First Place Goes To.... Quiz | Specific Subjects & Themes

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Prior to 1971 the prize was awarded to a novel published the previous year, but in 1971 it was changed to novels published in that year. That meant that no 1970 novel could win. In 2010 this was rectified by a special award to J.G Farrell's "Troubles". What was this award called?

Answer: Lost Man Booker Prize

Had the rules not been changed then the 1971 Man Booker Prize would have gone to a novel first published in 1970, instead it went to the 1971 short story, "In A Free State" by V.S. Naipaul. The "Lost Man Booker Prize" was awarded by public vote from a short list of six. The "New York Times" described the prize as "an act of literary reparation".

2. Iris Murdoch won the Man Booker Prize in 1978. Which of her novels, which deals with love and loss, won the award?

Answer: The Sea, The Sea

Iris Murdoch's novels deal with moral and philosophical questions, and the power of the unconscious. In 2008 "The Times" named her on their list of "The 50 Greatest British writers since 1945". She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1987. Several of her novels have been made into films or television series including "An Unofficial Rose" and "The Bell".

3. In 1980 the Man Booker Prize went to "Rites of Passage". Which author, best known for his tale of children turning into savages, wrote this?

Answer: William Golding

"Rites of Passage" is the first of the "To the Ends of the Earth" trilogy published between 1980 and 1989. It is the journal of a young man travelling to Australia on a British warship. William Golding is best known for "Lord of the Flies", his novel of shipwrecked children and their descent into savagery.

4. Vampire literature is noticeable by its absence from the Man Booker Prize winners' list. However, in 1991 there was a rare win by a fantasy novel. The book was "The Famished Road". Who was the author?

Answer: Ben Okri

Variously described as magical realism, animist realism, or just plain fantasy, "The Famished Road" is the story of a child who is connected to the spirit world. Set in an unnamed city, probably in Nigeria, the book is based on the traditional African belief that the spiritual and material worlds co-exist side by side.

5. In 1985 "The Bone People" won the Man Booker Prize. Who was the author?

Answer: Keri Hulme

New Zealander Keri Hulme had her prize winning novel turned down by several publishers before finally getting acceptance from the Spiral Collective. A powerful novel, strongly interlaced with Maori legend, it is about love, but not the romantic variety.

6. Peter Carey was awarded the Man Booker Prize in both 1988 and 2001. In 1988 his book was "Oscar and Lucinda". With which title did he win in 2001?

Answer: True History of the Kelly Gang

Peter Carey is one of Australia's leading novelists and is widely regarded as being a future contender for a Nobel prize. As well as the 2001 Man Booker Prize "True History of the Kelly Gang" also won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Award. Despite the title the book is completely fictional, although it is based on the Ned Kelly story.

7. The Man Booker Prize has not been without controversy. Which well known author refused to attend the 1980 ceremony unless he was guaranteed to win?

Answer: Anthony Burgess

In 1980 the Anthony Burgess novel "Earthly Powers" was joint favourite with "Rites of Passage". Burgess refused to attend the ceremony unless it was guaranteed he would be the winner. The judges' final decision was only made 30 minutes before the actual ceremony and their final decision went to William Golding.

8. The plot of the book that won the 2002 Man Booker prize can be summed up as: A boy, a boat, a tiger. Which book is this?

Answer: Life of Pi

This fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel was rejected by several London publishers before being accepted by Knopf Canada. It tells the story of a boy named Pi adrift in a lifeboat after a shipwreck. He is accompanied by a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a hyena, a zebra and a orangutan. Eventually only Pi and the tiger are left and they are adrift for 227 days.

9. The 2007 Man Booker Prize Winner was considered an outsider, but was unanimously chosen by the jury. The author was Ann Enright, but what was the title?

Answer: The Gathering

Despite favourable reviews the book had not enjoyed good sales prior to being Booker short-listed. The novel's narrator is looking back through her family history to try and make sense of the alcoholism and death of her brother. The author herself described it as "the intellectual equivalent of a Hollywood weepie".

10. The 2011 Man Booker Prize went to Julian Barnes for "The Sense of an Ending". He had been shortlisted for the prize three times before, "England, England" and "Arthur and George" were two of the shortlisted titles. What was the third?

Answer: Flaubert's Parrot

It was indeed fourth time lucky for Julian Barnes. "The Sense of an Ending" is his eleventh novel, and centres on a man reflecting on his past and the paths he and his friends have taken. Many people felt that Flaubert's Parrot should have won in 1984, but it lost to Anita Brookner's "Hotel Du Lac". Mr Barnes also writes crime fiction as Dan Kavanagh.

Source: Author Christinap

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

First Place Goes To.... Trivia Quiz

The Man Booker prize is an annual literary award for English language full length novels, written by any citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland or Zimbabwe.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>