French Literature

Some Camus questions here which reminds me that I’d probably put “L’Étranger” in my top ten novels of all time. What that says about me I’m not sure I want to find out…

Questions

A real-time-strategy video game coming out in 2000 being based on it, which creatures are featured in a trilogy of sci-fi novels by French writer Bernard Werber?

ANTS

Dying at the young age of 24 in 1870 and having a limited corpus that includes “Poésies”, what is the nom de plume of French writer Isidore Lucien Ducasse?

COMTE DE LAUTRÉAMONT

In which country was the French poet Comte de Lautréamont born during a civil war that lasted from 1839 to 1851? A siege of its capital was featured in Alexandre Dumas’ novel “The New Troy”.

URUGUAY

The Comte de Lautréamont only wrote two works, “Poésies” and which novel that features an immoral title character? The latter work had an influence on the surrealist movement.

LES CHANTS DE MALDOROR

In a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, what follows ‘A Throw of the Dice’? It is particularly noted for its unusual form of presentation.

WILL NEVER ABOLISH CHANCE

Albert Camus introduces what philosophy in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus”, this holding among its views that there is irrationality throughout the universe?

PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSURD

Its French title being a translation of an address in Rome, with which novel did 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Patrick Modiano take home the 1978 Prix Goncourt? Its two-word English title is quite different.

RUE DES BOUTIQUES OBSCURES / MISSING PERSON

In which ‘absurd’ Albert Camus play does a man return home to find his sister and mother don’t recognise him? He then decides to become a lodger with them under an assumed identity.

THE MISUNDERSTANDING / LE MALENTENDU

Seen as a sequel to “The Myth of Sisyphus”, in which Albert Camus book-length essay does he discuss figures such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Fyodor Dostoevsky?

THE REBEL

Featuring a contemporary history of the Hundred Years’ War up to 1400, for which work is the medieval French-language writer Jean Froissart best known? There are extant copies featuring fantastic illustrations from that era.

CHRONICLES

Associated with the Oulipo movement, Hervé Le Tellier won the Prix Goncourt for which novel, the first time the award was presented by Zoom because of the ongoing Covid pandemic? It features planes and passenngers than inexplicably become duplicated.

L’ANOMALIE / THE ANOMALY

Not set in China, “The Mandarins” is a work that follows French intellectuals from the end of World War II until the mid-1950s. It won the 1954 Prix Goncourt for which writer?

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

Other than Puccini, which Naples-born composer has an opera called “La Bohème” based on the work of Henri Murger?

RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO

For what novel did André Malraux win the 1933 Prix Goncourt? Fred Zinnemann, Bernardo Bertolucci and Michael Cimino were all linked with a film adaptation of it but none completed their project.

MAN’S FATE / LA CONDITIONE HUMAINE

Forming a trilogy on revolutions in Asia with “The Conquerors” and “The Royal Navy”, André Malraux’s 1933 Prix Goncourt winning novel “Man’s Fate” is about the 1927 failed communist insurrection in which city?

SHANGHAI

Seen as a step towards the creation of Arsène Lupin, Fantômas and The Shadow, which 19th-century writer created the character Rocambole, in turn leading to the creation of the adjective ‘rocambolesque’?

PIERRE ALEXIS PONSON DU TERRAIL

Sci-fi Literature

I’m always surprised I’ve never heard of the Hugo Award winners, but perhaps I just need to expand my event horizons.

Questions

A novel narrated by ‘Johnny’ Rico, Robert A. Heinlein’s 1960 Hugo Best Novel winner “Starship Troopers” sees which military federation have to take on an extraterrestrial civilisation known as the ‘Bugs’?

TERRAN (FEDERATION)

Still not adapted into a film though it did get made into an early ’80s board game, which military sci-fi work by Joe Haldeman won the 1976 Hugo Award for Best Novel? It featured a planet called Charon before the satellite of Pluto was discovered.

THE FOREVER WAR

Hugo Award winners are chosen by members at which annual event, with it having both a long and short form name? Mainly held in the United States, they do mix it up occasionally with Yokohama, Brighton and Helsinki all having been hosts.

WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION / WORLDCON

Martha Wells has won four Hugo Awards including the 2021 Best Novel for “Network Effect”, this being the fifth novel in which series?

THE MURDERBOT DIARIES

“Calculating the Stars” is the first novel in the “Lady Astronaut” series and won the 2019 Hugo Best Novel for which puppeteer, who shares her middle name with Joe Biden?

MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL

What is the third novel in N.K. Jemisin’s “Broken Earth” trilogy, the 2018 Hugo Best Novel winner? This followed “The Obelisk Gate” in winning the award.

THE STONE SKY

What is the first novel in N.K. Jemisin’s “Broken Earth” trilogy, the 2016 Hugo Best Novel winner? Set in the Stillness, its title refers to a catastrophic period of climate change.

THE FIFTH SEASON

2002 sci-fi work “Altered Carbon” saw which British writer win a Philip K. Dick Award? He has also written the stories for 2010s first person shooters “Crysis 2” and “Syndicate”.

RICHARD MORGAN

The first in the “Imperial Radch” space opera trilogy, which work by Ann Leckie won her the 2014 Hugo Best Novel? The first word in the title starts off the names of the second and third books in the series.

ANCILLARY JUSTICE

American writer Philip Nowlan is best known for creating which character that first appeared in 1929? A 1982 arcade game named for this hero carries the subtitle “Planet of Zoom”.

BUCK ROGERS

A material that dissolves before it hits water, what is the fictional substance created by Isaac Asimov that features in a spoof scientific paper and a few subsequent short stories, one of which highlights its “Micropsychiatric Applications”?

