Wordwise Books Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Wind in the Willows

WILL wind OWS -- The word "wind" is "in" the word "willows".

"The Wind in the Willows" was written by Kenneth Grahame and published in 1908. Rat and Mole visit Toad at Toad Hall, and then, oh, the adventures begin!

Answer: The Old Man and the Sea

Methuselah, according to the Bible of course, lived longer than any other human has ever lived; thus, he was certainly an "Old Man". The Mediterranean obviously is a "Sea".

"The Old Man and the Sea" was written by Ernest Hemingway and published in 1952. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953. The fisherman Santiago goes far out to sea to end an eighty-four-day drought, catches a marlin (the biggest one of his life), and then does battle with it for several days.

Answer: Little Women

The asterisks draw your attention to the word "women" written in lower case letters or little letters; this word also stands out as different from all of the "big" "WOMEN" written in capital letters.

"Little Women" was written by Louisa May Alcott and published in two volumes, one in 1868, and the other in 1869. Four sisters--Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy--learn about virtue, loss, fulfillment, and true love while growing up in Concord, Massachusetts (a town known for its famous transcendentalists). The book was successful enough to persuade Alcott to follow it with two sequels: "Little Men" and "Jo's Boys".

Answer: Heart of Darkness

The symbol in the middle of the word is a "heart" and is located in the center of the word "DARKNESS"--thus, "Heart of Darkness".

Joseph Conrad wrote the novella "Heart of Darkness" and published it in 1902 after its three-part 1899 publication in "Blackwood's Magazine". Charles Marlow travels the Congo River to find the megalomaniacal Kurtz and bring him home; his journey into the darkness of Africa becomes an allegory for an exploration of the darkness within man, as represented by Europe's treatment of Africa's natives and Kurtz's inhuman behavior.

Answer: A Separate Peace

The "PEACE" marked by the asterisks is outside of the group of other "PEACE" words; thus, it is "A Separate Peace".

John Knowles published "A Separate Peace" in 1959, the first novel he ever published, and it remains overwhelmingly his most well known. Gene and Finny experience an intense friendship at a boarding school, yet end up in a one-sided rivalry due to Gene's jealousy. Eventually, Finny falls from a tree, shatters his leg, and is unable to participate in sports again. Gene is to blame for Finny's fall, or is he?

Answer: Frankenstein

The word "FRANK" is "in" the word "STEIN". If one considers the word "in" a homophone or a pun on the syllable of "en", then one can deduce "Frank-en-stein".

"Frankenstein" was written and published anonymously in England by Mary Shelley in 1818; she put her name on the second edition of the novel, which was published in France in 1823. Remarkably, Shelley began writing the story when she was eighteen, and its origins stem from a dream she had as well as a contest between her, Percy Shelley, Byron, and Polidori to see who could create the best horror story.

Answer: A River Runs Through It

The word "RIVER" is "running" down "through" the middle of the word "IT".

"A River Runs Through It and Other Stories" was written by Norman Maclean and published in 1976. In 1977, the Pulitzer Prize Board overrode its committee's recommendation to award Maclean the award for this work and then decided to offer no one a Pulitzer for fiction that year. The story is semi-autobiograhical and is about two brothers who attempt to understand the complexities of life and loss through the artistry of fly fishing.

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

You have two "cities", and I'm asking you to focus on the endings (or "tails") of those two "cities". "Tail" is a homophone of "Tale"; thus, you have "A Tale of Two Cities".

"A Tale of Two Cities" was written by Charles Dickens and first published as thirty-one weekly installments from April to November of 1859. Set before and during the French Revolution, the story creates an unflattering parallel between the societies of both Paris and France while focusing on the unfair and cruel treatment of a French aristocrat and the attempt at redemption by a London lawyer.

Answer: Jude the Obscure

The word "JUDE" is hidden by the "at" symbols (or arrobas); instead of being "obvious", "Jude" is "Obscure".

"Jude the Obscure" was written by Thomas Hardy; it was published in book form in 1895, but originally appeared as a magazine serial. The book met with such harsh criticism during Hardy's time--a minister burned his copy of the text in a public display--that Hardy never wrote another novel; he focused on poetry and drama instead. The story is certainly one of the most tragic stories ever, involving failed dreams, frustrated relationships, religious guilt, murder, and suicide.

Answer: Things Fall Apart

The word "Things" is "falling" over the edge and lands as a broken word, a word broken "Apart".

Chinua Achebe published "Things Fall Apart" in 1958. Achebe borrowed the title of his novel from a line from Yeats' "Second Coming". Okonkwo, the main character of the story, experiences the effects of modern interference on his Nigerian village. The consequences of European colonialism and Christian missionary work lead to what Okonkwo believes to be the dissolution of his culture while Okonkwo's character degenerates as well.