Author Topic: Author! Author!  (Read 360843 times)

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1040 on: September 17, 2010, 06:58:02 PM »


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









PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1041 on: September 17, 2010, 06:58:39 PM »
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.

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1042 on: September 17, 2010, 11:20:12 PM »

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.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1043 on: September 17, 2010, 11:25:34 PM »

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.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1044 on: September 17, 2010, 11:31:04 PM »
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. 

How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1045 on: September 18, 2010, 12:29:21 AM »
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.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1046 on: September 18, 2010, 03:24:58 PM »
That's a wonderful poem. It almost made me cry, and I'm another tough old bird.

Pat: it isn't Wodehouse is it?

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1047 on: September 18, 2010, 04:47:11 PM »
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.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1048 on: September 19, 2010, 01:56:13 PM »
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.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1049 on: September 19, 2010, 02:21:30 PM »
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.

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1050 on: September 19, 2010, 10:27:38 PM »
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.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1051 on: September 20, 2010, 03:06:21 PM »
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.

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1052 on: September 20, 2010, 04:13:25 PM »
I'm sure when somebody gets it I'll realize I should have gotten it from those clues.

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1053 on: September 20, 2010, 04:57:45 PM »
Could the book be "My Mr.Jeeves"

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1054 on: September 20, 2010, 05:15:50 PM »
JUDE: no, sorry.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1055 on: September 21, 2010, 03:09:08 PM »
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".

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1056 on: September 21, 2010, 03:24:59 PM »
Aaaak!  That last character clue gives it to me if can only dig it out of that morass I call my memory.

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1057 on: September 21, 2010, 10:10:17 PM »
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.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1058 on: September 21, 2010, 10:28:21 PM »
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

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.

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1059 on: September 22, 2010, 01:31:07 AM »
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.

Gumtree

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1060 on: September 22, 2010, 02:52:45 AM »
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.   

Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1061 on: September 22, 2010, 01:22:01 PM »
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.

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1062 on: September 22, 2010, 05:12:31 PM »
Could this be Frank McCourt and "Angela's Ashes"?

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1063 on: September 22, 2010, 06:04:02 PM »
Oooh!  I'm sure you're right, Jude.

straudetwo

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1064 on: September 22, 2010, 07:09:27 PM »
Jude, of course, that must be it ! 

I'd never have guessed and  was totally at sea.  >:(

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1065 on: September 22, 2010, 09:26:20 PM »
Gum:  Great news about your eyes.  We don't realise how precious they are until they don't work properly. 
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Gumtree

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1066 on: September 23, 2010, 05:15:20 AM »
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
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1067 on: September 23, 2010, 03:21:05 PM »
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!

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1068 on: September 23, 2010, 11:46:31 PM »
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.

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1069 on: September 24, 2010, 10:59:32 AM »
Congratulations on getting it right, Jude!
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1070 on: September 24, 2010, 01:06:05 PM »
Clue #two

Author: Twelve of his books were made into very successful movies.

Character:Has a deep desire to do something useful

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1071 on: September 24, 2010, 06:49:27 PM »
The character totally sounds like Arrowsmith to me, but the author doesn't sound like Sinclair Lewis.

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1072 on: September 25, 2010, 12:25:05 AM »
JudeS: Does the phrase "Hippocrates conquers hypocrisy" indicate that the character is a physician?
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1073 on: September 25, 2010, 12:48:11 AM »
Roshanarose,
Yes, it does indicate that the character is a physician.

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1074 on: September 25, 2010, 12:49:34 PM »
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.

Gumtree

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1075 on: September 25, 2010, 01:08:08 PM »
I should know this author but the name won't surface -
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1076 on: September 25, 2010, 03:05:48 PM »
W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, Philip Carey

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1077 on: September 26, 2010, 12:53:16 AM »
Hi Pat,
Sorry.  Very close but no cigar.
There's another author who is of the same time period.

JudeS

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1078 on: September 26, 2010, 01:06:37 PM »
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.

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #1079 on: September 26, 2010, 02:29:58 PM »
I'm going to kick myself when I find out what it is.