbnw=126&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfidra%2Blighthouse%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=fidra+lighthouse&usg=__M7ws6MjjQvc-JN3F0XUvYUUyvWs=&docid=-hcEmiYnsUFo6M&sa=X&ei=TNnVT-mgEcej8gOtw_mbAw&ved=0CGsQ9QEwAg&dur=363
RLS allegedly wrote the first draft of the novella in 3 days, then burnt it and wrote the second draft in an equally short space of time.
The character is Mr Utterson, a lawyer and semi-reclusive man, who is a friend of Jekyll's, and who at first thinks that Mr Hyde is blackmailing him. He eventually finds out what has really happened.
Well done and over to you (sigh of relief) Frybabe.
Rosemary
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Good job guessing, Frybabe, and good quiz, Rosemary.
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WOW! I had no idea RLS came from a family of lighthouse designers! I had no idea that lighthouse designing was a proffession, but of course when you think of it -----.
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I don't know why lighthouses have so much appeal, but they do. here is our local lighthouse (NOT designed by RLS' family)
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3130660458_15eaac7a67.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.merchantcircle.com/directory/CA-Palos-Verdes-Peninsula/cityphotos&h=333&w=500&sz=145&tbnid=Bqoe4jeCnoCwSM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=137&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpoint%2Bvicente%2Blighthouse%2Bpictures%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=point+vicente+lighthouse+pictures&usg=__dM4BW4_HOR2DamXDaIst3paegXI=&docid=F7ZyhBG7zxS6nM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Jz3WT4uZFOaw2QWwxci4Dw&sqi=2&ved=0CJ0BEPUBMAc&dur=4146
The place where the picture was taken is where I have a memorial tile for my husband. my son and I go there often, and just take in the beauty
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Beautiful picture Joan, and a great place to have a memorial. I have been to Point Reyes but not to this one.
When we were at the Edinburgh College of Art graduate show on Saturday, one of the design students had based her work on a book called Stargazing, which I hadn't heard of before but I've now looked it up:
http://www.amazon.com/Stargazing-Memoirs-Young-Lighthouse-Keeper/dp/1841956511
I think it sounds interesting.
I heard a radio play last year about a lighthouse. It was a fictionalised version of a true story, and I as I recall it, it was about 2 lighthouse keepers whose bodies were found in a lighthouse off the Scottish coast in the early 1900s. This play suggested that what might have happened was that the younger man was having an affair with the younger man's wife - so they fought, one of them was killed (whether accidentally or deliberately) and the survivor then killed himself. As a result, from then on lighthouses were always manned by 3 men rather than just 2.
My children used to love a picture book we had called The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch - about a lighthouse keeper whose wife sends his sandwiches across from their mainland home on a pulley every day. The seagulls always steal his food, so in the end she makes mustard sandwiches just to put them off. It has lovely illustrations:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lighthouse-Keepers-Lunch-Picture-books/dp/0590551752
We also used to have a children's video called Portland Bill, about the characters that live in a lighthouse, and others that live in the nearby village. All the characters are named after shipping forecast areas; the dog is - unsurprisingly - called Dogger:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Adventures-Portland-Bill-Interference/dp/B000NTPCEC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1339443872&sr=1-1
We all loved it: it had a lot of all-age jokes.
Lighthouses definitely have a special fascination. We don't have any manned ones in the UK any more - are there any in the US?
Rosemary
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There are some in isolated spots where the lighthouse keepers cottage has been made into an inn, where people can stay for vacations away from it all. But as far as I know, the lights are all run automatically. I don't know what triggers the one in the picture to sound its foghorn: moisture in the air, maybe. I've been there on beautiful sunny days when the foghorn was sounding.
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Just realised that I did of course mean 'an affair with the older man's wife' in my last post.
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Okay I found one off the beaten track so to speak. Hope you all can rise to the challenge.
Author: Nobel Prize Winner
Book: Autobiographical novel, translation published in English two years ago
Character: A novelist in his sixties.
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Oh,we read it. The old man going through his attic, looking at American comic books that sustained him during World War II. What was it? Can't remember either the name or the author.
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That sounds interesting JoanK, but not anywhere near what I have in mind. Sorry!
Author: Nobel Prize Winner
Was only a boy of six or there abouts when WWII broke out.
Book: Autobiographical novel, translation published in English two years ago
The first of a trilogy
Character: A novelist in his sixties.
His friend commits suicide
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Everything I've thought of so far was written in English. Of course, if someone gets desperate, they could always look up a list of Nobel Prize winners, but that's no fun.
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PatH, okay with me if you look it up. The author may not be that well known in this country, and his latest book was only published in English two years ago. More clues this afternoon.
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Author: Nobel Prize Winner
Was only a boy of six or there abouts when WWII broke out.
Many of his novels are autobiographical in nature and often include dealing with raising a brain damaged child
Book: Autobiographical style novel
Published in his native country in 2000, the translation was published in English 2010
The first of a trilogy
Introspective, existential, philosophical are words used to describe the nature and flow of the book.
Character: A novelist in his sixties.
His friend, a noted filmmaker and his brother in law, commits suicide
Through the tapes his friend sent and reminiscences he tries to piece together why his friend committed suicide
Please feel free to research. Like I said, I don't think the author is very well known in this country.
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I won't have to research. Your third author clue gave it to me; it's Kenzaburo Oe. I don't know the name of the book, though. Anybody?
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The book is "The Changeling".
THe author is one of my favorites and have read everything he wrote except this last book.
His works were translated into English before 2000. Although what the exact dates are I would have to research.
I would recommend him to anyone who has an interest in the inner workings of family life and how the strengths and weaknesses of each member influences their joint family life.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Winners
PatH and JudeS you are so right. Now you have to fight over who does the next quiz.
I thought this review was a beautiful tribute to the author and book:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=2489
Wikipedia has a very interesting write up on Oe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenzaburo_Oe
I understand that Mr. Oe is one of the best known and best loved writers in Japan today.
Jude, do you think one of his books would be worth nominating for a book discussion sometime in the future? I really must read at least one of his books. I feel like I am missing something otherwise.
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Oh well done! It all meant nothing to me. Sounds interesting, thanks for an unusual quiz.
Rosemary
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Too bad I was so quick. Judy, would you like the honor, or shall we fight a duel--reference works at 20 paces?
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Frybabe
The two books I would recommend of Oe are "A Quiet Life" and "The Silent Cry".
The Silent Cry is a more exciting book, but for me, I simply loved the book "A Quiet Life". That may have been influenced by the fact that it is about Oe's need to escape from Japan and live and work in Stanford which is close to where I live and so I closely followed him during that period.
Thank you so much Frybabe for making me realize that Oe is still writing and I will now get to read "The Changeling".
PAT:
I will bow to you and let you choose the next author. Hope its not too hard.
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Pat has suggested that I give it a try so here goes
Author:
Born before WW2.Lived in four different countries by the age of 13
Book: A Crime novel. Takes place in 19th century.
Character:
Detective.
the author has written 18 novels dealing with this character who lost part of his memory after an accident.
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Thanks for doing it, Jude; I wasn't coming up with anything. I'm not coming up with the answer to this one yet either.
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Me neither PatH.
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Nor me ??? ;D (or is it 'nor I'? ??? ???)
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Clues:
Author:Born before WW2 by age 13.
Has written almost 80 books.Sold more than 10 Million.
Book:A crime novel. Takes place in 19th century.
Came out in 2011.It is the 17th book of the 18 written specifically about this character.
Character: Detective.Author has written 18 novels with this character who lost part of his memory after an accident.
Character is married. Partner helps solve the horrific crimes the character deals with.
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Sorry!
I left out part of the first clue.
The The author was born before WW2. By age 13 had lived in four countries.
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Oh.
Anne Perry
Acceptable Loss
William Monk
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YAY!
Pat got it right!
Ye gads and little fishes! Are you a devotee too?
Learned a lot researching Perry.
She was born inEngland in 1938. Because she had T.B. she was sent to the Caribbean and later to South Africa. Nowhere could I find if she went on her own or whether her Mother accompanied her. When she was 13 her father (Dr. of Physics) got a job in New Zealand and she and mother followed.While there she became very close friends with an Australian girl. They
were inseperable.
When she found out that her parents were divorcing she knew she was returniing to England and wanted her friend to accompany her there. When the girl's mother refused, the two girls plotted her murder and successfully carried it out.
Both girls were adjudicated to prison "at the King's Pleasure"( meaning that she would be released when it was felt by
Prison officials to be rehabilated).
Five years later she was released and changed her name from Juliet Hume to Anne Perry.
She had studied enough in prison to be accepted eo University which she completed. Anne did not start her writing career until age 40.
During the interim period she spent five years in the U.S.. ,mostly in L.A.
Today she lives in a small town in Scotland with four cats and a dog. She is a faithful member of the Mormon Church.
She says that her books are about grappling withquestions of sin and repentance, the price of redemption and forgiveness.
A movie was made of her crime . It was called "Heavenly Creatures" and starred a young Kate Winslett.
In "Acceptable Losses" William Monk and his wife Hester (a former nurse with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War) deal with the problem of Child Pornography and Pedophilia.
Perry's books are addicting, her writing superb and she always chooses situations that you may have heard about ut never understood fully. After reading her novel you are always more well informed and almost sorry that the book ended.
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Congratulations, PatH. I would never have gotten that. There are two Ann Perry's in my TBR pile that I was given several years back. I've never read any of her works.
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Better try them, Frybabe.
Well, it looks like I can't escape my fate, just like in those Greek plays we're reading. But thanks to the respite you gave me, Judy, I'm back on track. I've got one, and I'll work up the clues and post it shortly.
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OK, here goes.
Author: I wrote novels, short stories, poems, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Book: You've all heard of this one.
Character: I'm not the protagonist, but am crucial to the story.
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I feel dumb. I've read all of Anne Perry's books, and never thought of her once!
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I have someone in mind, but not a book. Think I will wait for another clue.
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Frybabe, if you have the right author you can probably guess the book.
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I was thinking of Ray Bradbury. I was thinking of someone else last night, too, but I forget who unless it was Edgar Allan Poe. I don't think Poe fits as well authorwise. I don't think he did fantasy. As far as Bradbury is concerned, the novels I know him best by are The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. Another very popular one was Dandelion Wine which I haven't read and don't know anything about.
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Those are clever guesses, but wrong, so you'll have to wait for the next clue after all. You might not have read this author's sci-fi--it's not well-known.
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The author may be Stephen King but not having read his books (Just saw the movies) that doesn't help much.
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The author is best known for works, including this one, which are not sci-fi, fantasy or horror.
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New clues:
Author:
I wrote novels, short stories, poems, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Part of my childhood was very unhappy.
Book:
You've all heard of this one.
Has picaresque qualities.
Character:
I'm not the protagonist, but am crucial to the story.
I am a spiritual mentor to the protagonist.
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Could this be "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling?
The character might be the Tibetan Monk who mentored Kim.
The only loophole is the fact that I don't know of any Sci-fi Kipling wrote.
Kipling had an extremely difficult childhood.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Yes, it could indeed be Kim, and the lama. Kipling did write some sci-fi short stories. They're not very good--I doubt they're reprinted much--but they are genuine sci-fi. I mentioned them to keep things from being too easy. He wrote some good horror and fantasy short stories, though. Except for his first few years in India, Kipling's childhood was pretty awful.
Good job, Jude.
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Great catch JudeS. Congratulations. I didn't know Kipling did horror. I knew about the SciFi, though.
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GREAT CATCH, JUDE!
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Judy, do you want your turn?
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I think Jude may have forgotten us here. At any rate she is off on a trip for the next week, so if no one minds I will put something up tomorrow.
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That would be super, Frybabe.
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Okay, here goes!
Author: The author showed an early interest in zoology.
Book: Non-fiction. Anthology of reports and speeches dealing with early migration.
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Goodness! I feel like I ought to know it.
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Time for another set of clues
Author: The author showed an early interest in zoology.
Sponsored by his professors, the author's first major project was to study local animals on remote Pacific Islands to find out how they got there.
Book: Non-fiction. Anthology of reports and speeches dealing with early migration.
The opening chapter begins with ancient boatbuilding and early navigation with emphasis on the Middle East.
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This is intriguing. So far, I've thought of Charles Darwin and Thor Heyerdahl, but neither fits everything. ???
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Are you sure, PatH? This not the author's most famous book.
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OK, it's Heyerdahl--Darwin wasn't interested in seafaring per se, and Heyerdahl did have a project as you described (I looked that up) but I'm not sure what book it would be.
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What a relief to see this folder active again !
Frybabe, is early migration a key in solving this puzzle ?
Could we please have another clue or two ?
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What a relief to see you active again, Traude. I've missed you.
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Hi Traude, missed you.
PatH has the author, now for the book.
Book: Non-fiction. Anthology of reports and speeches dealing with early migration.
The opening chapter begins with ancient boatbuilding and early navigation with emphasis on the Middle East.
The key here is that it is not one of his famous books describing his Ra and Kon-Tiki expeditions. This book is a anthology of his scientific reports and lectures (combined and edited for easier reading, so says the preface) that support his theories regarding very early transoceanic migrations, some of which contradicted then current thinking.
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Frybabe and PatH, thank you. I'm so very happy to bebe back. Will explain tomorrow.
Oh yes,Thor Heyerdahl! Good for you, Pat. Alas, I did not think of him at all. But I read the book, in German, years before coming to this country, and with great enthusiasm.. Its title is is Kon-Tiki.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Kon-Tiki is not what I am looking for.
Wasn't it an interesting book, though. I also saw, years ago, the TV programs about it and the Ra Expeditions.
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I remember reading several of Heyerdahl's books years ago. I don't think I read this one, though I have a dim memory that fits it. So I'll either have to look it up, or hope that the memory will surface.
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Book: Non-fiction. Anthology of reports and speeches dealing with early migration.
The opening chapter begins with ancient boatbuilding and early navigation with emphasis on the Middle East.
Published in 1978
The key here is that it is not one of his famous books describing his Ra and Kon-Tiki expeditions. This book is a anthology of his scientific reports and lectures (combined and edited for easier reading, so says the preface) that support his theories regarding very early transoceanic migrations, some of which contradicted then current thinking.
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Has everyone given up on the book? I thought our resident nautical expert would get this one easily. Shall I give you the title and declare PatH the winner?
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I'm guessing it's Early Man and the Ocean, but only from looking it up. I don't seem to have any competition.
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Winner! It is all yours, PatH. Take it away!
I expect people to try and hunt these down. Lots of books are not at the top of everyone's list or memory.
Thor Heyerdahl was known mostly for his Kon-Tiki and Ra Expeditions, but he also did a Tigris Expedition, at the end of which he symbolically burned the reed boat in protest of the ongoing wars surrounding the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa at that time.
He also made a number of trips to Russian and Azerbaijan in an effort to support and trace his theory of human migration from Azerbaijan to Scandinavia. He also explored archaeological sites in the Maldive's and on Tenerife.
Through the years his theory regarding Pacific migration was often criticized. However, DNA studies (published in 2011) suggest that he was on to something.
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Frybabe, that was a very interesting quiz, even if I did have to look up the book. It brought up a lot of memories, too. I took a look to see if I still had any of the books, and the one I found was a copy of Aku Aku in German that my husband bought in 1958, when we were living in Zurich, both short of reading matter and wanting to practice our German. My German is pretty rusty now, but I could quickly see that Aku Aku wasn't the answer.
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Frybabe, I agree with Pat that this was a very interesting quiz, and you had described the book quite clearly.
Congratulations, Pat,, for solving this in record time.
As I said, I never thought of Heyerdahl, and I also wondered about early migration, since it may not have been human migration but that of fish and birds, for example. . Another point, Kon-Tiki, Aku-Aku or, Tigris, for that matter, could not possibly have been the answer to question pertaiing to the ook. My realization came a little late. :)
Yes, I too research when I have no memory of a given book, or realize I never read it, but in this case I did not find the book you had in mind.
