Tag: trivia quiz
Trivia Quiz for Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 4/23/23
With the answers below
Brontë’s Style: Yorkshire Gothic
1. Narrative accountability. Brontë presents this tale as a series of eye-witness accounts of events by several people. Which one of the following is not a narrator in Wuthering Heights?
a. Ellen Dean (aka Nelly), a long-time servant
b. Joseph, a long-time servant
c. Mr. Lockwood, a tenant
d. Zillah, a long-time servant
2. Psychological realism. In order to fill in the backstory, the author employs other genres and narrative devices. Which one device is absent from Wuthering Heights?
a. newspaper articles
b. personal letters
c. diary entries
d. dreams
3. The Ominous Setting. Which one of the following is not a danger inherent in the setting?
a. bleak winds
b. bitter, northern skies
c. enemy soldiers and roaming bandits
d. dilatory country surgeons
e. impassible roads
4. Gothic conventions and echoes. Which one of the following is not from Wuthering Heights?
a. The solitary landlord greets a visitor by saying: “Guests are so exceedingly rare in this house…”
b. Caught by some vicious guard dogs, the narrator says, “I was forced to lie until their malignant masters pleased to deliver me.”
c. A person recalls, “The intense horror of nightmare came over me; I tried to draw back my hand, my arm, but, the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in—let me in!’”
d. One narrator claims: “they had so many queer goings on, she could not begin to be curious.”
e. We learn that the local people make a gesture by raising both arms in a cross, and put a lot of cumin in their food, to ward off what they call “the evil eye”.
5. The Scary House. Which one of the following is not mentioned as an aspect of the manor named “Wuthering Heights”?
a. The word “wuthering” is a provincial adjective, typical of Yorkshire.
b. “Wuthering” describes atmospheric tumult, stormy weather.
c. The well behind the house, full of stagnant water, attracts weird black birds that screech at night.
d. The house is surrounded by “a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun”.
e. The corners of the house are “defended with large jutting stones”.
6. A Mysterious hero or villain. The character named Heathcliff enters the story cloaked in an aura of mystery. Which one of the following traits is not attributed to him?
a. As an adult, Heathcliff is described as “he is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman … rather slovenly, perhaps”
b. Mr. Earnshaw, Sr. brought the nameless child home from Liverpool, 60 miles distant, because he was “determined he would not leave it as he had found it .. starving and houseless, as good as dumb.”
c. The name Heathcliff is given him in honor of the landscape where his adoptive family lives, full of rambling heaths and high cliffs looking out over the English Channel.
d. The neighbors speak of hm as “a strange acquisition”; “an American or Spanish castaway”
e. As a child he was prone to say things such as: “I shall be as dirty as I please, and I like to be dirty.”
7. Violence! Wuthering Heights includes numerous scenes of violence and gruesome memories, including all but which one of the following?
a. Upon entering the parlor, the narrator thinks he sees some cats curled up in a chair, but it is actually a heap of dead rats and baby foxes
b. A typical exchange between family members includes threats such as: “’show him what you are, imp of Satan—And take that, I hope he’ll kick out your brains!’”
c. A boy responds to a perceived insult by seizing a tureen of hot applesauce and throwing it in the face of his neighbor.
d. One person saves a child from certain death, after the child’s own father throws him out a window.
e. A character warns another: “You must avoid putting me in a passion, or I shall really murder you, some time!”
8. Maxims and life lessons. Emily Brontë tucks numerous proverbs and precepts into her narrative, including all but one of the following. Which one does not ring true?
a. “What vain weather-cocks we are!”
b. “It’s only a bad woman herself that is likely to be very kind to another woman that needs kindness.”
c. “We don’t in general take to foreigners here … unless they take to us first.”
d. “Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.”
e. “Take my books away, and I should be desperate!”
f. “A guest that is safe from repeating his visit, can generally be made welcome.”
9. Medicine’s Failures. Which one of the following ailments is not mentioned in this novel?
a. brain fever
b. colds
c. breast cancer
c. death in childbirth
d. listless apathy
e. bog water in the head
10. Threats and Dangerous Wishes. Which one of the following is not in Wuthering Heights?
a. “May you not rest, as long as I am living!”
b. “It’s because she started praying over me. She ought not to started praying over me.”
c. “I want the triumph of seeing my descendant fairly lord of their estates; my child hiring their children, to till their fathers’ lands for wages”
d. “Oh, God! It is a long fight, I wish it were over!”
ANSWERS
1. b.
2. a.
3. c.
4. e.
5. c.
6. c.
7. a. (It’s actually dead rabbits heaped on a chair.)
8. b. That line is from Faulkner, Light in August.
9. c.
10. b. That line is also from Faulkner, Light in August.
Come back next month, for our quiz on Dead Souls (Russian: «Мёртвые души»), a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature.
Trivia Quiz for Light in August by William Faulkner (1931)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 3/26/23
With the answers below
Faulkner’s Style, Faulkner’s South, Everyone’s Demons
1. The somewhat omniscient narrator. Faulkner’s prose presents a narrator who is almost but not quite omniscient, thus placing the reader in an uncomfortable situation that mirrors the characters’ own impotence and confusion. Examples of this peculiar not-quite-omniscience run through Light in August, as in all but one of the following quotes. Which is not from Faulkner’s book?
a. “The next morning she departed forever, though it is possible that she did not know this at the time.”
b. “She could have departed by the door, by daylight. Nobody would have stopped her. Perhaps she knew that.”
c. “This is not what Byron knows now. This is just what he knew then, what he heard and watched as it came to his knowledge.”
d. “It was only from her French being so good, that you could know she was not a born woman of fashion.”
e. “He did not then know that, like the eagle, his own flesh as well as all space was still a cage.”
