Book Titles In Other Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: War and Peace

"War and Peace" is by Russian author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). It is a story set during the Napoleonic Wars, in particular during the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia and subsequent retreat, and focuses on the turmoil that war brings to the lives of five aristocratic Russian families. Most people are familiar with these facts about this classic novel. What is less well-known is that Tolstoy planned a trilogy of three novels of which "War and Peace" was the first, and "The Decembrists" was the second.

However, Tolstoy only got as far as completing three chapters of "The Decembrists", which was concerned with the failed uprising of 1825.

Answer: The Jungle Book

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in India, but only spent 13 years of his life there. Throughout his life he also lived in England, the United States (Vermont) and South Africa. It was while he was living in Vermont that he wrote "The Jungle Book" (1894), "The Second Jungle Book" (1895), and "Captains Courageous" (1896). Both "Jungle Books" are collections of stories inspired by Indian fables.

Answer: The Big Sleep

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) is famous for its introduction of the "hard-boiled" private detective character, Philip Marlowe, and for its complex plot. In this novel, there are five murders, all committed by different killers. A sixth death (that of the chauffeur) was unresolved.

The book was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart in 1946. The film's screenwriters contacted Raymond Chandler to find out if the chauffeur's death was a murder or suicide and, if a murder, who did it. Chandler confessed he had no idea.

The "big sleep" is a euphemism for death.

Answer: The Scarlet Letter

"The Scarlet Letter" was the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). The story is set in a strict Puritan town. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, is forced to wear a prominent scarlet letter "A" (denoting "Adultery") stitched onto her clothing for her sin of bearing a child out of wedlock.

She was also imprisoned, publicly shamed, and socially ostracised from the community. Hester refused to reveal her child's paternity. Meanwhile, the father of her child suffered in secret and subjected himself to self-flagellation, starvation and sleep deprivation. Hawthorne's message was that harsh judgement and hypocrisy by society is more destructive than many so-called sins.

Answer: The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is the author of "The Sun Also Rises", an autobiographical "roman a clef" (that is, a novel about real-life events and/or people, disguised as fiction). "The Sun Also Rises" was Hemingway's debut novel, published in 1926, in the period between the two world wars.

It relates his own experiences as part of the "Lost Generation", a term coined by Gertrude Stein and popularised in this novel by Hemingway. It refers to the feeling of disillusionment, restlessness and disorientation experienced by many young adults after World War 1.

Answer: Divine Comedy

"(The) Divine Comedy" is a poem by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) which he began in 1308 and completed in 1321. The poem follows Dante himself, guided by Virgil, as he journeys through the nine circles of Hell (Inferno), Purgatory, and Heaven (Paradise).

Although entitled a comedy, it is not a comedy in the modern sense. In Dante's time, comedies began with situations that were chaotic, sad or difficult but had a happy and successful conclusion. They were not necessarily funny. Also, it was customary for tragedies to be written in Latin and comedies in the vernacular or vulgar language. Dante wrote the poem in the Tuscan vernacular rather than Latin.

NB: Dante originally called his poem simply "Comedia". Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) added the word "Divine". It was first translated into English in the 19th century as "Divine Comedy", however, both "The Divine Comedy" and "Divine Comedy" are correct English translations and both titles are common and accepted.

Answer: Of Mice and Men

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck (1902-1968) is the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression. The novella was originally entitled "Something that Happened" because Steinbeck's original intention was to relate what life was like for workers, particularly unskilled migrant workers, during the 1930s.

The title change was intended to shift the focus away from a single event that happened, to more universal themes of marginalisation, loneliness, companionship and dreams going awry.

Answer: The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) originally intended his "The Lord of the Rings" story about Middle-earth to be published as a single epic novel. However, due to its length and post-war paper shortages, the publishers, George Allen & Unwin, released it as three separate novels - "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King" - between 1954 and 1955. Tolkien had designed it as a single story divided into six parts and was not happy about it being made into a trilogy. There are some special edition sets which publish the story as six books. Tolkein also wrote several other works about Middle-earth, including the prequels "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion".

Answer: The Old Curiosity Shop

"The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the story of a girl named Little Nell Trent who lived with her grandfather in a London shop filled with treasures and antiques, said to have been inspired by a 16th century shop which still exists in London today. Because of his gambling, Nell's grandfather loses their home and the shop to an evil moneylender named Daniel Quilp.

This novel, published in two parts in 1840 and 1841, was a huge hit upon its release. It is alleged that people stormed the dock in New York when the ship carrying the final instalment arrived in 1841, eager to find out what happened to Little Nell. Sadly, the novel does not have a happy ending.

Answer: To Kill A Mockingbird

This quiz would not be complete without my favourite book, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (1926-2016), published in 1960. The book was inspired by the author's own life. She originally entitled it "Atticus", then "Go Set a Watchman", but finally decided upon "To Kill A Mockingbird". For 55 years, Harper Lee was known as a "one and done" writer, having only published the one novel.

She famously claimed that the reason for that was that she had said all she wanted to say. Then in 2015, she released "Go Set a Watchman", which was actually part of the early draft of "To Kill A Mockingbird".