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I am so relieved to be able to post again but, in fact, I fell behind when the horrendous storm devastated Washington, D.C. and
environs. Many other regions in the country had similar woes, and we did here, but on the SE coast of Mass.we got off with one black eye. For my family it was a busy time, preparing for my son's second wedding in mid-June, which went off with flying colors. It also occasioned one of my daughter's rare visits and I felt blessed.
But then, as the result of unexpected circumstances, I found myself wrestling with a decision for which I as not prepared : moving to an independent facility and letting the newlyweds move into the house. It is a lovely place (a high-rise near Boston) and I know it from having visited a former neighbor who now lives there. The apartments are very generously proportioned, and many activities are offered. Unfortunately, this means the loss of access to my local doctors. So, after intense deliberation and reflection I have come to believe that I belong here and want to stay put, near a quiet cul-de-sac and across from a pond, even though mature trees have limited the view after 3 and a half decades.
I apologize or being "away" but wanted to show that my absence was not a sign of deliberate neglect or (perish the thought) indifference.
With gratitude to all of you, especially the insuperabaleTech Team.
Traude
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Hi Straude
Welcome back - I too have been 'away', though for different reasons. I know that this decision must have been a very hard one for you to make, but I firmly believe in going with your instincts at times like these. When I look back, the decisions that I have made against my gut feelings have always been the wrong ones. A quiet cul-de-sac and a pond sound just perfect.
Take care,
Rosemary
PS The Kon-Tiki book was a set book in my first year at secondary school - hence I never read it (that was about as rebellious as I ever got...)
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It's good to have both of you back. Traude, I didn't suspect indifference, was afraid you might be ill. That sounds like a difficult decision, no wonder you were preoccupied. It also sounds like you made a good choice. You are the only one who can know what's really right for you.
I've got a new quiz--will put it up as soon as I work out the clues.
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New quiz:
Author: mostly known for this book.
Book: consists of four parts.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
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The only thing I can think of in 4 parts is Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. I don't suppose it's that? ::)
Rosemary
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No, though that would have made a good quiz.
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Rosemary, and PatH, your posts are much ppreciated. Thank you.
PatH, , Could it be Doris Lessing's Golden Notebook, which consists of four parts(=diaries) in different colors and is frame by a fifth, the "golden" notebook of the title ?
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It's not The Golden Notebook.
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New clues:
Author: Mostly known for this book.
Born in India (That won't help you.)
Book: Consists of four parts.
Was made into a successful movie.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
Although I became important, my childhood nickname was unimpressive.
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More clues:
Author: Mostly known for this book.
Born in India (That won't help you.)
Book: Consists of four parts.
Was made into a successful movie.
The first part is liked by children.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
Although I became important, my childhood nickname was unimpressive.
An important part of my education came from animals.
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Gerald Durrell - My Family & Other Animals (was the first one)?
Rosemary
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I thought about The Life of Pi, but that only has three parts. Still thinking.
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Frybabe,
Actually, I too thought of The Life of Pi, which we discussed here in 2001. But Yann Martell, the author, was born in Spain into a French-Canadian family.
PatH,
Just to be sure I understand the clues correctly: We are looking for a book (one book) consisting of four parts. Os that right ?
Thank you. So far we do not have much to go o.
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The work was written in four parts. I believe the first three came out individually, but are now usually published as one book including the posthumous fourth book. The first is by far the best, and different in tone from the others.
More clues:
Author: Mostly known for this book.
Born in India (That won't help you.)
Male, deceased.
Book: Consists of four parts.
Was made into a successful movie.
The first part is liked by children.
Deals with a mythic subject.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
Although I became important, my childhood nickname was unimpressive.
An important part of my education came from animals.
I had a lot of conflict with my older brother.
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Not The Jungle Book?
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No, not the Jungle Book. India isn't important in this author's life. I didn't even know he was born there until I looked him up.
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I didn't think this would be that hard. Glaring clues:
Author: Mostly known for this book.
Born in India (That won't help you.)
Male, deceased.
Book: Consists of four parts.
Was made into a successful movie.
The first part is liked by children.
Deals with a mythic subject.
The book's climax (first part) involves a fabled weapon.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
Although I became important, my childhood nickname was unimpressive.
An important part of my education came from animals.
I had a lot of conflict with my older brother.
I find out something unexpected about my parentage.
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I can think of two fabled weapons, Excalibur and Zeus's thunderbolt, but I'm not coming up with anything yet.
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One of those is it.
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OK, heavy duty clues:
Author: Mostly known for this book.
Born in India (That won't help you.)
Male, deceased.
Book: Consists of four parts.
Was made into a successful movie.
The first part is liked by children.
Deals with a mythic subject.
The book's climax (first part) involves a fabled weapon.
The movie was a Walt Disney production--trivialized the book, IMHO.
Character: I had an unusual mentor.
Although I became important, my childhood nickname was unimpressive.
An important part of my education came from animals.
I had a lot of conflict with my older brother.
I find out something unexpected about my parentage.
The lessons given me by my animal tutors help me to find the strength to grasp my weapon and prove my right to the throne.
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PatH,
Your clues are excellent, as usual. On that basis, andd after reading them again and again, I believe it is Zeus's thunderbolt we are looking for. Moreover, he also notoriously quarreled with his older brother Poseidon, and with his brother Hades, over the size of their respective domains Alas, spheres of influence.
Alas, I do not remember reading the book you descried, nor saw the Disney movie.
Thank you for this still unsolved, intriguing quiz.
In haste; back later.
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No, it's not Zeus' thunderbolt, it's Excalibur.
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Was the film 'The Sword in the Stone'?
Are we allowed to look the rest up, or is that cheating?
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YES!!
Look up the rest of it if you want, but you can guess most of it now, except maybe the author.
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Was the author T.H. White ?
It is listed in the credits of the movie.
Book and film apparently had the same title.
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Right, Traude, T. H. White it is. I think no one has read the book; shall I just fill in at this point?
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Thank yo,, Pat. Whatever you think is best.
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I haven't read it either, so fire away Pat!
Rosemary
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The bit about learning from animals got me. I would never have thought of Sword in the Stone.
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The Winner is Rosemarykaye.
As the only one who had a clue, you win, Rosemary.
The Sword in the Stone is the first book of the four-part book The Once and Future King by T. H. White, which tells the story of King Arthur. The first book tells of Arthur's childhood, being raised as the foster son of Sir Ector. The older son, Kay, teases him and calls him "The Wart" (rhymes with Art). He is tutored by Merlin, and in the process spends some time being different animals and learning from his fellow animals. At the book's climax, he proves himself to be the heir to the throne by being the only one who can pull Excalibur from the stone, helped by the whispered voices of the animals in his head, reminding him of things he has learned from them. It's a good read, with lots of description of medieval life, and whimsical and charming. The other three books get darker and gloomier.
The movie lost some of the special charm of the book, and was more a generic Disney-type movie.
I guess none of you have read it. That doesn't happen often in this game, you are all so well-read.
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A great mind-stretcher, thank you, PatH.
Congratulations, Rosemary, Well earned !
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Thanks Straude, and thank you Pat for a very challenging challenge.
Oh no! Now I have to think of something!
Will be back asap, and if I'm not, feel free to give me a nudge.
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Will be back asap, and if I'm not, feel free to give me a nudge.
Nudge, nudge.
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heading
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Watch out, Rosemary, if you don't come up with something, I'll be forced to find another very obscure book that no one else has read but me.
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Pat - really sorry, have my in-laws staying and have been cooking and cleaning like a mad thing prior to their visit. They leave Tuesday morning and I will endeavour to put something up the same day. However, if you want to take over, feel absolutely free!
Rosemary
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That's a really good excuse. If I think of something I'll put it up, but if I haven't by Tuesday, it'll be over to you.
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At last - in-laws' visit over, and restorative coffee with friend enjoyed. Here is my offering; I don't think it will be very difficult. I hope it is OK to have the author and character being the same person:
Author: English; born in the 19th century, died in the 20th.
Book: The first of three non-fiction works, a memoir of the pivotal event that shaped the author's life and political views.
Character: The author, who later became the parent of a British politician, and who was the close friend of another well known writer.
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Rosemary, certainly the author and character can be the same. Just about anything goes; JoanK once did Peterson's bird book, the character being the mockingbird.
I feel like I know this, but it's not surfacing yet.
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Next clues:
Author: English; born in the 19th century, died in the 20th.
Had a conventional middle-class childhood in northern England.
Book: The first of three non-fiction works, a memoir of the pivotal event that shaped the author's life and political views.
Covers the period 1900-1925; was very successfully televised in the 1970s
Character: The author, who later became the parent of a British politician, and who was the close friend of another well known writer.
Began to study at Oxford, but stopped after one year, though study was later resumed.
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pg wodehouse?
found on web
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Here is my offering; I don't think it will be very difficult.
That's what you think. I keep thinking of authors who fit some of the clues, but not all.
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Sorry, not PG Wodehouse.
More clues:
Author: English; born in the 19th century, died in the 20th.
Had a conventional middle-class childhood in northern England.
Joined the Peace Pledge Union in the mid-1930s.
Book: The first of three non-fiction works, a memoir of the pivotal event that shaped the author's life and political views.
Covers the period 1900-1925; was very successfully televised in the 1970s.
Focuses in particular (but not exclusively) on the writer's voluntary work in the 1914-18 war.
Character: The author, who later became the parent of a British politician, and who was the close friend of another well known writer.
Began to study at Oxford, but stopped after one year, though study was later resumed.
Married a British political scientist who became a strong advocate of US-UK co-operation.
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Yeah! The site is back.
I must apologize for my absence.
This has been a VERY busy summer for me.It has included an operation, two trips, and most stressful of all, a huge bash with
Dinner included, for my husband's 80th birthday.Even with caterers the amount of work was unbeleivable. However it was a success and everyone truly enjoyed themselves.Children, Grandchildren, Great Grands, siblings, nieces and nephews and attending spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends and even some pets showed up.
I will participate more regularly in this site now.
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Well, now Rosemarye, that made it easy.....I think.
Vera Brittain - Testament of Youth. Her daughter, Shirley Williams, is a former Labour Cabinet Minister.
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Welcome back, Jude! Can't believe that youthful man I met in California is 80. Wish him happy birthday for me.
Hope you can relax, now.
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Hooray!
WINNER!!!
Well done Frybabe - it is indeed Vera Brittain, an upper-middle class girl whose brother, fiance and two close friends were all killed in the First World War. After one year of studying at Somerville, Oxford, she left the university and became a VAD nurse. After the war, she returned to Oxford and finished her degree, but her experiences had politicised her and she found it hard to settle.
She met Winifred Holtby - author of South Riding - and they began a lifelong friendship, sharing a flat together in London. They were both socialists and feminists, and both struggled to establish themselves as independent, educated, career women. Vera married George Catlin, a political scientist, in 1925, and they had a son and a daughter (Holtby continued to live with them after their marriage.) The daughter became Shirley Williams, a Labour politician who later broke away, with David Owen, Roy Jenkins and Bill Rodgers, to form the Social Democrat Party (now the Liberal Democrats.)
Vera wrote novels and became a journalist. In 1933 she published Testament of Youth, her memoir of her early life and war experiences. She later wrote Testament of Friendship, which covered her friendship with Holtby, and Testament of Experience. During the 1930s she became a committed pacifist. She died in 1970, and Shirley fulfilled her mother's wish that her ashes should be scattered on her brother's grave in Italy.
In 1979, Cheryl Campbell starred in an acclaimed TV adaptation of Testament of Youth.
I read Testament of Youth as a teenager and was tremendously inspired by it - I still have my well-thumbed copy somewhere in the attic.
Over to you Frybabe!
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Thank you! Thank you so much. Thank you.
I run across mention of Testament of Youth now and again, but have never read it. I think I'll see if I can find a free copy somewhere.
Will be back with a new quiz sometime this weekend.
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http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/brittain
found on web
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Good job, Frybabe, Good thing you got it, because I certainly never would have.
Bluebird, thanks for the link to that good article. I didn't know anything about Brittain, so it was good for me to read it.
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Another thanks from me , Bluebird. I had never heard of Testament of Youth or Vera Brittain.
I have read a lot of poetry of those who wrote about this war.
Even made a special trip to Flanders Fields
"Where the poppies grow,
Between the crosses row on row........"
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Frybabe - there are used copies on Amazon UK for £0.01 + p & p, so I hope you find it where you are.
Rosemary
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My library has Letters from a lost generation : the First World War letters of Vera Brittain and four friends, Roland Leighton, Edward Brittain, Victor Richardson, Geoffrey Thurlow edited by Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge. I may settle for that. It got good reviews on GoodReads.
Testament of Youth is not available as an e-book, but I did see some listings from used book stores.
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save for header
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This will probably be easy.
Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Book: Historical Fiction
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
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Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by an archaeological discovery.
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
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What, not nibbles? Will be back this afternoon with another clue.
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Afraid I have no idea so far!
Rosemary
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Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Became a US citizen in 1920.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by an archaeological discovery.
Set in 1st century Middle East.
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
A famous actor made his film debut playing this character.
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The Hero sounds like Spartacus.
However the author of the book , Howard Fast, and that of the movie script, Dalton Trumbo, were both Americans.
If we can ask a question then mine is:
What nationality was the author?
if he wrote for the Sat. Eve. Post than he had to write in English. But he wasn't an American.So he probably was from Great Britain.
Hmmm.
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Sorry Jude, not Spartacus.
Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Became a US citizen in 1920.
Was born in Canada.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by an archaeological discovery.
Set in 1st century Middle East.
When it was published, it remained on the NYT Best Seller List for 64 week.
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
A famous actor made his film debut playing this character and was panned for his portrayal.
The main story locations were Greece, Jerusalem, and Rome.
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PatH, posting on JoanK's computer:
I feel sure I know this one, and keep thinking of books that fit some of the clues but not all, the latest being Ben Hur.
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You all know it JoanK. It is not Ben Hur though.
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Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Became a US citizen in 1920.
Was born in Canada.
After doing research for another book, the author believed that Henry VII rather than Richard III was the person responsible for the murder of the princes in the tower.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by an archaeological discovery.
Set in 1st century Middle East.
When it was published, it remained on the NYT Best Seller List for 64 week.
A portrayal of the faithfulness, devotion and courage of early Christians.
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
A famous actor made his film debut playing this character and was panned for his portrayal.
The main story locations were Greece, Jerusalem, and Rome.
Married the granddaughter of one of the earliest disciples of Jesus.
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I'm afraid I am completely stumped ???
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So am I - stumped.
What a pleasure to see Jude back in our small circle !
Welcome, Bluebird !
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I am running out of things to say. The references give me amazingly little as to story summary/plot for this book in my TBR pile.
Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Became a US citizen in 1920.
Was born in Canada.
After doing research for another book, the author believed that Henry VII rather than Richard III was the person responsible for the murder of the princes in the tower.
After Saturday Evening Post, he worked as an editor for Doubleday & Co. and for about 8 or 9 years as head of 20th Century Fox's Bureau of Literary Development.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by a 6th century archaeological discovery which is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Set in 1st century Middle East.
When it was published, it remained on the NYT Best Seller List for 64 week.
A portrayal of the faithfulness, devotion and courage of early Christians.
Movie released in 1954.
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills as a silversmith he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
A famous actor made his film debut playing this character and was panned for his portrayal.
The story takes him to Greece, Jerusalem, and Rome.
Married the granddaughter of one of the earliest disciples of Jesus.
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Looked at "Best Movies for 1954". Nothing seemed to fit the clues.
I'm sure we'll all kick ourselves when solution is revealed.
In the meantime a question.
When was the book published?
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Author: The first four novels were written before the author finished high school, but were rejected.
Became a journalist, wrote fiction for the Saturday Evening Post for more than a decade.
Became a US citizen in 1920.
Was born in Canada.
After doing research for another book, the author believed that Henry VII rather than Richard III was the person responsible for the murder of the princes in the tower.
After Saturday Evening Post, he worked as an editor for Doubleday & Co. and for about 8 or 9 years as head of 20th Century Fox's Bureau of Literary Development.
Daughter also became an historical novel writer. Both are now deceased.
Book: Historical Fiction
Inspired by a 6th century archaeological discovery which is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Set in 1st century Middle East.
