Yesterday, I said I'd tell you about Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You on Tuesday, but my head is spinning after work and a long drive home. Rather than do Ng's wonderful book a disservice, I'm going to postpone that review and pose questions to you, just for fun, instead. Are you lucky or what?1. Can you name a crime-fiction writer with a series narrator of unknown gender?
2. An unnamed woman ("the biologist") narrates Annihilation, the first book in Jeff VanderMeer's dystopian Southern Reach trilogy. Can you remember an earlier book of crime fiction with an unnamed female narrator? Hint: it's famous.
3. We never learn the first name; we only know the first two initials and last name of this crime-fiction series protagonist. What's the name of the character's creator?
4. In one of Raymond Chandler's books, Philip Marlowe disparages a famous real-life writer. Which book, and which writer?
5. This man, expert in his occupation, turned to writing upon retirement when his wife wanted the money for a new carpet. He put his previous job experience to good work; he's now much better known as a writer. Can you name him?
6. Who would you pick to write a crime noir version of Macbeth? Check to see if your answer matches the writer the Hogarth Shakespeare series chose.
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| Macbeth photo by Johan Persson |
7. This classic thriller tells the story of a British aristocrat who tries to assassinate a dictator. What is the book's title, and what dictator was the author really writing about?
8. What recipe would you expect from Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles?
9. Jim Thompson came up with the title A Swell-Looking Babe for his 1954 book. Peter Lovesey penned Abracadaver in 1972. There's no one answer to this question; come up with another great title.
10. What are the last words in the 1941 movie version of The Maltese Falcon?
THIS COMMENT INCLUDES GUESSES! DON'T READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO DO THIS QUIZ YOURSELF!
ReplyDelete1. Of course! Sarah Caudwell. Her Hilary Tamar's sex is never revealed.
2. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
3. ???
4. ???
5. Could this be Raymond Chandler? I know he used to be in the oil biz.
6. One of my favorite writers, Jo Nesbø
7. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male. Of course the dictator is really Hitler.
8. A martini!
9. I've always thought Colin Dexter had a way with titles, like Last Seen Wearing, The Dead of Jericho, The Riddle of the Third Mile, The Wench is Dead, The Jewel That Was Ours, Death is Now My Neighbor, The Remorseful Day, etc.
10. The stuff that dreams are made of.
SPOILERS AHEAD!! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO DO THE QUIZ YOURSELF.
DeleteSister, your answer to No. 5, Raymond Chandler, is incorrect. Your answer to No. 10, "The stuff that dreams are made of," is the next-to-the-last line. There's something spoken after this.
What are your thoughts about Hilary Tamar's gender?
I like Colin Dexter's titles, too.
1. Sarah Caudwell
ReplyDelete2. ?
3. Bill Pronzini?
4. Agatha Christie? Don’t know which book.
5. ?
6. Ian Rankin
7. “Rogue Male” Hitler
8. How to make a martini
9. Donis Casey has really good titles I think, starting with the first of her Alafair Tucker series “The Old Buzzard Had It Coming”
10. ?
DON'T READ THIS COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO ANSWER THE QUIZ YOURSELF, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.
DeleteHi anotherliz. I enjoyed the mention of Bill Pronzini in your answer to No. 3, but his Nameless Detective isn't correct. No. 4 isn't Agatha Christie. A hint: Marlowe's disparaging remarks are made about an American writer. I love the idea of Ian Rankin writing a crime noir version of Macbeth, although Jo Nesbø is the writer the Hogarth people chose. I also love the title The Old Buzzard Had It Coming. Thanks!