THIOTIMOLINE

A creative consultant for the TV series “Stargate Universe”, which American author who is known for his “Old Man’s War” series won Hugo Best Novel in 2013 with “Redshirts”?

JOHN SCALZI

Winning the 2012 Hugo Best Novel for “Among Others”, which Welsh-Canadian author is also known for “Tooth and Claw”, a novel that mixes the Victorian age with dragons?

JO WALTON

Amassing an impressive eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards, which author won the 2011 Hugo Best Novel for the diptych “Blackout/All Clear”, both volumes making up part of her “Oxford Time Travel” series?

CONNIE WILLIS

Considered to be part of the ‘weird fiction’ genre, which writer of the 2010 Hugo Best Novel winner “The City & the City” is also well known for “Perdido Street Station”, a novel that features both magic and steampunk?

CHINA MIÉVILLE

Nobel Prize in Literature

It can be remarkably awkward finding details in English about the important works by some of these laureates. I spent time sifting through Wikipedia in German and French to try and provide some context. Who knows if I’ve really understood?

Questions

Published in parts over the course of twelve years and his only full length novel, what is the name of Ivan Bunin’s autobiographical work that was written while the author was settled in France?

THE LIFE OF ARSENIEV

Causing a lot of controversy at the time, which short novel by Ivan Bunin tells the story of two brothers, one who is a brute drunk and one who is more sympathetic? The realism portrayed differed to the ‘unspoiled’ depictions of peasants that was typical for the time.

THE VILLAGE

The first book of a trilogy, which Imre Kertész novel is a semi-autobiographical tale about a 14 year old boy’s experience in Auschwitz and Buchenwald?

FATELESSNESS

Having a five-word title, which novel by Imre Kertész deals with the struggles of a Holocaust survivor after the war, their views including not wanting to bring a child into a world that allows such atrocities to happen?

KADDISH FOR AN UNBORN CHILD

What is the name of the maid in a 1931 novel by Frans Sillenpää, the Finnish winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize of Literature?

SILJA (“The Maid Silja”)

Coming out one year after the end of the Finnish Civil War, which novel by Frans Sillenpää tells the story of how 60 year old Johan Abraham Benjaminsson was executed during that 1918 event?

MEEK HERITAGE

Winner of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature, French writer Claude Simon was born in the capital city of which African country?

MADAGASCAR

A novel that features unnamed protagonists and covers events in both World Wars, which 1989 work by 1985 Nobel laureate Claude Simon is named for a type of tree?

THE ACACIA

Employing innovative techniques to render the mind’s thought processes, a 1960 work by Nobel Prize in Literature winner Claude Simon features a titular road named for which part of Europe?

FLANDERS

Featuring long sentences and like many other works by him depicting the horrors of war, which 1981 novel by Antananarivo-born author Claude Simon has a title that is a nod to a work by a Roman author?

THE GEORGICS

European literature

Italo Calvino is definitely my sort of nonsense.

Questions

Adapted into a 1984 film with Marcelo Mastroianni in the title role, the play “Henry IV” was by which Italian author who went on to win the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature?

LUIGI PIRANDELLO

Divided into 12 books and featuring the Greek love rat Theseus, which epic poem by Giovanni Boccaccio was the basis for Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale”?

TESEIDA

Part of the commedia dell’arte genre, which 18th century play by Carlo Gondoni features a harlequin named Truffaldino who is first in the employ of Beatrice and then Florindo, with their relationship making up part of the plot?

THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS

Although named for the Greek hero Theseus, the subtitle of Boccaccio’s “Teseida” concerns the nuptials of which sister to the Amazon queen Hippolyta?

EMILIA / EMILY

Other than “The Knight’s Tale”, which 1634 work of literature is based on Boccaccio’s “Teseida”, seeing the re-appearance of the characters Theseus, Hippolyta and Emilia?

THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN

Their first date occurring on 16 June 1904, what was the first name of Jame Joyce’s wife who was born with the surname Barnacle? A 2000 film of this name sees Ewan McGregor portray the Irish writer.

NORA

A group associated with experimental writing that included the likes of Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, OuLiPo is short for what French phrase?

OUVROIR DE LITTÉRATURE POTENTIELLE

Featuring a literature professor called Leda, which Elena Ferrante novel was adapted into a 2021 film that received three nominations at the Oscars?

THE LOST DAUGHTER

Set in Naples, which Elena Ferrante novel was adapted into an Italian language Netflix series that was released in 2023 and ran for six episodes? That adaptation included “Rain Man” actress and double David di Donatello Award winner Valeria Golino among its cast.

THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS

Included with “The Baron in the Trees” and “The Nonexistent Knight” in Italo Calvino’s “Our Ancestors”, “The Cloven Viscount” features a noble from Terralba with what name? This is shared by an Italian sculptor with the surname Rosso who was a contemporary of Auguste Rodin.

MEDARDO (OF TERRALBA)

The wife of Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante wrote which 1974 novel that was adapted into a 1986 film starring Claudia Cardinale? Its theatrical release was over two hours long, with there also being a television version that runs to over four hours.

LA STORIA / HISTORY

Russian Literature

I’ve read such a small amount of Russian literature that it may even be possible to list them all. “We”, some Gogol stories, “Crime and Punishment”, “Anna Karenina”. I shamefully can’t think of anything else. There must be something… Ahh, “The Cherry Orchard”!