2. Maxims and life lessons. A special kind of wisdom runs through the proverbs and counsel proffered by the characters in Faulkner’s book. Which of the following is not in the novel?
a. “It’s only a bad woman herself that is likely to be very kind to another woman that needs kindness.”
b. “It’s a strange thing, but it seems impossible for a man to learn the value of money without first having to learn to waste it.”
c. “I always say a woman cannot have too many resources—And I feel very thankful that I have so many myself.”
d. “Though children can accept adults as adults, adults can never accept children as anything but adults too.”
3. Why August? The month of August looms large in this novel because of all but one of the following reasons. Identify which one does not ring true.
a. Lena’s baby is named August: a little in-joke, since Faulkner’s own father had the same name.
b. Although the pregnant Lena begins her journey four weeks earlier, the novel opens on a hot August afternoon.
c. The scorching heat of August contributes to the madness felt by Joe Christmas during his escape attempt.
4. A strange heroine. Lena Grove is described in ways that highlight her pragmatism if not her intelligence or beauty. Which one of the following is not attributed to Lena?
a. While climbing out the window of her brother’s house, she thinks “If it had been this hard to do before, I reckon I would not be doing it now.”
b. “Her face is calm as stone, but not hard. Its doggedness has a soft quality, an inwardlighted quality of tranquil and calm unreason and detachment.”
c. “She wanted, suddenly, to shock people, to hurt them, to make them notice her, to be aware of her suffering.”
5. An odd hero. Byron Bunch is presented as a timid and forgettable fellow, yet he is also… Choose the one characteristic which is not correct.
a. He is described as “slight, nondescript.”
b. His wife died by suicide, years ago, and he’s been grieving ever since.
c. He works six days a week until 6pm, even if he’s the only employee present at the mill.
d. On Saturdays after work, he rides a mule 30 miles to a country church where he spends his Sundays leading the choir at all-day services.
6. Words of Wisdom. Which one of the following is not from Light in August?
a. “For a fact, it looks like a fellow is bound to get into mischief soon as he quits working.”
b. “Before a man goes to the devil himself, he sends plenty of other souls thither.”
c. “All that any man can hope for is to be permitted to live quietly among his fellows.”
d. “Poor man. Poor mankind.”
7. The Mystery of Christmas. Hero or villain, the character named Joe Christmas enters the story cloaked in an aura of mystery. Which one of the following traits is not attributed to him?
a. he wears “soiled city clothes” to work hard labor in a mill
b. his name, Byron Bunch remembers, “can be somehow an augur of what he will do, if other men can only read the meaning in time”
c. When he arrives in Jefferson, he is a mature man of 33 yrs.
d. He had a childhood trauma, after stealing and eating someone’s birthday cake.
8-11. The significance of race, family history and a violent past. Many characters appear to suffer the consequences of actions done, or beliefs shared, by earlier generations of their family. Match the quote to the person.
8. Joe Christmas
9. Rev. Gail Hightower
10. Miss Burden
11. A neighbor in Jefferson, Mississippi
a. “My pappy says how he can remember how fifty years ago folks said it [the Burdens’ house] ought to be burned, and with a little human fat meat to start it good.”
b. “Up there in the pulpit with his hands flying around him and the dogma he was supposed to preach all full of galloping cavalry and defeat and glory.”
c. “She is but a woman and but the descendant of them whom the ancestors of the town had reason (or thought that they had) to hate and dread.”
d. “It’s because she started praying over me. She ought not to started praying over me.”
ANSWERS
1.d. That quote is from William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, describing Becky Sharp.
2.c. That quote is from Jane Austen, Emma, spoken by Mrs. Elton.
3. a. Murry Cuthbert Faulkner is the name of the author’s father. William’s birthday was September 25, 1897.
4. c. That quote is from Nella Larsen, Passing.
5. b.
6. b. That quote is from Vanity Fair.
7. d. The trauma comes from an episode involving pink toothpaste, not cake.
8. d.
9. b.
10. c.
11. a.
come back next month for our quiz on Wuthering Heights…
Trivia Quiz for Vanity Fair (1847-48) by William Makepeace Thackeray
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 2/26/23
Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero (first pub. in serial form 1847-1848)
With answers at end
A. The Complicated Unfolding: Characters and Relationships.
1. Secrets revealed. People’s secrets come to light in many ways—gradual and abrupt—in the pages of Vanity Fair. Which one of the following is not true?
a. Becky Crawley, née Sharp, was born into the French aristocracy as a member of the Montmorency lineage.
b. Amelia Osborne, née Sedley, never realizes that her husband was an unfaithful, callous cad until the end of the book when Becky tells how he lied and cheated, to her face.
c. During his years of service abroad, Major Dobbin provides, anonymously, the revenue that keeps Amelia Osborne’s family out of financial ruin.
d. The climate of Coventry Island, where Col. Rawdon Crawley attains his highest rank in His Majesty’s government, will prove fatal to him.
2. Mysteries remain. Despite the many dénouements in the second half, significant doubts nag at the reader. Some things we know, however. Which one of the following enigmas is resolved?
a. Will Colonel Dobbin remain loyal to his lady-love, Amelia Osborne?
b. Will Lady Becky Crawley be content to lead a respectable life and avoid swindling people forever?
c. Will Georgy Osborne marry a member of the Bareacres clan?
d. Is it true, as the narrator writes, that “girls like a rake better than a milksop”?