When it was published, it remained on the NYT Best Seller List for 64 week.
A portrayal of the faithfulness, devotion and courage of early Christians.
Movie released in 1954.
Published in 1952, the book was praise then, but is getting some negative reviews now
Character: The adopted son of a rich man, he became a slave through a relative's fraud and deception.
After regaining his freedom and using the skills as a silversmith he learned as a slave, he travels extensively in order to complete an honored commission.
A famous actor made his film debut playing this character and was panned for his portrayal.
The story takes him to Greece, Jerusalem, and Rome.
Married the granddaughter of one of the earliest followers of Jesus.
Must make a decision about his faith.
Bonus: “When is this old moneybags going to give up and die as any decent man would do? I am tired of standing at his door.”
You are all going to kick yourselves for not getting this. Last call; I've run out of ideas.
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Frybabe - I have found the answer with the aid of Google, but I had never heard of the writer or the book, so I should probably keep quiet.
Rosemary
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Your kidding RosemaryeKaye. :o I don't mind if you take a stab at it. If nobody gets it by tomorrow, I am think I'll announce it anyway. What happens then, I wonder.
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Frybabe, you can give us whatever amount of time you choose, no more clues, and let us hone our internet skills. If no one guesses it, it's kind of up for grabs--someone always fills in.
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The year of publication was the "Open Sesame" for me.
Much to my surprise I found that I had heard of the book at some point in the past and also recognized the author's name, but I do not remember when that was.
We immigrated in 1954, lived i Washington for a few months, then moved to Northern Virginia, where I joined a wonderful book group under the auspices of AAUW , the American Association of University Women. I never read the book.
How strange that seeing the title of the book and the author's name on Google brought back a long-buried memory - but not, alas, the surrounding circumstances.
This was indeed a hard nut to crack.
Thank you, Frybabe.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Googling is fine with me. I was so surprised to find so many movie reviews, but very little about the book itself. I didn't trust the movie plot because, as we all know, movie people have a tendency to bend and change them, sometimes a lot.
Sorry that it has given everyone such a hard time. I actually thought it was going to be too easy. Oh, well.
Someone want to jump in and actually name the book and author?
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Straude - over to you! I really cheated in finding it - at least you had heard of it - & also I am not going to have time to think of a new quiz for a couple of weeks.
Rosemary
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That loud sound you hear is me kicking myself. As soon as I looked up the New York Times bestsellers of 1952, it leaped out at me. Why I didn't get it with your glaring clues, I don't know.
OK, which of us gives the name and takes the next turn?
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I never heard of the author or his book or the movie.
However, after following the same leads as others, I immediately found it.
Since the last time I disappeared into the windings of my real life it was my turn to make a puzzle I will do it now.
The author is Thomas Costain
The book is The Silver Chalice
I promise to make it as easy as possible after the shock of "not knowing" the last book is conquered by the participants of this quiz.
Just give me a day or two to choose the author and make the clues.
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Oh yes, the Hero is named Basil.
This is a strange name for those times.
My association with that name is Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers.
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Paul Newman was roundly panned for his role as Basil.
Almost forgot. The inspiration for the book came from the Antioch Chalice, housed in the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/50.4
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Oh, for me Basil leads straight to Basil Brush ;D
Rosemary
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Who?
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http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://991.com/newGallery/Basil-Brush-Basil-Brush---Fac-454318.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid%3D454318&h=491&w=500&sz=80&tbnid=pSjJfv6lZqX1VM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=93&zoom=1&usg=__x09Rbw9EvWDw4IF2q2bcB_gSvS8=&docid=_50Vlx-ZLSDZsM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i-9OUMf0L-K90QW4zYD4Bg&ved=0CD0Q9QEwCQ&dur=855
Don't know why this is so long - it's just a link to a photo of Basil, who was a children's TV stalwart for most of my childhood.
Rosemary
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Too bad Basil Brush never got across the Atlantic; he looks amusing. I don't associate anyone in particular with the name--maybe Basil Rathbone.
JudeS, many thanks for taking the next turn.
I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of The Silver Chalice without looking it up. I haven't read it (though I read other books by Costain) but I knew of it, and what the plot was. And one of the books I thought of and rejected was The Robe, which came out about the same time.
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I remember Reginald Rabbit and Marmaduke Mouse from books my relatives sent over for Christmas, but never heard of Basil Brush. I guess he came much later.
Who played in The Robe? Was it Victor Mature or Kirk Douglas? I vaguely remember clips of both movies, but not sure I ever watched them the whole way through. Haven't read either book. After a hiatus of over 50 years I can finally get back to reading The Silver Chalice. I'll have to start over though.
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The only movie of a Costain book I saw was The Black Rose, but I see from imdb, that it was Victor Mature in The Robe. It's a star-studded cast--Richard Burton, Jean Simmons and Michael Rennie are also in it. (Rennie isn't that well known, but I liked him a lot in The Day the Earth Stood Still.) The Silver Chalice is pretty star-studded too: Virginia Mayo, Jack Palance, Paul Newman, Alexander Scourby, and Natalie Wood.
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Ready-Set-Go!
Author: Won Booker and Nobel Prizes. Was knighted by the Queen.
Book: Translated into 35 languages.
Character:Not a Hero but rather a protagonist as opposed to the antagonist.
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Jude,
Is it V.S. Naipul, Sir Vidia ?
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Sorry Straude,
Not Naipul.
Keep Guessing. Another clue tomorrow.
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Gosh, that's just what I thought. Back to the drawing board....
Rosemary
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Yes, more clues, more clues if you please. My thinking cap is not on straight this morning. Maybe I'll have more time to think this afternoon.
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OK. Here are the clues for today. I promise that if all is not revealed by today's clues, tomorrow will open it up.
(At least I think so.)
Author:
1) Won Booker and Nobel Prizes. Knighted by the Queen.
2) Married to a Chemist. They had two children.
Book:
1)Translated into 35 languages.
2) A must on many H.S. Reading Lists in the US & Europe.
Character:
1)Not a Hero but a protagonist as opposed to the antagonist.
2)His sidekick is better known than he.
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Aaaak! Why can't I come up with it; it's got to be something I know.
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How about William Golding for Lord of the Flies ?
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Haha!
Promised you an easy one and we have a WINNER on the second day!
Yes Straude it is indeed William Golding for Lord of the Flies.
Do anone of you remember the lad who stood for the morally correct way of doing things?
His sidekick was Piggy, who of course, dies.
Golding cane from a Cornwall English family where his Father was a scientific rationalist and his Mother a suffragette. William was born in 1911.
Although he started out studying Science he switched to English Lit.
He served in the Royal Navy in WW2. He took part in the Invasion of Normandy.
After the war he was writing in many genres and in 1954 published "Lord of the Flies".
All of his novels are allegorical fiction set in closed communities.
He has written much on the primordial instincts of power and cruelty.
In Lord of the Flies there is a boy who is neither moral or immoral but symbolized the ability to be truly kind and good. Yhat is Simon who Fielding saw as the hope for humanity.
Hope you enjoyed this short quick quiz.
Straud -your turn now.
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Well done Straude, and thanks for setting the quiz, Jude - I hadn't got a clue!
Here is an interesting article about Golding from the point of view of his daughter, Judy Carver:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/11/william-golding-crisis
I remember that Lord of the Flies was a set book when I was at school. I never got beyond the first chapter - loathed it. I did later read The Spire, but didn't much like that either. I do think that becoming a 'set book' is often the kiss of death to a novel - my daughters have great aversion to certain writers because they have been force fed them at school, and sometimes I really do sympathise - you feel that the book is only being pushed because the school has got a good supply of copies. 'I am David', for example, was a set book when I was at school - and apparently it still is. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but children hate anything that adults think is 'good for' them.
Rosemary
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Thank you, Jude and Rosemary. Thank you for the enjoyable quiz, Jude.
of
Special thanks to Rosemary for the link to the article on Golding's shock and lasting unhappiness over the harsh critique of his third novel, The Spire, in a radio program that quickly turned into a disgraceful wrangle between opposing reviewers - clearly not their finest hour. Not only were were moderation and civility sadly lacking, but a quote by an American reviewer of a different book cited in error. It was a monumental blow for a sensitive writer.
Once I have PatH's official go-ahead, I will proceed.
Traude
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Great quiz. It is not one that I had to read in school.
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No one came up with the name of the Protagonist. It was Ralph.
Frybabe
you didn't have to read Lord of the Flies
in High School unless you went to HS in the 1970s and\or the years following.
Also I guess it would depend on where you went to HS.
My daughter had to read it in her Israeli HS in the late 1970s as did some relatives in San Francisco and NY
High Schools.It continues to be a much read teen classic.
It is one of those books that stays with you foreve,r once you have read it.
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That might explain it. When I was in high school the college prep kids had to read Catcher in the Rye. In my first semester of college, I was forced to read Light in August.
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Traude, good job. You don't need my go-ahead, since Judy said you are the winner, but please feel free to go ahead. :)
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Thank you, PatH.
Here is the new quiz. I was working on several "candidates" and regret the delay.
Author Writer, lecturer, member of a family of writers
Book Author's debut novel, a stunning success
Characters Live by different standards and values, which bodes ill for their conflict
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This looks promising. I'll have to think.
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The first clues of any quiz are often nebulous, but not to worry. More clues will follow tomorrow.
It's the day of my eye checkup, a procedure that is dreaded because of the pupil-dilating drops and the glaring lights.
But my appointment is in the morning, and by afternoon the effects should have worn off. Will be back.
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New clues
Author is A writer, lecturer, member of a large family of writers
He was given numerous honors and awards for this heartbreaking story
Book Author's debut novel and a stunningas success
Though a contemporary story, it is in fact as ageless as a Greek tragedy
It has elicited strong emotions from readers, but not only empathy with the characters' plight
Characters Live by different standards and values which does not bode well for their conflict
The opponents have tenacity in common, but little else. One tries valiantly to fight the good fight and has the law on his
side and his honor and dignity to protect. The other seeks desperately to regain something lost due to neglect and irresponsibility, and then blithely compounding both.
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Stephen King comes to mind, but Carrie does not fit the book profile. Still thinking.
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Can we get country of origin or at leasrt a hint of the writer's language?
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Sorry Frybabe, not Stephen King.
Jude, the country of origin is the U.S.
New clues.
The story is set in Northern California in the nineteen nineties
Four years after its publication, the novel was made into an award-winning movie.
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???
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Just to say, I am here and reading all the clues, but so far I haven't got a dickey bird, as they used to say :)
Rosemary
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Unfortunately this seems to be one of the books one has to have rea, or hard about.
In fact, I was sure we discussed it this forum, and I actually recall participating in the discussion. To my chagrin the book is not listed in the Archives of fiction read prior to 2007.
I would like to ask Ginny Anderson whether she remembers the book an the discussion, but first I need to apologize to you and specially Rosemary. I don't know whether the book was popular in the UK.
Here are new clues:
The book was an Oprah book club choice and a finalist for the National Book Award.
The die is cast early on in the story which catapults mercilessly to a deeply sad, traumatic ending, one that was muted and transformed by the director of the movie, al though retaining the overall impat.
The protagonist for whom readers tended to root was a naturalized citizen, seeking refuge in this country from his war-torn nation. .
Traude
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Not ringing any bells for me yet.
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It's not ringing any bells for me yet either, but it's early days.
Traude, there is no reason to apologize for a book that no one seems to have heard about. It has happened before. If no one gets it, we learn something, and that's part of the appeal of this contest. From your clues, it's not an obscure book.
Unfortunately, our archives aren't complete, we weren't able to rescue everything.
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Thomas Pynchon wrote a book about N. CA. called " Vineland"
However I have not read this book or anything else this writer wrote.
Iis this the person you are looking for?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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Absolutely, please don't even think of apologising Straude! It's great to learn about new books, and I'm sure I've chosen ones before that no-one in the US has ever heard of. I only commented because I thought people might think I wasn't paying attention!
Onwards!
Rosemary
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It's probably not Pyncheon, since Vineland wasn't his first book. I've read and liked his The Crying of Lot 49. It's somewhat surreal and fantastical. I started Gravity's Rainbow, which I think is supposed to be his best book, but bogged down. It's wonderfully rich writing, and very long, and I got overwhelmed.
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Well that was a wild guess!
Interesting fact about Pynchon:
Although he has not allowed a photo of himself since his twenties (He's in his seventies now) and no one seems to know where he resides he agreed that his voice and persona appear twice on "The Simpsons". In one episode the character who was supposed to be him wore a paper bag over his head during the whole episode.
Guess he needed some ready cash.
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Straude
If you hadn't picked your "unknown" I wouldn't have looked up Pynchon and be able to enlighten this knowledgeable crew about his latest escapades.
It's all for fun!
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Oh dear, I think I know what it is.
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III.
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That's got to be it, Frybabe; it fits perfectly.
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Yes indeed ! Frybabe is right.
The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III IS the book I was looking for.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, Pat, Rosemary and Jude.
For me, this game is special because it provides so much more than the solution to any given book and author. . The quest challenges our collective memories, reminds us of possible associations of ideas, and is ultimately an invaluable enriching experience.
There could be no better example than Jude's mention of Thomas Pynchon - which deserves to be addressed separately. .Thank you, Jude.
Will summarize tomorrow
Traude
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Did anyone see the movie and read the book? How close was it to the book?
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I only read the book. It is rare fore a modern book to be a real tradgedy in the old sense of the word, but this was. I couldn't bear to see the movie.
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Thank you for your post, JoanK.
Like you, I found the book heartbreaking, and I tried to disengage myself from the memories. I did not want to think of a movie. But one was made and, during the Oscar preparations for that year, the country learned that it was an excellent adaptation, overseen with passion and care by director Vadim Perelman. Yes, I've since seen the film and can only applaud Mr. Perelman's work. What he did with the ending is praiseworthy. The overall reception by the critics was favorablae. Roger Ebert said (and I paraphrase) that the film is a work of integrity, and that the viewer's attention is engaged from the first scene and throughout.
The same thing is true for the book. Readers take sides and form opinions, pro and con. And the tragedy is predictable, as I said. The male protagonist is Col. Behrani, a former officer in the Shah's service, who flees to Paris during the Iranian revolution and later emigrates to the U.S. with his wife, daughter and teenage son.
He moves his family into a fashionable apartment, as befits his station in life, even though the financial cushion he brought is dwindling fast. He provides a lavish wedding for his daughter Soraya, and none of the old immigrant friends (all of whom are better off) have any idea that Behrani is living a double life, so to speak.
His hope that his military experience might be useful to American authorities was not fulfilled. Even so, he left the house very morning with a briefcase in business attire to a non-existent job. Instead he went to change into work clothes, left the business suit in a locker and joined a team of garbage collectors on the freeways. He had a second job in a convenience store. Nadia, his wife, sits in a darkened room all day and listens to the same melodies from home over and over. Neither she nor the children know any of this, or that a crisis is brewing. Just then Behrani becomes aware of a small house that is sold at auction for non-[aument of taxes by aformer owner.He takes ab amount of money set aside for his son, wins the bid and moves in the house. His plan is to remodel/improve it, then sell it for a profit.
In due course we meet the former owner of the house, a young woman, abused and abandoned by her husband, with a penchant for drugs. The little house was her father's and she now tries to get it back. She meets a deputy Sheriff and he volunteers his help, spontaneously leaves his wife and children without apparent reason. Involved is also a woman lawyer who tries to convince Behrani that he has absolutely no right to the house. Lester, the Sheriff's assistant, is reprimanded by his superior, and, after a carnage, both he and the woman, Kathy, are put in prison.
There is no answer in a tragedy, ancient or modern; no answer to fundamental questions about man's fate, suffering of the innocent, justice, honor, dignity.
Andre Dubus III was 40 when his book was published. His father, Andre Duus Jr., born in Louisiana into a Cajun-Irish family, was also an author of short stories and essays. He died at 62 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a former mill town in the Merrimack River Valley that hugs the border with New Hampshire.
This is all, Pat. Now nwe are really ready for something lighter.
Thank you for still beig here.