Questions

In which novella does the narrator argue against the ‘crystal palace’ utopia depicted in Nikolay Chernyshevsky’s “What is to be Done?”, suggesting that suffering is essential for us to be able to love?

NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND

Georgian born author Boris Akunin is known for creating which 19th century detective, with the first novel in the series being adapted into a 2002 Russian television movie called “Azazel”?

ERAST FANDORIN

The setting of the country being changed from that used in the original play, who directed a 1957 film based on Maxim Gorky’s “The Lower Depths”, the title being “Donzoko” in their native language?

AKIRA KUROSAWA

Being shot on the banks of the Seine, who directed a 1936 film version of Maxim Gorky’s play “The Lower Depths”?

JEAN RENOIR

Following a stray dog who is given the name Sharik and their subsequent transformation, the 1925 novella “Heart of a Dog” was written by which Russian author?

MIKHAIL BULGAKOV

Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” is set during the period of which Russian system introduced by Vladimir Lenin in 1921, this also being known by a three-letter acronym? It was replaced in 1928 by Joseph Stalin’s Great Break.

NEP / NEW ECONOMIC POLICY

Its publication initially prohibited in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” was circulated as what ‘self-publishing’ dissident activity designed to avoid Soviet censorship before being officially released in 1987?

SAMIZDAT

A huge seller that follows Pavel Korchagin around the time of the Russian Civil War, “How the Steel was Tempered” is a work by which socialist realist writer? His name was included in a 2015 list issued by Ukraine that banned over 500 communist figures from being commemorated in public place names, with others including Karl Marx, Valentina Tereshkova and the aforementioned fictional character Pavel Korchagin.

NIKOLAI OSTROVSKY

Executed in 1940, Isaac Babel is known for which collection of short stories that take place during the Polish-Soviet War that followed World War I, them being based on his first hand experience of the horrors of war?

RED CAVALRY

Adapted into the silent film “Benya Krik”, that title coming from the name of a character in the collection, which group of four stories by Isaac Babel takes its name from the city in which a group of Jewish undesirables live? The setting is around the time of the Russian Revolution.

ODESSA STORIES

Booker Prize

A prize that decides one addition to a ton of bookshelves every year, I always feel a tinge of ‘laziness’ when I get one wrong as I clearly haven’t done enough spadework. You know these will appear at some point! Though maybe not the 2021 International longlist nominees…

Questions

International Booker Prize – Done 2021 longlist, winners to 2022

14 Jul 23 (Not uploaded)

Her work mainly falling in the horror genre, which Argentine author was nominated for the 2021 International Booker Prize for the short story collection “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed”, losing to David Diop’s “At Night All Blood is Black”? Other works include “Things We Lost in the Fire” and “Chicos Que Vuelvan”.

MARIANA ENRIQUEZ

The book set on a spacecraft and featuring interactions between a human and android crew, which Danish author was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “The Employees”? Initially she published poetry and her 2015 novel “Celestine” was a story about a teacher and a ghost.

OLGA RAVN

His first book of stories “La Antarctica empieza aqui” gaining critical acclaim, which Chilean author born in Rotterdam was nominated for the 2021 International Booker Prize for “When We Cease to Understand the World”? Difficult to pigeonhole, it discusses scientific discoveries over an unusual course of essays and fiction.

BENJAMÍN LABATUT

A winner of the Andrei Bely Prize for poetry who sometimes uses the Russian narrative form of skaz in her works, which Russian was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “In Memory of Memory”, a work about – you guessed it – memory?

MARIA STEPANOVA

Winning the Prix Goncourt in 2017 with “The Order of the Day”, which French author was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “The War of the Poor”, a 16th-century account that has themes including equality?

ERIC VUILLARD

Seen as an experimental author, which female Chinese writer was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “I Live in the Slums” as well as the same award in 2019 for “Love in the New Millennium”, the former being a collection of short stories and the latter featuring constant surveillance?

CAN XUE

With cinematography provided by Oleg Mutu who had also worked on “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”, “In Bloom” won awards at a number of film festivals for which Georgian author and director, who was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “The Pear Field”?

NANA EKVTIMISHVILI

Sounding like the offspring of two outstanding Dutch footballers, which Dutch writer was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “Summer Brother”? He is also known for writing children’s books and the novel “Birk”.

JAAP ROBBEN

Responsible for the “Atlas of Remote Islands” which is brilliantly sub-titled with “Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will”, which German writer was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “An Inventory of Losses”, where one of the subjects is the demolished Palace of the Republic in Berlin?

JUDITH SCHALANSKY

Highlighting a 1949 gang rape in the Negev Desert that was not fictional, which Palestinian was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2021 for “Minor Detail”?

ADANIA SHIBLI

Although born in Prague, which writer wrote the novel “Wretchedness” in Swedish, it being nominated in 2021 for the International Booker Prize?

ANDRZEJ TICHÝ

Who is the first author to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the International Booker Prize, also being the first woman to win the latter award?

ALICE MUNRO

Only writing five novels though there is other material that can be explored, who was the second winner of the International Booker Prize, two years after Ismail Kadare became the first?

CHINUA ACHEBE

Dying in 2018, who was the first American to win the International Booker Prize in 2011, the fourth overall and second from North America?

PHILIP ROTH

Which 2013 American winner of the International Booker Prize was married to Paul Auster from 1974 to 1977, and is known for her translations of “Swann’s Way” and “Madame Bovary”?

LYDIA DAVIS

Adapted into a 2009 film with elements of eroticism, which South Korean writer won the International Booker Prize in 2016 for “The Vegetarian”, with the translation being done by Deborah Smith?

