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Quiz about Books That Changed Our Lives
Quiz about Books That Changed Our Lives

Books That Changed Our Lives Trivia Quiz


"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled 'This could change your life,'" so said Helen Exley, the noted collector and publisher. See how many of these life-changers you can identify.

A multiple-choice quiz by darksplash. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
darksplash
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
288,245
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
2925
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: mickeyp (6/10), wellenbrecher (10/10), adam36 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. You might almost think that no babies were born before 1946, such has been the influence of this book. Which book, written by a doctor, was almost revolutionary in the way it advocated parents should look after their children? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Sylvia Plath was better known as a poet, though some of her subjects were very difficult. After her death it became clear that Plath had many psychological issues, some of which she touched on in a semi-autobiographical novel. What was it called? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Do you have difficulty making choices? Which book by an American author abdicated decision-making to chance outcomes? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Before John Osbourne's "Look Back In Anger" another writer created an 'angry young man', a youthful character at odds with his upbringing and trying to come to terms with life and the hand that it had dealt him. Which novel of the 1950s paved the way for teenage angst? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. One reviewer called it "the book that launched a thousand trips", a terrible pun that just about sums up the sub-text of a book that made drug-taking look fashionable. Which book so impressed one young musician that he named his band after it? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. It's always comforting to have something in the seatback in front of you when your flight gets a little bumpy, but which 1970s book was definitely not about airsickness? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. In the 1970s one book so impressed an FBI director that he instructed all his staff to read it. In which book did the 'hero' proclaim: "The only true law is that which leads to freedom"? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. It was a book that took three weeks to write, but contained the essence of years of travel and was a revelation to a whole generation. Which book was described by the New York Times as "the most beautifully executed, the clearest and most important utterance" of its author's generation? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. You know what it's like when you're a journalist sent somewhere to cover an event and then you're asked to write about something else, it can be a bad trip, right? Which novel was based on the author's own experiences and had the heroes chasing 'The American Dream' to sin city USA? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. It's been described as "an erotic classic ... written anonymously by a shy, intellectual French woman in honour of her secret lover" Which book dealing with tales of fantasy and debauchery has never been out of print, and has been bought by millions since it was first published in 1954? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 24 2024 : mickeyp: 6/10
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. You might almost think that no babies were born before 1946, such has been the influence of this book. Which book, written by a doctor, was almost revolutionary in the way it advocated parents should look after their children?

Answer: Baby And Child Care

'Baby And Child Care', by Dr Benjamin Spock, is still hailed as something of a workshop manual on how to bring up children. Generations of parents have sworn by it.
2. Sylvia Plath was better known as a poet, though some of her subjects were very difficult. After her death it became clear that Plath had many psychological issues, some of which she touched on in a semi-autobiographical novel. What was it called?

Answer: The Bell Jar

Written in 1963, 'The Bell Jar' is the story of a troubled young woman struggling with a mental illness. The book helped create a better understanding of a need for sympathetic treatment of mental illness, rather than the near-brutal electroshock treatment that had theretofore been used.
(The 'wrong' answers were all written by the American poet Mary Jo Bang)
3. Do you have difficulty making choices? Which book by an American author abdicated decision-making to chance outcomes?

Answer: The Dice Man

Luke Reinhart's "The Dice Man" (1971) was at times entertaining and yet deeply troubling. Faced with a decision that had to be taken, the hero would roll dice to see what to do. The basic premise seemed to deny the possibility of free thought, with the hero preferring to say "It wasn't me, it was the dice that made me do it."
4. Before John Osbourne's "Look Back In Anger" another writer created an 'angry young man', a youthful character at odds with his upbringing and trying to come to terms with life and the hand that it had dealt him. Which novel of the 1950s paved the way for teenage angst?

Answer: The Catcher In The Rye

J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel was the story of a complicated young man trying to make sense of the narrow life that others expected of him. 'The Catcher In The Rye' outraged many for its use of profane language and was heavily censored in schools and libraries. 'Time' magazine has included 'The Catcher In The Rye' in a list of the 100 best English-language novels.
5. One reviewer called it "the book that launched a thousand trips", a terrible pun that just about sums up the sub-text of a book that made drug-taking look fashionable. Which book so impressed one young musician that he named his band after it?

Answer: The Doors of Perception

Aldous Huxley's 'The Doors of Perception' inspired Jim Morrison to name his band 'The Doors'. His sad and much too early death perhaps showed that he followed the plot too closely.
6. It's always comforting to have something in the seatback in front of you when your flight gets a little bumpy, but which 1970s book was definitely not about airsickness?

Answer: Fear of Flying

Described by John Updike as the most "delicious erotic novel that a woman ever wrote", Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' was possibly the most controversial and talked-about book of 1973. This tale of sexual liberation was not to everyone's taste, even if can be said, in the end, to be deeply moralistic.
7. In the 1970s one book so impressed an FBI director that he instructed all his staff to read it. In which book did the 'hero' proclaim: "The only true law is that which leads to freedom"?

Answer: Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Richard Bach and Russell Munson's 1976 tome was all about a seagull, naturally, who became bored with the daily grind of seagullish stuff and went off to 'find himself'. The book was seen by some as a modern parable promoting positive thinking and self-help.
8. It was a book that took three weeks to write, but contained the essence of years of travel and was a revelation to a whole generation. Which book was described by the New York Times as "the most beautifully executed, the clearest and most important utterance" of its author's generation?

Answer: On The Road

Jack Kerouac's 'On The Road' was first published in September 1957. It told the barely fictionalized story of wanderings across America by Kerouac and his friends. Many regard it as the most influential book of the 'beat generation'.
9. You know what it's like when you're a journalist sent somewhere to cover an event and then you're asked to write about something else, it can be a bad trip, right? Which novel was based on the author's own experiences and had the heroes chasing 'The American Dream' to sin city USA?

Answer: Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas

'Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas' was written by Hunter S. Thompson and first published as a book in 1971, having earlier appeared in 'Rolling Stone' magazine. It was the story of a journalist sent to cover a sporting event in Las Vegas, who ended up being asked to cover a narcotics convention. The 'counter-culture' and the use of drugs were themes explored by Thompson in what is regarded as his typical Gonzo style. One critic wrote that "F&L" "perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the post-'60s era".
(The 'wrong' answers were all written by the American novelist Evan Hunter).
10. It's been described as "an erotic classic ... written anonymously by a shy, intellectual French woman in honour of her secret lover" Which book dealing with tales of fantasy and debauchery has never been out of print, and has been bought by millions since it was first published in 1954?

Answer: The Story of O

Pauline Reage was a pseudonym of Anne Desclos (though she often went under another pseudonym, Dominique Aury). Desclos/Aury was a well respected author translator and literary judge, and it was many years before she acknowledged she had written 'The Story of O'. Indeed, many people had assumed the book had been written by a man. When first published it was described as 'an appalling and condemnable ferment", yet in 2004, the French government announced the book was to be included on a list of national triumphs.
(The 'wrong' answers were books written written by Marquis de Sade)

[This quiz adapted from 'Fifty Books That Changed Our Lives', as listed in the 'Daily Telegraph' (London), April 2008.]
Source: Author darksplash

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