Unutterably Silly Quiz

[Shayne Parkinson]

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

6. Down Under - is that by Bill Bryson? I don't know the original name, though.

Oh wait, is it from the Aussie poem "I Love a Sunburned Country"?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

Oh wait, is it from the Aussie poem "I Love a Sunburned Country"?

Close enough! In a Sunburned Country - and why this title had to be dumbed down for the Oz market is beyond me. It's not PC to talk about sunburns?

1. The Golden Compass - Northern Lights (Daithi), Phillip Pullman (orlok)
2. Roasting in Hell's Kitchen - Humble Pie, Gordon Ramsay (orlok)
3. The Beloved Returns
4. Elected Silence
5. Murder on the Orient Express - Murder on the Calais Coach (poohbear), Agatha Christie (orlok)
6. Down Under - In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson (Shayne)
7. The Legacy
8. The Ghosts of Belfast
9. Cross Stitch - Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (Shayne)
10. Cantata-140 - The Crack in Space, Philip K. Dick (poohbear)

Three of the remaining titles and authors are very well-known. A few more hints: one is a religious memoir, one's by a Nobelist, and one has reverted to its original title in the USA, after a phenomenally successful miniseries decades ago.

The fourth book admittedly is tougher. Prize-winning but recent.

orlok and Shayne have four points each
poohbear: three
Daithi: one

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

6. Down Under -> On the Beach by Shute?

Originally Posted by issybird

No and No. But you're on to something.

6. A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by orlok

6. A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute?

Shayne got 6. But tweak just one character and you've got it.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by orlok

6. A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute?

Originally Posted by issybird

Shayne got 6. But tweak just one character and you've got it.

6. A Gown Like Alice by Neville Shute? ()

Do you mean the number is wrong?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by orlok

6. A Gown Like Alice by Neville Shute? ()

Do you mean the number is wrong?

A Town like Alive!
A Toon like Alice
A Town Lice A Lice! (very poor grammar.....)
A Town Dike Alice? A Town Dyke Alice?

Or that popular novel by Neville Shite?

Yes.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by issybird

A Town Dyke Alice?

Or that popular novel by Neville Shite?

Yes.

Well then it must be 3, 4, 7 or 8. I'm guessing not 3 or 8.

[poohbear_nc]

4. Bruce Chatwin - the "walk-about" fellow?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

4. Bruce Chatwin - the "walk-about" fellow?

orlok's named the other Aussie book, now it's just a question of which?

A few more hints: Two of the remaining books have a number in the title. One references an earlier work by Goethe. Putting together a couple of earlier hints, Waugh (not surprisingly) abridged the religious memoir, which was huge in its day and still is popular.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by issybird

Close enough! In a Sunburned Country - and why this title had to be dumbed down for the Oz market is beyond me. It's not PC to talk about sunburns?

I thought that 'Down Under' was the UK release name, but was changed for the US because 'Down Under' wouldn't be widely recognised as referring to Australia there? Not sure why the UK name was used in Australia though?

[orlok]

Originally Posted by issybird

orlok's named the other Aussie book, now it's just a question of which?

OK, I'll guess 7. The Legacy was the alternative name for On The Beach, as it seems the most likley.

EDIT: I put the wrong title - I meant A Town Called Alice .

[Bookpossum]

Hello, just back from a weekend away.

I think 7. "The Legacy" is the US name for "A Town Like Alice".

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I thought that 'Down Under' was the UK release name, but was changed for the US because 'Down Under' wouldn't be widely recognised as referring to Australia there? Not sure why the UK name was used in Australia though?

Down Under is in common parlance in the USA. I chose In a Sunburned Country as the original title because Bryson's American and was living in the USA when it was published, but I don't know the thought process. In a Sunburned Country is undeniably the better title, compared to the generic Down Under.

Originally Posted by orlok

OK, I'll guess 7. The Legacy was the alternative name for On The Beach, as it seems the most likley.

EDIT: I put the wrong title - I meant A Town Called Alice .

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Hello, just back from a weekend away.

I think 7. "The Legacy" is the US name for "A Town Like Alice".

A bobble from orlok at the end. Yes. After the hugely successful television presentation with Bryan Brown, the book was published under its original title in the US also. Again, the change was from something catchy and specific to a snoozer.

Not even a nibble on the remaining three, so here they are:

3. The Beloved Returns - Lotte in Weimar, Thomas Mann. Knopf wanted a title Americans could pronounce.

4. Elected Silence - The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton. Written and published in the US, oddly enough, "storey" was spelled in the English manner. Waugh did the hatchet job on the book for the British market. It's nice to see that dumbing down can go both ways.

8. The Ghosts of Belfast - The Twelve, Stuart Neville. Another case like Outlander where the working title was vetoed by the original (UK) publisher, because of negative associations with Belfast, but was used in the US, because Americans like books set in Ireland.

orlok can set the next one.

[orlok]

Good quiz issy. Haven't even heard of the last 3, although Lotte in Weimar is vaguely familiar...

Here's an easy general knowledge quiz:

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal(s) do we get catgut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what creature?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What colour is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?

[red_phoenix]

1. 112 years?
10. orange?