HAN (KANG)

His other appealing titles including “The Book of Intimate Grammar”, which writer clearly has a funny side as he wrote the 2017 International Booker Prize winning novel “A Horse Walks Into a Bar”?

DAVID GROSSMAN

Like Alice Munro she has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Who added the 2018 International Booker Prize to her awards collection for the novel “Flights”?

OLGA TOKARCZUK

Depicting unhappy marriages in her native country, which Omani won the 2019 International Booker Prize for “Celestial Bodies”?

JOKHA AL-HARTHI

A debut novel about a Dutch farm girl with a strict Christian upbringing, who won for the International Booker Prize for “The Discomfort of Evening” in 2020?

MARIEKE LUCAS RIJNEVELD

What was the novel that won Nadine Gordimer the 1974 Booker Prize, featuring a white antihero called Mehring who struggles to run a farm during the times of Apartheid?

THE CONSERVATIONIST

Arguably harder to remember than the author’s actual name, what was the six-word title of the novel that saw Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka take home the 2022 Booker Prize?

THE SEVEN MOONS OF MAALI ALMEIDA

A family saga that spans multiple decades that each contain a death, what is the name of the work that saw Damon Galgut become the third South African to win the Booker Prize in 2021?

THE PROMISE

Sharing the prize with Margaret Atwood’s “The Testaments”, what is the name of the novel by Bernardine Evaristo which won the Booker in 2019? It follows 12 characters with a chapter dedicated to each, their various lives intertwining throughout the work.

GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER

The first time an American won the award, what was the name of Paul Beatty’s novel that won the Booker Prize in 2016, its setting being the fictional Californian town of Dickens?

THE SELLOUT

Less than 200 pages, Julian Barnes finally won the Booker Prize in 2011 with which novel? He had previously been nominated for “Arthur & George”, “England, England” and “Flaubert’s Parrot”.

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING

The title character being a Jewish philosopher, which novel by Manchester-born Howard Jacobson won the 2010 Booker Prize?

THE FINKLER QUESTION

The title referring to a theory of William Hogarth’s, which novel set in the 1980s by Alan Hollinghurst won the 2004 Booker Prize?

THE LINE OF BEAUTY

Dying in Perugia on the same day as Ray Bradbury passed away, Barry Unsworth shared the 1992 Booker Prize for which novel? He has also been nominated for “Pascali’s Island”, “Morality Play” and “The Ruby in her Navel”.

SACRED HUNGER

The shortest yet to have won the Booker Prize, which novel by Penelope Fitzgerald won the 1979 award at the expense of V.S. Naipaul’s “A Bend in the River” and William Golding’s “Darkness Visible”?

OFFSHORE

A television film adaptation starring both “Brief Encounter” stars Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, which Paul Scott novel won the 1977 Booker Prize, it featuring characters that had been mentioned in his “Raj Quartet”?

STAYING ON

A rugby league player for Leeds, that having a direct influence on his first novel “This Sporting Life”, David Storey managed to win the Booker Prize in 1976 for which novel, it being set in a Yorkshire mining village?

SAVILLE

A story about a teacher who takes a trip to the seaside, which work by Stanley Middleton shared the 1974 Booker Prize with Nadine Gordimer’s “The Conservationist”?

HOLIDAY

Centred around three tales set in different locations across the world, which novel by Trinidad-born Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul won him the 1971 Booker Prize?

IN A FREE STATE

The first installment of his “Empire Trilogy”, what was the name of the J.G. Farrell novel that won the Lost Booker Prize, this being a special edition of the event that was held to consider books that fell into a time period that wasn’t eligible for the main award because of a rules alteration?

TROUBLES

Welsh author Bernice Rubens was the first woman to win the Booker Prize in 1970 for which novel that features a character who thinks he sees silverfish everywhere?

THE ELECTED MEMBER

Its settings including Cairo, which novel by P.H. Newby was the first ever winner on the Booker Prize in 1969?

SOMETHING TO ANSWER FOR

Later going on to become Leader of the Opposition in Canada, for which novel did Michael Ignatieff make it on to the Booker Prize short-list in 1993? Sharing its name with a song that reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, it centres around a woman who is losing her cognitive abilities.

SCAR TISSUE

Set in a Zürich clinic for people with Alzheimer’s, “Time Shelter” was the first Bulgarian novel to be nominated for the International Booker Prize. It went on to win the award in 2023 for which alliterative Bulgarian author?

GEORGI GOSPODINOV

Comics and Graphic Novels

Too many questions about ducks; I must have had a Gearloose when I decided to write them. Also an overdose of “Tintin” as I make an attempt to familiarise myself with all 24 titles, only one of which I have actually read.

Questions

Featuring a masked crime fighter who wears a power tie, which Will Eisner series from 1940 to 1952 is noted for its experiment in content and form?

THE SPIRIT

Taking place in 1930s New York City, which 1988 Will Eisner graphic novel was the second in his “Contract with God” trilogy and features characters struggling with the effects of the Great Depression?

A LIFE FORCE

Depicting the rise and fall of the titular neighbourhood, which 1995 Will Eisner graphic novel was the third in his “Contract with God” trilogy?

DROPSIE AVENUE

Born in Wigan, who wrote the alternative history graphic novel “Grandville” and its sequels, where France was victorious in the Napoleonic Wars? It features the Scotland Yard figure of Archie LeBrock, an anthropomorphic badger.

BRYAN TALBOT

Notable for his white hair, what is the surname of Luther in a graphic novel series by Bryan Talbot, with its sequel “Heart of Empire” focusing on Victoria, Luther’s daughter?