Traude
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Well done Frybabe, and thank you for all of that information Straude. I had heard of the book but had no idea what it was about. As you say, we learn so much from this quiz, as we do from every part of this site. My life would be so much less interesting without it, and without all of you knowledgable, kind and generous participants.
Rosemary
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Ready for a new quiz? Here we go.
Author: Writer of adult and children's novels, dramatist, leftist activist
Book: About a journey towards hope and redemption.
Character: Self-imposed exile.
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Bridge to terabithia Katherine Peters?
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Sorry, Bluebird, not Bridge to Terabithia.
New clues tomorrow.
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Author: Writer of adult and children's novels, dramatist, leftist activist
Has participated in anti Vietnam War activities as well as against Apartheid, and most recently, anti-Israeli activities.
Book: About a journey towards hope and redemption.
The title seems odd considering the area where the action takes place.
Character: Self-imposed exile.
Meets up with a long lost love.
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Could this be Howard Fast?
He wrote so many books but I only read his early , historical novels written for teens. (Tom Payne, Spartacus etc.)so I don't want to venture a guess re: the name of the book.
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Nope, not Howard Fast.
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Author: Writer of adult and children's novels, dramatist, leftist activist
Has participated in anti Vietnam War activities as well as against Apartheid, and most recently, anti-Israeli activities.
He worked as a merchant seaman for several years and then as a theater stagehand. He wrote his first play while there.
Book: About a journey towards hope and redemption.
The title seems odd considering the area where the action takes place.
A movie is in development with a tentative date of 2014. Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench are playing the leading roles.
Character: Self-imposed exile because of a deadly mistake at work for which he could not forgive himself.
Meets up with a long lost love who is dying of cancer.
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Is the author Henning Mankell and the character Wallander?
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Right author, Jude, but the wrong book. It is not one of the Wallander series.
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JudeS found the author, Henning Mankell. So, let's concentrate on the book. Which, I think, was mentioned by someone (not myself) some time back.
Book: About a journey towards hope and redemption.
The title seems odd considering the area where the action takes place.
A movie is in development with a tentative date of 2014. Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench are playing the leading roles.
This is not one of his Wallander books.
Character: Self-imposed exile because of a deadly mistake at work for which he could not forgive himself.
Meets up with a long lost (abandoned) love who is dying of cancer.
He is asked to fulfill a promise he made 40 years prior.
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I remembered another book I had read by Mankell-actually the first book I read of his . It was so different from his Wallander mysteries that I didn't connect it with him until I thought about it a while.
. The book was Italian Shoes and the protagonist was Frederick Welken.
It is a real peice of Literature , not a detective novel. Even if this gues is not correct I would highly recommend this book,
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Winner Winner Winner Winner
Good work Jude. I knew someone here had mentioned reading it, but I couldn't remember who. The book is on my future list along with After the Frost. I don't have them yet and have too much other stuff to read just now.
I was very unhappy to read about Mr. Mankell's anti-Israeli and Communist party activities. It makes me have second thoughts about buying any more of his books. I just "love" all these academics, artists and such who make very big bucks through capitalist system they hate, live high on the hog and still have more than enough to donate tons to various charities, and then bash the system that allows them to do this.
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Because of his "Anti Israeli" politics my husband won't watch Wallander on TV and gets all huffy when I read one of Mankells books.
He is not the only one with these weird political views that have no basis except anti-semitism or a D.H.Lawrence romantic view of the Arab nations. It's pretty hard to imagine that nowadays but it still exists. Al-Quida as Heros?!
Some important literary figures, lie Ezra Pound , were openly pro-Nazi.
I often wonder why.
Thanks for the winner status. Will try and put something together for next week.
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I very strongly suspect that if I stopped reading, watching, or eating things that were made by people I disagreed with politically, I suspect there would be very little left. Still, it does make you stop and think.
I've never read any of D.H. Lawrence. Did you mean T.E. Lawrence?
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I didn't know about the anti-Israeli - stand. Ouch.
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Yes-T.E.Lawrence.
What a gaff.
Coffee too weak this morning. Part of my brain still asleep.
Thanks for the correction.
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I didn't either, JoanK, until I read what was in Wikipedia. Some of the references listed there are no longer linked, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henning_Mankell
I did a Google on the Freedom Flotilla and come up with his blogs in the Library/News Chronicles. This one was published in July 2011. What particularly got me was the beginning of the third paragraph, "But the U.S. is not the power it used to be; one day that protection will cease – shall we say in five years?" Here is the full article:
http://news.henningmankell.com/2011/07/israelis-cannot-make-the-gaza-reality-disappear/
I wish I had known about his leanings before I really got into his writing.
Sorry, I tend to stay out of online political conversations. It just upsets me sometimes to think that money I spend to buy books or what not indirectly help pay for supporting things I do not agree with.
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Well here is your quiz. The clues will be simple but anyone who knows this book will guess the answers in one or two days.
I wondered how this author was not chosen by a player till now. As you may guess, he is a favorite of mine.
Book:
About a funeral and a murder.
Author:
Philosopher, writer, activist.
Character:
From an African country.
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No nibbles yet.Here are the second day clues
Book:
About a funeral and a murder.
Published during WW2.
Author:
Philosopher, Writer activist.
Second youngest winner of the Nobel Prize. (The youngest was Rudyard Kipling).
Character:
From an African country.
Lacks empathy for others. Detached, yet,emotionally honest about his own feelings.
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"Things fall Apart"? No, I see that wasn't published until 1958.
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Sorry Joan. Not the right title.
Keep guessing . You know this one as do all the participants of this site.
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Here are thetird round of clues;
Book
About a funeral and a murder
Published during WW2
Written in French
Author
Philosopher, Writer,Activist
Second youngest winner of the Nobel Prize
Born in an African country.Won a Soccer scholarshil to a school in France and stayed in that country
Character
From an African country
Lacks empathy for others. Detached, but emotionally honest.
Kills an "Arab".
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Sorry, Jude, I've been a bit preoccupied this week, and this morning I had to have my best bud put to sleep. I'm thinking Albert Camus, but I can't think which book.
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I'm thinking Camus too, but haven't read him, so don't know which.
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I think Camus too. I'm thinking "The Stranger", but it's been so long since I read it, I've forgotten the plot. I have to admit, there are some authors I just don't "get", and Camus is one of them.
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WINNERS!
WINNERS!
WINNERS!
Joan K and Pat and Frybabe.....
Yes It is Albert Camus and the book is The Stranger.
The character is Meursat.
Joan K especially...... I will be happy to have a conversation about Camus who I really admired when I was young. Deep sorrow when he passed away at age 48, just two years after winning the Nobel Prize.
Tomorrow, when I write his bio and a bit about the book I will try to explain my fascination with this man. Perhaps that will be enough for you to join me in my appreciation of him.
The Stranger is the only book I have read four times.
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Camus was born in Algiers, Algieria in 1913 to a half deaf , illiterate Mother. He had no siblings. His Father died at the Battle of The Marne one year later. They were very poor and lived in a slum like section of the city.
Albert was an excellent student , and more important, an outstanding Soccer player. His teachers and Principals encouraged him greatly and finally managed to get him a Soccer scholarship to a school in Paris. While working, playing Soccer and writing he also managed to get two degrees in Philosophy.
During WW2 he was a leader in the underground movement against the Nazis. Although his name was often linked to that of Jean Paul Sarte, both of them denied a joint belief system.Sarte was an Existentialist while Camus thought of himself as an Absurdist (A philosophy propounded originally by Kierkegaard).
In an essay titled "The Rebel" Camus wrote that he was devoted to opposing Nihilism while delving deeply into individual freedoms. His book on his philosophical views "The Myth of Sisyphus" was highly praised worldwide. Camus's novel "The Plague" was published doring WW2 in France becaus the Nazis didn't see it as a parable but a straightforward novel about a plague.
Camus was married and the Father of two children. He won the Nobel Prize at age 46 and died two years later in a car accident. He was not the driver. The world lost a great philosopher, novelist and man when he was killed while still at the height of his powers.
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Thanks for that. Maybe I should reread "the Stranger".
I think fry should get it, since she said Camus first.
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OK, JUDE, the (fiction) books that I have read four times are Tolstoy's, not Camus'. Does that say something about me?
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Well done all - I have been 'locked out' of this site, presumably by one of Apple's many quirks, but although I did read La Peste for French A-level at school, I would never have got this one.
Frybabe, I am so sorry about your 'best bud'. It is a horrible thing to have to do. Thinking of you.
Rosemary
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JoanK
All it says is you like Tolstoy and I like Camus.
Although I have read all of Tolstoy I can't imagine worshipping him the way I worshipped Camus when I was young.
Everyone has their heros. He was mine.It was as much about his life as about his books.
I can imagine that "The Stranger" can seem meaningless without the context of the philosophy that goes with it.
When I worked as a therapist in Juvenile Hall we had a coworker that every morning went from room to room and said the same thing, day after day to all his coworkers.
"Life is hard and then you die.".
No one ever disagreed with him. In the end he found happiness in another setting.
To some of us Life is absurd. To others it all makes sense.
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Jude, thank you for a fine quiz that brought backs lots of memories to me. Unfortunately I was burdened with several checkups all of which came in quick succession one right after the other.. I never managed to congratulate you on solving Frybabe's preceding quiz. But when JoanK bought up the name ofAlbert Camus, I knew it could only be this special author. Congratulations, JoanK
Before we emigrated I read the author's early works, among them Le Mythe de Sisyphe (the Myth of Sisyphus.;
L'Etranger (The Stranger); La Peste (The Plague); and - most important - the long essay The Rebel (French Title L'Homme revolte.
There shold be an accent aigu over both 'e's in "revolte" But unfortunately y PopChar, designed for instantly marking accents and Umlaute by clicking on the desired one, is on strike. I've had it for years; it is an absolutely indispensable tool when writing and translating in or from a foreign language.)
Yes, we do have certainpreferences and are often touched more by one author than another, bu that is really a good thing, isn't it ? I have a penchant for the Russians myself, especially for Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Gogol. My attention was drawn to Russian writers when I read Russian in Heidelberg. A lifetime ago.
Had any of you heard of Bo Yan, the Chinese author who was awarded this year's Nobel Prize ?
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Straude
The winner of the Nobel Prize is Mo Yan meaning "Don't Speak". His real name is Guan Moye.
I had not heard of him before this happening.
I recently finished the most WONDERFUL book:Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin.
The movie, which you can get from Netflix , is pretty marvelous too.
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JoanK and Frybabe and I have all been neglecting our duty. Frybabe thought of Camus, and I agreed, then JoanK got the book. Someone won, and I'm thinking Frybabe. I've been neglectful for not assigning the chore of next quiz. Will anyone take it? If not, I'll fill in in a day or two. Just in case, I'm reviewing my knowledge of obscure novels available only in untranslated Chinese. ;)
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Pat, you fiend! You sound like the editor of the Guardian Film Reviews - if a film's not in Japanese (pref with no sub-titles) & viewable only at some obscure independent cinema in Hoxton (v trendy part of East London) it's just not Art as far as he's concerned ;D
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I admit I forgot all about it!. OK, here is a book: non-fiction
The author: failed as an actor
The character: none
The book: was the start of a new genre.
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Thanks, JoanK, although so far it seems as obscure as my hypothetical book.
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No, you've definately heard of it.
Author: was born in Missouri, but moved to new York
Book: still influential 76 yeears sfter it was written.
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Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People
But, I thought he was from PA.
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That's got to be it, Frybabe. It's poetic justice that you got it, since you were the other winner of the last quiz.
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Okay, Andrew Carnegie was the PA Carnegie I was confusing with Dale Carnegie.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Good for you Fry. Dale changed his name to carnegie from Carnegey.
he moved to New York, living in the YMCA because he had no money. he got the manager to agree to let him give a course there. Someone heard it, and talked him into turning it into a book.
It was one of the first "self-help" books, and became wildly popular. Now of course, there is a flood published every year. His central idea was that you could change the way people acted by changing the way you treat them. Now we take this for granted, but I guess we all need reminding sometimes.
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I'm glad we are continuing to meet here for our guessing game. It's always enjoyable. Traude
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I have an author in mind, now all I have to do is decide which book to feature.
Hi, Traude. You may know this author. Stay tuned.
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I am having an incredibly hard time finding much information about this author and practically nothing about the books he wrote. I haven't read any that I downloaded yet so that makes it even harder. However, I am going to put up what little I have because I think the author is worth mentioning.
Author: German born, 19th century
Book: Listed as fantasy, paranormal romance
Character: Same as book title
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Wow, I'll have to think about this one. ???
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I love the variety of books, here. No idea.
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Indeed, JoanK, the variety is what makes the game attractive.
Frybabe, I fear we need a bit more information.
You say it is difficult to locate material abou the author, but there must be something sabout this work that
intereted you. and might interest us. I assume we can rule out the "lions" like Goethe, Schiller, and Hesse.
(The latter was a subject of a previous quiz.)
Thank you
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Traude, I downloaded several of this author's books after seeing interesting titles and reading the first few paragraphs to see if they would catch my interest, then I looked up the author.
Not a lot of info, and even less about his books except that many of them were popular. There isn't anything in reading a paragraph or two that I can use in the quiz. I'm saving the author give away for later.
Author: German born, 19th century
Studied jurisprudence, and then oriental studies and archeology.
Book: Listed as fantasy, paranormal romance
23 editions published between 1890 and 2006 in 4 languages
Character: Same as book title
A figure from Greek mythology
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Author: German born, 19th century
Studied jurisprudence, and then oriental studies and archeology
He discovered & translated one of the two oldest known medical documents. It is named after him.
Book: Listed as fantasy, paranormal romance
23 editions published between 1890 and 2006 in 4 languages
Includes conspiracies, vengeance, and love won and lost
Character: Same as book title
Named after a figure from Greek mythology
Feel free to research.
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This is really intriguing, I feel like I know who it is, but can't come up with it.
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I feel like I should know it too, but i don't.
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Yes, highly intriguing and not a little mysterious, but still accessible, as Frybabe said..
The author's eclectic favorite fields of interest, jurisprudence. oriental studied, archeology, s sugget almost infinite speculations.
Tgibg to ponder :
I
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Please disregard the preceding message. I was interrupted while typing and UNABLE to get it removed and start over. I hope this works.
The puzzlers agree that this is an intriguing , even mysterious, quiz; little is known about the apparently enigmatic author; the speculation are limitless.
For instance:
1) The author is "German-born". That includes anyone who was born there but achieved fame in some other part of the world.
2( We are told the publications of this allegedly popular author's author's work began in 1890.
Given that fact, when could could the author have bee born ?
3) The author's fields of interest : jurisprudence, oriental studies, archeology, is rather eclectic.
Does this ean we should ot search for woman author ?
My apologies for typogs, past and present. It's my worsenind vision. I hope this e-mail akes it. MAMMA MIA
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No, not a woman.
Born in 1837
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Taking a bold stab :
Georg Ebers.
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That's got to be right, Traude, I looked him up and he fits perfectly. :) :)
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Traude is correct. Georg Ebers it is.
Ebers is best known for his novels of ancient Egypt. This one isn't one of those. Does anyone want to take a stab at the title?
Ebers has a long career as a professor of Egyptian language and antiquities, made two expeditions (one of which resulted in his discovery of the Ebers Papyrus), and wrote a number of novels as well as an autobiography. Once source says he also wrote a biography of his teacher, Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, but I do not see that listed anywhere.
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Frybabe,
Ebers was certainly successful in popularizing Egyptian lore with these popular romances. The titles are mostly in German and they are quite fetching. However, I was I was wondering about the one yu had in mind.
There is one from the time of Emperor Hadrian titled Serapis, one titled Der Kaiser (The Emperor), and others. Could the right one be Kleopatra ?
Egypt has fascinated me fsince I was a child. A few years ago I found a wonderful book which, I thought, was just right for my grandson. Sadly, the lad, now 16 and a soccer star, is a reluctant reader, something I simply cannot comprehend. Luckily, his sister, three years his junior, makes up for his lack of interest. Oh my.
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I think I know which title it is, but only because I looked Ebers up. And I never would have gotten Ebers, since I hadn't heard of him.
