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Arts & Entertainment Literature General

Literature: General

See also Tolkien.

Author Title Question Answer
(The Arabian Nights) Number of nights Click to show or hide the answer
Narrator (saved her life by telling stories for 1,001 nights) Click to show or hide the answer
Translated into English by Click to show or hide the answer
Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide (series) The starship that picks up Arthur and Ford, having been stolen by Zaphod at its official launch: the first spacecraft to make use of the Infinite Improbability Drive Click to show or hide the answer
Name of the computer, built by a pan–dimensional, hyper–intelligent species of beings (whose three–dimensional protrusions into our universe are ordinary white mice) to come up with the Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything Click to show or hide the answer
Name of the greatest supercomputer of all time, designed by the above computer to calculate the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything Click to show or hide the answer
Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything
Click to show or hide the answer
Creature that could translate all languages Click to show or hide the answer
The most intelligent species on Earth – described by Slartibartfast as "the protrusions into our dimension of vast, hyper–intelligent pan–dimensional beings" Click to show or hide the answer
The second most intelligent species on Earth – tried to warn the humans about the planned destruction of the planet (but their messages were misinterpreted as "amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for tidbits") Click to show or hide the answer
The name of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe Click to show or hide the answer
Richard AdamsWatership Down Name of the warren that the rabbits leave to start a new life at Watership Down Click to show or hide the answer
The Plague Dogs Illustrated by Click to show or hide the answer
Isaac AsimovFoundation Trilogy Said to have been inspired by (Gilbert & Sullivan opera) Click to show or hide the answer
Jane AustenPride and Prejudice Mr. Darcy's Derbyshire pile Click to show or hide the answer
Emma Home of George Knightley (whom Emma eventually marries) Click to show or hide the answer
Sense and Sensibility Surname of Elinor and Marianne Click to show or hide the answer
J. M. BarrieThe Admirable Crichton (play) Profession of the eponymous character Click to show or hide the answer
Ray BradburyFahrenheit 451 Firemen's job Click to show or hide the answer
Charlotte Bronte Jane EyreMr. Rochester's home Click to show or hide the answer
John Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress Main character (the pilgrim) Click to show or hide the answer
Christian's ultimate destination Click to show or hide the answer
Christian's home, and the starting place of his pilgrimage Click to show or hide the answer
Goods that exemplify temptation are sold at Click to show or hide the answer
Place that gave its name to a novel first published in 1848 and a magazine revived in 1983 after a gap of 47 years
Christian's friend and companion, martyred in Vanity (Fair) Click to show or hide the answer
Resident of Vanity (Fair) who joins Christian after Faithful's death Click to show or hide the answer
Swamp into which Christian sinks under his burden Click to show or hide the answer
Idyllic mountains from which the Celestial City can be seen Click to show or hide the answer
Lord of the City of Destruction, with whom Christian has a fight Click to show or hide the answer
Giant who lives (with his wife) in Doubting Castle Click to show or hide the answer
Anthony BurgessA Clockwork Orange Alex's gang (Dim, Georgie and Pete) Click to show or hide the answer
Miguel Cervantes Don Quixote Don Quixote's horse Click to show or hide the answer
Don Quixote's squire Click to show or hide the answer
Sancho Panza's donkey (in English) Click to show or hide the answer
Leslie CharterisThe Saint (series) The Saint's actual name Click to show or hide the answer
Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales Inn at Southwark where the pilgrims met Click to show or hide the answer
Prize for the teller of the best tale Click to show or hide the answer
The pilgrims met in (month)
Click to show or hide the answer
First tale Click to show or hide the answer
Last tale Click to show or hide the answer
'Gladly would he learn, and gladly teach' Click to show or hide the answer
James Fenimore Cooper Last of the Mohicans Protagonist – a child of European parents, brought up by Native Americans Click to show or hide the answer
Name of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
Father of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
Bernard CornwellSharpe series See separate page
Daniel DefoeRobinson Crusoe Based on the story of real–life castaway Click to show or hide the answer
Crusoe's home city Click to show or hide the answer
Fyodor DostoevskyThe Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot The author, the murderer Smerdyakov in the Brothers, the central character in The Idiot (Prince Myshkin), and several other characters in his novels: all suffered from Click to show or hide the answer
Roddy DoyleThe Barrytown trilogy (The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van) Name of the working–class Dublin family that's central to the three novels Click to show or hide the answer
Alexander DumasThe Three Musketeers Their motto Click to show or hide the answer
Daphne du MaurierRebecca Name of the house Click to show or hide the answer
George EliotSilas Marner Occupation of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