ARKWRIGHT

Who wrote the British comic “Beau Peep”, which follows the misadventures of the title character in the French Foreign Legion so that he can keep away from his wife Doris?

ROGER KETTLE

Set in 2023 Paris, for which graphic novel trilogy is French-Serbian Enki Bilal best known, taking its name from the surname of the blue haired protagonist?

NIKOPOL TRILOGY

Which Australian pair are responsible for the sexually explicit webcomic “Oglaf”?

TRUDY COOPER AND DOUG BAYNE

Which comic by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne centres around a guy who has trouble talking to girls whose fashion sense includes wearing a kepi?

PLATINUM GRIT

Named after a pioneering Australian cartoonist rather than an actor, which awards honour Australian comics?

LEDGER AWARDS

Which Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud work follows a warrior who rides a pterodactyl-like creature over a strange, desolate landscape?

ARZACH

Originally released as “Une Aventure de John Difool”, which work by Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud is an epic space opera that features artwork from the abandoned “Dune” film project by Alejandro Jodorowsky?

THE INCAL

The cartoonist Brad Anderson is best known for which comic strip named for its canine lead, with other characters including a Siamese cat called King Tut?

MARMADUKE

Created by Carl Barks, what is the fictional city that is home to Scrooge McDuck?

DUCKBURG

A cousin of Donald Duck who in contrast to that normally unlucky character is blessed with good fortune, which anthropomorphic goose is a rival for the affection of Daisy Duck?

GLADSTONE GANDER

Having an alliterative name for their group, which clan of canine criminals constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck?

BEAGLE BOYS

Of which fictional scouting organisation are Huey, Dewey and Louie members?

THE JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS (OF THE WORLD)

Unsurprisingly named after a water bird, who is the alliteratively named legendary founder of Duckburg?

CORNELIUS COOT

Wearing a kilt, which South African Peking duck is a business rival to Scrooge McDuck?

FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD

Which business rival of Scrooge McDuck is an obvious play on words on a very well known businessman?

JOHN D. ROCKERDUCK

Which Italian sorceress constantly attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck’s number one dime, as she believes that it will enable her to attain the same wealth as its current owner?

MAGICA DE SPELL

The white armless character Shmoo first appeared in which comic strip that features a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA?

L’IL ABNER

A contraction of his real name, which cartoonist was responsible for the comic strip “L’il Abner”?

AL CAPP

Who directed the 2008 adaptation of the graphic novel “Wanted”, a film that focuses on a league of self-righteous assassins rather than super villains?

TIMUR BEKMAMBETOV

Who wrote the graphic novel “Wanted”, that along with titles like “The Unfunnies” and “Kick-Ass” make up a ‘world’ indicated by the surname of the author?

MARK MILLAR

One being featured in the graphic novel “Usagi Yojimbo”, a story where the rabbit main character occasionally sells his services as a bodyguard, what two words can be used for a samurai’s quest of pilgrimage?

MUSHA SHUGYO (Means ‘Training in warriorship’)

“Usagi Yojimbo” includes references to which manga first published in 1970 that chronicles the story of the Shogun’s executioner Ogami Itto, who disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyu clan is forced to take the path of the assassin to seek revenge on them?

LONE WOLF AND CUB

Having the sub-title “The Usagi Chronicles”, what is the name of the adaptation of “Usagi Yojimbo” released on Netflix in 2020?

SAMURAI RABBIT

Created by ‘The world’s fastest cartoonist’ Spaniard-Mexican Sergio Aragonés, which ‘Prince of Chichester’ is a master swordsman, with this series having been an influence on “Usagi Yojimbo”?

GROO THE WANDERER

The first of the 24 volumes in “The Adventures of Tintin” series saw him visit which title location, where he has to evade the secret police known as OGPU in order to complete his assignment?

LAND OF THE SOVIETS

A story that features Al Capone trying to throw his hat into the ring of diamond production, what is the location in Africa that is contained in the title of the second “Tintin” volume?

CONGO

Like “Tintin in the Congo” featuring the famous gangster Al Capone, “Tintin in America” saw the cartoon hero encounter a tribe of which Native Americans who are associated with the World Heritage Site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta?

BLACKFOOT

The first of Tintin’s adventures to include the characters Thomson and Thompson, which objects belonged to the Pharaoh in the title of the fourth volume in Hergé’s series?

CIGARS

Appearing as an antagonist in both “Cigars of the Pharaoh” and “The Blue Lotus”, which of Tintin’s enemies was partly modelled on Aristotle Onassis and in a later volume goes by the alias Marquis of Gorgonzola?

ROBERTO RASTAPOPOLOUS

Set in the fictional South American country of San Theodoros, what type of object is the titular ‘Broken Ear’ in the sixth volume of “The Adventures of Tintin”, this being an object linked to magic and supernatural forces with a name that was later used in a more erotic context by Alfred Binet?

FETISH

In which real life country can “The Black Island” be found in the seventh volume of the “The Adventures of Tintin”, the title location being home to a ferocious beast that will kill any visitors?

UK / SCOTLAND

Partly modelled on the opera singer Maria Callas, which recurring character in “The Adventures of Tintin” had her first appearance in “King Ottakar’s Sceptre”, where our hero gets in a scrape after trying to evade her singing?

BIANCA CASTAFIORE

Set in Morocco, what does the crab have in the title of the ninth volume of “The Adventures of Tintin”, this being the first work to feature Captain Haddock?

GOLDEN CLAWS

After a meteoroid misses Earth and fails to cause the end of the world, Tintin is among those racing to find a fragment of it that has plunged into the Arctic Ocean in which tenth volume of Herge’s oeuvre?