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I think I'll spare you all the agony; it was a difficult one, with very little information to be found. Arachne is named after a figure from Greek mythology although it, like his others, is set in Egypt.
"Ledscha, living in ancient Egypt, has lost her betrothed and all hope of love. But
the gods see otherwise. She now loves a Greek sculptor, who..."
This is part of the description from Librivox that came up when I did a Google search. Unfortunately I can't get the site to come up.
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Somehow my posts were not posted.
Anyhow I had not a clue about this author or his book. Certainly not before the answer was given and even after I saw the answer. Another hole in my education I guess.
I am happy this site is up and running again and happy to play the game with you all.
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It's always good to see you, Jude
Frybabe, I'm glad I found at least a partial solution to the puzzle. It was definitely fun.
I like thi site, the challenges, and the company.
PatH, do you want me to go ahead with a new quiz ?
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Traude, I'd love it if you went ahead with the next quiz.
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Thank you, PatH. Will do, and am working on it.
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Please forgive me for this long delay. October was hectic becaue of all sorts of checkups that fell due around the same time. But I as not prepared for what dev+eloped for Breathing and heart problems. But I am in good hands, , saw an ear, nose and throat speciaaist and had half a dozen new tests. The only remaining test is a PFT = Pulmonary Function Test, which - I hope - will finally ring clarity. . One test remains, scheduled for next Monday, a PFT (Pulmonary Function Test). i am truly sorry to have been distracted (not to mention frightened).
Here now is a new quiz, a little different this time.
The AUTHOR
A short story writer, novelist, playwright and essayist. Known and lauded for the perfect pitch of dialogues. Was praise by several contemporary writers. There were vociferous critics as well.
The BOOK is held to repreent the best of his work.
The MAIN CHARACTERS is a victim of his own unreasonable fears and insecurities.
Good lyck
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My goodness Traude. I'll bet you will be happy to be done with the poking and prodding. Hopefully the Drs. will have you on fixed up soon.
I am going to have to wait for another clue. I had several thoughts, but none quite fit.
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Good luck with your tests. {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}
No guesses yet.
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Thank you for your kind words, Frybabe and JoanK.
More clues
The AUTHOR was inordinately preoccupied with class, a fact that is is reflected in his books. Some considered him a snob. Educated in a private school, he could not afford to attend the college of his choice after his father's death. It made him bitter for the rest of his life.
The literary community was divided as to the value of his work, but Hemingway was an outspoken admirer, John Updike a stauch supporter, Dorothy Parker a friend.
The BOOK
When Harold Bloom included 'our' book into the Western Canon, some detractors wwere unforgiving.
The novel covers only a few days. It has supernatural allusions.
It's late,so more tomorrow.
It's late; moee tomorrow
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That seems so familiar; I hope it pops into my head soon.
Traude, that must have been scary. I hope things are getting sorted out OK.
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I suspect we all know this. Sigh! Dorothy Parker had a lot of friends including F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I don't think any of his works had supernatural overtones.
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Traude, I am glad to see you and sorry to hear of your recent setbacks, I am sure that was frightening. I am glad to see you under good medical care and hope that your test comes out splendidly!
It's not Gore Vidal is it?
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Could the title be "Our Town"? Glad to see you again. I thought you had deserted us. Hope you get good report on the PFT. I had to cancel mine until the end of January. I have one every year.
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PatH, Ginny and Anbie,. I am grateful.. It was not my intetion to go into such details but needed to justify my tenporary absence. Thank you again.
Thank you also for participating in this quiz. Your guesses were good ones. The period is that of Fitzgerald and Hemingway and Thirnton Wilder. No, Annie, it's not Our Town,nanad to my knowledge Thornton Wilder was not antisemitic nor a raacist.. I didn't want to make this difficult but chose a literaryfigure who was both adored and reviled because of human failingsi. Ginny, you sensed the underlying meanness of the man. True, Gore Vida, too, could also be mightily argumentative (one recalls the famous fights with Norman Mailer). But he was not antisemitic or a racist, either.
We all know this author, and perhaps saw movies adapted from his novels. He was known to sexual innuendo in his books with obvious relish and relentlessly to a point precariously close to what was the norm at the time. He also he developed a peculiar obsession : categorizing the social ephemera, an activity that threatened to overshadow his literary efforts. Writers and reviewers either hated or adored him with equal intensity. The novels were popular with the public. I hipe his helps. Thank you
Moree tomorrow
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I considered James Joyce, but Ulysses covers only one day. I don't know any of his other works. I doubt that he and Dorothy Parker were friends, but he sure was controversial.
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I bet that's it, Frybabe!!
Other than the one day stricture, the new clues fit Truman Capote, he was of the time of Hemingway, or at least in that time span, being 20 years after and not a contemporary, and the clues all fit. But In Cold Blood does not, so I'm stymied. His short story about the lunch La Côte Basque 1965 for his unfinished book Answered Prayers would fit, but it's a short story.
:)
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Ok here's my last (and illegal, being the second guess) guess here. Faulkner was a contemporary, he wasn't a racist but his books have that in them, as well as antisemitism, his Sound and Fury takes place in a day (I think) and who knows what Faulkner said? hahahaa
Deems knew, but I never did.
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It's annoying that I recently read about an author with some similar biographical details, but I can't think who it was.
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Thank you for your thoughtful guesses. We have no match yet, sorry.
[
More Clues]
The author showed singular writing talent and great promise early. His private prep school named him Class Poet.
His father died not long after,is father died, and the author's hope to attend Yale, the college of his choice (or indeed any college) became an impossible dream. It affected him all his life.
He moved to New York and began writing - articles for magazines, a collection of well received short stories, followed by a number of bestselling novels, plays,, essays, scripts, and was a columnist for conservative newspapers. In World War II he was war correspondent for the Pacific theater. One of his novel won the National Book Award.,
Readers loved his novels and the movie adaptions of some of them. Yet, despite the author's obvious writing skills, including perfectly spot-on dialogue. the acceptance by the writing establishment was not unilateral. The author's personality, and things he has said, could well have been the reason. He was controversial and called "obnoxious". He was known for his irascibility.
Brendan Gill, who worked with the author at The New Yorker, has said he could understand those who described the author Still, possible".
Gill believed the author's obs"ession with status was due to a deeply ingrained sense of inferiority because he had no college education. Still, he yearned for an honorary degree from Yale, but Yale was unwilling "because he had asked for it" (!). After the death of Hemingway, the author said - according to his official biographer - that made him (the autor) the likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
e
The time frame is important to consider. The author's career began in the early thirties. Two novels wer adapted for the big screen three decades later.
It has taken me inordinately long to type this because my vision is poor and typos abound. Alas, even a second and third checking of the text is not always successful. My apologies. for that.
More clues tomorrowabout the book.
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Traude, what do a few typos matter between friends. The important thing is to be here with us. I still don't know the answer, though. ???
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How about "From Here To Eternity" by James Jones?
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Another very good guess, Annie. But not the right answer, sorry.
James Jones, who wrote From Here to Eternity ] and The Thin Red Line, inter alia, was one of the most accomplished American writers of the WW II generation, born almost twenty years after 'our' author. And, to judge by the record each left, a much better man.
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Just to pop in and say, I am not ignoring this quiz - I just don't have the faintest idea!! Ignormamus (? -ma?)!
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John 0'Hara and his first novel, Appointment at Samara. Pottsville, Pa (home of one of my favorite beers, Yuengling) born the novel is his first and is fictionalized in the book. Pottsville is not too far from me. George and I used to go through that area rather regularly in our travels. I'd forgotten about him, thinking first of John Cheever.
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BINGO !
That's the answer. Congratulations, Frybabe.
Will rejoin you after the PFT.
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I just found the answer this morning. Good work, Frybabe.
I did now know that he wrote "Butterfield 8" and that is was based on a famous murder case and remarkable for its accurate nightclub-underworld argot. I just remember Liz Taylor won the Academy Award for best actress in that movie. And the gossip was that she was only awarded the statue that year because she hadn't won the one the year before.
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Good job, Frybabe! I've heard of it, but don't think I would ever have come up with it.
I like Yuengling too. :)
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For me, the Samuel Adams "Winter Lager" which has just made its re-appearance on the market as of Dec 1st. I had a glass of it on Saturday night when we took our four grans to dinner at Max&Erma's.
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I never heard of Max and Erma's so I looked them up. There is a bunch way out Pittsburgh way and one lonely restaurant outside of Philly. Those burgers look tremendous.
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Oh congratulations, Frybabe! I knew it wasn't Ernie Pyle and was going down the list of the War Correspondents when I saw your post.
That was a GOOD one, Traude! Very fun and clever. Good luck on your test!
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Frybabe,
"Max&Erma's Restaurant" was started right here in Columbus, OH, down in our German Village way back in the 40's. And their burgers are so big and delicious that we (me and Ralph) spllt one. We have quite a few franchises in Ohio but I never thought they had branched out to different states. Hmmm, I must look that up. ;)
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I counted nine states, Annie. What we have in my area for a fancy burger joint is Red Robin.
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And in California we have Islands. Started by a surfer, it shows surfing movies on a large screen while you eat your hamburger. And serves milkshake-type drinks made with coconut milk. (but no little tiny umbrellas. I always wanted a drink with a tiny umbrella -- sigh).
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Still thinking! Hopefully, I will have something up for you tomorrow.
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Okay, here goes!
Author: Contemporary writer, began writing at age 30.
Book: A Hugo Award nominee prior to 2000.
Character: Older individual, perhaps near 80.
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Oh, good, a Hugo nominee, that gives me a fighting chance.
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If the Hugo nomination had been 2006 I know what it would have been.
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Author: Contemporary writer, began writing in mid-30s.
After graduating college, joined the US Marine Corp.
Book: A Hugo Award nominee prior to 2000.
The story begins with the evacuation of a failed colony.
Character: Older individual, somewhere between 70 and 80.
Refuses to relocate.
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Oh, dear. I'm pretty sure I've heard of that one recently, but can't think what it is. Don't think I've read it. ??? ???
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Glad to see you all here again.
I won't be much good with a Sci-Fi author unless it's really a very popular, tending toward the main stream, one.
Straude
Hope you find out what is wrong with you. Also hope that it's something small that can be easily overcome.
Sometimes I feel that all the poking and prodding and neverending tests are worse than the problem itself.
Let us know what happens.
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It dawns on me that I haven't posted more clues yet today. SSsoooooo!
Author: Contemporary writer, began writing in mid-30s.
After graduating college, joined the US Marine Corp.
Author's self description: A small-town Texan.
Book: A Hugo Award nominee prior to 2000.
The story begins with the evacuation of a failed colony.
Among other things it explores language barriers between aliens and ways around it.
Character: Older individual, somewhere between 70 and 80.
Refuses to relocate.
After 40 years of colony rules and regimentation, our protagonist enjoys freedom of thought and action.
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This is driving me nuts. I know that book is in my mind somewhere, but I can't pull it out. I'll have to think harder.
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AAAHHH!
Remnant Population, Elizabeth Moon, Ofelia
Clever. Marine corps doesn't make you think of a female author.
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Excellent, PatH. It is a wonderful book. Although the setting is on a strange planet, it is more anthropological in nature that true SciFi. Ofelia, by avoiding being taken off the planet with the others she must learn to think and fend for herself. She discovers, begins to communicate with and to teach and learn from the primitive native population. The colony, a corporate enterprise, was failing because it was set up in a poor location. In addition, the planet had been mistakenly approved for colonization because there were supposedly no higher life forms. The policy was not to colonize any planets with thinking beings so as not to interfere with their natural development. When Ofelia began to interact with the primitives, she was disobeying that policy/law.
Elizabeth Moon has written several series which were militaristic in nature, but with a family corporation/mercenary venue rather than traditional military. She also has written fantasy and has done several space pirate type novels in collaboration with Anne McCaffrey. Her book, The Speed of Dark which is about a high functioning autistic computer programmer, won the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Her website: http://www.elizabethmoon.com/
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Wonderful !
Just saw that there is a winner, and it was PatH, which I had expected. Hurray !
Let me be the first to offer congratulations. This was yours to win, Pat, praise is well deserved.
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Thanks, Traude. As always, it's bittersweet, because now I have to think of a new quiz.
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Gosh, well done Pat - I hadn't got an inkling ???
Rosemary
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Good going, PAT!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Camus, Albert, The Stranger, Meursat, JudeS, #3196, JoanK, #3194, Frybabe, #3195, PatH
Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, JoanK, #310, Frybabe
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dubus III, Andre, House of Sand and Fog, Col. Behrani, straudetwo, #3165, Frybabe
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Ebers, Georg, Arachne, Arachne, Frybabe, #3227, straudetwo
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, Tom Jones, PatH, #3318, rosemarykaye.
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mankell, Henning, Italian Shoes, Frederick Welken, Frybabe, #3179, 3182, JudeS
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Moon, Elizabeth, Remnant Population, Ofelia, Frybabe, #3274, PatH
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
O'Hara, John, Appointment at Samara, straudetwo, #4471, Frybabe
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Strachey, Lytton, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria, Frybabe, #3302, PatH
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim, PatH, #3293, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Mark Twain?
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Just out of interest, have we abandoned this game? Hope not :)
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I bet PatH forgot.
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:-[ :-[A combination of shirking and forgetting. I'll get to it.
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I had something ready to go, but when the news about Babi hit, I kind of forgot everything else. :'( Here it is.
Author: crucial life experiences are a major factor in my books.
Book: Modern Library ranked it 18th on its list of 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. (Of course that gives it away; please don't look it up unless things get rough.)
Character: I have little control over the timing of my life.
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Not a peep out of anyone. More clues:
Author: Crucial life experiences are a major factor in my books.
Veteran of WWII.
Book: Modern Library ranked it 18th on its list of 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. (Of course that gives it away; please don't look it up unless things get rough.)
American Library Association lists it in the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-99.
Character: I have little control over the timing of my life.
Also a veteran of WWII.
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Gosh, lots of writers who were WWII vets. My first thoughts were of Hemingway and Steinbeck who were war correspondents. Can't make any of their books stick. Don't know enough about their books.
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Frybabe, you're right it's not Hemingway or Steinbeck, but I'm pretty sure you know this book, in fact I'm guessing you're the one who will get it.
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Time for better clues:
Author: Crucial life experiences are a major factor in my books.
Veteran of WWII.
Born and grew up in the Middle West.
Book: Modern Library ranked it 18th on its list of 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. (Of course that gives it away; please don't look it up unless things get rough.)
American Library Association lists it in the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-99.
Nominated for Hugo and Nebula, but didn't win.
Character: I have little control over the timing of my life.
Also a veteran of WWII.
At one point, my task was to bury large numbers of victims.
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Pat, I am here - but so far I haven't got any ideas....don't think I know this one. (Do I?)
Rosemary
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I'm guessing you haven't read it but have heard of it.
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Heavy duty clues:
Author: Crucial life experiences are a major factor in my books.
Veteran of WWII.
Born and grew up in the Middle West.
Had a mustache.
Book: Modern Library ranked it 18th on its list of 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. (Of course that gives it away; please don't look it up unless things get rough.)
American Library Association lists it in the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-99.
Nominated for Hugo and Nebula, but didn't win.
A combination of satire, gallows humor, and science fiction.
Character: I have little control over the timing of my life.
Also a veteran of WWII.
At one point, my task was to bury large numbers of victims.
I was abducted by aliens.
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Final clue (I hope):
So it goes.
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Your wish is my command, PatH ;D
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut?
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YES!
Thank goodness, Frybabe, I thought no one would ever get it. Congratulations; good job.
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Oh well done Frybabe, I hadn't got anywhere with this one. And well done Pat for such a difficult quiz!
Rosemary
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I didn't mean it to be so difficult; I was pretty sure some of you had read it.
To fill in details: the character is Billy Pilgrim, main character in the book. Like the author, he was captured by the Germans in WWII, survived the fire-bombing of Dresden because he and some other POWs had been locked in a meat locker, then had to help bury multitudes of dead. After his encounter with the aliens, who live all their life simultaneously, hence know both past and future, Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. He knows everything that has happened or will happen to him, but is never sure which chunk he is going to live next, as he is arbitrarily jerked around. He can't change any of it, only live through it.
