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Quiz about European Novels That Became Movies
Quiz about European Novels That Became Movies

European Novels That Became Movies Quiz


Out of the hundreds of books that have become movies, I have selected ten novels by European authors whose movie adaptations are among my favorites.

A multiple-choice quiz by tiye. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
tiye
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
369,422
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
1140
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. English writer Malcolm Lowry wrote his last and best novel about an alcoholic English consul in a small Mexican town, under Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The novel became a movie in 1984, directed by John Huston, with Albert Finney in the role of Geoffrey Firmin. Which book is it? (Hint: I already gave you two) Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Danish author Peter Hoeg wrote a thriller about a 37-year-old woman of mixed Inuit and Danish ancestry who lives in Copenhagen and witnesses the murder of her six-year-old neighbor. The movie, with a slightly different title, was made into a movie by Bille August with Julia Ormond in the lead role. We want the name of the book, not the movie. What is it? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The author, the book and the movie are very well known so I won't give you many clues. It is the story of a poet and man of the medical profession who is married but has a stormy affair in a snow-covered "dacha" during the Russian Revolution. David Lean directed the epic movie in 1965. Can you name the book? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. German author, law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink wrote the story of Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz, a 15-year-old boy and a 36-year-old illiterate Auschwitz guard, over a period of 25 years. It became a movie with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. What is this book that raised heated discussions? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. A renowed Italian philosopher, semiotician and essayist wrote this novel, a medieval murder mystery that became a world-wide best seller. A Franciscan friar is called to solve a series of murders at a monastery in Northern Italy in 1327. Jean-Jacques Annaud directed the movie with Sean Connery playing friar William of Baskerville. Which novel is it? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Swiss writer Pascal Mercier wrote a philosophical novel on classics professor's Raimund Gregorious inquest into the life of Portuguese doctor Amadeu de Prado. In 2013 the book became a movie with Jeremy Irons as Raimund Gregorious. What is the name of the novel? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Written by the maitre of spy novels, British author John Le Carre, this novel features a tired, middle-aged agent George Smiley who is called back from forced retirement to help track down a mole in the highest levels of British Secret Intelligence Service. The movie features a superb Gary Oldman as George Smiley. Name the book. Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Arturo Perez-Reverte is the Spanish novelist of this historical mystery book which follows the adventures of antique book dealer Lucas Corso as he gets involved in an intricate web of devil worshipers, bibliophiles and murderers. The book became a movie by the name "The Ninth Gate", with Johnny Depp as Lucas Corso. Find the name of the book. (Hint: It involves another writer). Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This autobiographical travel book is a record of Austrian mountaineer's Heinhrich Harrer's years in an Asian country during WWII. The book became an international best-seller and a movie with Brad Pitt and David Thewlis. What is its name? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This novel takes place on the Greek island of Cephallonia during WWII. The main story is the love affair between the Italian soldier Antonio and the Greek woman Pelagia. The movie adaptation has Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz and John Hurt in the cast. Which novel is it? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. English writer Malcolm Lowry wrote his last and best novel about an alcoholic English consul in a small Mexican town, under Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The novel became a movie in 1984, directed by John Huston, with Albert Finney in the role of Geoffrey Firmin. Which book is it? (Hint: I already gave you two)

Answer: Under the Volcano

The entire novel takes place in a single day, the Day of the Dead, November 2nd, in a dusty Mexican town where the English consul gets a visit from his estranged wife and his half brother. It is a book full of symbolism that incorporates Greek myth, the Kabbalah, Shakespeare, Blake, and the Mahabharata, and is considered one of the masterpieces of English Modernism.
2. Danish author Peter Hoeg wrote a thriller about a 37-year-old woman of mixed Inuit and Danish ancestry who lives in Copenhagen and witnesses the murder of her six-year-old neighbor. The movie, with a slightly different title, was made into a movie by Bille August with Julia Ormond in the lead role. We want the name of the book, not the movie. What is it?

Answer: Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow

As is the common feature of the Scandinavian noir genre of mystery fiction, the book seems to be entirely covered in ice and snow. Besides, Smilla, a native of Greenland, is an expert scientist on snow. Hoeg uses that to maximize the chilling effect he creates for his book which also addresses cultural and relationship issues.
3. The author, the book and the movie are very well known so I won't give you many clues. It is the story of a poet and man of the medical profession who is married but has a stormy affair in a snow-covered "dacha" during the Russian Revolution. David Lean directed the epic movie in 1965. Can you name the book?