THE SHOOTING STAR

Adapted into a 2011 film by Steven Spielberg, what is the ‘Unicorn’ in the Tintin adventure “The Secret of the Unicorn”?

A SHIP

Sharing a surname with a real-life pirate who was active in the early 18th-century, whose treasure is being sought in the title of the twelfth volume of “The Adventures of Tintin”?

RED RACKHAM

A story where Professor Calculus get abducted and members of a returned archaeological mission are beset by a mystery illness, there are seven of what item in the title of the thirteenth volume of the “Tintin” series?

CRYSTAL BALLS

Continuing the story arc from “The Seven Crystal Balls”, which volume in Hergé’s series sees Tintin & co. head to the Andes to try and rescue Professor Calculus? It was adapted into a 1997 video game of the same name that appeared on the SNES.

PRISONERS OF THE SUN

Left unfinished during World War II and originally released around ten years later, which of the “Tintin” volumes went through a re-work in the early 70s where the setting was moved from the British Mandate for Palestine to the fictional Khemed? The title contains a nickname for a significant energy resource.

LAND OF BLACK GOLD

Seen in the volumes of “Destination Moon” and “Explorers on the Moon”, what two colours make up the checkerboard rocket that Tintin uses to get to the titular location?

RED & WHITE

Which character from “The Adventures of Tintin” series gives his name to an ‘Affair’ in the title of the eighteenth volume from the series, which most definitely does not refer to a love tryst?

PROFESSOR CALCULUS (“The Calculus Affair”)

Seeing the return of recurring villains J.M. Dawson and Roberto Rastapopoulous, which sea is featured in the title of the nineteenth “Tintin” volume alongside some ominous sounding sharks?

RED SEA (“The Red Sea Sharks”)

Only the fourth volume to feature ‘Tintin’ in its title, the first since the first three volumes, “Tintin in Tibet” sees the title hero presented with what kind of Tibetan silk or cotton scarf that is associated with ceremonial occasions in the region?

KHATA

A possession of Bianca Castafiore, what titular jewel is stolen in the twenty-first volume of the “Tintin” series, the only one of the 24 volumes that sees the characters remain at Marlinspike Hall throughout the story?

(THE CASTAFIORE) EMERALD

A story that features a flying saucer, to which city was ‘Flight 714’ heading to in the title of the twenty-second volume of the “Tintin” series?

SYDNEY

“Tintin and the Picaros” sees the appearance of which arch-rival of General Alcazar, who had previously mentioned in the “The Broken Ear”, “The Seven Crystal Balls” and “The Red Sea Sharks”? He shares his name with a foodstuff found in South American cuisine.

GENERAL TAPIOCA

In the final volume in the “Tintin” series, the titular ‘Alph-Art is a creation of Ramó Nash, an avant-garde artist of what nationality?

JAMAICAN

UK Literature mix

Been on a revision spell of my old UK literature questions, so here are the ones I still couldn’t get right.

Questions

In the “Chronicles of Narnia”, Prince Caspian established which long reigning dynasty? It was on the brink of being defeated by the Calormene empire when Aslan called for the world of Narnia to be destroyed.

TELMARINE

Its title being influenced by the “1001 Nights” rather than a Romanian abortion film, what Salman Rushdie novel features jinns and has depictions of the philosophers Averroes and Al-Ghazali?

TWO YEARS, EIGHT MONTHS AND TWENTY-EIGHT NIGHTS

Sheridan Le Fanu’s lesbian vampire story “Carmilla” was published as a serial in which London literary magazine that was published from 1871 to 1873?

THE DARK BLUE

Who is the female character in “To the Lighthouse” who towards the end of the novel finally finishes her painting, despite Charles Tansley asserting that women can neither paint nor write?

LILY BRISCOE

Which British author is responsible for the 2018 novel “Codename Villanelle”, the basis for the TV series “Killing Eve”? He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1995 for his novel “Atlantic”.

LUKE JENNINGS

Who “is unwell” in the title of a comic play by Keith Waterhouse? This alcohol-abusing writer of The Spectator’s “Low Life” column was played in a TV movie by his friend Peter O’Toole.

JEFFREY BERNARD

Published after his death, which poem with a four-word title by Percy Bysshe Shelley was written in response to Manchester’s Peterloo massacre?

THE MASQUE OF ANARCHY

Which 1960 novel by Alexander Trocchi was notable as being the first to be banned for obscenity that wasn’t of a sexual nature, but rather for the lifestyle it represented, heroin drug use?

CAIN’S BOOK

Notable for being largely written in rhyming couplets, which Caryl Churchill work is about the British stock market, with her other works including the career driven “Top Girls”?

SERIOUS MONEY

What is “against reason and mankind” in the title of a poem by 17th century satirist John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, who died of venereal disease at the age of 33?

A SATYR

Which 17th century English playwright is known for amusing titles such as “The Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub”, “She Would if She Could” and “The Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter”?

GEORGE ETHEREGE

“From Allyship to Coalition” is the sub-title to which 2021 work with a six-word title by Dublin-born “Don’t Touch My Hair” author Emma Dabiri?

WHAT WHITE PEOPLE CAN DO NEXT

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and adapted into a 1992 film starring Jeremy Irons, who wrote the 1983 novel “Waterland”, which was set in the Fens of eastern England? It was followed by “Shuttlecock”.

GRAHAM SWIFT

What is a short work by Graham Swift set entirely during one day in 1924, being adapted into a 2021 film starring Olivia Colman and Colin Firth?