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I think we were talking about Slaughterhouse Five, briefly, a while back. I never thought of Kurt Vonnegut as a SciFi writer before that. While I remember the popularity of the book when it came out, I had no idea that it was SciFi. I thought it was a crime novel of some kind, possibly in the realm of the anti-war terrorists of the 60s.
I have an author and book in mind. I'll be back later today with the start.
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Alrighty, then - Character and title are the same.
Author: One of 10 children
Book: It is said to have revolutionized the art of biography.
Character: The book begins in 1814. I was born a few years later.
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???
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Author:
Counted among his friends were Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Clive Bell, Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes.
One of 10 children
Book:
Awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
It is said to have revolutionized the art of biography.
Character:
Both my father and grandfather died in the same year leaving me with huge responsibilities.
The book begins in 1814. I was born a few years later.
I'll be out tomorrow so you have an extra day to reflect.
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The extra day did it. I don't know why I didn't see it before. Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria.
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I'm Baaaaaack! And I see PatH had her thinking cap on today. And I didn't even mention the Bloomsbury Group.
Yes, Lytton Strachey and his Queen Victoria. That makes you the
WINNER!!!!
What an extraordinary bunch he and his friends must have been. A bio jam-packed with famous named friends: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTstracheyL.htm I didn't know that John Maynard Keynes was gay. Wasn't there a movie out about Dora Carrington?
I downloaded Strachey's book, Eminent Victorians; I forget if I downloaded Queen Victoria to read.
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You did mention the Bloomsburys, though not by that name--that was a huge clue.
Counted among his friends were Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Clive Bell, Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes.
I read Eminent Victorians in my youth, but don't remember much of it, haven't read Queen Victoria.
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Well done Pat - I had an inkling, but no firm idea.
I've been to Charleston:
http://www.charleston.org.uk/
It's a lovely place, but you can't help but feel that this lot were highly privileged, very self-seeking and self-indulgent. Of course it doesn't help that I've never been able to get past the first few pages of a V Woolf novel, though I did enjoy the film of "The Hours", and thought Nicole Kidman did very well in that (though not as well as Julianne Moore, who I think is a brilliant actress.)
Rosemary
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What a boon it is to see the site returning to life !! I consider it a true gift.
It is one of the very few sites where I can still participate despite my deteriorating vision although the letters seem to be getting ever smaller.
Wothhhh gratitude,
Thank you.
Forgive the bolding, but it helps me.
Traude
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Hi, Traude. I'm happy to see you up again. It's been a while. It looks like PatH needs a nudge, but then she has been busy with the book discussion group. BTW, we are doing The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins starting the 15th. I hope you can join us. http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=3772.0
I don't know if you noticed, but we lost Babi last month. We all miss her. http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=3747.0
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:-[ Yes, I've been busy with the current discussion, but that's about over now. My mind is a blank. I'll make my morning coffee and try to come up with something. With luck, this time somebody will have read it.
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Finally:
Author: Known for my satire.
Book: The author's best known work.
Character: My good nature is always getting me into scrapes.
That should be suitably vague for a start.
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I've brought the heading on this page up to date. We've done 155 books over 4 years!
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That's a mighty big field, satire, even if we are talking only books. Thinking!
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Sounds like Wodehouse.
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No, not Wodehouse.
To make up for last time, this book is not science fiction, and I'm pretty sure you've all heard of it.
Author: Known for my satire.
Played a significant role in law enforcement.
Book: The author's best known work.
Was made into a successful movie.
Character: My good nature is always getting me into scrapes.
I had a number of amorous encounters.
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Oh dear, the only writer I can think of that has a law enforcement background (as opposed to law degree background) is Joseph Wambaugh. The only books of his that come to mind are Onion Field (nonfiction) and The Choirboys and that was only because he was getting a lot of press back then. I have not read any of his books.
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You're way far afield, Frybabe.
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Did you say whether the book is fiction or nonfiction?
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Fiction. And the law enforcement bit is a little sneaky.
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Of course, it should be sneaky!
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Henry Fielding - 'Tom Jones' ?
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
Excellent, Rosemarykaye! Did the law enforcement give it to you, or did my rather vague other clues strike a chord?
Henry fielding was Chief Magistrate of London, and, with his brother John, founded the Bow Street Runners, London's first police force. He also made a number of reforms to the judicial system.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Camus, Albert, The Stranger, Meursat, JudeS, #3196, JoanK, #3194, Frybabe, #3195, PatH
Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, JoanK, #310, Frybabe
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dubus III, Andre, House of Sand and Fog, Col. Behrani, straudetwo, #3165, Frybabe
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Ebers, Georg, Arachne, Arachne, Frybabe, #3227, straudetwo
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, Tom Jones, PatH, #3318, rosemarykaye.
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mankell, Henning, Italian Shoes, Frederick Welken, Frybabe, #3179, 3182, JudeS
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Moon, Elizabeth, Remnant Population, Ofelia, Frybabe, #3274, PatH
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
O'Hara, John, Appointment at Samara, straudetwo, #4471, Frybabe
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Smith, Dodie, I Capture the Castle, Cassandra, rosemarykaye, #3347, Frybabe
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Strachey, Lytton, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria, Frybabe, #3302, PatH
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim, PatH, #3293, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Wow! Congratulations Rosemarykaye.
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Thanks all.
It was the amorous adventures that made me think of Tom Jones.
I'm going to be away in London next week, then in the Lake District for my father-in-law's 80th birthday, so if I can't manage to think of something before I go, I'l get onto it when I get back on April 15th.
Thanks Pat for a quiz I could do - I haven't had a clue about any of them recently.
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Good for you, Rposemary. I was way off. I should have gotten it, there's a mystery series I like featuring Fielding's brother as the detective and the early Bow Street Runners.
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You're back, Rosemarykaye. We await eagerly.
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Schools go back on Thursday Pat. then I have friend coming to stay till the weekend. So on Saturday I will apply my mind....
Rosemary
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Sounds good.
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Rosemary?
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Sorry, sorry! Have a free afternoon at last today, will apply my mind this morning whilst swimming my tedious lengths at North Berwick pool.
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New quiz:
Author: wrote plays and novels
Book: is set mainly in the English countryside
Character: has a stepmother who is not evil
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Hmmm
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Hmm indeed. I'll have to think. ???
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More clues:
Author: wrote plays and novels
was born in England but wrote this book during a specific era, when living in the US
Book: is set mainly in the English countryside
has been described as a novel to be handed down from mother to daughter
Character: has a stepmother who is not evil
has an unusual bedroom 'companion'
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Well, that unusual bedroom companion has me very curious indeed.
No ideas yet.
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I'm pretty curious too. I have a feeling when we get it, we'll say "why didn't I see that earlier?"
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More clues:
Author: wrote plays and novels
was born in England but wrote this book during a specific era, when living in the US
early jobs included a spell in a famous furniture store
Book: is set mainly in the English countryside
has been described as a novel to be handed down from mother to daughter
concerns an eccentric family living in 'reduced' but rather exotic circumstances
Character: has a stepmother who is not evil
has an unusual bedroom 'companion'
has a father with a problem
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My goodness, this one has me flummoxed.
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Oh, I thought those last clues would give it away!
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I had a good idea, but it turns out not to fit.
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What was it? I may have a clue wrong!
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I'll bet it's a childrens book.
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Although I've seen it languishing on the children's shelf in my local Oxfam shop, I would not classify it as that myself (and neither did the author.) My daughters read it as teenagers, but I didn't read it till after they were born.
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The clues are more concrete, but I am certain I never read this book.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz0
"Is a puzzlement ..." (Yul Brynner in 'The King and I'.)
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More clues:
Author: wrote plays and novels
was born in England but wrote this book during a specific era, when living in the US
early jobs included a spell in a famous furniture store
although this book was (and still is) successful, wrote another which became internationally famous thanks to Mr
Disney
Book: is set mainly in the English countryside
has been described as a novel to be handed down from mother to daughter
concerns an eccentric family living in 'reduced' but rather exotic circumstances
Two American brothers become the family's rather unsettling neighbours
Character: has a stepmother who is not evil
has an unusual bedroom 'companion'
has a father with a problem
starts the book in a rather peculiar position
I'm sure someone will get it now!
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I'm still clueless!
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It would help to know what the "specific era" was, and thus easier to hazard a guess at the century, at least.
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Ok - it is the second world war.
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More clues:
Author: wrote plays and novels
was born in England but wrote this book during a specific era, when living in the US
early jobs included a spell in a famous furniture store
although this book was (and still is) successful, wrote another which became internationally famous thanks to Mr
Disney
The other, internationally famous, book concerns a certain type of animal, of which the author had many
Book: is set mainly in the English countryside
has been described as a novel to be handed down from mother to daughter
concerns an eccentric family living in 'reduced' but rather exotic circumstances
Two American brothers become the family's rather unsettling neighbours
is about love in various forms, both shared and unrequited
Character: has a stepmother who is not evil
has an unusual bedroom 'companion'
has a father with a problem
starts the book in a rather peculiar position
keeps a journal, in which the character is writing as the book opens
And as I mentioned before, the 'specific period' during which the book was written is World War II.
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Groan. Slap on forehead.
Dodie Smith - I Capture the Castle. It was also made into a movie.
The Disney movie was 101 Dalmatians.
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HOORAH! WINNER!
Well done Frybabe - and thank goodness, I was running out of ideas.
I Capture the Castle was written by Dodie Smith whilst she lived in the US with her husband, a conscientious objector to the war. It tells the story of Cassandra, who lives in a dilapidated castle (one that would now have been renovated by a property developer who would have sold it as 'prime commuting country' - but in those days deepest Sussex might as well have been on the moon). The family consists of Cassandra, her writer father, who has had writer's block ever since the publication of his first (successful) novel), beautiful sister Rose, little brother Thomas and eccentric stepmother Topaz. Into their lives come two American brothers, Simon & Neil, who have inherited the local estate and become the family's landlords. Cassandra wants to get her father writing again, get Rose happily married off - and also to find love for herself, for although she is adored by live-in help Stephen, (oh yes, in those days to be the middle class version of 'impoverished' did not mean one lacked a cook or handyman) she cannot reciprocate his feelings.
Cassandra opens the narrative with the famous line:
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink"
Her unusual bedroom companion is Miss Blossom, a dressmaker's dummy whom Cassandra and Rose imbue with her own personality.
It's a wonderful book, highly recommended, and the film that was made a few years ago isn't bad either.
Valerie Grove has written an excellent biography of Dodie Smith, 'Dear Dodie.'
Finally, the furniture shop in which the young Dodie worked was Heals in London.
Bring it on (as my son would say...) Frybabe!
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Congratulations, Frybabe, good thinking.
And thanks for a good quiz, Rosemarykaye; you had us all puzzled.
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Author: Born in the US MidWest
Book: Fantasy and horror
Character: The main antagonist of the book
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Off to a good start; enough information to be intriguing, but not enough to get it.
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I'm the only one in the world who never saw 101 dalmatians, and never heard of "I capture the castle". Sounds like I missed a good one.
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JoanK - you really did miss a good book, want me to send you a copy? It's wonderful.
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Rosemary: no: I ordered a sample on kindle (are there illustrations I'll miss if I don't get the paper book?)
I still owe you a jigsaw puzzle in return for the wonderful historic one of England you sent me. I didn't forget: I'm looking for something comparable for the US.
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Author: Born in the US MidWest
First paid writing job was as a scriptwriter for a famous TV show.
Book: Fantasy and horror
Could be thought of as an allegory of the struggle between good vs evil
Character: The main antagonist of the book
Draws on and becomes more powerful from negative emotions
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That's got to be Ray Bradbury, but I don't recognize the book.
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Pat, you are right about it being Ray Bradbury. I am sure you have at least heard of the book.
The novel has been made into a movie, two plays and two radio productions (the latest 2years ago). It has been mentioned in several books, including one by Stephen King and parodied in a long running cartoon show. The title has been used or parodied in several other TV shows and in many music/album titles. Several TV productions have used features of the novel in their episodes as well as one video game. What was that saying? "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
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How about "Something Wicked This Way Comes"?
Not sure how to interpret or distinguish "antagonist" in relation to the other characters in the novel.
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Traude, you are correct, the book is Something This Way Wicked Comes.
The best way I can describe "antagonist" is adversary. An adversary is one who opposes the main character or characters, or your opponent (for whatever reason) in real life. An adversary is not necessarily good or evil, but can have elements of both.
Who in the book are the main characters? Who is the "opposition", the one who is playing against them for his/her own benefit?
Does that help or just muddle things?
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Frybabe,
Your answer made everything perfectly clear, thank you.
What led me to the solution of this puzzle was the connection I suddenly remberd with Ray Bradbur's stories in "Dandelion Wine" from he past, where two boys (and the father of one) come face to face with the dark forces of evil for the first time, when a carnival comes to town, an excitement for old and young.
The antagonist is William Holloway, Will's father His weapons to defeat evil are love and laughter. Far from being "dated", it's a message for the ages. And a great choice of book for us to guess.
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Good answer Traude, but I was thinking of G. M. Dark as the primary antagonist. He is the one that all three, George and his two sons, must contend with. Dark draws in his "victims" and adds a tattoo for each person he gathers for the carnival. He thrives on negative feelings but becomes weakened by positive, loving feelings such as George Halloway portrays.
I'll let you and PatH fight it out over who takes the next quiz.
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Traude, would you like to do it? You could have gotten the author, but I couldn't have gotten the book. I always enjoy your quizzes.
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Thank you, Pat. I'm happy to be it. My self-imposed idleness has lasted too long, yett my deteriorating vision is a dreadful handicap.
Regarding the solution: Once I felt certain of an intrinsic connection between our last novel and the author's stories in "Dandelion Wine", I acted - perhaps precipitously - based on just onset of clues. Had I waited a little longer, I might have realized that Frybabe's focus was on the character w. Dark. The main theme of this novel ay well be the eternal struggle between good and evil in the bi biblical sense. Still, Mr. Dark's sway was diminished when Will's father started looking into the mystery of the mirror, and other fishy happenings.
The circus and the people who had come with it were chased out of town, good prevailed over evil. Not a bad coda, IMHO.
May I take this opportunity to apologize for my silence after Frybabe's post with the news of Babi's death. I did learn about it from Marcy's notice in a Newsletter. The suddenness was a shock (and a memento mori), and Babi's loss is keenly felt.
I will get right to work on a new quiz and wish all of you a wonderful Mother's Day.
Traude
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Traude, are you still good for doing the next quiz? If not, I'll take it, but I like your quizzes.
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Pat,
Thanks for the reminder. I will post the first clues tis evening.
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Here's the new quiz
The Author An American writer known for his trenchant novels
and superb sense of the national psyche.
The Book Third of a trilogy
Main Character An intransigent college professor
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That looks interesting, Traude. Nothing occurs to me right away.
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Oh dear, I think my first three immediate choices are shot down, one because the series I was thinking of is more then three, one because he concentrated on short stories, and the last because he did not trilogies. None of them, that I know of, regularly taught. Interesting choice of word, "intransigent".
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Everything I think of turns out not to fit. And that college professor rings a bell, but I still can't come up with it.
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Pat, Not to worry; more clues will be more revealing. Our author is a master of his craft and known to all of us.
Back later
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I'm not worried. It's no fun if you get it on the first clues.
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More clues
AUTHOR
An American writer known for his trenchant novels and his superb sense of the national psyche.
Several of his novels were inspired by political events.
BOOK
Third volume of a trilogy
MAIN CHARACTER,
An intransigent college professor of English.
In an era of societal change he clings to outdated views.
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William Manchester - The Last Lion trilogy about Winston Churchill?
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Sorry, Frybabe , not William Manchester
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Oh, right! The optimal word is NOVEL. Duh!
Thinking.
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More Clues
The AUTHOR is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, numerous other literary awards and honors.
His fiction reflects his experiences.
The BOOK is set in decades different from and subsequent to Volumes I and II of the trilogy.
