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Quiz about Mixed Literature in Wolves of the Calla
Quiz about Mixed Literature in Wolves of the Calla

Mixed Literature in "Wolves of the Calla" Quiz


Stephen King makes numerous references to famous authors, works, and characters. If you have a general knowledge of literature, you can answer these questions without having read a single page of this, the fifth book in King's Dark Tower series.

A multiple-choice quiz by skylarb. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
skylarb
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
163,308
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
10 / 15
Plays
744
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: PurpleComet (11/15), TurkishLizzy (13/15), Twotallgnome (11/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. King's "Dark Tower" series is inspired by a Robert Browning poem. The theme of Browning's poem, in turn, was suggested by a line of nonsense spoken by Edgar in what William Shakespeare play? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. When Eddie uses Black Nineteen to go to New York, he reads a chalkboard outside a bookstore called The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind. It lists the day's specials. All three are American writers. The first is a Romantic novelist, the second a philosopher, and the third the poet who wrote "Fire and Ice." Who are they? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. In the Prologue to "Wolves of the Calla," one of the Manni refers to a story in "The Book of Manni." The story involves an Angel of Death, which passes over Ayjip and slays the first born of each house, unless the blood of a sacrificial lamb is daubed on the doorpost. Where in our world's literature does an almost identical story appear? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. After Eddie and Jake go "Todash" and see a mysterious legal agreement, Susannah is reminded of the quote "First we'll kill all the lawyers." This paraphrased line comes from the pen of what English playwright? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Susannah says that when Eddie and Jake go "todash," it's almost like a novel by what author? (Hint: She says this author wrote about a dozen novels and "was maybe the best who ever lived. In his stories, folks in this big city called London keep meeting people they knew from other places or long ago.") Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Jake says he's read lots of mystery novels, by Rex Stout, by Ed McBain, and by what author of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Odetta "had laughed and applauded her way through" what book by Ralph Ellison? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Callahan, during his wanderings, thinks he recalls a paraphrase of a line from what poet's "Epistle to Be Left in the Earth?" Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. On the box that houses Black Nineteen, Roland finds the symbols of a leaf, a stone, and an unfound door. From what book does Callahan say these symbols are drawn? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Callahan gives names to the "Hitler brothers" who attack him. From what John Steinbeck novel do these names come? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. As Callahan is being carved up by the Hitler brothers, he laments that no police will come to his rescue, not even this Agatha Christie investigator. Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. The man in the robe says to Callahan, "Name, name, what's in a name, someone or other said. Shakespeare? Virginia Woolf?" The quote does indeed originate with Shakespeare. In which play can it be found? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. The man in black says, "Like the White Rabbit in 'Alice,' I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date." Here the man in black is referring to what author's work? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. When Eddie breaks into The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind, he uses a page from this Dr. Seuss book as a door jamb. Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Andolini threatens to burn Tower's most valuable books, and makes reference to one that's worth $26,000. It is a signed copy of what book by James Joyce? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. King's "Dark Tower" series is inspired by a Robert Browning poem. The theme of Browning's poem, in turn, was suggested by a line of nonsense spoken by Edgar in what William Shakespeare play?

Answer: King Lear

Browning's poem was published in 1855 as part of the two volume work "Men and Women." He said "King Lear" gave him the idea for the poem. In Shakespeare's play, at the end of Act 3, Scene 4, the disguised Edgar speaks the line of nonsense with which Browning ends his poem: "Childe Roland to the dark tower came."
2. When Eddie uses Black Nineteen to go to New York, he reads a chalkboard outside a bookstore called The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind. It lists the day's specials. All three are American writers. The first is a Romantic novelist, the second a philosopher, and the third the poet who wrote "Fire and Ice." Who are they?

Answer: Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Frost

The board lists Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Robert Frost. You can identify the answer if you know that Frost wrote "Fire and Ice," as that leaves only two choices. Since Austen was English rather than American, you would know the answer was Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Frost.
3. In the Prologue to "Wolves of the Calla," one of the Manni refers to a story in "The Book of Manni." The story involves an Angel of Death, which passes over Ayjip and slays the first born of each house, unless the blood of a sacrificial lamb is daubed on the doorpost. Where in our world's literature does an almost identical story appear?