MOTHERING SUNDAY

Portraying experiences of supernatural creatures and otherworldly dimensions, which novel by William Hope Hodgson was praised by HP Lovecraft and Terry Pratchett, being a hallucinatory account of a recluse’s stay at a remote location?

THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND

Which is the only one of the “Canterbury Tales” not to begin with ‘The’?

SIR THOPAS’ TALE

Who does Sir Thopas try to win in his “Canterbury Tale”?

THE ELF QUEEN

Apart from “Sir Thopas’ Tale”, which “Canterbury Tale” is told by Geoffrey Chaucer himself, being a translation of a work by Renaud de Louens?

THE TALE OF MELIBEE

The longest of them all and built around the theme of penitence, what is the last of the “Canterbury Tales”?

THE PARSON’S TALE

Zadie Smith’s novel “White Teeth” centres on Englishman Archie Jones and his wartime friend Samad Iqbal, who carries what nationality?

BANGLADESHI

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, what is the name of Zadie Smith’s 2005 novel that is loosely based on E.M. Forster’s work “Howard’s End”?

ON BEAUTY

Which 2012 work by Zadie Smith takes its name from a postcode, being adapted for a television film that aired in 2016?

NW

Olaudah Equiano, famous for his autobiography, was according to his memoir born in which African country?

BENIN

Olaudah Equiano, famous for his autobiography, was known for most of his life by the name of which famous king?

GUSTAVUS VASSA

Which seven words precede “Olaudah Equiano” in the title of his autobiography?

THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF

Taking its title from a Brutus quote in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, “Taken at the Flood” is a work set in 1946 that is written by which author?

AGATHA CHRISTIE

Known for writing “The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner”, James Hogg was given which two-word nickname which includes his place of birth in Selkirkshire?

ETTRICK SHEPHERD

Stemming from the 16th century works of Paracelsus, what type of air spirit is Ariel in Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”?

SYLPH

What type of creature is Umbriel in “The Rape of the Lock”, who travels to the ominously named Cave of Spleen?

GNOME

What is the pseudonym of Jamie Morton’s father, the writer of the “Belinda Blinked” books that feature the protagonist Belinda Blumenthal? These are the subject of the podcast “My Dad Wrote a Porno”.

ROCKY FLINTSTONE

The black dragon Ancalagon was killed by which father of Elrond? When it fell to earth it destroyed the volcanic mountains of Thangorodrim, marking the end of Morgoth’s final resistance against the Valar.

EÄRENDIL

Minor UK Poet Laureates

I was going through the list of Poet Laureates looking for those that didn’t set instant light bulbs going, simply because I couldn’t add any context to Nahum Tate when he came up as an answer.

Questions

Poet Laureate at the turn of the 20th century and not particularly well remembered today, it has been alleged that which alliterative poet got the role because he supported Lord Salisbury in the 1895 General Election? His work “Haunts of Ancient Peace” provides the name of the first track on Van Morrison’s 1980 album “Common One”.

ALFRED AUSTIN

Called a ‘poetaster’ because he apparently wasn’t very good, who became Poet Laureate during the French Revolution, being followed by the more notable Lake Poet Robert Southey in 1813?

HENRY JAMES PYE

More prominent as a poet than his father of the same name, which Poet Laureate at the start of the French Revolution is considered to be one of the ‘Graveyard poets’, a loose grouping characterised by their morbid works that also included Thomas Gray? “The Pleasure of Melancholy” is an example of his work.

THOMAS WARTON

The longest in the role prior to Robert Southey, which alliterative writer became Poet Laureate in 1757 after the refusal of Thomas Gray? Also a playwright, his poetry includes “The Je Ne Sais Quoi”.

WILLIAM WHITEHEAD

A target of the satirical Alexander Pope poem “The Dunciad”, which alliterative Poet Laureate was in the role from 1730 to 1757, beating Nahum Tate’s record for length in the role? He wrote an entertaining autobiography whose title begins “An Apology for the Life of”.

COLLEY CIBBER

The youngest to date to have become Poet Laureate, which Yorskhire-born poet was rewarded with the role in 1718 after penning a work about Thomas Pelham-Holles’ marriage to Lady Harriet Godolphin? Pelham-Holles is also known as the Duke of Newcastle, later having two spells as Prime Minister.

LAWRENCE EUSDEN

Considered the first editor of the works of William Shakespeare, who had a short spell as Poet Laureate from 1715 to 1718? He also wrote plays with his works including “Tamerlane”, “The Ambitious Stepmother” and the suspicious sounding “The Biter”.

NICHOLAS ROWE

Being a target of Alexander Pope’s satirical poem “The Dunciad” just like the later Poet Laureate Colley Cibber, Nahum Tate is also known as a lyricist, having provided the libretto to which opera that had its premiere in 1689?

DIDO AND AENEAS

Changing the ending so that it was a happy one, Nahum Tate wrote an adaptation of which William Shakespeare play, keeping some of the lines and modifying others only slightly? It first appeared in 1981 and was preferred by Samuel Johnson to the original.

KING LEAR

John Dryden attacked which second Poet Laureate in his work “Absalom and Achitophel”, one of a series of barbed exchanges between the two that emerged after political and religious differences came to the fore? Dying only three years into the role, both him and his son Charles produced work as playwrights.

THOMAS SHADWELL

American literature legacy set

I wrote most of these a while back and some could probably do with a little fleshing out, but the sun is shining and I’m in a lazy mood. Though I have just revised these, so perhaps not that lazy.