Volume III has been made into a movie.
The main CHARACTER harborsdreadful secret; he resigns in disgrace.
One close friend remains loyal.
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Typing just these few lines has take me inordinately long, but I stayed with it becaue more clues were needed..
It should e u
Both my iMac ab and my printer gave me trouble. And that is how I neglected to rueply to your othr gesses, Frybabe.
Now the tense of the verb makes it clear that the author is still among us which mst be a help.
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Phillip Roth taught for many years, but I don't think any of his books were trilogies.
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Traude, I really appreciate you going to all this trouble for us. This is a very interesting quiz; it sounds so familiar, but I still can't think what it is. ???
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Hurrah, we have the author !!!
To find the book will be easier.
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Really?
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Yes, Frybabe,
Really
Would anyone like to guess, or should I reeal the title ?
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Pat, your wish is my command:)!
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Traude, if Frybabe or I get it, it will be because we looked it up, so you may as well tell us.
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Pat,
I am truly sorry that my last quiz remained unsolved and that I disappointed you. It might have been easier and faster - thpugh not as much fun - if I had mentioned that the author has used an alter ego in several of his novels.
There is a great deal of material about Philip Roth and his work s hat I can talk about my hughts of his work and how it has affected e.
The book is The Human Stain; the third volume of a trilogy. The first and second volumes are I Married A Communist and American Pastoral. . Roth has been described as a "masterful chronicler ot the American century", and he has done so with an extraordinary sensibility, portraying fictional characters and the times i which they lived. It has also been said that many novels are semi-autobiographical, and he cerss in discussing some delicate and personal issues in at least one of his books, Portnoy's Complaint ,which caysed a big controversy. H
For the sake of good order, let me add that I Married a Communist recalls the shameful McCarthy era, while American Pastoral and The Human Stain were written in the nineties. BYW American Pastoral is not set in a bucolic elysium and the title is pure irony.
Many of Roth's characters are Jewish, as is he. He is autely aware of his Jewishness and of being a minority, but his work is important for all mankind, for under the skin we are all alike in our virtues and vices.
The Human stain was conceived at a time when the nation struggled with the knowledge of a stain on a blue dress on a blue dress and the political implications. A sense of outrage s palpable in the book.
The story is told in flashbacks by the one loyal friend of Colman Silk, a professor at a second-tier college in New England. He is 71 und becoming grumpy. He is annoyed that two students who had signed up for his seminar never showed up ad asking for them he refers to them as "spooks", and i offends the two students who happen to be back.All ell breaks loose. In the midst of it Colman Silk's wife dies.
Silk's troubles are compounded by the fact that he has been harboring a deep dark secret for decades : he was born black. In his youth, when he signed up for the Marines, he passed as white and decided to declare himself Jewish. Neither his Jewish wife nor his four children were ever informed of their black ancestry.white Then Colman silk meets a young woman, less than half his age, whose husband returned from Vietnam a different man, one who beats her. Silk and Fauna, the woman, have moments of happiness.but there is no happy end. There are long philosophical discussions between Silk and his old friend, and one extraordinary scene of the two old men dancing in the moonlight, which is almost unbearably moving.
I have enjoyed this book and hope my lengthy comments reflect that feeling. Thank you,
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I had no idea they were part of a trilogy.
PatH, I guess it's back to me, unless you want a go.
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Frybabe, it's definitely up to you. You guessed the author, and I didn't.
Traude, why do you say you disappointed us? We had a lot of fun trying to figure it out. We weren't looking for easy and fast. I remember reading about the book, and probably should have thought of it, but didn't. It was a good quiz.
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Thank you, Pat.
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I'm going to go with something different this time - no character.
Author: Essayist, nonfiction writer, editor/annotator.
Book: Underwent three revisions with a slight title change later on.
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Hmmm. Interesting.
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Author: Essayist, nonfiction writer, editor/annotator.
Wrote a popular column in a monthly magazine for 25 years.
Book: Underwent three revisions with a slight title change later on.
Subject matter includes mirrors, art, music, molecular physics, wildlife, an early SETI experiment.
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Well, the new clues totally rule out my first idea. Now to find a second.
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For me, there's not yet enough to "hang my hat on".
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My thought for the first set of clues was Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, based on the three revisions and the title change, but the second set of clues doesn't fit that at all.
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Author: Essayist, nonfiction writer, editor/annotator.
Wrote a popular column in a monthly magazine for 25 years.
Considered a leading authority on Lewis Carroll
Book: Underwent three revisions with a slight title change later on.
Subject matter includes mirrors, art, music, molecular physics, wildlife, an early SETI experiment.
The first edition included two lines of poetry, from a book by Nicholas Nabokov, which was purposefully attributed to a fictional author as a joke. Nabokov returned the favor in one of his books.
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This gets worse and worse. I was thinking maybe Stephen Jay Gould before this current round. Lewis Carroll? Nabokov? ??? ??? ???
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Tee Hee ;D
This author is probably not as well known as Gould, so it doesn't surprise me you thought of him first.
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EUREKA! Martin Gardner!
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Might we we tcnsider the possibility that the author is/was British ?
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bradbury, Ray, Something Wicked This Way Comes, G. M.Dark, Frybabe #3356, PatH, #3358, straudetwo
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Camus, Albert, The Stranger, Meursat, JudeS, #3196, JoanK, #3194, Frybabe, #3195, PatH
Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, JoanK, #310, Frybabe
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dubus III, Andre, House of Sand and Fog, Col. Behrani, straudetwo, #3165, Frybabe
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Ebers, Georg, Arachne, Arachne, Frybabe, #3227, straudetwo
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, Tom Jones, PatH, #3318, rosemarykaye.
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
Gardner, Martin, The Ambidextrous Universe, Frybabe, #3398, PatH
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
James, P. D., Devices and Desires, Inspector Dalgleish, #3430, rosemarykaye
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Mankell, Henning, Italian Shoes, Frederick Welken, Frybabe, #3179, 3182, JudeS
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Moon, Elizabeth, Remnant Population, Ofelia, Frybabe, #3274, PatH
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
O'Hara, John, Appointment at Samara, straudetwo, #4471, Frybabe
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Roth, Philip, The Human Stain, Colman Silk, straudetwo, #3378, Frybabe
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Smith, Dodie, I Capture the Castle, Cassandra, rosemarykaye, #3347, Frybabe
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Strachey, Lytton, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria, Frybabe, #3302, PatH
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim, PatH, #3293, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
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Of Course!!! It has to be Martin Gardner, everyone's favorite for math puzzles in the Scientific American. I'll bet the book is the one sitting by my bed in my TBR pile (whose name I can't remember).
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You'll have to get the book, then, JoanK; I don't know it, would have to look it up. Have a look in your pile when you go to bed.
That quiz was really driving me nuts (that's good). I was thinking Loren Eisely this morning., but he didn't do a column. Then finally a light bulb lit up. Maybe I should have seen it sooner; I even own The Annotated Alice, inherited from my father.
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PatH, it is indeed Martin Gardner. I fondly remember reading his columns in Scientific American and doing his math puzzles in jr. high Math Club. The book I have in mind is the only one I've read that is not primarily a math puzzle book. It certainly contains puzzles that scientific minds have been and continue to work on involving time and space, as well as speculations on symmetry and asymmetry in other areas such as the arts and daily life. That clue should be a dead giveaway for the book I have in mind.
JoanK, you mean you haven't read it already? Gosh, some of my books have been sitting, waiting to be read for that long too.
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The book I have is called "The World is Large." I'll bet it's not the only one he wrote on larger topics.
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I have that one too, on my shelf, unread as yet. But, no it isn't The World is Large.
Book: Underwent three revisions with a slight title change later on.
Subject matter includes mirrors, art, music, molecular physics, wildlife, and an early SETI experiment, the Ozma Project, which takes up the last eight chapters.
The first edition included two lines of poetry, from a book by Nicholas Nabokov, which was purposefully attributed to a fictional author as a joke. Nabokov returned the favor in one of his books.
In later editions, Gardner added newer cosmic theories such as twistors (don't think I am familiar with that term in cosmology) and superstrings.
It is a shame that Mr. Gardner is no longer with us to update this book, and to continue writing his columns.
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Is it possible that here haven't been any posts here for 3 days, or is this the work of my sometimes erratic computer ?
We normally do not tak that muh time to cnfirm a winner or to trpl yo an incorrect guess.
Earlier today I tried to connect with this site via the index and - would ou believe - I couldn't see the listing of the literary games !! checked three times. One of the last items on the index are the archives.
Does the fault lie with 1) with my computer, and/or 2) my faulty vision ?
Thank you
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I have been reading daily but I didn't have a clue about this book. Sometimes I feel so poorly-read :(
Rosemary
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I am not sure how widely known Martin Gardner was internationally, Rosemary. Here, he is best known for his mathematical puzzles and math related monthly columns in Scientific American magazine. He also wrote about pseudo-science, and religious and philosophical subjects. He was an authority on Lewis Carroll, writing The Annotated Alice , as well as several annotated volumes of other authors like G. K. Chesterton, Ernest Thayer, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Traude, I'm sorry to hear you are having such problems with the site. I've not had any problems when using my computer, but do have occasional issues when I use my Kindle. It likes to tell me I am not authorized to use the forum after I have logged in okay. It kicks me off when I go to open a discussion. I clean my history, cache, and cookies which sometimes works and sometimes not. Then I have to go in and clean out a few other things like the form fill settings.
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I agree with Frybabe, Rosemary; Gardner is probably not well known outside this country, and here mostly to math puzzle nerds. He's quite entertaining, though. Sometimes I feel poorly read too, with some of the books used for quizzes. We all have our strong and weak areas.
The book is The Ambidextrous Universe. I had to look it up, but that's fair enough, since I don't think anyone else was going to get it.
Traude, I have not had the problems you describe, and there have been posts in the last 3 days. It must be a computer glitch of some kind.
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Winner Winner Winner
Correct, PatH.
Gardner was born and bred an Okie. He returned to Oklahoma after is wife died to be close to his son James, a professor at the University of Oklahoma at Norma. He passed away in 2010. I am tempted to get my hands on a later edition of The Ambidextrous Universe to read what he had to say about twistors and the superstring theory even though most of the book is the same as my older edition.
The original title was The Ambidextrous Universe: Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds. The later editions were retitled The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings. I have to admit to a partiality to the original title. It sounds more "romantic" and enticing to me.
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They don't have it on kindle. But in searching, I found a book "Are Lobsters Ambidextrous". I ordered a sample.
Since PatH IS ambidextrous, she should be the one to read the Gardner.
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JoanK, here it is on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Ambidextrous-Universe-Superstrings/dp/0486442446/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1370517957&sr=8-33&keywords=Martin+Gardner
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Thanks, Fry. I've ordered it. (used, of course).
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Finally. New quiz:
Book: One of a series with common elements.
Author: Some of my life experiences are reflected in my books.
Character: A personal tragedy shaped what I am now.
I'm sorry it took me so long. It gets harder and harder to think of things.
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This looks interesting already. Thinking cap is on.
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HMMMMM.
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I know you know this one, JoanK.
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New clues:
Book: One of a series with common elements.
Was made into a TV mini-series.
Author: Some of my life experiences are reflected in my books.
I am a peer.
Character: A personal tragedy shaped what I am now.
I come into an inheritance.
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Perhaps, but I'll wait for more clues.
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It sounds intriguing, but there's no bell ringing as yet.
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More clues:
Book: One of a series with common elements.
Was made into a TV mini-series.
Contains a distracting side issue.
Author: Some of my life experiences are reflected in my books.
I am a peer.
My deeply religious outlook shows in another of my books, but not this one.
Character: A personal tragedy shaped what I am now.
I come into an inheritance.
I'm torn between the demands of my vocation and my avocation.
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Gosh Pat, just had to look up 'avocation' - and I still haven't got the first idea who or what this is ???
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No bells yet!
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I'm pretty sure you all know this author, whether or not you have read this particular book. I think I've made the book sound more pretentious than it is. And I'd like to point out that any author who is a peer is going to be British.
New clues:
Book: One of a series with common elements.
Was made into a TV mini-series.
Contains a distracting side issue.
Is one of about 10 books by this author made into TV mini-series. Another book was made into a well-recieved movie.
Author: Some of my life experiences are reflected in my books.
I am a peer.
My deeply religious outlook shows in another of my books, but not this one.
I am a woman.
Character: A personal tragedy shaped what I am now.
I come into an inheritance.
I'm torn between the demands of my vocation and my avocation.
In this book I play a less central part than in some others.
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Pat, thank you for the additional clues.
s it Karen Armstrong ?
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Lady Antonia Fraser - Jemima Shore?
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Good guesses, but wrong.
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PatH says she's sure I'll get it, but I haven't a clue.
I assume the ten books were made into one mini-series, not ten.
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This'll give it to you. The character is a detective.
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PD James, Inspector Dalgliesh - but not sure which book!
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WINNER WINNER WINNER
The clues aren't really enough to give you the book. If you want to guess, it deals with nuclear power.
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I don't think it's important to guess the book. I just used the one whose details I remembered best. It's Devices and Desires.
Explanation of clues: Book: There was a very well-done series of her mysteries, with Roy Marsden as Inspector Dalgliesh. I was surprised at how many books had been adapted, but checked it on IMDB. The movie is The Children of Men.
Author: James worked for a while in hospital administration, and also in the criminal justice system, and used what she learned in her books. She is a life peer. I didn't know how religious she is until I recently finally read The Children of Men. I don't know if this shows up in the movie, which has been changed a lot from the book (I haven't seen it) but the book, in addition to dealing with a lot of social and political issues, is clearly a religious allegory. Her familiarity with the details of Anglican hierarchy also shows up in some of the detective stories.
Character: before any of the books, Adam Dalgliesh lost his wife and newborn (or not yet born) son in childbirth. This affects him in a lot of ways, including being one of the sources of his poetry. In the earlier books, he does a lot of wavering about whether to give up detecting to be just a poet or to shelve the poetry and detect.
In Devices and Desires, Dalgliesh has just inherited the lighthouse his aunt lived in, and is once again trying to decide how his life should go. The side issue is a serial killer who turns out to have nothing to do with the main issue, and Dalgliesh doesn't do much detecting in this book.
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Thanks for that background Pat, and for a great quiz that had me guessing till the last minute.
PD James is very much a High Anglican - isn't one of her Dalgliesh books set in a religious community (and another one starts in a London church)? Roy Marsden is Dalgliesh so far as I'm concerned - wonderful actor.
Oh dear, now it's my turn.... :)
Off to Anna's very last prizegiving before she leaves St Mary's Music School - so I'll have a think on my way into town.
Rosemary
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Rosemary, congratulations !
Pat, May I quickly ask about the TV miniseries and the movie, both mentioned as cues :. Were they Americana or British ?
Even if I had known the answer, it wouldn't not have helped me, simply because I was never particularly attracted to detective and crime stor d am familiar with few crime writers, among them Edgar Wallace, Dorothy Sayers; in more r4cent years, - Donna Leon set ib ny beoved Vnice and Michael Dibdin, a British writer who died in Seattle a few years ago. Of his large body of work I have read each of the crime stories set in Italy, one for every regione (plural regioni) in Italy (twenty). The attraction for
me was the subject matter.
This is a delightful site, and (I wish there were more participants. The quizzes have been intriguing, of an exciting variety, and fun to work on and learning about.. Thank you for this latest example of excellence and fun.
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They're British. The miniseries were shown here on PBS and are quite good.
This game is a lot of fun. The only problem is that it's so much work thinking of new quizzes. I think that inhibits some people from playing. I like the fact that the different players think of such different types of books.
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I have put an up-to-date heading at the top of this page to make it easier for the next quiz. (Hint, hint.)
Goodness, what a lot of good books we've used!
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Straude: "The attraction for me was the subject matter."
You are not alone in that, or in liking Donna Leon for her evocation of a place. As a mystery story reader, I often say that everything I know, I know from reading mysteries. They take you to times, places and cultures all over the world and history.
There are other things I like about them, too: the puzzle, the dealing with human tragedy and the human condition, the sense of justice: but I too like best those that take me someplace new.
