The Eggheads Story Book Quiz | Mixed Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which book published in 1979 by Stephen King told of Johnny Smith, a young man who woke up with psychic abilities after a five year coma?

Answer: The Dead Zone

"The Dead Zone" was the eighth novel written by Stephen King and followed on from his earlier successful stories "Carrie", "The Shining" and "The Stand". It told of Johnny Smith, a young man who suffered with a head injury after a horrific car accident, only to wake up five years later with psychic abilities when he touched people. This ability led him to plot the downfall of a politician intent on becoming president, who, if left unchecked, would lead to global disaster in the future.

(Question submitted by team player Plodd)

2. In 1997, Arundhati Roy won the Booker prize for her first novel, "The God of Small Things". The book's style was constructed in flashback, thus the story of love, class, colonialism, loyalty, politics, sorrow and betrayal only became clear in the end. In which coastal state in India, famous for its beaches, elephants and spa resort tourism, was this story set?

Answer: Kerala

"The God of Small Things" focused on the lives of twins Estha and Rahel from their childhood together to when they grew up separately, and wove in the lives of their family, culture and society.

It was Arundhati Roy's first book. Since its publication, she has chosen to focus on political activism, and has written a number of essays on human rights, anti-globalisation and environmental issues regarding a dam and ENRON's involvement in India.

(Question submitted by team player Riflingthruit)

3. Through his crystal clear photography and focused message, Japanese scientist Dr. Masaru Emoro wrote a book in 2001 offering evidence that molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words and feelings. What was the name of this New York Times bestseller?

Answer: The Hidden Messages in Water

To provide further research about how water plays a unique role in transporting the natural vibrations inherent in words, Dr. Emoto has since written the 2011 book "The Miracle of Water", also a best seller. Like "The Hidden Messages in Water", it offers extraordinary water-crystal photographs that provide convincing reasons for humans to choose positive words for a healthier and more peaceful life.

(Question submitted by team member CoachinChina)

4. Which book, written in 2001 by author Yann Martel, was originally turned down by five publishing houses before being published by Knopf Publishing, a company in his home country of Canada?

Answer: The Life of Pi

"The Life of Pi" was the story of a boy and a Bengal Tiger, the only eventual survivors of a shipwreck, and their uneasy co-existence on a lifeboat for 227 days in the Pacific Ocean. It was a worldwide bestseller, the winner of many literary prizes including "The Man Booker Prize for Fiction", and has been adopted for film by famed director, Ang Lee. President Obama wrote to the author personally, praising the book as being, "an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling."

(Question submitted by team player george48)

5. Leslie Thomas's unique style of writing has perhaps never been better illustrated than within his presentation of the "The Magic Army", first published in 1981. The novel was based on a major true life operation that took place in preparation for the D-Day landings of 1944. Do you know where this exercise was undertaken?

Answer: Slapton Sands, Devon

In December 1943, residents of the village of Slapton, Devon, were informed that they were to be evacuated to make way for the arrival of several thousand American troops who would be using the beach as a training area in advance of the proposed D-Day invasion of Normandy. At the time, the precise nature of these proposals was cloaked in secrecy to ensure that the invasion retained the element of absolute surprise. Slapton Sands was chosen as a location owing to its similarity to Utah Beach.

Leslie Thomas illustrated in graphic detail the often heart-warming, but sometimes harrowing, effect that this somewhat forgotten operation had on the lives of both villagers and troops caught up in this sequence of events.

(Question submitted by team player moonraker2)

6. Hugh Laurie was in a movie adaptation of this novel set in Papua New Guinea. The story followed a man who, begrudgingly at first, taught children at the local school by reading his favourite book, "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens, to them. What was the name of this novel?

Answer: Mister Pip

"Mister Pip" was written by New Zealand author Lloyd Jones, and was published in 2006. It explored how Mr Watts, a silent outsider, started to become a big part of the community as he began to read "Great Expectations" to local children. As he read, the contrast and similarities between the lives of the characters from the book and the children were explored. It was through one of the student's eyes, Matilda, that the novel was shaped. The reader saw her reaction to Mr Watts' reading the story in amongst the violence of a civil war, a dad in Australia and a very Christian mother, who after her husband abandoned them for the outside world, wanted to stop the sin everything in "Great Expectations" represented.

(Question submitted by team player Riflingthruit)

7. Who was the first literary character to have an obituary published in the New York Times on August 6, 1975?

Answer: Hercule Poirot

The character whom Agatha Christie endowed with the famous "little grey cells" has arguably turned out to be one of the most famous fictional detectives in modern fiction, up there with Sherlock Holmes. Her inspiration for him came from the Belgian refugees from the war who came to live in a nearby parish, and the way in which some of them never quite fit in, but did things their own way. In her autobiography, she regretted making him an older man in his first case, because she underestimated his popularity and didn't think she would have to explain exactly how old he really was. Poirot finally died in the book "Curtain", written during World War II but first published in 1975. The headline of the New York Times read "Hercule Poirot Is Dead; Famed Belgian Detective; Hercule Poirot, the Detective, Dies".

(Question submitted by team player george48)

8. Those of us who are fans of the detective novel know that many of our protagonists had a sidekick - Poirot had Hastings and Holmes had Watson. Who was Lord Peter Wimsey's helpmate?

Answer: Bunter

In the Lord Peter Wimsey stories written by Dorothy L. Sayers, much is made of the British class system, which Sayers deals with using mild satire. In particular, the stories depicted the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter, the two of them evidently being the best and closest of friends, yet Bunter was invariably punctilious in calling Lord Peter "my lord" even when they were alone, and "his lordship" in company.

(Question submitted by team player marym0901)

9. One of my favourite books of all tells the story of a red-headed orphan who was adopted by a middle-aged couple on Prince Edward Island. Do you know its title?

Answer: Anne of Green Gables

Written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables" was published in 1908. It is a work that has proved to be endlessly popular ever since, and gave birth to seven follow up books all revolving around the same theme. By the turn of the following century, this delightful story had been translated into thirty-two different languages, and re-told in two films, seven series for television, and five different stage adaptations. The books and the follow up works paint the most exquisite picture of Prince Edward Island, and trace the life of the red-headed Anne right through to adulthood, marriage and children of her own.

(Question and additional information supplied by Creedy)

10. Which well known and controversial play by Christopher Marlowe was first published in 1604, 11 years after the author's death?

Answer: The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus

The origins were based largely on a German legend about a scholar called Faust who had made a pact with the devil. The text was published well after the play was first performed. Two versions of the play existed, one in 1604 and the other 12 years later. In the latter version, some lines were omitted, but many were added, significantly lengthening the play and changing the tone by adding characters. The former one was considered, by most but not all, to be Marlowe's play. Faustus's fate was even left in doubt sometimes. All in all, a very interesting and engaging discourse on morality and free choice.

(Question submitted by team player george48)

Source: Author Plodd

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Eggheads Story Book Trivia Quiz

Come and play this team quiz from the Scrambled Eggheads about some of our favourite story books.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>