B. Irony, heavy at times. Thackeray’s narratorial voice, and the novel’s characters, do not hesitate to manipulate and lie to each other, often with funny/cringe-inducing results.
Match the comment to the person speaking or being described. The characters: a. Rawdon Crawley; b. Amelia Sedley; c. Jos Sedley ; d. George Osborne; e. Sir Pitt Crawley; f. Becky Crawley
3. “It was only from her French being so good, that you could know she was not a born woman of fashion.”
4. “But he was as lonely here as in his jungle at Bobbley Wollah.”
5. “What’s the good of being in Parliament, if you have to pay your debts?”
6. “Alas, alas! I fear poor X had not a well-regulated mind. What were her parents doing, not to keep this little heart from beating so fast?”
7. “Since he’s been home, they say he’s a regular Don Giovanni, by Jove.”
8. “’If he had but a little more brains,’ she thought to herself, ‘I might make something of him,’ but she never let him perceive the opinion she had of him… laughed at all his jokes.”
C. 9. Education, sometimes heavy-handed. Vanity Fair could be considered a moralistic book, for all the maxims and lessons it contains. Which of the following is not in Vanity Fair ?
a. “The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly at you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion.”
b. “If you are guilty, tremble.”
c. “Before a man goes to the devil himself, he sends plenty of other souls thither.”
d. “What a charming reconciler and peacemaker money is!”
e. “Rich baronets do not need to be careful about grammar, as poor governesses must be.”
f. “Never be squeamish, but speak out your compliment both point-blank in a man’s face, and behind his back, when you know there’s a reasonable chance of his hearing it again.”
g. All are in Vanity Fair.
10. Funny sayings and words! Funny names, vocabulary and euphemisms. Thackeray’s narrator invents funny sayings and neologisms to make us laugh. Which of the following is not in Vanity Fair ?
a. Snoring is called “the gentle but unromantic music of the nose.”
b. An aristocratic estate is called “Humdrum Hall.”
c. While being wooed by Glorvina O’Dowd, Dobbin remains “in a state of the most odious tranquility.”
d. An insincere servant is named “Uriah Heep.”
11. Historical context: Does it matter? Vanity Fair takes place in England and Belgium during the period 1814-1830 or so, yet on the eve of Waterloo the narrator claims “When the decks are cleared for action we go below and wait meekly” (297).
Are the characters unaffected by historical events such as the Battle of Waterloo (where the British beat the French with allied forces) and the French Revolution of 1830, which overthrew the Bourbon monarchy?
Yes, they are unaffected by historical events.
No, they are greatly affected by historical events, even if the book does not describe those events taking place.
ANSWERS
1. a.
2. a.
3. f.
4. c.
5. e.
6. b.
7. d.
8. a.
9. g. (Thackeray has lots of advice for readers!)
10. d. Uriah Heep is a character in Dickens, David Copperfield.
11. No, they are greatly affected by historical events, even if the book does not describe those events taking place.
*****
Come back next month for our quiz on Faulkner, Light in August!
Trivia Quiz for The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
(written 1928-1940; published posthumously in 1966)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 1/22/23
A. The Literary Hybrid: Satire + Origin Tale + Cityscape + Supernatural Adventure
1. A Biting Satire. As a doctor, writer, and member of the intelligentsia, Mikhail Bulgakov witnessed first-hand the terrors of the Stalinist regime (1927-1953), and, assuming his work would never get published, he pokes fun at many aspects of the era’s impact on ordinary lives. Which one of the following is not criticized in the novel?
a. the government-sanctioned housing shortage in Moscow
b. the “politically dangerous” issue of having foreign currencies in your possession
c. the total absence of censorship, which gave rise to a media free-for-all promoting anarchy, xenophobia, and mob rule
d. the graft, bribe-taking, and other unscrupulous behaviors practiced by official Soviet bureaucrats
2. An Ambiguous Easter Novel. Bulgakov’s biographer calls this book an “Easter novel” for all but one of the following reasons. Which one of the following does not occur in The Master and Margarita?
a. The novel describes the day when Procurator Pontius Pilate proceeded over the trial in which Jesus was condemned to death on the cross, and the following days.
b. The novel is an evangelical’s spiritual autobiography, in which he describes finding faith on a special Easter.
c. The story takes place in the springtime.
d. The novel has 33 chapters (or 32 plus an epilogue about an afterlife): the same age as Jesus when he died.
3. A Cityscape. Even those who have never ventured to Moscow will develop some familiarity with the city by the end of this novel, due to its precise locations and relatively small focus. Which one of the following sites is not a center of the action?
a. Patriarch’s Ponds
b. Griboyedov House
c. The Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace of the Imperial Family)
d. Sparrow Hills
4. Strange occurrences and supernatural travel run through the second part of the book, in which all but one of the following events transpire. Identify it.
a. Margarita becomes a witch and flies across the night sky.
b. A cat demands, “Passport !” and stretches out a chubby paw to receive it.
c. Margarita attends a ball where she meets a number of criminals, poisoners, and madmen from history.
d. The Master’s novel is published to great acclaim in a foreign country far from Moscow.
B. A Strange Worldview
5. Characters blurt out phrases that sound outlandish, but merely reflect political realities of the time. Which one of the following is not from The Master and Margarita ?
a. “Money … should be kept in the State Bank, in special, moisture-free safe-deposit boxes, and not in your aunty’s cellar where the rats can get at it!”
b. “Have you come to arrest me?”
c. “Take care how you cut yourself. It is more dangerous than you think in this country.”
d. “One really shouldn’t make big plans for oneself, dear neighbor.”
