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Quiz about A Quick Tour of the CMM Bookshelf
Quiz about A Quick Tour of the CMM Bookshelf

A Quick Tour of the CMM Bookshelf Quiz


This is a brief tour of fiction which has had a shaping effect on some classicalmusic/mensan'ers. You may enjoy finding out here some of our "formative influences."

A multiple-choice quiz by Team classicalmusic/mensan. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
Windswept
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
330,465
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
479
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. When I was young and asthmatic, stuck in bed, I would read and read my days away. One book in a series which I read starred this nearly impossibly perfect young girl who cleverly solves mysteries. One of her women friends is named George, and her sometimes boyfriend is named Ned. She has been called a role model, even a 'mythic hero' to young women everywhere in the world. What is the name of this heroine? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Being a member of the counter-culture, a Venerable Hippie, a Vietnam era Peacenik, I followed my conscience and added my voice to the anti-war voices of the day. In the mid 1970s when the war ended, we celebrated chanting "Hurray! Nixon is done. The war is over! Our job is done." Then, I read a new voice, and I realized the job is never done, that another struggle was gaining strength. My beliefs are non-violent; my arsenal consists of protest, writing letters, signing petitions and voting. The protagonist in this novel, however, embraces direct action.
The book I wish to introduce you to might well be as controversial today as the day it was published. It is about people in the southwestern United States who use sabotage to help save the environment. What is the name of this book by Edward Abbey?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In 1977, the science fiction writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle joined forces to write and publish a novel about a comet hitting the Earth. The name of their book is "Lucifer's ______"? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The summer before my senior year of college (shockingly long time ago that was!), I had reconstructive surgery on my jaw. Friends and relatives, knowing what a bookworm I am, gave me mountains of paperbacks to pass the time. However, one book really knocked my socks off. In it, a unhappy young man from California transfers to a college in Vermont. There he becomes fascinated by a small group of students and eventually joins them in committing a murder. What novel is this? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This was the first book I read without help, and it started my love of reading. (How fortunate that my mother ignored the warnings that a chapter in the book, known to be sad, would blight my young life.) Reading of the escapades of a resourceful animal and its friends is a delightful introduction to the fascinating creatures of the Australian bush. Never out of print, the book has been adapted for TV, cinema and computer games. With its dedication to "All the kind children," which book is this? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. When I was a young man, I was really into science fiction. One particular short story that changed my life concerned a man who is transported to the future. Instead of finding an advanced, Utopian society, he awakes in a world populated by mental defectives. What is the name of this famous tale written by Cyril M. Kornbluth? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. I remember choosing this book as a school project because its premise sounded interesting, but, after I had finished it, I lost no time in turning back to page one and starting all over again. The second time through, I had a better idea of what words like "horrorshow," "mesto," and "slovo" meant, but I had also wanted to revisit the melancholy story of Alex DeLarge and his droogs. What nadsat-laden classic novel made such a strong impact on me? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In childhood I loved novels in which other children faced challenging and even fantastic events with courage and determination. All four of the choices below were particular favorites of mine. But only one contains scenes of the story's children trying to manage life on their own in a museum, bathing in the fountain and sleeping in the antique beds. Which of these novels contains such scenes? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In the novel "The Three Musketeers," Alexandre Dumas introduces us to the evil Milady De Winter. In the novel, Milady has two husbands and several lovers. Which of her husbands or lovers outlived her? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. During the Christmas break of my first year at university, I suddenly found myself with no assignments to write and two long weeks away from classes to fill. Digging around the literature section of the campus library, I found myself two volumes of the famously hard-boiled novels of Raymond Chandler. For the whole of those two weeks, I immersed myself in the seedy world of Los Angeles and the smart talking character of Philip Marlowe. Which was the first novel that starred Chandler's gumshoe Marlowe? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. When I was young and asthmatic, stuck in bed, I would read and read my days away. One book in a series which I read starred this nearly impossibly perfect young girl who cleverly solves mysteries. One of her women friends is named George, and her sometimes boyfriend is named Ned. She has been called a role model, even a 'mythic hero' to young women everywhere in the world. What is the name of this heroine?

