Historical Fiction Trivia

1. The first book I spot is 2014's "Flight of the Sparrow". This book is a fictional account of which woman, who wrote a famous captivity narrative about her time living with Indians?

From Quiz Historical Novels on My Bookshelf

Answer: Mary Rowlandson

Rowlandson is kidnapped and forced to live with the Indians for months. In that time, she sees how their way of life can be better than that of the Puritans. The book shows Mary being considerably more sympathetic towards the Indians than the real Mary's narrative does. The discrepancy is explained thus: Mary wants her narrative to show the good things she observed in captivity. However, Increase Mather, who asks her to write, alters her words to make the Indians less sympathetic.

From Quiz Back In Time

Answer: A Gothic cathedral

Ken Follett was born in 1949. He started writing novels in 1974. "Pillars of the Earth" is one of his biggest successes. This novel (published in 1989) and the sequel "World Without End" concentrate on medieval England. Tom Builder is a fictional character, who settles down in Kingsbridge and gets appointed to ameliorate the abbey over there. Gradually his ambition grows, and he finally undertakes an attempt to build a cathedral in Kingsbridge. Ken Follett has declared on his own website the village of Kingsbridge is fictional, but the cathedral Tom Builder had in mind would certainly resemble Salisbury Cathedral. Trajan' s Column was built in Rome in 113 AD, probably by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus. Gustave Eiffel completed the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889, just in time for the World's Fair. Jorn Utzon was the architect who designed and constructed the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973.

From Quiz Historical Novels on My Bookshelf

Answer: The Ghost Bride

Protagonist Li Lan agrees to marry a dead man so that his soul can be at peace. The marriage also helps her family financially. The fantasy aspects come in when Li Lan ventures into the land of the dead. "The Wooden Man's Bride" is a film with a similar premise--a woman must marry her dead fiance when he dies trying to rescue her from bandits--albeit with no fantasy elements.

From Quiz Back In Time

Answer: William of Baskerville

Umberto Eco (born 1932) is a professor of philosophy. His debut as novelist was published in 2000: "The Name of the Rose", in which Biblical analysis and knowledge of ancient manuscripts help to solve several murders. The protagonist is William of Baskerville, a fictional Franciscan friar from England. His name clearly points to one of the best known mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Hound of the Baskervilles". William states in the book that he received some formal education by Roger Bacon. In fact, William of Baskerville is described in quite a similar way (both in appearance as in manners) as Sherlock Holmes. Eco continued to write novels such as "Foucault's Pendulum" and "The Prague Cemetery". William of Aquitaine (1099-1132), Duke of Poitou, was the father of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who would become Queen Consort of France and later of England. William of Dartmouth (born 1949) is a British politician. He was member of the Conservative party up till 2007, when he joined the party for UK independence. William of Gloucester (1941-1972) was member of the British Royal family. He died in an accident at an air show.

From Quiz Back In Time

Answer: Germinal

Zola (1840-1902) was a prolific French author. Between 1871 and 1893, he published about two dozen stories involving two middle-class families: the Rougon family and the Macquart family, who are related by marriage. "Germinal" (1885) is one of the novels in the Rougon-Macquart series, and describes how Etienne (a descendant of the Macquart family) starts a coalminer's strike. After battles with the police, the coalminers resume work without having obtained any real prospects for better work conditions or better wages. "Les misérables" is the title of a historic novel by Victor Hugo (1802-1885). The story follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict. "La reine Margot" (translated in English as "Queen Margot") is a historic novel by Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870), who also left us "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo". The novel cited here as a red herring is set in Paris on and about August 23rd, 1572 (Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre). "La condition humaine" (translated as "Man's Fate") is a novel by André Malraux, published in 1933, and describing a failed revolt in Shanghai.

From Quiz Back In Time

Answer: Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) was a German novelist. He fought during the First World War in the trenches on the western front, and many incidents he survived are retold in the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front". "All Quiet on the Western Front" focuses on Paul Bäumer, a young student enlisted in the German army in the Great War (as it was called at that time). Paul and some of his friends are bored between actions, and see the most atrocious scenes when the fighting gets intense. As Remarque explains, the book "will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war." Remarque's other works have almost all been translated into English. Some titles : "Arch of Triumph"; "Heaven Has No Favorites". Rilke (1875-1926), Heine (1797-1856) and Klopstock (1724-1803) were famous German poets. Some titles: Rilke wrote "Duino Elegies" and "Sonnets to Orpheus"; Heine is famed for "Germany: A Winter's Tale"; and Klopstock's best known poem is "The Messiah".

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:03 AM

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