6. Laughter: the Ultimate Weapon? Bulgakov’s humor emerges slyly in this novel; which one of the following is not an example?
a. “And it was then, as the chairman insisted afterwards, that the miracle took place: the wad of bills crawled into his briefcase all on its own.”
b. “The foreigner leaned back on the bench and practically squealed with curiosity as he asked, ‘You mean you’re atheists?!’ … “Oh, how delightful!”
c. “Neither the conductress nor the passengers were amazed by the most important thing of all, namely, that a cat was not merely getting on a streetcar, which wasn’t so bad, but that he intended to pay his fare!”
d. Woland’s show includes a “Ballet of the Bureaucrats” wherein clerks become angels and dance in unison.
7. Advice on living, or how not to disappear. Which maxim is not from Bulgakov’s book?
a. “Submission, self-denial, diligent work, are the preparations for a life.”
b. “Today I’m unofficial, but tomorrow I might be official! And vice versa, of course, or even something worse.”
c. “Insults are the usual reward for good work.”
d. “What are smart people for, if not to untangle tangled things?”
C. Miscellaneous Insights
8. Death is a central theme and end of this book. Which one of the following is not from The Master and Margarita?
a. “Chess became an incurable addiction that tormented him until the day of his death.”
b. “A round dark object was propelled under the railing … it began bouncing over the cobblestones of Bronnaya Street. It was Berlioz’s severed head.”
c. “’Crash! Bang! Over falls the baron!’” ‘I was practically hysterical,’ put in the cat, licking a spoonful of caviar.”
d. “Needless to say, truly mature and cultivated people did not tell these tales about an evil power’s visit to the capital.”
9. Mikhail Bulgakov was also a playwright and some dialogue is remarkable. Which one of the following is not from his novel?
a. “’I shouldn’t be blamed too severely—after all, it’s not everyday you meet up with an evil power!’ / ‘That’s for sure! How nice it would be if it were everyday!’”
b. “What more can a bear want?” [the mother asks]. / “Love, I think to myself, like the warmth in the cowshed of all those breathing cattle with a common goal—survival.”
c. “’The sturgeon’s not the issue.’ / ‘How can it not be the issue if it’s spoiled?’ / ‘They sent us sturgeon that’s second-grade fresh’ said the bartender.”
d. “’When people have been stripped of everything, as you and I have been, they look to otherworldly powers for salvation! Well all right, I’m willing to do it.’ / ‘That’s it, now you’re your old self again’.”
10. The message? Which of the following is not a quote from this book?
a. “And so, almost everything was explained, and the investigation came to an end, just as, in general, all things do.”
b. “It’s worth everything isn’t it, to keep one’s intellectual liberty; not to enslave one’s powers of appreciation, one’s critical independence?”
Answers
1. c.
2. b.
3. c. The Hermitage Museum is in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
4. d.
5. c. That quote is from Bram Stoker, Dracula.
6. d.
7.a. That quote is from Charles Dickens, Bleak House.
8. a. That quote is from Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera.
9. b. That quote is from Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, The Discomfort of Evening.
10. b That quote is from Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence.
***
Come back in February for the quiz on Vanity Fair (1847-48) by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray.
Trivia Quiz for “The Dead” by James Joyce (1924), and
Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler (1926)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 12/11/22
With answers below
A. “The Dead”
1. Despite being called a “great affair,” the description of the Misses Morkan’s annual dance reveals hints of their modest status in Dublin society. Which of the following details is not mentioned, about their home and party?
a. The caretaker’s daughter (instead of a stately butler) answers the door and welcomes in the guests.
b. The guests include family, friends, and pupils of the hostesses, who earn money by giving music lessons.
c. Their feast is composed of leftovers, artfully concealed under thick sauces, accompanied by watered-down wine and stale bread.
d. The women live in a rental, the upper part of a “dark gaunt house”—and have done so for the past thirty years.
2. One of the main concerns of the hostesses, during this event, is to avoid a certain disgrace. Which one of the following explains their fear?
a. They fear Mary Jane’s former lover might show up and cause a scene.
b. They fear the men will start fighting about Irish politics, as often happens at their gatherings.
c. They fear an old friend might show up drunk and behave poorly, thus embarrassing them in front of the music students, many of whom belong to better-class families.
d. They fear the landlord might come upstairs to argue about the noise.
3. The main character, Gabriel, is described as having all but one of the following traits. Which is not in “The Dead”?
a. He is their favorite nephew.
b. They haven’t seen him for years since he’s often abroad, as a member of the merchant marine.
c. He is son of their dead elder sister who had married a man from the Dublin Port and Docks.
d. He is their favorite choice for presenting Christmas speeches, given his education and literary career.
4. Gabriel’s mood is darkened during the evening by a few minor incidents; which of the following is not mentioned?
a. The caretaker’s daughter turns sour after he mentions her future wedding and rebuffs his friendly gesture.
b. The sight of his dead mother’s photo reminds Gabriel that she once opposed his marriage to his wife, Gretta.
c. The sound of people’s feet dancing overhead makes him worry that his speech is too high-brow.
d. A drunk woman makes fun of his “Continental” accent.