Questions

Which salesman in the 1946 Eugene O’Neill play “The Iceman Cometh” has given up the drink? When he visits Harry Hope’s saloon it drives the other dead-end alcoholics into turmoil.

THEODORE “HICKEY” HICKMAN

Who was nominated for an Oscar for portraying Louise Bryant in “Reds”, a feminist and journalist known for her sympathetic portrayal of Russia and the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution?

DIANE KEATON

Also a documentary film, which 2006 self-help book has sold over 30 million copies and is based on the law of attraction? This essentially means that whatever consumes your thoughts is what you’ll get out of life, so think good things!

THE SECRET

Based on the law of attraction, which Australian wrote both the 2006 self-help book and the documentary called “The Secret”? She has very white hair and sometimes a bindi between her eyebrows.

RHONDA BYRNE

Depicting the fragmentation of a family under disillusionment with the American dream, which 1979 play by Sam Shepard won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?

BURIED CHILD

In the title of a Wallace Stevens poem, what does autumn have?

AURORAS (OF AUTUMN)

Cleanth Brooks’ 1947 collection of poetry essays “The Well Wrought Urn”, gets its name from a reference to whose poem “The Canonization”?

JOHN DONNE

Portraying an intimate description of French village life, which short work by Natalie Zemon Davis is a notable work in microhistory?

RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE

What was the five-word title of the 2014 collection of seven essays by Rebecca Solnit whose main essay has been cited as the piece that launched ‘mansplaining’?

MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME

For which novel did Elizabeth Strout win the 2009 Pulitzer Prize? It takes the form of 13 inter-related stories that are discontinuous in terms of narrative.

OLIVE KITTERIDGE

Which 1998 debut novel with two title characters by Elizabeth Strout was adapted into a movie starring Elisabeth Shue?

AMY AND ISABELLE

Sharing its name with a hymn, which 2006 second Elizabeth Strout novel received critical acclaim, but not the same recognition as her debut, “Amy and Isabelle”?

ABIDE WITH ME

What alliterative grouping give their name to a 2013 Elizabeth Strout national bestseller?

THE BURGESS BOYS

What is the name of the title character in a 2016 internationally acclaimed bestseller by Elizabeth Strout?

LUCY BARTON (“My Name is Lucy Barton”)

In which 2017 Elizabeth Strout novel does Lucy Barton appear again as a main character?

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Which Pulitzer Prize winning play by Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz centres around the cigar industry in Tampa, where a lector reads them a certain 19th century novel?

ANNA IN THE TROPICS

Who wrote the posthumously discovered epic 15,000+ page novel that gave the Cassie Ramone led Vivian Girls their name?

HENRY DARGER

In the Dr. Seuss work, what is the first name of the young boy who must rescue his kingdom from a sticky green substance called oobleck?

BARTHOLOMEW (CUBBINS)

“Bartholomew and the Oobleck” is a sequel of sorts to which other Dr. Seuss work?

THE 500 HATS OF BARTHOLOMEW CUBBINS

Historian Barbara Tuchman won the first of her two Pulitzer Prizes for which prelude to World War I first published in 1962?

GUNS OF AUGUST

Writer Barry Giffors is best known for writing which seven-book series, heavily influenced by film noir and the Beat Generation? The first novel in the series was adapted into the 1990 David Lynch film “Wild at Heart”.

SAILOR AND LULA

Which title character in a work by Henry James has the occupation of a sculptor?

RODERICK HUDSON

Moving between events in Calcutta, Boston and New York, which first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri was adapted into a 2006 film directed by Mira Nair?

THE NAMESAKE

What is the title of Jhumpa Lahiri’s second collection of short stories which like “The Interpreter of Maladies” and “The Namesake” considers the lives of Indian American characters and how they deal with their mixed cultural environment?

THE UNACCUSTOMED EARTH

Which second novel by Jhumpa Lahiri made the Booker Prize shortlist, ultimately losing out to “The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton?

THE LOWLAND

In what language did Jhumpa Lahiri write her third novel “Whereabouts”, before translating it into English herself?

ITALIAN

Who was the alliterative author of the “Amelia Bedelia” series of early read picture books, with a statue of the maid on display in Manning, South Carolina?

PEGGY PARISH

What were the first three words in the long-winded former title of the position of US poet laureate that was begun in 1937, before being changed by Congress in 1985?

CONSULTANT IN POETRY (to the Library of Congress)

The first Latina to take on the role, who has been US Poet Laureate since 2022, with her works including “This Big Fake World” and “Bright Dead Things”?

ADA LIMÓN

For which collection did the first African-American US Poet Laureate Rita Dove win the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the title referring to her maternal grandparents?

THOMAS AND BEULAH

Romanticallly involved with Margaret Mead, for which work with a three-word title was anthropologist Ruth Benedict best known?

PATTERNS OF CULTURE

Which 1948 Gore Vidal novel is significant because it is recognised as the first post World War II novel whose gay protagonist is portrayed in a sympathetic manner, not being killled off at the end of the story for defying social norms?

THE CITY AND THE PILLAR

Which controversial satirical 1968 novel written in the form of a diary by Gore Vidal is the first instance of a novel in which the main character undergoes a clinical sex-change?

MYRA BRECKINRIDGE

Its title being the surname of an American political figure, which 1973 Gore Vidal fictional memoir challenges the traditional Founding Fathers iconography of the United States?

BURR

In which American city is Michael Chabon’s “Wonder Boys” set, Grady Tripp being a professor at its university? This city is also included in the title of Chabon’s first novel from 1988.

PITTSBURGH (“The Mysteries of Pittsburgh”)