All this contemplation was provoked by a simple quiz I found today and prompts me to ask the question: How well do you remember the openings of famous novels?
Novel Quiz: Famous Opening Lines
From which famous novel are these first lines taken?
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."
a) Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
b) Angels and Insects, A. S. Byatt
c) The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
d) Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig
To find the answer, take the quiz. Good luck! Let me know how you go.
Novel Quiz: Famous Opening Lines
From which famous novel are these first lines taken?
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."
a) Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
b) Angels and Insects, A. S. Byatt
c) The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
d) Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig
To find the answer, take the quiz. Good luck! Let me know how you go.
posted by missmellifluous at 6:47 pm
13 Comments:
I missed number nine, eleven, and thirteen.
I got a couple others right that were guesses, though (10 and 8).
I still think that's pretty good.
How did you do?
I got three, eight and twelve wrong. Together we would have had a perfect score!
I missed 3, 8, 9 and 11. I think books 3, 8, 9 and 11 are perhaps not very good.
They got harder towards the end! I missed 9, 11, 12 and 13.
But with shame of face I have to admit that I haven't read a single one of the 13 novels that constituted the correct answers. :(
Which shows that I still have considerable literary-cultural awareness. :)
Beck, Certainly books 3, 8, 9, and 11, can't be very good if the majority of us are not familiar with them.
John, after majoring in English literature, I must confess to not having read most of the books on that list as well. There is simply too much to read. The quiz has sparked an interest for me though. The opening lines of The Metamorphosis are very strange and intriguing.
I got 5, 8 and 11 wrong. I like quizzes like this.
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' is a great book to read. Not a very cheerful book, but quite intriguing.
Technically Goethe's 'Faust' is a play, not a novel.
God Bless
Matthew
Glad you had a go, Candy. You did quite well.
Dyspraxic Fundamentalist, I also thought it strange that Goethe's Faust was featuring as an option in the answers. Perhaps it was a red herring. I may have to check out Kafka sometime soon, as long as "not very cheerful" doesn't mean disturbing.
I have the Trial but I've never read it. I'm going to check back and see if dyspraxic fundamentalist can tell me if it's as disturbing as Dracula. Wouldn't want to start another book I can't finish so soon!
I do not think the Trial is very disturbing. There is some violence, but it is not at all graphic.
It is about a guy who finds he is on trial and goes throught the most complex and bewildering judicial procedures imaginable.
We are never actually told what the poor guy is accused of having done, and it does not seem like he knows what it is either.
God Bless
Matthew
Thanks, Matthew.
I shall read it! It sounds intriguing, especially since one never learns the reason the man is on trial.
That list sure does contain some really good books, though. I've read twelve of the thirteen books and none of them are bad.
//JJ
Hi Johan,
Welcome. Having read twelve out of the thirteen is very impressive!Is there one of the books you would recommend above all of the others? Which one haven't you read? Do you have any plans to read the one book out of the thirteen that you have not yet read? A perfect score is always nice.
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