Answer: Exodus

In the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Book of Exodus, this is the last plague carried out against Egypt. While the Egyptian first born die, those Jews who daub their doorpost with the blood of a lamb are spared. This event is commemorated yearly in the Jewish feast of Passover. (Note the similarity between Ayjip and Egypt.)
4. After Eddie and Jake go "Todash" and see a mysterious legal agreement, Susannah is reminded of the quote "First we'll kill all the lawyers." This paraphrased line comes from the pen of what English playwright?

Answer: William Shakespeare

As usual, the line is taken out of context. The point of the line in King Henry VI is that the lawyers must first be killed before a tyranny can be established by rebellion. The lawyers, in this view, stand in the way of despotism.
5. Susannah says that when Eddie and Jake go "todash," it's almost like a novel by what author? (Hint: She says this author wrote about a dozen novels and "was maybe the best who ever lived. In his stories, folks in this big city called London keep meeting people they knew from other places or long ago.")

Answer: Charles Dickens

King is perhaps putting in a plug for the popular English novelist. Susannah says she had a college teacher who criticized Dickens's novels for being too "full of easy coincidences." Roland responds, "A teacher who either didn't know about ka or didn't believe in it."
6. Jake says he's read lots of mystery novels, by Rex Stout, by Ed McBain, and by what author of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"?

Answer: Agatha Christie

Rex Stout authored the Nero Wolfe series. Ed McBain is the pseudonym of Evan Hunter, who wrote several police novels, beginning with "Cop Hater," which was published in 1956.
7. Odetta "had laughed and applauded her way through" what book by Ralph Ellison?

Answer: Invisible Man

"The Time Machine" is by H.G. Wells; "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
8. Callahan, during his wanderings, thinks he recalls a paraphrase of a line from what poet's "Epistle to Be Left in the Earth?"

Answer: Archibald MacLeish

Callahan remembers the line as "It was not the voice of God but only the thunder." The poem contains these gloomy lines: "Do not listen. / Do not stand at dark in the open windows. / We before you have heard this: / they are voices: / They are not words at all but the wind rising. / Also none among us has seen God."
9. On the box that houses Black Nineteen, Roland finds the symbols of a leaf, a stone, and an unfound door. From what book does Callahan say these symbols are drawn?

Answer: Look Homeward, Angel

The book is by Thomas Wolfe, who also wrote "You Can't Go Home Again." "Moby Dick" was written by Herman Melville, and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Signs" by Maya Angelou.
10. Callahan gives names to the "Hitler brothers" who attack him. From what John Steinbeck novel do these names come?

Answer: Of Mice and Men

Only one of the choices listed was written by Steinbeck. Callahan names the big Hitler brother George and the shorter one Lennie. Callahan reflects, "It's certainly not the way Steinbeck would have written it."
11. As Callahan is being carved up by the Hitler brothers, he laments that no police will come to his rescue, not even this Agatha Christie investigator.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Callahan thinks of all four characters, but only Hercule is a creation of Agatha Christie. King also mentions Christie's Miss Marple. Perry Mason was created by Erle Stanley Gardner, Bond by Ian Flemming, and McGee by John D. MacDonald.
12. The man in the robe says to Callahan, "Name, name, what's in a name, someone or other said. Shakespeare? Virginia Woolf?" The quote does indeed originate with Shakespeare. In which play can it be found?

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

The quote comes from Act 2, scene 2. Juliet, lamenting that Romeo comes from the rival family of Montague, says, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet."
13. The man in black says, "Like the White Rabbit in 'Alice,' I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date." Here the man in black is referring to what author's work?

Answer: Lewis Carroll

Carroll wrote "Alice in Wonderland". Silverstein is known for his children's poetry (including the collection "Where the Sidewalk Ends"). Roald Dahl wrote "James and the Giant Peach", among other stories, and C.S. Lewis is renowned for his "Chronicles of Narnia".
14. When Eddie breaks into The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind, he uses a page from this Dr. Seuss book as a door jamb.

Answer: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The other books listed are not by Dr. Seuss. "There's a Hair in My Dirt" is an interesting children's book by the "Far Side" cartoonist, and "At the Zoo" is a children's book based on the Simon and Garfunkel song.
15. Andolini threatens to burn Tower's most valuable books, and makes reference to one that's worth $26,000. It is a signed copy of what book by James Joyce?

Answer: Ulysses

"Middlemarch" is by George Eliot, "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner, and "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene.
Source: Author skylarb

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