Author Topic: Author! Author! (Read 354022 times)

JoanK · « **Reply #3200 on:** October 12, 2012, 01:03:33 AM »

OK, JUDE, the (fiction) books that I have read four times are Tolstoy's, not Camus'. Does that say something about me?

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3201 on:** October 12, 2012, 03:55:10 AM »

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

JudeS · « **Reply #3202 on:** October 12, 2012, 12:39:30 PM »

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.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3203 on:** October 14, 2012, 12:27:21 AM »

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 ?

JudeS · « **Reply #3204 on:** October 14, 2012, 12:09:41 PM »

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.

PatH · « **Reply #3205 on:** November 09, 2012, 08:05:41 PM »

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.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3206 on:** November 10, 2012, 01:15:08 PM »

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

JoanK · « **Reply #3207 on:** November 10, 2012, 03:20:47 PM »

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.

PatH · « **Reply #3208 on:** November 11, 2012, 08:35:15 AM »

Thanks, JoanK, although so far it seems as obscure as my hypothetical book.

JoanK · « **Reply #3209 on:** November 11, 2012, 03:16:03 PM »

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.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3210 on:** November 12, 2012, 07:13:42 AM »

Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People

But, I thought he was from PA.

PatH · « **Reply #3211 on:** November 12, 2012, 03:11:07 PM »

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.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3212 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:18:46 PM »

Okay, Andrew Carnegie was the PA Carnegie I was confusing with Dale Carnegie.

JoanK · « **Reply #3213 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:43:03 PM »

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.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3214 on:** November 13, 2012, 10:11:48 PM »

I'm glad we are continuing to meet here for our guessing game. It's always enjoyable. Traude

Frybabe · « **Reply #3215 on:** November 13, 2012, 10:29:56 PM »

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.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3216 on:** November 14, 2012, 10:03:17 AM »

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

PatH · « **Reply #3217 on:** November 14, 2012, 10:39:58 AM »

Wow, I'll have to think about this one.

JoanK · « **Reply #3218 on:** November 14, 2012, 04:26:22 PM »

I love the variety of books, here. No idea.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3219 on:** November 14, 2012, 09:20:01 PM »

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

Frybabe · « **Reply #3220 on:** November 15, 2012, 12:36:11 PM »

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

Frybabe · « **Reply #3221 on:** November 17, 2012, 12:21:37 PM »

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.

PatH · « **Reply #3222 on:** November 17, 2012, 01:52:36 PM »

This is really intriguing, I feel like I know who it is, but can't come up with it.

JoanK · « **Reply #3223 on:** November 17, 2012, 03:20:46 PM »

I feel like I should know it too, but i don't.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3224 on:** November 17, 2012, 05:52:47 PM »

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

straudetwo · « **Reply #3225 on:** November 17, 2012, 07:55:52 PM »

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

Frybabe · « **Reply #3226 on:** November 17, 2012, 08:37:12 PM »

No, not a woman.
Born in 1837

straudetwo · « **Reply #3227 on:** November 18, 2012, 09:26:54 AM »

Taking a bold stab :
Georg Ebers.

PatH · « **Reply #3228 on:** November 18, 2012, 10:41:08 AM »

That's got to be right, Traude, I looked him up and he fits perfectly.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3229 on:** November 18, 2012, 12:14:27 PM »

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.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3230 on:** November 18, 2012, 04:50:36 PM »

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.

PatH · « **Reply #3231 on:** November 18, 2012, 06:59:06 PM »

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.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3232 on:** November 18, 2012, 07:06:41 PM »

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.

JudeS · « **Reply #3233 on:** November 19, 2012, 01:53:09 PM »

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.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3234 on:** November 19, 2012, 09:17:19 PM »

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 ?

PatH · « **Reply #3235 on:** November 20, 2012, 08:31:34 AM »

Traude, I'd love it if you went ahead with the next quiz.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3236 on:** November 20, 2012, 05:14:14 PM »

Thank you, PatH. Will do, and am working on it.

straudetwo · « **Reply #3237 on:** December 05, 2012, 08:14:36 PM »

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

Frybabe · « **Reply #3238 on:** December 05, 2012, 09:03:43 PM »

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.

JoanK · « **Reply #3239 on:** December 06, 2012, 05:50:09 PM »

Good luck with your tests. {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}

No guesses yet.

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Author Topic: Author! Author! (Read 354022 times)