5. In the end, Gabriel espies his wife listening to some music. This episode stirs up equivocal feelings. Which of the following is not a consequence of that moment?
a. He sees “grace and mystery in her attitude, as if she were a symbol of something.”
b. “A sudden tide of joy went leaping out of his heart.”
c. Gretta starts to sob, remembering a boy she once loved, and who sang that song for her.
d. He realizes that “her face was no longer beautiful” and it makes him sad.
e. All of the above are a consequence of the music.
B. Dream Story
6. Schnitzler’s story builds on a strange experience which inspires a sequence of events. Which of the following describes the initial experience?
a. A husband and wife attend a concert where they hear an old song the wife once loved, and which reminds her of lost love.
b. A husband and wife attend a masquerade ball where people make passes at them, separately, thus inflaming their sexual desires.
c. A husband and wife attend a political meeting and the husband is inspired to get involved, much to his wife’s regret and anger.
d. A husband and wife attend a family gathering where people tell dirty stories that make them ashamed of their past.
7. The text contains hints of a message throughout, in sentences such as all but one of the following. Which one is not in Dream Story?
a. “Uneasy, and tormenting themselves, each sought … to draw out confessions from the other.”
b. “All at once those insignificant events were imbued, magically and painfully, with the deceptive glow of neglected opportunities.”
c. “There’s no dignity to be had in being a slave.”
d. “No dream is entirely a dream.”
8. Maxims from the underworld. During a weird evening, one hears some warnings/advice. Which of the following is not said by shadowy strangers in Dream Story?
a. “There’s nothing here to smile about.”
b. “It is not a question of satisfaction, but one of expiation.”
c. “When a promise has been made here there is no turning back.”
d. “Here it doesn’t matter whether you have forgotten the password or if you never knew it.”
9. Which one of the following words is seen to have a special power, lending logic and synchronicity to the action in Dream Story?
a. “Sweden”
b. “Jimmy”
c. “Rosebud”
d. “Denmark”
C. BOTH BOOKS TOGETHER!
10. Which quote from “The Dead” sounds like it applies to the characters in Dream Story?
a. “One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither with age.”
b. “It was the rule, that was all.”
c. “’When we are hungry we are all very quarrelsome.’ ‘And when we are thirsty we are also quarrelsome.’”
d. “To follow the voice … was to feel and share the excitement of swift and secure flight.”
ANSWERS
1. c.
2. c.
3. b.
4. d.
5. e.
6. b.
7. c. (That quote is from The Remains of the Day.)
8. a. (That quote is from The Discomfort of Evening.)
9. d.
10. a., b. or d.
Come back next month when we’ll discuss a classic of Russian literature!
Date & time: Sunday January 22, 2023: 3:00-4:30pm. Trivia Quiz is posted on this blog afterwards, each month.
Place: C and P Coffee House on California Ave SW: outdoors, on back patio
Event: West Seattle Classic Novels (and Movies) book club meets to discuss The Master and Margarita, by Russian novelist Mikhail Bulgakov (published posthumously in 1966-67, written from 1928 to his death in 1940).
contact person: juliawsea@gmail.com
Thank you for reading,
and happy holidays to you and yours!
Trivia Quiz for The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
(winner of the International Booker Prize, 2020)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 11/20/22
(answers below)
A. Memoirs of a Child
1. Motivation. Multiple reasons lie behind the choice to write these (fictional) memoirs, yet none are explicitly stated by the narrator (who shares some features of the author’s own life). Which one of the following does not seem likely as a reason to write this book?
a. a great affection for family and desire to share funny and sweet stories
b. a victim’s effort to seek justice—divine or societal—for the suffering she’s endured
c. a novelist’s desire to shock city folk by exploiting brutal and grotesque aspects of rural life
d. a one-time believer’s want to expose harsh views promulgated by the Dutch Reformed Church.
2. Duration. How much time is covered in the narration?
a. Nine years: she is 12 years old at the beginning and 21 at the end.
b. One month: she is 10 at beginning and end, and the time goes only from December to January.
c. One night: it all happens on the terrible night her brother drowned, when she was 10.
d. Two years: she grows from age 10 to age 12.
B. A Strange Worldview
3. Maxims. The Discomfort of Evening includes numerous judgments and lessons on life by the young narrator. Which one of the following does she not say (or think)?
a. “Anger has hinges that need oiling.”
b. “There’s nothing here to smile about.”
c. “For our generation, professional prestige lay most significantly in the moral worth of one’s employer.”
d. “Everything that requires secrecy here is accepted in silence.”
4. Home sweet home? Which one of the following does not describe the narrator’s home?
a. They have only three TV channels: Nederlands 1, 2, and 3.
b. They live on a farm, with various animals including cows, rabbits, and chickens.
c. They consider stewed cow’s udder with mustard to be a special treat.
d. They are hiding Jews in their basement, the narrator thinks, because her mom stores food there.
e. Their home is beloved far and wide for the music, friendship, and joy one finds there.
C. People and Their Problems
5. Strained relations abound. Which one of the following is not in this book?
a. A brother sexually abuses his sister.
b. A boy sexually abuses a neighbor girl.
c. A girl masturbates with a stuffed animal.
d. A mother becomes grief-stricken, then numb, then suicidal, faced with her life’s challenges.
e. A father kills his son, to teach him a lesson.
f. A girl suffers from long-term constipation and her father tries to “cure” her.
g. A boy forces a girl to kill an animal as a sacrifice.
6. A difficult world surrounds them. Which of the following maxims is not cited?
a. “Crows in a farmyard are an omen of death.”
b. “You don’t take rotten mandarins back to the greengrocer’s.”
c. “Mum doesn’t like made-up things, because stories in your imagination often leave out suffering and Mum thinks it should be part of things.”
d. “I promise to make you feel wanted, loved and cherished every single day.”
e. “Sometimes it’s good to frighten them a bit.”
7. Death is the central theme and end of this book. Which of the following is not from The Discomfort of Evening?
a. “You die fast or slowly and both things have their advantages and disadvantages.”
b. “Since death is inevitable, it’s best to forget about it. Carpe diem!”
c. “Death never just happens to you, there is always something that causes it. This time it was you. You can kill too.”
d. “I asked God if He please couldn’t take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit.”
8. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is also a poet and some lines are poignant or remarkable. Which of the following is not from The Discomfort of Evening?
a. “I only saw her lips moving and my mother’s pursed shut, like mating slugs.”
b. “What more can a bear want?” [the mother asks]. “Love, I think to myself, like the warmth in the cowshed of all those breathing cattle with a common goal—survival.”
c. A maid screams: “There was no reflection of him in the mirror!”
d. “There’s a drowned butterfly inside me.”
e. “Their hands were always searching for something and if you were no longer able to hold an animal or a person tenderly, it was better to let go and turn your attention to other useful things instead.”
9. Striking symbols. Which of the following is not a symbolic presence in this book?
a. a pet hamster is drowned in a glass of water, while three children watch
b. a child is forced to break open her piggy bank (in the form of a cow), with a hammer
c. an IUD (or “coil” birth control device) is found in a baby book
d. a painting becomes uglier and uglier, while the person in the painting becomes mean and cruel
e. a sign says: “LOOK OUT! TOADS CROSSING,” beside a road littered with crushed bodies
10. The message? Which of the following is not a quote from this book, on family and religion?
a. “It must have been most irksome to find himself bound by a hard-wrung pledge to stand in the stead of a parent to a strange child he could not love. “
b. “I’m beginning to have more and more doubts about whether I find God nice enough to want to go and talk to Him.”
c. “It might sound crazy, but I miss my parents even though I see them every day.”
d. “One day I’d like to go to myself.”
Open question: Some might ask whether such a brutal, depressing story should be considered as “art,” let alone win the prestigious International Booker prize. As Alice Walker wrote: “If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for?”
ANSWERS
1. a.
2. d.
3. c. (That quote is from The Remains of the Day.)
4. e
5. e.
6. d. (That quote is from a website of loving quotations [https://www.ftd.com/blog/celebrate/love-words], certainly not from this book.)
7. b. (That quote is a platitude of my own invention.)
8. c. (That quote is from Dracula.)
9. d. (That plot is from The Picture of Dorian Gray.)
10. a. (That quote is from Jane Eyre.)
P.S. The open question remains open; we questioned what it means to be “better,” among other things…
**********
Join us next month, on Sunday December 11 at 3pm, when we will discuss two classic stories that have been adapted into movies. You are invited to view the films and compare them to the stories (if time permits).
The books to read are:
1. Arthur Schnitzler, Dream Story. Also known as Rhapsody: A Dream Novel, it is a 1926 novella by the Austrian writer Schnitzler (128 pages). It was adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick called Eyes Wide Shut (1999), starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.
2. James Joyce, “The Dead.” First published in 1924, this story is the last one in the Irish writer Joyce’s collection of short stories, Dubliners. It is about 50 pages. A film version of The Dead exists as well: it is the 1987 drama directed by John Huston, written by his son Tony Huston, and starring his daughter Anjelica Huston.
Happy reading and viewing; hope to see you in December!
Trivia Quiz for The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (1978)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 10/30/22
With answers below
1. Why leave? Why go there? Many reasons lie behind the choice to leave London for a retreat, at the book’s beginning. Which one of the following is not cited by narrator Charles Arrowby?
a. “To repent a life of egoism”
b. “It is time to think about myself at last”
c. “It affords me a curious pleasure to … watch the violent forces which the churning waves, advancing or retreating, generate inside the confined space of the rocky hole.”
d. “I looked with timorous joy towards a stately house; I saw a blackened ruin.”
e. “(There is only one bed; I am not expecting visitors!)”
2. The Sea: a landscape of the mind. Charles reveals his changing feelings by reflecting on the sea. Which one of the following is not from Murdoch’s novel?
a. “Although the sea was fairly calm I had the same irritating difficulty getting out of it…. Swallowed a lot of water and cut my foot.”
b. “What is pertinent is the calmness… its sense of restraint.”
c. “The early dawn light hung over the rocks .. with an awful intent gripping silence, as if it had seized these faintly visible shapes and were very slowly drawing them out of a darkness in which they wanted to remain.”
d. “The sea was joyful and the taste of salt water was the taste of hope and joy. … Meeting my sea-dervish companion I shouted, ‘Now aren’t you glad you came to me?’”
3-6. Uneasy truths. The Sea, The Sea includes numerous lessons on life: some are of dubious value, others are heard then forgotten. Match the saying to the source. Characters include: a. Charles ; b. James; c. Rosina d. local folks at the Black Lion inn
3. “A man would drown there in a second.”
4. “Every meal should be a treat and one ought to bless every day which brings with it a good digestion and the precious gift of hunger.”
5. “It’s so easy to frighten people.”
6. “People lie so, even we old men do. Though in a way, if there is art enough it doesn’t matter, since there is another kind of truth in the art.”
7. Marriage and desire: painful illusions. Which of the following quips is not from The Sea, The Sea?
a. “Our marriages have become a mere farce.”
b. “One of the horrors of marriage is that the partners are supposed to tell each other everything.”
c. “A marriage is so hideously private. Whoever illicitly draws back that curtain may well be stricken … by an avenging deity.”
d. “A long marriage is very unifying, even if it’s not ideal, and those old structures must be respected.”
