Tagged by Bob.
Listed below are the 5th complete sentences from the 56th pages of 10 different books… with 5 hints.
Edited to add: I’ve now included the authors’ first names, and an indication of fiction (F) or non-fiction (NF).
1) He should look out what William James wrote on forgetting a word or name; a tantalizing, empty shape remains, almost but not quite defining the idea it once contained.
(F: Ian)
2) ‘Bremerton water, on the other hand, is very dirty – you know, harbor stuff, oil and algae, decayed fish and even some human residue’.
(NF: John)
3) Jackson thought it would be vivisection – the usual paranoid belief of cat lovers, but no, according to Binky they took them to make gloves out of them. (Sorry, Bob and Beast).
(F: Kate)
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson – guessed by Joanna and Bob
4) So much effort to get to the side of the bed, so much to push the red, thin, scaly legs and feet into the slippers which Nick places ready for him.
(F: Pat)
5) Once the town of Diss was behind us, the Austin’s engine note and the unmarked lanes created the pleasing illusion of a mild and dusty Dornford Yates England.
(F: Stephen)
The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry – guessed by a combined Eva-Bob effort and (allegedly) by Henry
6) But instead of sympathy or even outrage, Arouet encountered only laughter.
(NF: David)
7) He sounded like an auctioneer as he made his way down the fresh fruit counter, yelling the prices.
(F: Paul)
8) We have already seen that the valid literature goes back into the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, so it is not uncommon to find that a species has already been described somewhere else.
(NF: Richard)
Dry Store Room Number 1 by Richard Fortey – guessed by Bob
9) You must of done something to make a passle of enemies here in this place, buddy, because it seems there’s sure a passle got it in for you.”
(F: Ken)
10) We dined on these occasions in the kitchen, and adjourned, for the nuts and oranges and apples, to the parlour; which was a change very like Joe’s change from his working clothes to his Sunday dress.
(F: Charles)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – guessed by Bob
Hints
1) There are three non-fiction books, listed in order of first publication.
2) One of the non-fiction quotes is actually from page 57 because page 56 is taken up by photographs.
3) The non-fiction books are interspersed with seven novels, which are listed in reverse chronological order of first publication.
4) Publication dates for the entire list span 148 years.
5) Five of the novels are set primarily in the UK, and one primarily in the US.
Have at it – but NO GOOGLING! At least, not for 24 hours.
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Hee hee, I just Googled all of these quotes, and all but the last two bring up this blog post as the only exact hit…
You are evil. Evil, I say.
I have no idea what any of these books are.
See, that is pure evil. Or maybe not really… but I don’t recognise any of the qoutes as of now (aka ‘after lunch coma in the brain’)
I’d like #9 to be something by Cormac McCarthy, but I honestly have no idea for any of them. I presume that #8 is one of the non-fiction ones…
I’ve added some extra details… the one guess so far is incorrect (sorry Heather, but at least you were right about #8!).
Could be worse, I was going to include The Beach, but the 5th sentence on page 56 was simply “Shit”. (Dialogue, obviously).
Ah, 8 is probably by Richard Fortey. I’ll guess it’s his latest, Dry Storeroom No. 1. It’s the one of his I don’t have, so I would check the others if I didn’t have a cat sat on me.
I wasn’t worried about 3, other than that the only Binky I know in literature is Death’s horse.
Oh. Is 10 Great Expectations by Charles
DickensDarwin?Cath> I am still clueless. I can try and guess authors but still, I doubt that I have anyone right…
1. Ian Banks?
5. Stephen King?
7. Paul Auster
see, all wrong 🙂
Bob, you are correct on #8 and #10.
Asa, sorry, all wrong indeed…
Bah. I’m off to the library to read every book they have, so that I have half a chance of getting some of these right.
More clues, perhaps?
The author of #2 is much better known for his fiction.
The author of #7 is also known for his non-fiction, although some might argue that his non-fiction contains fictional elements.
#7 is the only novel not set primarily in the US or UK.
As far as I know, #9 is the only unidentified novel on the list that has been made into a movie.
I know for a fact that Maxine has read #3, and I’m pretty sure she’s also a fan of the author of #1.
Let’s try that again:
More clues, perhaps?
The author of #2 is much better known for his fiction.
The author of #7 is also known for his non-fiction, although some might argue that his non-fiction contains fictional elements.
Number 7 is the only novel not set primarily in the US or UK.
As far as I know, #9 is the only unidentified novel on the list that has been made into a movie.
I know for a fact that Maxine has read #3, and I’m pretty sure she’s also a fan of the author of #1.