Answer: Nancy Drew

Thinking now about these energy-packed series gives a bit of cultural history. Many of the adolescent female detectives were generally very smart and independent. Nancy Drew as a character first emerged about 1930. Interestingly, the books began to be heavily revised in 1959. Nancy Drew became increasingly less outspoken, and editors worked to eliminate all kinds of stereotyping. The study of George as a fictional character should certainly provide a lot of studies and doctoral dissertations.

This question was written by Windswept.
2. Being a member of the counter-culture, a Venerable Hippie, a Vietnam era Peacenik, I followed my conscience and added my voice to the anti-war voices of the day. In the mid 1970s when the war ended, we celebrated chanting "Hurray! Nixon is done. The war is over! Our job is done." Then, I read a new voice, and I realized the job is never done, that another struggle was gaining strength. My beliefs are non-violent; my arsenal consists of protest, writing letters, signing petitions and voting. The protagonist in this novel, however, embraces direct action. The book I wish to introduce you to might well be as controversial today as the day it was published. It is about people in the southwestern United States who use sabotage to help save the environment. What is the name of this book by Edward Abbey?

Answer: The Monkey Wrench Gang

The term "monkeywrench" has come to mean all forms, legal and illegal, of combating what are viewed as attacks on the environment. The government labels these illegal activities "environmental terrorism." As an American, I shouldn't have to use such measures. Glen Canyon Dam, the object under attack in the novel, still stands despite our legal battles. Using the tools of voting and protests, numerous other dams (the Marmot and Little Sandy Dams for example) have been deconstructed, not destructed, though legal means, and the rivers are being brought back to their wild state.

...You can call me Laughinglion and I sometime listen to voices.
3. In 1977, the science fiction writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle joined forces to write and publish a novel about a comet hitting the Earth. The name of their book is "Lucifer's ______"?

Answer: Hammer

The first half of "Lucifer's Hammer" book was about the discovery and tracking of the comet. The second half was all about the aftermath of the comet strike and the way the survivors rebuilt some kind of civilization from what was left untouched by tsunamis, earthquakes and the long months of winter which followed 'Hammerfall.'
I found it a fascinating book which has clearly been well researched. I've read it three times which speaks volumes for the quality of the writing. It certainly gave me a lot of food for thought about how such an event would alter all the things we take for granted. I'd recommend it to anyone.


This question was written by martin_cube.
4. The summer before my senior year of college (shockingly long time ago that was!), I had reconstructive surgery on my jaw. Friends and relatives, knowing what a bookworm I am, gave me mountains of paperbacks to pass the time. However, one book really knocked my socks off. In it, a unhappy young man from California transfers to a college in Vermont. There he becomes fascinated by a small group of students and eventually joins them in committing a murder. What novel is this?

Answer: The Secret History

Donna Tartt's alma mater, Bennington College, is the model for Hampton College. It provides a beautiful backdrop for the story of college life, pagan rites, and murder.


This question was written by Idubose.
5. This was the first book I read without help, and it started my love of reading. (How fortunate that my mother ignored the warnings that a chapter in the book, known to be sad, would blight my young life.) Reading of the escapades of a resourceful animal and its friends is a delightful introduction to the fascinating creatures of the Australian bush. Never out of print, the book has been adapted for TV, cinema and computer games. With its dedication to "All the kind children," which book is this?

Answer: The Adventures of Blinky Bill

The stories of Blinky Bill and his friends, including Angelina Wallaby, Splodge, Nutsy and Reverend Fluffy Ears were written and illustrated by New Zealand-born Dorothy Wall. Although published in the last century, the stories contain strong conservation messages.

Blinky Bill is not a bear, koalas are marsupials.


This question was written by Tobyone.
6. When I was a young man, I was really into science fiction. One particular short story that changed my life concerned a man who is transported to the future. Instead of finding an advanced, Utopian society, he awakes in a world populated by mental defectives. What is the name of this famous tale written by Cyril M. Kornbluth?

Answer: The Marching Morons

First published in the April, 1951 edition of "Galaxy" magazine, Kornbluth's story addresses one of the most important, yet neglected, problems of modern civilization. In modern, industrialized societies, the most intelligent and productive people tend to have few children, while the stupid, antisocial and criminal elements breed in large numbers. The irrefutable consequence of not only allowing, but actually encouraging, the unfit to reproduce unchecked means that each generation is marginally less intelligent than the one that preceded it. Eventually the human race will be dominated by (for lack of a better word) morons. This same theme was explored in the 2006 movie, "Idiocracy," starring Luke Wilson. Forget about global warming, nuclear war, or other doomsday scenarios. Civilization will eventually succumb to kakistocracy.