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Pat - I hear you across the Atlantic ;D but I am away to Aberdeen all next week, so I'm not going to be able to post a new quiz very soon. I'll do it asap, but if you would prefer to jump in and do it for me, I'm more than happy for you to do so - as you say, it's getting harder and harder to think of something.
Rosemary
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Pat,
If you like, I'd be happy to fill in for Rosemary.
JoanK,
Your thoughtful words are greatly appreviatf.
Traude
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/graphics/authorauthor2.jpg)
Welcome to Author! Author!
This is a game in which the contestants match their wits with a challenger, who suggests a character in literature, non- fiction or fiction. The challenger may or may not provide more clues, his prerogative,, and never more than one a day.
Once a day the challenger will say if the guesses are correct or not. The winning contestant gets lots of acclaim and the chance to pose the next challenge. If he does not want to post a new challenge he can say so and whoever does can begin a new game.
Of course you could look these up on google in an instant, what challenge is that? The idea is to rack one's brain to try to remember where this particular character appeared and who wrote about him/ her. Should be great fun.
The challenger also has the option not to mention the name of the character, but only a description.
Authors used so far:
Author, Book, Character, Challenger, Post#, winner
Anonymous, Beowulf, Beowulf, PatH, #1301
Arlen, Michael, The Green Hat, straudetwo, #2711, roshanarose
Atwood, Margaret, The Blind Assassin, Gumtree, #277
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennett, #158
Baden-Powell, Robert, Scouting for Boys, Frybabe, #2847, rosemarykaye
Banks, Lynn Reid, The L-Shaped Room, Jane Graham, Rosemarykaye, #1785, unguessed
Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, JoanK, #342
Bennett, Alan, Uncommon Reader, Queen Elizabeth II, rosemarykaye, #1605, pedln
Blackmore, Richard, Lorna Doone, Lorna Doone, Frybabe, #462
Boswell, James, Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Frybabe, #2755, PatH
Bradbury, Ray, Something Wicked This Way Comes, G. M.Dark, Frybabe #3356, PatH, #3358, straudetwo
Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain, rosemarykaye, #3091, Frybabe
Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Gumtree, #252
Buchan, John, 39 steps, Richard Hannay, PatH, #396
Burns, Olive, Cold Sassy Tree, pedln, #1594, rosemarykaye
Camus, Albert, The Stranger, Meursat, JudeS, #3196, JoanK, #3194, Frybabe, #3195, PatH
Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, JoanK, #310, Frybabe
Carroll, Louis, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, JoanK, # 426
Cervantes, Don Quijote, Don Quijote, PatH, #701
Chesterton, Gilbert K., The Father Brown books, Father Brown, PatH, #2179, JoanK
Child, Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, butter, PatH, #2546, pedln
Christie, Agatha, Hastings, JoanK, # 127
Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot, JoanK, #752
Clancy, Tom, Hunt for Red October, Frybabe, #553
Clarke, Arthur C., Rendezvous with Rama, roshanarose, #2064
Clemens, Samuel, see Twain, Mark
Coetzee, J. M., Disgrace, David Little, Straudetwo, #1336
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, Rachel Verinder, PatH, #311
Connolly, John, The Book of Lost Things, roshanarose, #2746, Frybabe
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Marlow, Gumtree, #226
Conroy, Pat, The Great Santini, Conroy's father, JudeS #1319
Costain, Thomas, The Silver Chalice, Basil, Frybabe, #3123, JudeS
Cronin, A. J., The Citadel, Andrew Manson, JudeS, #1085
Davies, Robertson, The Cunning Man, Jonathan Hullah, straudetwo, #1382
Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood, PatH, #2227, rosemarykaye, #2283, Gumtree
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Roskolnikov, JudeS, #1209, 1213
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson, PatH, #380
Dubus III, Andre, House of Sand and Fog, Col. Behrani, straudetwo, #3165, Frybabe
Dumas, Alexandre pere, The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, PatH, #939, 941
DuMaurier, Daphne, Rebecca, the nameless narrator, Gumtree, straudetwo and rosemarykaye, #1924
Ebers, Georg, Arachne, Arachne, Frybabe, #3227, straudetwo
Eliot, George, Daniel Deronda, Gumtree, #190
Eliot, T. S., Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Bustopher Jones, PatH, #110
Essex, Karen, Leonardo's Swans, Isabella d'Este, Mippy, #591
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, 1429, 1439, Frybabe
Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, Tom Jones, PatH, #3318, rosemarykaye.
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Frybabe, #2607, rosemarykaye
Forster, E. M., Passage to India, Frybabe, #2240, rosemarykaye
Fowles, John, The Collector, Frederick and Miranda, roshanarose, #2903, JudeS
Frankel, Bruce, What Shall I Do with the Rest of My Life? Frybabe, #2825, PatH
Galsworthy, John, The Forsyte Saga, Irene, PatH, #615,620
Gardner, Martin, The Ambidextrous Universe, Frybabe, #3398, PatH
George, Elizabeth, Lynley and Havers, Tomereader1, #168
Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Zenobia, Frybabe, roshanarose, #2003, 2011
Gilbert, W. S., The Savoy Operas, Frederick, or the Pirate King, #1108, 1111, 1112
Golding, William, Lord of the Flies, JudeS, #3139, straudetwo
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, Flo, JoanK, #2815, Frybabe
Goodman, Carol, The Night Villa, the slave girl, Gumtree, # 1165
Grahame, Kenneth, The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad, rosemarykaye, #3362, PatH
Greene, Graham, The Third Man, Holly Martins, PatH, ##1175, 1179
Grey, Zane, Riders of the Purple Sage, Frybabe, #294, 299
Hamill, Pete, Tabloid City, pedln, #2662, straudetwo
Hardy, Thomas, Far From the Madding Crowd, roshanarose, #1741, rosemarykaye
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingsworth, Frybabe, 2368, 2373, pedln
Henry, O., Mammon and the Archer, Anthony Rockwall, Ginny #537
Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game, straudetwo, Frybabe, #1962
Heyerdahl, Thor, Early Man and the Ocean, Frybabe, #3035, 3044, PatH
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, JoanK, # 1904, Gumtree
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables, straudetwo, #2698, rosemarykaye
Irving, John, The World According to Garp, pedln, #2401, straudetwo
James, Henry, Washington Square, straudetwo, #981, 982
James, Henry, Wings of a Dove, Kidsal, #83
James, P. D., Devices and Desires, Inspector Dalgleish, #3430, rosemarykaye
Jenkins, Peter, A Walk Across America, Frybabe, #2641, pedln
Johnston, George, My Brother Jack, Gumtree, #2311, roshanarose
Keller, Helen, The Story of my Life, Anne Sullivan, JoanK #958
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible, pedln, #2581, rosemarykaye
Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, the lama PatH, #3023, JudeS
Knowles, John, A Separate Peace, pedln, #2560, Frybabe
Lagerlof, Selma, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Nils Holgersson, JudeS #899
Lahiri, Jhumpa, The Namesake, the boy, Frybabe, #4110, pedln
Lamb, Charles and Mary, Tales From Shakespeare, Macbeth, JoanK, #1301
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di, The Leopard, Don Fabrizio, Gumtree, Frybabe and straudetwo, #2031, 2032
Larson, Erik, Devil in the White City, pedln, #2226, Frybabe
LeCarre, John, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley, rosemarykaye, #2591, Frybabe
LeFanu, Sheridan, Carmilla, roshanarose, #769
Lessing, Doris, The Grass is Singing, straudetwo, #2432, Frybabe
Li, Cunxin, Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, Gumtree, #1713, roshanarose
Lofting, Hugh, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Doolittle, rosemarykaye, #2875, roshanarose
Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizon, Laurie, rosemarykaye, #2494, straudetwo
Machiavelli, Niccolo, The Prince, straudetwo, 3446, Frybabe
Mankell, Henning, Italian Shoes, Frederick Welken, Frybabe, #3179, 3182, JudeS
Mann, Thomas,Joseph and his Brothers, JudeS, #2934, straudetwo
Maupin, Armistead, Tales of the City, rosemarykaye, #1553, pedln
McCourt, Frank, Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, JoanK, #1062
McCullers, Carson, Member of the Wedding, straudetwo, pedln, #1859
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick, the whale, PatH, #482
Miller,Arthur, Death of a Salesman, Gumtree, #1005, 1006
Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Frybabe, #413
Mitford, Nancy, roshanarose, #839, 840
Moon, Elizabeth, Remnant Population, Ofelia, Frybabe, #3274, PatH
Murdoch, Iris, The Sea, the Sea, Charles Arrowby, straudetwo, #1197, 1198
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, Lolita, JudeS, #1124
O’Brian, Patrick, Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey, JudeS, #319
Oe, Kenzaburo, The Changeling, Frybabe, #2998-9, PatH, JudeS
O'Hara, John, Appointment at Samara, straudetwo, #4471, Frybabe
Orwell, George, Frybabe, #97
Ovid, Metamorphosis, Frybabe, roshanarose, #1985
Parker, Dorothy, Big Blonde, straudetwo, #2505, rosemarykaye
Pearl, Matthew, The Dante Club, pedln, #1629, deems 2
Perry, Anne, Acceptable Loss, William Monk, #3010, PatH
Peterson, Roger Tory, Field guide to the Eastern Birds, Mockingbird, JoanK #202
Potok, Chaim, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, pedln, #1890, JoanK
Potter, Beatrix, Jemima Puddleduck, rosemarykaye, #1478 pedln, #1482 deems2
Plutarch, ----, Themistocles, roshanarose, #1025, 1027
Preston, Douglas, Dinosaurs in the attic, Frybabe, #1456 rosemarykaye
Rand, Ayn, We the Living, Frybabe, #498, 502
Roth, Philip, The Human Stain, Colman Silk, straudetwo, #3378, Frybabe
Rowling, J. K, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, PatH, #1409
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, straudetwo, #1230
Sagan, Carl, Contact, Eleanor Alloway, Frybabe,#2447, PatH
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, The Little Prince, the Prince, PatH, #2146, rosemarykaye
Saramago, Jose, Blindness, deems 2, #1652, straudetwo
Sayers, Dorothy L., The Nine Tailors, Lord Peter Wimsey, PatH, #2466, rosemarykaye
Scott, Paul, The Jewel in the Crown, Daphne Manners, rosemarykaye, #2622, Frybabe
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe, Ginny, #602
Sewall, Anna, Black Beauty, Frybabe, #1490, Gumtree
Shakespeare, William, Othello, Othello, PatH, #2353, Frybabe, #2355, rosemarykaye
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, the monster, PatH, #451
Smith, Alexander McCall, Mma Ramotswe, JudeS, #145
Smith, Alexander McCall, 44Scotland Street, Cyril, rosemarykaye, #1238, 1243
Smith, Dodie, I Capture the Castle, Cassandra, rosemarykaye, #3347, Frybabe
Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie, Gumtree, #671, 672
Stead, Christina, The Man Who Loved Children, straudetwo, #1690, Gumtree
Steinbeck , John, Journal of a Novel, Gumtree, #53, 60
Stevenson, Robert Louis, The strange case of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, rosemarykaye, #2984, Frybabe
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, Jonathan Harker, JudeS, #631, 632
Stone, Irving, Depths of Glory, Camille Pisarro, Gumtree, #802
Strachey, Lytton, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria, Frybabe, #3302, PatH
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, PatH, #2835, Frybabe
Thompson, Morton, The Cry and the Covenant, Ignaz Semmelweiss, #2332, PatH, #2338, straudetwo
Tolkien, J. R. R., Lord of the Rings, Frodo, PatH, #238, 241
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, Pierre Bezukhov, PatH, #1267
Trollope, Joanna, The Best of Friends, Sophie, Mippy, #218
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror, Frybabe, #2117, straudetwo, #2118, PatH
Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi, the author, JoanK, #2192, Frybabe
Tyler, Anne, Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan,Mippy, #735
Urrea, Luis Alberto, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Saint Teresa de Cabora, Frybabe, #1835, straudetwo
Van Allsburg, The Polar Express, Santa, Frybabe, #2570, pedln
Voltaire, Candide, Candide, straudetwo, #1809, Frybabe
Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim, PatH, #3293, Frybabe
Vreeland, Susan, The Forest Lover, Emily Carr, Mippy, #364
Weir, Alison, Innocent Traitor, Lady Jane Gray, roshanrose, #883
Wethers, Beck, Left for Dead, Ginny, #29
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, Frybabe, rosemarykaye, #2054, Gumtree #2055
White, T. H., The Sword in the Stone, Arthur (the Wart), #3069, rosemarykaye.
Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, #2131, rosemarykaye
Windsor, Kathleen, Forever Amber, Amber, Traude, #927, 928
Wodehouse, P. G., Bertie Wooster, PatH, #1046, 1048
Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, roshanarose, #2091 Gumtree, #209x Frybabe
Woolf, Virginia, Flush, Gumtree, #1511, 1513, rosemarykaye
Woolf, Virginia, Orlando, Orlando, PatH, #1141
Xenophon, Frybabe, #173
Zola, Emile, Germinal, Etienne Lentier, Gumtree, #1352
Only the latest heading is up to date.
Straude, that would be wonderful if it's OK with Pat - thanks so much.
Rosemary
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That's great, Traude. I'd love it.
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The oppressive heat has obviously done me in, as you can see. My worsenig vision does not help.
Unfortunately my repeated attempts to modify and, fibally, remove the falty message were unsuccessful. l I was told the board I was seeking does not exist. I have no choice but letting the errors show. I am terribly sorry. The second criterion is BOOK
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Friends, please let me explain.
The new quiz contained embarrassing typos. My bad vision did not help. I tried to modify and, fiinally in despair, to remove the
post, but I was unsuccessful and was told the board I was seeking does not eist.
Just let me repeat the info, minus the typos.
AUTHOR
Historian and proliic writer, diplomat in his youth, politician, philosopher
Outspoken critic of the Roman church
BOOK
Nonfiction
SUBJECT MATTER
Treatise of proposed changes.
I am terribly sorry.
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It's fine. And interesting. I have no clue.
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Traude, no one cares if you have typos. We're just glad to have you here.
Interesting and puzzling. I'm working on it.
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Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince?
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Oh, wow, Frybabe! That fits SO well.
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Yes, it is Machiavelli and the book, the book, the most popular of his work, , IL PRINCIPE, Tthe Prince.
Congratulations, Frybabe /b]
A few details about his doctrine tomorrow.
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New quiz
Author: In the news recently.
Book: First of a series which as inspired a comic book, a new video game, and a movie.
Character: A child genius.
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Hmm. Sounds interesting.
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Has to be Harry Potter.
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Not Harry Potter.
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Author: In the news recently
Has been awarded a Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement
Book: First of a series which as inspired a comic book, a new video game, and a movie
Originated as a short story
Character: A child genius
Made the cut to join a specialized school
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Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, Ender Wiggin
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WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER
That was fast, PatH. Yes, Ender's Game. I am looking forward to the movie.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/endersgame/
The scuttlebutt is that Orson Scott Card is very anti-gay and therefore is anathema to many these days. The resulting publicity over his attitude may be hitting his bottom line according to some reports I read.
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It was the second character clue that gave it away--before then I was thinking along quite different lines. And the second book clue made me sure I was right, since I remember the short story.
By the way, if you have a very old copy of the book, hang on to it, because in more recent editions Card has changed some things to be more consistent with later books.
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Congratulations, PatH ][/color!!
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One of the things that I noted in my research was that Card updated the book in 1991 to reflect more current politics and events that would strike a cord with readers. I don't know which version I read, can't find the book, didn't know about the short story.
I didn't read any of the rest. Where they any good? I may have to reread Ender's and get the rest. I never expected the story to continue so long. Wonder what happened to my book ???
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I read the first two sequels--Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, but not the ones where Card backtracks and looks at different characters out of the first one. I have issues with Card, keep objecting "yes, but..." "but..". Nonetheless, I read the two straight through. They're worth a try if you liked Ender's Game. The short story isn't worth tracking down; it's just a short account of Ender's time at the Battle School. I can't find my copy of the first one either. It might have been my daughter's.