E. M. ForsterHoward's End Howard's End is a Click to show or hide the answer
Frederick ForsythThe Day of the Jackal ... is about an assassination attempt on Click to show or hide the answer
John FowlesThe Collector The Collector collected Click to show or hide the answer
Mark HaddonThe Curious Incident ... Name of the dog Click to show or hide the answer
Thomas HardyWessex novels Casterbridge is the name Hardy uses for Click to show or hide the answer
Christminster is the name Hardy uses for Click to show or hide the answer
The Mayor of CasterbridgeMichael Henchard sells his wife for Click to show or hide the answer
Ernest HemingwayDeath in the Afternoon ... is a non–fiction book about the history and traditions of (sport or activity) Click to show or hide the answer
Frank HerbertDune Name of the precious spice Click to show or hide the answer
Jack HigginsThe Eagle has Landed ... is about an attempt to kidnap (real–life political figure) Click to show or hide the answer
James Hilton Goodbye Mr. Chips Mr. Chips's school Click to show or hide the answer
Mr. Chips's subject Click to show or hide the answer
Lost Horizon Name of the hidden paradise, found in the Valley of the Blue Moon Click to show or hide the answer
Victor HugoLes Miserables Jean Valjean's first crime Click to show or hide the answer
Aldous HuxleyBrave New World Title is taken from (Shakespeare's) Click to show or hide the answer
Washington Irving Rip van Winkle Mountain range in which the title character fell asleep Click to show or hide the answer
He slept for (length of time)
Click to show or hide the answer
While he slept, he missed the Click to show or hide the answer
E. L. JamesFifty Shades of Grey (trilogy) Mr. Grey's first name Click to show or hide the answer
Marlon JamesA Brief History of Seven Killings (2015 Booker winner): tells the story of the attempted murder, in 1976, of (real–life popular music legend) Click to show or hide the answer
Jerome K. JeromeThree Men in a Boat Start and end points of the journey Click to show or hide the answer
Click to show or hide the answer
Stephen KingChristine Christine was Click to show or hide the answer
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird Name of the narrator (actual given names Jean Louise) Click to show or hide the answer
Name of her lawyer father Click to show or hide the answer
Name of her brother Click to show or hide the answer
Jack LondonCall of the wild Name of the dog (the central character – a St. Bernard–Scotch (rough) collie cross) Click to show or hide the answer
Compton Mackenzie Whisky Galore Name of the ship (SS Politician in real life) Click to show or hide the answer
Name of the islands (Eriskay in real life) Click to show or hide the answer
Hilary MantelWolf Hall Wolf Hall (Wulfhall) is the seat of (historical family) Click to show or hide the answer
Christopher MarloweDoctor Faustus "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?" – refers to Click to show or hide the answer
George R. R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire (series, including A Game of Thrones) Continent where the series is mainly set Click to show or hide the answer
Capital and largest city of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms Click to show or hide the answer
Continent to the east of Westeros Click to show or hide the answer
Home of the Stark family Click to show or hide the answer
The vast, flat grassland on the eastern continent: gives its name to the copper–skinned race of warlike nomads who live there, and their language – which you can now learn in real life Click to show or hide the answer
W. Somerset MaughamThe Moon and Sixpence Artist featured in Click to show or hide the answer
Herman Melville Moby Dick Name of the ship Click to show or hide the answer
Lost by Captain Ahab while hunting Moby Dick Click to show or hide the answer
Margaret Mitchell Gone with the Wind The O'Hara family's plantation Click to show or hide the answer
City that burned Click to show or hide the answer
Nicholas MontserratThe Cruel Sea Name of the ship Click to show or hide the answer
Neil MunroPara Handy stories Name of Para Handy's boat (and title of the TV series) Click to show or hide the answer
George Orwell Animal Farm Name of the farm Click to show or hide the answer
Pig who ultimately takes charge of the farm – said to be based on Stalin; known in the French version as César Click to show or hide the answer
Napoleon's main rival, and the original head of the farm after Jones's overthrow; said to be mainly based on Trotsky, but also has elements from Lenin Click to show or hide the answer
Animals that represent the oppressed masses Click to show or hide the answer
Anthem – a parody of The Internationale – banned by Napoleon Click to show or hide the answer
Nineteen Eighty–Four First published Click to show or hide the answer
"Superstate" (one of three) in which set Click to show or hide the answer
Official (propaganda) language of Oceania Click to show or hide the answer
Ministry responsible for supporting Oceania's perpetual war Click to show or hide the answer
Ministry responsible for rationing and controlling food, goods, and domestic production Click to show or hide the answer
Ministry responsible for controlling information: news, entertainment, education, and the arts (i.e. censorship) Click to show or hide the answer
Ministry responsible for identifying, monitoring, arresting and converting dissidents (real and imagined) Click to show or hide the answer
Referred to as "Airstrip One" Click to show or hide the answer
Winston Smith's greatest fear (Room 101) Click to show or hide the answer
Winston's drink of choice Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
The Party's security enforcement agency Click to show or hide the answer
David PeaceThe Damned United Football club referred to in the title Click to show or hide the answer
Terry Pratchett Discworld series In a reflection of Hindu mythology, the Discworld rests on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of Great A'Tuin, who is a (type of creature) Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Chief city of Discworld Click to show or hide the answer
Patrician (ruler) of Ankh–Morpork: sometimes said to be based on the real–life Italian statesman and diplomat, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) Click to show or hide the answer
School of Wizardry in Ankh–Morpork (the name is said to be a pun on the 'Invisible College' – the name given to a group of English scientists led by Robert Boyle in the mid–17th century) Click to show or hide the answer
Archchancellor of the Unseen University (appointed in Moving Pictures – the 10th novel in the series) Click to show or hide the answer
In The Light Fantastic (the 2nd novel in the series), the Librarian of the Unseen University Library is turned (by a beam of magic) into an Click to show or hide the answer
Rides a horse called Binky (because "it's a nice name"); has a manservant called Albert, an apprentice called Mortimer, and an adopted daughter called Ysabell; (Mort and Ysabell have a daughter named Susan) Click to show or hide the answer
Discworld's equivalent to Father Christmas: rides a sleigh pulled by Gouger, Rooter, Tusker and Snouter Click to show or hide the answer
Salman RushdieMidnight's Children ... is an allegory on (the children were born at the exact moment of ...) Click to show or hide the answer
Sir Walter ScottIvanhoe Set in the reign of Click to show or hide the answer
Name invented by Scott for the father of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
Nevile ShuteA Town like Alice 'Alice' refers to Click to show or hide the answer
Adam SmithThe Wealth of Nations Demonstrated the improvements in productivity that could be achieved by the specialised division of labour, using the example of an imagined factory that made Click to show or hide the answer
Alexander SolzhenitsynOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Surname of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
Muriel SparkThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie The school at which Miss Brodie teaches Click to show or hide the answer
John SteinbeckThe Grapes of Wrath Name of the family that seeks a better life in California Click to show or hide the answer
State that they leave to go to California Click to show or hide the answer
Bram StokerDracula Yorkshire fishing port at which Dracula comes ashore, when the ship on which he is a passenger runs aground Click to show or hide the answer
Name of the ship on which Dracula comes ashore Click to show or hide the answer
Irving StoneThe Agony and the Ecstasy Artist featured in Click to show or hide the answer
Lust for LifePainter featured in Click to show or hide the answer
Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels Gulliver's occupation Click to show or hide the answer
Gulliver's ship Click to show or hide the answer
Island that Lilliput is at war with Click to show or hide the answer
Land of giants Click to show or hide the answer
Flying island: a kingdom devoted to the arts of music, mathematics and astronomy, but unable to use them for practical ends Click to show or hide the answer
Primitive humanoid creatures who serve equine masters Click to show or hide the answer
Big–endians and little–endians argued over how to Click to show or hide the answer
The only real country that Gulliver visits – where he asks the Emperor "to excuse my performing the ceremony imposed upon my countrymen of trampling upon the crucifix" Click to show or hide the answer
W. M. ThackerayVanity Fair Title comes from Click to show or hide the answer
TolstoyWar and Peace Battle (of 1805) that plays a major part in the novel: Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is wounded, then rescued by his hero Napoleon Bonaparte Click to show or hide the answer
Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Name of the submarine Click to show or hide the answer
Captain of the Nautilus Click to show or hide the answer
Around the World in 80 Days London club that Phileas Fogg's journey begins at Click to show or hide the answer
Amount of Fogg's bet (worth around £1.8 million in 2019, according to Wikipedia) Click to show or hide the answer
Journey to the Centre of the Earth Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel (the narrator) and their guide Hans, descend into a volcano in Click to show or hide the answer
Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse 5 Background (a WWII campaign in which the author took part) Click to show or hide the answer
Lew WallaceBen–Hur First name of the title character Click to show or hide the answer
Keith WaterhouseBilly Liar Type of business that Billy works in Click to show or hide the answer
Evelyn WaughBrideshead Revisited Name of Sebastian Flyte's teddy bear Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
H. G. WellsThe First Men in the Moon Anti–gravity matter used to propel the spaceship Click to show or hide the answer
The Time Machine Subterranean mutants who bred humans for food Click to show or hide the answer
P. G. Wodehouse (The Jeeves and Wooster stories) Jeeves's given name Click to show or hide the answer
Bertie Wooster's club Click to show or hide the answer
Blandings Castle The Empress of Blandings is a Click to show or hide the answer
John WyndhamDay of the Triffids Triffids could be killed by Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23