This question was written by daver852.
7. I remember choosing this book as a school project because its premise sounded interesting, but, after I had finished it, I lost no time in turning back to page one and starting all over again. The second time through, I had a better idea of what words like "horrorshow," "mesto," and "slovo" meant, but I had also wanted to revisit the melancholy story of Alex DeLarge and his droogs. What nadsat-laden classic novel made such a strong impact on me?

Answer: A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess' most famous novel was deeply altered by the controversial Stanley Kubrick film, making a psychological horror out of a novel of ideas. One item that both men got right was the strange dialect that permeates the novel. "A Clockwork Orange" is written partly in English, partly in a language called "nadsat" that Burgess, the linguist, invented. Originally difficult to understand, the language becomes more comprehensible as the book progresses.

Both Burgess and Kubrick spend an extensive amount of time at the start of the novel detailing the night-time pursuits of Alex and his gang-mates (also known as "droogs") in some unspecified future where regular citizens are terrorized by the adolescents' shocking behavior. The protagonist is characterized as a terrible, frightening, unappealing criminal whose only love in life is his obsession for classical music. Unfortunately, Alex gets caught on one of his nightly jaunts, betrayed by his droogs, and sentenced to prison. Once there, Alex volunteers as a subject in a new psychological study based on operant conditioning called the "Ludovico Technique." Whenever Alex thinks evil thoughts, he gets sick, even after he is released from prison. A side effect of the procedure makes him unable to listen to classical music. The cruelty that Alex faces after being released from prison, unable to fight back against an evil society, turns the novel into a memorable depiction of free will.

This question was written by adams627.
8. In childhood I loved novels in which other children faced challenging and even fantastic events with courage and determination. All four of the choices below were particular favorites of mine. But only one contains scenes of the story's children trying to manage life on their own in a museum, bathing in the fountain and sleeping in the antique beds. Which of these novels contains such scenes?

Answer: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

The 1968 novel by Elaine Lobl Konigsburg won the Newbery Medal, as did 1962's "A Wrinkle in Time." Robert C. O'Brien, author of "The Silver Crown", won the 1972 Newbery Medal for another of his books, "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." Edward Eager didn't receive a Newbery Medal, but his series of seven "Magic" books remain in print and are still delighting children (and some nostalgic adults!)

This question was written by Gheelnory.
9. In the novel "The Three Musketeers," Alexandre Dumas introduces us to the evil Milady De Winter. In the novel, Milady has two husbands and several lovers. Which of her husbands or lovers outlived her?

Answer: Athos (First husband)

Since its serialization in 1844, "The Three Musketeers" has stood the test of time. There have been over 30 movie versions made, with actors as diverse as Gene Kelly, Michael York, Oliver Reed, and Mickey Mouse portraying musketeers.
In the book, the young priest committed suicide after Milady abandoned him. Lord de Winter died mysteriously shortly after marrying Milady. The Duke Of Buckingham was killed by John Felton. Athos (Count De La Fere) was Milady's first husband and survived her.

This question was written by da_man11.
10. During the Christmas break of my first year at university, I suddenly found myself with no assignments to write and two long weeks away from classes to fill. Digging around the literature section of the campus library, I found myself two volumes of the famously hard-boiled novels of Raymond Chandler. For the whole of those two weeks, I immersed myself in the seedy world of Los Angeles and the smart talking character of Philip Marlowe. Which was the first novel that starred Chandler's gumshoe Marlowe?

Answer: The Big Sleep

"The Big Sleep" was published in 1939 and was both Chandler's first published novel and the first novel featuring Philip Marlowe. Chandler had started his writing career in 1933 with the short story "Blackmailer's Don't Shoot", which was published in "Black Mask" magazine. He then went on to write a further six novels featuring Philip Marlowe, leaving a seventh, "Poodle Springs," uncompleted when he died in 1959. "Poodle Springs" was later completed by fellow crime writer Robert B. Parker and was published in its entirety in 1989.

This question was written by morelli.
Source: Author Windswept

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