Could #3 be Kate Atkinson? Just a guess.
Yes indeedy – care to guess the title?
Is 3 one of the Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson? I’m going to guess Case Histories, but it might be his second, One Good Turn. Read them both, but don’t have copies to cheat with!
Your first guess was correct – it’s Case Histories.
The new one – When Will There Be Good News? – wasn’t as good. Although I thought even One Good Turn was a step down from Case Histories. I am still in love with Jackson Brodie though. I’d love to see them make a movie of Case Histories, preferably with Hugh Jackman in the lead role. Mmmmmmmm.
Another wild guess: could 5 be by Stephen Fry?
Yes it could – which novel though? Guessing the authors is not enough!
Mmm, Hugh Jackman would be good… just the right mix of funny and tortured.
I agree on One Good Turn – the plot was just a bit silly and there was too much sappy romance for my liking. Didn’t realise the third had come out, I’ll have to add it to my Christmas list.
Oh, and reading through all the clues again, I mistakenly confused 1 and 7. So if 1 is set in the UK, could it be Ian Rankin? Maybe Exit Music? Or the Naming of the Dead? I reckon all the others were written before Case Histories.
Right, now off to do some actual work – good game!
Sorry, another wrong Ian…
If you thought One Good Turn was too silly, you probably won’t like the new one much. Although the characterisations and writing are as strong as ever, the plot is silly in the extreme.
I’ve no idea which one it is – I haven’t read any of Mr. Fry’s novels. The location and the style, combined with the first name, suggested the surname.
I’ll let someone else claim the glory.
FINAL CLUES – ANSWERS ON WEDNESDAY
1) the quote is essentially unrelated to the main plot, but the fact that it involves the working of the brain is actually very appropriate.
2) likewise, the fact that this quote includes a mention of sea water is also very appropriate. Remember that this author is MUCH better known for his fiction.
4) is by the author of a well-known wartime trilogy.
5) is by Stephen Fry (as per Bob), and the title is rather beastly.
6) this book has a whole chapter dedicated to a common mathematical symbol.
7) I’ve already said that this novel is by an author who also writes a lot of non-fiction. Perhaps the genre will help – travel writing.
9) The movie version of this novel has something in common with a Stephen King movie adaptation that I caught part of on TV yesterday, and which is still stands up as one of the scariest movies ever made.
Cath> One of the most scary movies of King must be The Shining? Ken might be Ken Follett…. but then I am, as before, lost…
Unless it is “The Eagle has landed” of something else like that with WWII in the Alps although the Shining was filmed in Orgeon or Washington if I remember right. [which I probably don’t].
End of useless guesses.
The Shining is the right movie, but the author is a different Ken. The location is not the connection between The Shining and the movie version of #9…
My husband has a burning ambition to spend a night in the hotel from The Shining. I think he’ll be making that trip alone… I reminded him yesterday that if he goes he needs to be wary of seductive ladies in other hotel rooms, and he shuddered a wee bit.
… not to mention of never ever close the bath curtain. (trust me, that scared me)
I am officially giving up now. No more guesses. Sorry. 😉
“5) is by Stephen Fry (as per Bob), and the title is rather beastly”
That’s got to be The Hippopotamus then. (Haven’t read it, and so didn’t recognize the quote at all.)
My husband has a burning ambition to spend a night in the hotel from The Shining
Cath, you should go with him. Estes Park is really quite pretty, and there are gorgeous hikes/climbs in the mountains around it.
I guessed that #5 was Stephen Fry. The Norfolk allusion gave it away. He came to Cromer a few years ago to reopen the Pier after its redevelopment. My father was in the audience and said that Fry was very funny, and very rude. Fry’s definition of a Norfolk Virgin, for example, is ‘a girl who can run faster than her brother’.
Snort.
Eva, you are right! It’s very good, although I preferred Making History.
Henry, glad to hear that Stephen Fry is just as funny in real life! Do you ever read his blog?
BTW there is another version of that joke for other regions, stating that a virgin is a girl who can run faster than a sheep, but let’s not go there.
Steffi, I’ve actually been to Estes Park, briefly – I was on a lovely family holiday in Winter Park. But in the summer. It is indeed lovely, but if I’m going to be hiking all day, I need a place to stay where I can actually, y’know, get some sleep…
Henry, glad to hear that Stephen Fry is just as funny in real life! Do you ever read his blog?
I will now!
THE ANSWERS
1) Saturday by Ian McEwan
2) The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck
4) Another World by Pat Barker
6) E=mc2 by David Bodanis
7) The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
9) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey