Literature - How Much Do You Really Know?

By way of a change, which some people think is as good as a rest, this week’s blog takes the form of a quiz.
 
It’s literary based, so the better read amongst you will stand the best chance of getting the answers right.
 
Firstly, I’d better manage your expectations.
 

1. There is no prize for the highest score.
2. See point 1.

 
FAQs
 
Q. What do I get for winning?
A. A warm glow for being right.
 
So, all you get for your trouble is the nice warm feeling of being right. By all means post your score in the comments section if you want to show off – but there’s still no prize for the highest score.

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Cheat if you want to and look up the answers, but you’ll gain nothing from it and you’ll lose your self-respect for having cheated.
 
There are 10 questions, some of which are worth more points than others and there are also also bonus points available for some questions. All the answers may be found at the end.
 
So, let’s get started.
 
1. Which literary figure once said of the Dickens novel “The Old Curiosity Shop” “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.” (2 points) 

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Yes, It's J K Rowling, but under what other name does she write?

2. What pseudonym does J K Rowling use to write her Cormoran Strike detective series? (1 point)
 
3. In what country is the C S Forester book “The African Queen” set? (2 points)
 
4. In the Nevil Shute book “A Town Like Alice” who, or what, is Alice? (1 point)
 
5. Who writes the books that feature the police officer Inspector Frost? (1 point)

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In what decade was I published?

6. Which well-known author wrote “For Esme – With Love and Squalor” (2 points) Clue: He’s mainly known for one book.
 
7. In what county in Ireland was poet William Butler Yates born? (2 points)
 
8. In the Dickens novel “A Tale Of Two Cities”, which character says the words “’Tis a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done before?” (2 points)
 
9. In what decade was “To Kill A Mockingbird” first published? (2 points)
 
10. Which William Shakespeare play is currently the most often performed? (2 points)

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1. Oscar Wilde (2 pts)
2. Robert Galbraith (1 point).
3. German East Africa, now part of Tanzania (1 point for knowing the earlier name, 1 point for knowing the current name).
4. The town of Alice Springs in Australia. (1 point).
5. R D Wingfield (1 point if you are British, 2 points if you are any other nationality)
6. J D Salinger – yes, he wrote more than just “Catcher In The Rye”. (2 points)

The Bard of Avon, but which of his plays is most popular?

7. County Dublin (Sandymount). (2 points if you aren’t Irish, 1 point if you are Irish and 0 points if you live in Sligo, because he wasn’t born there even if you did misappropriate his name to nickname your county “Yates Country”).
8. None of them. (2 points if you knew that and an extra point for knowing that they are written after Sydney Carton has been guillotined, as the epitaph that he might have written for himself, had he been given pen and paper while in prison). Don’t believe me? Read the book again! (or at least read the ending again)
9. The 1960s. (2 points, 1 bonus point for knowing its year of publication was 1960, 0 points for the decade in which it was set, which was the 1930s)
10. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (period 2011 to the present) (2 points. 1 point for Romeo and Juliet as that is the one that most Brits know (about 51% of those who have read or seen a Shakespeare play or film))

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Maximum possible score 21 points. We think anything over 15 is a good score.

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