Bigger Than Ben-Hur Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ishmael

If I had mentioned the famous opening line "Call me Ishmael", that might have been a tip-off. Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of Moby Dick, the whale who destroyed his lower leg on a previous voyage, eventually leads to the deaths of all of his crew except for the narrator, Ishmael. At least Starbuck would lend his name to a Seattle-based chain of coffee shops.

Answer: The Napoleonic Wars

Covering the years 1805-1812, Napoleon's invasion of Russia is a major focus of the book. I actually read the entire book once, but found it hard to keep track of the literally hundreds of fictional characters and historical figures that appear throughout the book. In the end, I compromised by picking one significant character and focusing on him for the last half of the book.

Answer: Japan

"The Tale of Genji" was written by Murasaki Shikibu. The novel tells the story of Genji, the son of a Japanese Emperor and his concubine. Many of the novel's characters represent the nobility of eleventh century Japan.

Answer: David Copperfield

The full title of the book was "The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)". It was published serially over the course of nineteen months. The title character is sometimes seen as a stand-in for Dickens himself.

Answer: Scheherazade

Scheherazade has had the misfortune to be married to a sultan who marries a bride one day and executes her the next. By cleverly timing the cliffhangers in the stories she tells the sultan, she delays her execution until the sultan truly falls in love with her. Badroulbadour is the princess in the story of Aladdin's lamp. Morgiana comes from the story of Ali Baba.

The Fisherman's wife appears in the story of the Fisherman and the Djinni.

Answer: Cardinal Richelieu

Published in 1844, the novel has sequels including "Twenty Years After". Cardinal Richelieu was a real person who served for over twenty years as the chief minister for King Louis XIII of France. One of the Richelieu's chief agents in the book is the beautiful but evil Milady de Winter.

Answer: Marius

The 1862 novel was a favorite of Confederate soldiers. Javert commits suicide after being shown mercy by Jean Valjean. Eponine dies in the course of the battle at the barricade. Fantine dies of an illness which leads to Jean Valjean becoming Cosette's foster father.

Answer: Captain Nemo

Captain Nemo was the captain of the submarine "Nautilus", and a main character in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". Phileas Fogg appeared in "Around the World in Eighty Days". Otto Lidenbrock appeared in "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Impey Barbicane appeared in "From the Earth to the Moon".

Answer: A knight-errant

"Don Quixote" was published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. It includes the famous scene where Don Quixote (Alonso's "kinght" name) jousts with a windmill, imagining it to be a giant. "Don Quixote" was the basis for the hit musical "Man of La Mancha".

Answer: Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1851 novel was meant to be a critique of American slavery. The only book that sold more copies in the nineteenth century was the Bible. Referring to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was supposed to have said that Harriet Beecher Stowe was "the little lady who started this great war." Whether that was true or not, the novel certain helped to shape the thinking of many nineteenth-century Americans.