Literary Quiz

[Newby]

Is anybody out there doing the Sunday Times / Faber Literary Quiz this year and, if so, would they like to pool information?

[Ray The Grey]

Well Done! It certainly looks right.

[Newby]

take a bow LG....scoured Dublin (and got soaked).... could not find copy of the Perec...anybody know of a literature search engine?

[tautau]

I think Statues 4. could be Jason and the Argonauts,

Talos, Bronze Greek Statue, that comes to life.When

Gold is looted from underneath him.

[Ray The Grey]

At one stage I was thinking the Iliad as a statue is stolen - but that was wooden. I am not entirely sure - it seems more likely than Perec 53 Days which is out of print and only available in the US (or on Amazon) - it is not even on the Library system. It also would explain the unusual wording.

[LG123]

I don't think The Iliad or Jason and the Argonauts can be anything to do with unfortunately, as the question stipulates it's a Novel, so I think Perec is the most likely. It's going to be hard to check though!

Does anyone have any ideas for Jewellery 2 (platinum & gold ring)? I can't find anything!

[mrs p]

statues 4 - the Greek bronze: might be worth following up David Wishart's series on Marcus Corvinus, espec "Lydian Baker". Limited info on the web, but I do remember the novels from when I worked in a bookshop 3 years ago. I have houseguests this weekend & off to America on Monday, so can't get out to research. Good luck everyone, it's been fun so far.

[greatsage]

I see that the Sunday Times is offering the DVD of Forster's "Where angels fear to tread" for free today!

[phoenixxx]

Well - it's all gone quiet so I can only assume you all, like me, have run out of ideas. Am I correct that we have several possible answers but nothing confirmed on Tobacco 2 and no ideas for Jewellery 2 and Statues 4?

[greatsage]

That would seem to be the state of play to me.

For the jewellery question "platinum and gold" is rather specific... Who would receive one and then write a thank-you letter?

It could well be a more contemporary literary source...

[phoenixxx]

great sage - you may be right - but my thoughts were that a thank you letter, satisfactory or otherwise, is rather inadequate for something like a gold and platinum ring! Sounds to me like a rather privileged individual who has yet to develop any social graces - surely a nineteenth century concept? I may be wrong because those thoughts haven't helped me at all but thought I'd share them anyway.

[Newby]

 This is getting frustrating. I have no useful suggestions. "Loot" seems to suggest war and museums to me. It has to be a well known book (duh). The project gutenberg website has a useful Advanced search tag. Not that it has helped me so far...platinum became a popular metal in jewelry in the 1800s...

[Postumus]

Great brainstrust, a joy to discover. Could Statues 4 be David Divine Boy on a Dolphin?  Balkan Sobranie - in de Bernieres' Birds without Wings there's a lot of smoking of Latakia tobacco rollups which is the base of BS, tho probably a long shot. I'm stumped, inter alia, by gold&platinum ring and Adelina Patti. Any pointers?

Postumus  Mon 12/09/05 21:33

[Aschenbach]

posthumus

Adelina Patti answer is Anna Karenina (Part 5 Chapter 32).

[Ray The Grey]

Should we move to a new thread as this is becoming complicated to get to the latest?

[Ray The Grey]

Hello, I put the question on again at the start of Arts & Literature, just for ease of access. I hope everyone is ok with that.

[kenpilot]

Is anyone still working on times/faber quiz?

I can't find anything more recent than 13/9. I'd really appreciate some help with one or two, specially the platinum ring. Anyone know anything about  The Gift by David Flusfeder as a possibility.