8. The wisdom and mystery of James. As Charles mulls over his past, the reader gleans curious insights into his relationship with his cousin James. Which one of the following does not apply to James?
a. After Charles plunges into the sea, James rescues him in a miraculous way.
b. His London home is full of gold Buddhas, fetishes, and other oddities from the Orient
c. He was a Nazi sympathizer whose secrets, when revealed, caused a public disgrace.
d. As a boy, he was fond of custard cream biscuits, and he offers some to Charles during a visit.
e. He warns Charles to avoid myth-making, and to stay away from Hartley.
f. When reminiscing with Charles, James says, “What larks we had.”
g. At the end, Charles inherits James’s London house and moves there.
9. Titus: a Long-lost family member? Or a weird coincidence? Which one of the following phrases is not spoken by Titus Fitch to the narrator Charles?
a. “Are you my father?”
b “I want to go home.”
c. “Oh, the sea, the sea—it’s so wonderful. … A swim? Oh—yes.”
d. “I’m against forcing people, I think they should be free.”
e. “We’ll get to know each other one day. There’s time.”
10. Happy ending? A chance encounter with some animals seems to put a happy ending on Charles’s retreat. What animals show up?
a. dolphins
b. sea turtles
c. seals
d. rabbits
11. Yet one foe may persist: the mind. Which of the following is not a description of Charles’s thoughts toward the end of the book?
a. “My thoughts still had to be kept on a leash, and there were long dark passages down which they were straining to run.”
b. “My responsibility for Titus’s death, which now so largely occupied my mind, amounted to this: I had never warned him about the sea.”
c. “But suppose nothing happened .. and nothing happened…?”
d. “Time, like the sea, unties all knots.”
e. “Last night someone on a BBC quiz show did not know who I was.”
f. “I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest—blest beyond what language can express.”
ANSWERS
1. d. (That quote is from Jane Eyre.)
2. b. (That quote is from The Remains of the Day.)
3. d.
4. a.
5. c.
6. b.
7. a. (That quote is from Père Goriot.)
8. c. (That reference applies to the employer of Stevens, in The Remains of the Day.)
9. b.
10. c.
11. f. (That is the ending of Jane Eyre.)
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COME BACK NEXT MONTH, for our quiz on Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, The Discomfort of Evening (winner of the International Man Booker Prize, 2020).
Trivia Quiz for The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 9/25/22
With answers below
A. The Journey
1. Duration and Motivation. Multiple reasons lie behind the trip undertaken by Stevens. Which one of the following is not cited as a reason by Stevens in his narration?
a. employer’s offer to pay for gas
b. visit to interview potential employee
c. no one to serve at Darlington Hall
d. potential romance
e. only 5-6 days
2. Landscapes of the Mind. Stevens reveals much of his psychology in reflections on the English countryside. Which one of the following is not from Ishiguro’s novel?
a. “I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart.”
b. There were “long stones that stood on end, balancing themselves in a queer, miraculous way.”
c. “What is pertinent is the calmness… its sense of restraint.”
d. “While speeding along between large open fields … or else steering carefully through marvelous little villages … I found myself yet again turning over certain recollections from the past.”
B. The Memories that Reveal the Self
3. Maxims. The Remains of the Day includes numerous judgments and lessons on life. Which one of the following is not spoken by Stevens?
a. “By the very nature of a witticism, one is given very little time to assess its various possible repercussions before one is called to give voice to it, and one gravely risks uttering all manner of unsuitable things if one has not first acquired the necessary skill and experience.”
b. “The sad fact is that long-continued, pleasant normality becomes a bore.”
c. “For our generation, professional prestige lay most significantly in the moral worth of one’s employer.”
d. “There is one situation and one situation only in which a butler … may feel free to unburden himself… when he is entirely alone.”
4. A lofty, yet limited vocabulary: a sign of moral rectitude or rote thinking? Certain key words recur in Stevens’s narration. Which one does not run through The Remains of the Day?
a. dignity
b. professional
c. restraint
d. error
e. banter
f. loyalty
g. love
h. role
i. distinguished
j. triumph
C. The Enigma of Other People
5. What one crucial moment captures the dynamic between Stevens and Miss Kenton?
a. The day she interviewed Winston Churchill in the library, contrary to the wishes of Stevens.
b. The morning they shared cocoa together in the quiet kitchen, while plotting a joke on the cook.
c. The night her aunt died, when he stood listening outside her room in the hall, but did not knock to offer condolences.
d. Their final decision to run away together to start a new life in South America!
6. Lord Darlington’s infamous career. As Stevens mulls over his past, the reader gleans increasingly unpleasant details of Lord D’s fall from favor. Which one of the following does not apply to Lord Darlington?
a. he used his home to conduct secret events that aided Hitler’s rise
b. he was a womanizer with several children he refused to acknowledge or help
c. he was a Nazi sympathizer
d. he forced Stevens to fire Jewish employees
7. Stevens, Sr.: the Archetypal Suffering Father? Readers of Balzac may see similarities between this father and Père Goriot. Which one of the traits does not appear in Ishiguro’s story?
a. a series of embarrassing humiliations
b. an anonymous burial in a pauper’s cemetery
c. a bare garret room
d. an absent wife
e. a deathbed scene with little emotion
f. a cerebral hemorrhage
g. stilted relations with family
8. Tragi-comic asides. Stevens is enlisted to undertake the sexual education of a young man, Mr. Cardinal, at one point. What one phrase does Lord D. not proffer, to request this service?
a. “You are familiar, I take it, with the facts of life.”
b. “Sir David has been attempting to tell his son the facts of life for the last five years.”
c. “Be sure to remind him about consent, and treating women with respect.”
d. “Sir David finds the task rather daunting.”
e. “I’m terribly busy.”
f. “Be an awful lot off my mind.”
g. “Just convey the basic facts and be done with it.”
