Author Topic: Author! Author!  (Read 359059 times)

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #640 on: June 05, 2010, 09:11:52 AM »


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

Frybabe

  • Posts: 10024
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #641 on: June 05, 2010, 12:14:13 PM »
Still don't know, but it almost sounds like a King Arthur, wizardry or superhero type of book.

roshanarose

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #642 on: June 06, 2010, 07:52:45 PM »
Is it "Whale Rider"?  Only know the title, great movie though.
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

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #643 on: June 06, 2010, 07:58:08 PM »
Ooops!  Baby, baby, baby you're out of time.  Always my motto.
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

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #644 on: June 06, 2010, 07:59:11 PM »
Is it John le Carre?
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

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #645 on: June 07, 2010, 06:36:56 AM »
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...
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Frybabe

  • Posts: 10024
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #646 on: June 07, 2010, 08:03:11 AM »
I would say George Orwell, but I don't think he was in Africa.

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #647 on: June 07, 2010, 12:19:40 PM »
No, not Orwell -he was in India.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #648 on: June 07, 2010, 04:46:18 PM »
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.

Mippy

  • Posts: 3100
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #649 on: June 08, 2010, 10:08:44 AM »
Is the author Naipal ?   Cannot recall the book title, and am resisting looking it up.
quot libros, quam breve tempus

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #650 on: June 08, 2010, 11:58:36 AM »
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.



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

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #651 on: June 08, 2010, 02:47:55 PM »
It kind of sounds like Kurt vonnegut in tone, although I have no idea what the novel is.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 10024
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #652 on: June 08, 2010, 05:16:40 PM »
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.

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #653 on: June 08, 2010, 07:14:55 PM »
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.

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #654 on: June 09, 2010, 10:04:34 AM »
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.


 

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

roshanarose

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #655 on: June 09, 2010, 11:31:14 PM »
Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises
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

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #656 on: June 10, 2010, 11:45:26 AM »
H'mmm Hemingway.... good guess Roshanarose - but you are not correct. 

I think I've got everyone foxed on this one  ;D
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

roshanarose

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #657 on: June 10, 2010, 11:09:57 PM »
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.
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

straudetwo

  • Posts: 1597
  • Massachusetts
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #658 on: June 10, 2010, 11:18:21 PM »
Gum, by any chance, is the author Aldous Huxley ?

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #659 on: June 11, 2010, 12:22:53 PM »
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.





 

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

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #660 on: June 11, 2010, 08:11:14 PM »
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.   ???

straudetwo

  • Posts: 1597
  • Massachusetts
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #661 on: June 12, 2010, 04:54:32 PM »
Gumtree,  could the author be Doris Lessing ?

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #662 on: June 13, 2010, 11:38:06 AM »
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 ...
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

roshanarose

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #663 on: June 13, 2010, 11:03:03 PM »
Edith Wharton - The Age of Innocence
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

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #664 on: June 15, 2010, 02:11:13 AM »
Feeling a lot like "the elephant in the room".  Come on GUM.  Where the b.... h.... are you? :-)
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

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10951
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #665 on: June 15, 2010, 03:18:50 AM »
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.

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #666 on: June 15, 2010, 11:58:09 AM »
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 ? ...

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

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #667 on: June 16, 2010, 10:59:39 AM »
Are we at a standstill ?
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

JoanK

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  • Posts: 8685
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #668 on: June 16, 2010, 03:44:47 PM »
yep!

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #669 on: June 17, 2010, 03:04:52 AM »
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


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

Mippy

  • Posts: 3100
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #670 on: June 17, 2010, 05:57:57 AM »
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
quot libros, quam breve tempus

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10951
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #671 on: June 17, 2010, 08:42:38 PM »
Muriel Spark?

roshanarose

  • Posts: 1344
Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #672 on: June 18, 2010, 12:30:29 AM »
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  :)
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 #673 on: June 18, 2010, 05:23:41 AM »
HURRAH !     PatH DOES IT AGAIN !

What took you so long Pat  ???

CONGRATULATIONS to you and Roshanarose who has the book title.




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

Gumtree

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #674 on: June 18, 2010, 05:47:22 AM »
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.
 

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

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #675 on: June 18, 2010, 12:42:30 PM »
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?

roshanarose

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #676 on: June 18, 2010, 10:06:16 PM »
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.
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 #677 on: June 18, 2010, 11:36:33 PM »
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.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

JoanK

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #678 on: June 19, 2010, 01:53:08 PM »
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.

PatH

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Re: Author! Author!
« Reply #679 on: June 19, 2010, 06:48:29 PM »
Yes, I know it's my turn.  I'm thinking.