Ada, or Ardor

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. 'Ada, or Ardor' opens with the following: 'All happy families are more or less dissimilar; all unhappy ones are more or less alike,' says a great Russian writer in the beginning of a famous novel...' What is this famous novel being alluded to at the beginning of 'Ada'? 'Fathers and Sons,' by Turgenev 'Anna Karenina,' by Tolstoy 'Crime and Punishment,' by Dostoevsky 'Eugene Onegin,' by Pushkin

2. What is the name of the family estate that provides the setting for the early love affair between Ada and Van? Lepidoptera Eden Estate Ardis Hall Zenopia

3. The character Lucette is a dogged pursuer of Ada and Van, spying on them during their romantic interludes. How does Lucette meet her tragic death? She shoots herself She dies of 'acute hystomania.' She is murdered in a fit of rage by Van She drowns herself

4. What is the title of Van's treatise on the nature of time, expounded in Part IV? Time's Arrow Spirals in the Sand The River Runs Straight The Texture of Time

5. The treatise on time written by Van is published after his death. Which character sees the manuscript through to publication? Ada Daniel Quinty Ronald Oranger Sebastian Salazar

6. Which of the following best describes the relationship between Ada and Van? They are cousins They are father and daughter They are mother and son They are siblings by blood and cousins by marriage

7. Tough one: in 'Ada,' people use a device called a 'sonorola.' By what name do we call this device in real life? Typewriter Automobile Radio Violin

8. In 'Ada,' Earth's history is reflected in a corrupted form. For example, Russians in 'Ada' have been driven to North America by invading Tartars, occupying what we know in real life as Canada, under the territorial protection of the United States. By what name is this North American-Russian homeland known in the novel? Estoty Novosibirsk Amerika Caucassia

9. In Part V, Ada and Van live in this country - the same country in which Nabokov spent his last years. What country is it? Switzerland England France The United States

10. Lastly, an easy one: Ada and Van share the same last name. What is it? Answer: (a Dutch-sounding name.)