9. A chance encounter with Harry Smith challenges Stevens’s view of dignity and citizenship. What one phrase does Harry Smith not say in support of his views?
a. “There’s no dignity to be had in being a slave.”
b. “We owe it to the lads.”
c. “The likes of you and I will never be in a position to comprehend the great affairs of today’s world.”
10. When Stevens is asked by a smalltown doctor, “You aren’t a manservant of some sort, are you?” his reaction is (choose one):
a. embarrassment
b. relief
c. shame
d. indignation
ANSWERS
1. d.
2. b. (That quote is from Daphne Dumaurier, Jamaica Inn.)
3. b. (That quote is from Sōseki Natsume, I Am a Cat.)
4. g. (“Love” is rarely mentioned in this work).
5. c.
6. b.
7. b.
8. c. (That quote does not appear in Ishiguro’s novel; it was invented for the quiz.)
9. c. (Stevens voices that opinion, not Harry Smith.)
10. b.
For West Seattle “Classic Novels (and Movies)” book club, 8/28/22, with answers below
A. Connections to European Literature
1. On Names. Like many English novelists, Sōseki Natsume chose funny and sometimes allegorical names for his fiction. Which one of the following is not a character in I Am a Cat?
a. Mr. Sneaze
b. Baby-dear
c. Daft Bamboo
d. Utter Aimlessness
e. Opula Goldfield
f. Lancelot Yore
2. Social Commentary. Similar to Jonathan Swift and other satirists, Sōseki’s feline narrator casts a sardonic eye on his world. Which one of the following is not a target?
a. poets
b. businessmen
c. women
d. academics (grad students and professors)
e. the queen
f. Zen Buddhists
g. baseball players
3. Genre and structure. Sōseki’s knowledge of the early English novel allowed him a wealth of options for form, even if his work does not correspond to what is now the dominant paradigm (i.e. nineteenth-century works by Dickens, Tolstoy or Balzac). Which one of the following literary devices is not adopted in I Am a Cat?
a. a tight, chronological sequence of events from birth to adulthood
b. a loose, meandering sequence of observations on topical issues
c. an ironic first-person narrator who recounts dialogues overheard, apparently verbatim
d. a voyeuristic narrator who sees (and tells) things that others overlook or ignore
e. All of the above are used in I Am a Cat.
4. Maxims. As in many other works we’ve read, I Am a Cat is peppered with pithy quotes on life. Which one of the following is not from Sōseki’s novel?
a. “By the infinite flexibility of interpretation one can get away with anything.”
b. “The sad fact is that long-continued, pleasant normality becomes a bore.”
c. “A child needs an English nurse more than a mother.”
d. “One tends only to discover at the very last moment hidden defects in unexpected places.”
B. Japanese Particulars in I Am a Cat
5. Architecture and space. One of the most interesting insights for Western readers is how the traditional Japanese home would have been like to live in. Which one of the following does not characterize the master’s home in I Am a Cat?
a. thin, even translucent rice-paper walls
b. close proximity to neighboring homes
c. elaborate carving in the stone masonry
d. sliding doors
e. includes a little garden
6. Lost in Translation? Some of the humor of I Am a Cat is due to the feline narrator’s mastery of language, but some bits may strike us as odd! Which one of the following is not in I Am a Cat?
a. hecklers insult a person by calling him a “terra cotta badger”
b. a teacher is ridiculed for calling a beverage “Savage Tea”
c. a man is criticized for being “as light and flossy as goldfish food floating around on a pond”
d. an author is praised because he “also wrote importantly upon the seasoning of turnips”
e. All of the above are in I Am a Cat.
7. Food. Which one of the following products or dishes is not mentioned as a delicious treat?
a. snake rice
b. dried bonito
c. goulash
d. vermicelli noodles
C. The Feline Perspective
8. What does purring really mean, according to I Am a Cat?
a. the cat is laughing
b. the cat is anxious
c. the cat is seeking warmth
9. Wisdom to ponder. That cat espouses a Zen attitude which feels refreshing, all the while dishing out acerbic criticisms of men. Which one of these two quotes is spoken by the cat?
a. “Just as cowards grow aggressive under the spur of grog, so may students emboldened by mere numbers into stirring up a riot be regarded as having lost their senses by becoming intoxicated with people.”
b. “Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel.”
10. What is the cat’s name?
a. Fluffy
b. Fishy
c. Freddy
d. He has no name.
ANSWERS
1. d. (In the Buddhist tale of the big stone Jizō, pp. 505—510 in the Tuttle edition, the fool named Daft Bamboo walks with “utter aimlessness”—a manner, not a person!)
2. e.
3. a. or e.
4. c. (That quote is from Karolina Pavlova, A Double Life.)
5. c.
6. e.
7. c. (Goulash is described as a culinary favorite in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.)
8. a. When he’s purring, the cat is laughing (possibly at us).
9. a. (That quote, dear reader, is from Jane Eyre.)
10. d.
Come back next month for our quiz on The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989).
Daily Joy with Honey Girl 