Q.1 What kind of animal is Ratty in Wind in the Willows?
Water Vole -
pdurrant
Q.2 Who was Sir Percy Blakeney better known as?
The Scarlet Pimpernel -
Shayne Parkinson
Q.3 “A screaming comes across the sky” is the first line to which novel?
CLUE: A 1973 novel by American writer, its narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II
Q.4 What was the name of Frodo’s mother in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?
Primula Brandybuck -
Glorfindel
Q.5 What is the sequel to William Thackeray’s The History of Henry Esmond?
CLUE: there was a TV series with a very similar name starring James Drury and Doug McClure
Q.6 Who said this about Jane Austen: “Every time I read her, I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin bone”?
Mark Twain -
Shayne Parkinson
Q.7 To whom did Dorothy Parker say: “So you're the man who can't spell f***?”
CLUE: this author was naked, and is now dead.
Q.8 In the ladybird classic First Day of the Holidays, what illegal activity do the penguins Pen and Gwen get up to?
CLUE: I have to admit to this one being pretty obscure - think of the term for stealing a car and driving it around the streets indiscriminately.
Q.9 What connects Don Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, Le Morte d'Arthur and The Pisan Cantos?
They were all written whilst their authors were in prison -
Shayne Parkinson
Q.10 About which Shakespeare play did Samuel Pepys say: "it is the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life"?
A Midsummer Night's Dream -
Shayne Parkinson
4 to Shayne
1 each to pdurrant and Glorfindel
I'm off to bed (again!) so will pick this up in the morning.