Answer: Doctor Zhivago

Boris Pasternak's book was first published in Italy in 1957 because of his "pariah" status during Stalin's era. Through the story of Yuri Zhivago, his wife Tonya, his mistress Lara and her husband Pasha, Pasternak writes about the historical events taking place in Russia, starting with the Revolution of 1905 through to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and finally to World War II. Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958.
4. German author, law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink wrote the story of Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz, a 15-year-old boy and a 36-year-old illiterate Auschwitz guard, over a period of 25 years. It became a movie with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. What is this book that raised heated discussions?

Answer: The Reader

Bernhard Schlink brilliantly uses the metaphor of illiteracy to expose the difficulties of the German post-war generations to comprehend the atrocities that took place and at the same time come to terms with the guilt that overwhelms their lives. The book was received with mixed feelings in spite of its undoubted literary merit. For many, Schlink "humanizes" Hanna, the woman who makes the prisoners read to her before they're sent off to the gas chambers.
5. A renowed Italian philosopher, semiotician and essayist wrote this novel, a medieval murder mystery that became a world-wide best seller. A Franciscan friar is called to solve a series of murders at a monastery in Northern Italy in 1327. Jean-Jacques Annaud directed the movie with Sean Connery playing friar William of Baskerville. Which novel is it?

Answer: The Name of the Rose

Umberto Eco uses his discipline, semiotics, as a tool in his writing. He expertly uses the story within a story, ambiguity, symbolism and the entanglement of fiction and history. 'The Name of the Rose' was his first historical novel and others followed in the same style, none as popular.
6. Swiss writer Pascal Mercier wrote a philosophical novel on classics professor's Raimund Gregorious inquest into the life of Portuguese doctor Amadeu de Prado. In 2013 the book became a movie with Jeremy Irons as Raimund Gregorious. What is the name of the novel?

Answer: Night Train to Lisbon

Once again, a book within a book, as Raimund Gregorious discovers the diary of Amadeu de Prado which is a philosophical study of life, family and relationships of a brilliant, inquisitive mind in the stiffling context of Salazar's dictatorship in Portugal.
7. Written by the maitre of spy novels, British author John Le Carre, this novel features a tired, middle-aged agent George Smiley who is called back from forced retirement to help track down a mole in the highest levels of British Secret Intelligence Service. The movie features a superb Gary Oldman as George Smiley. Name the book.

Answer: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

John Le Carre wrote "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" as the first book of his "Karla Trilogy" which included "The Honourable Schoolboy" and "Smiley's People." For the title of this book he used the English children's rhyme "Tinker Tailor" and assigned a codename from it to each agent of Circus - the highest level of British Intelligence. George Smiley was Beggar Man. An interesting fact is that John Le Carre uses spy jargon in his novels which for the most part he invented himself.
8. Arturo Perez-Reverte is the Spanish novelist of this historical mystery book which follows the adventures of antique book dealer Lucas Corso as he gets involved in an intricate web of devil worshipers, bibliophiles and murderers. The book became a movie by the name "The Ninth Gate", with Johnny Depp as Lucas Corso. Find the name of the book. (Hint: It involves another writer).

Answer: The Club Dumas

Arturo Perez-Reverte wrote this extremely complex novel where three plots are overlapping at the same time. One is a study on the working habits of writer Alexandre Dumas, the second is the world of antique books, authentications and forgeries and the third is an insight into the world of the occult and demonology. An excellent book, full of suspense and plot twists which, in my opinion, did not produce a deserving movie. Roman Polanski directed a rather good mystery which only vaguely alludes to the work of Arturo Perez-Reverte.
9. This autobiographical travel book is a record of Austrian mountaineer's Heinhrich Harrer's years in an Asian country during WWII. The book became an international best-seller and a movie with Brad Pitt and David Thewlis. What is its name?

Answer: Seven Years in Tibet

During WWII, Heinrich Harrer and companion Peter Aufschnaiter escaped from a British detention camp in India and made their way to Lhasa, Tibet's capital. They spent several years there, becoming friends with the Dalai Lama, and Harrer wrote the book which describes Tibetan culture in great detail. Upon his return from Tibet, Harrer joined other expeditions to Alaska, the Andes, the Mountains of the Moon in Africa and Puncak Jaya, the highest peak in Oceania.
10. This novel takes place on the Greek island of Cephallonia during WWII. The main story is the love affair between the Italian soldier Antonio and the Greek woman Pelagia. The movie adaptation has Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz and John Hurt in the cast. Which novel is it?

Answer: Captain Corelli's Mandolin

British writer Louis de Bernieres wrote this emotional, moving novel that has all the right ingredients for an international best-seller. War, bravery, love and betrayal, compassion and brutality, even an occasional miracle are all masterfully combined in this epic novel. Louis de Bernieres himself was not very pleased with the film but it became a huge success anyway.
Source: Author tiye

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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