In the Beginning — Answers

Here are the answers to today’s questions.

Each question refers to a quote from the beginning of a novel.

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One

A name appears in the first short sentence of chapter 1 (‘Loomings’) of a book by Herman Melville, which was originally published in London in October 1851 and in New York one month later. Three questions.

1. What is the name from the first sentence? 
2. What was the two word title of the book as published in London in October 1851?
3. What was the longer title of the book as published in New York in November 1851?

Answers

1. Ishmael
2. The Whale
3. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale.

The opening sentence of the book commonly known as Moby-Dick (or Moby Dick) is ‘Call me Ishmael.’ Moby Dick is a novel by Herman Melville, published in London in October 1851 as The Whale and a month later in New York City as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Moby Dick is generally regarded as Melville’s magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels.
— Encyclopædia Britannica 

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Two

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. … …, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of … …, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

This quote is from Part 1, Chapter 1 of a novel originally published in 1949. In the second sentence, a person’s name has been omitted from the start, and the two-word name of the building that person is entering is also missing. 

1. Who is the person named in the first two words of the second sentence?
2. What building is that person entering?

Answers

1. Winston Smith
2. Victory Mansions

The quote is from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four. In a totalitarian future, Winston Smith rebels against the Party and its omnipresent leader Big Brother. He starts a furtive love affair and seeks truth, but is arrested, tortured, and brainwashed until he betrays his lover and accepts the Party’s reality—losing his independence and capacity for dissent.

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Three

It was a pleasure to burn.

This quote opens a 1953 novel by Ray Bradbury.

1. What novel is the quote from?
2. What does the title refer to?
3. Who is the protagonist in the novel?

Answers

1. Fahrenheit 451
2. The temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns
3. Guy Montag

Fahrenheit 451, a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury, depicts a future American society where books are outlawed and ‘firemen’ burn them. The novel explores themes of censorship, the impact of mass media, and the preservation of knowledge. It was inspired by the Second Red Scare, book burnings in Nazi Germany, and Bradbury’s concerns about censorship in the United States.

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Four

We slept in what had once been the ….

The opening line from a 1985 dystopian novel with a title which is reminiscent of the constituent parts of a work by Geoffrey Chaucer.

1. What type of room, often found in a school, which ‘We slept in‘?
2. Who was the author of the book?

Answers

1. Gymnasium
2. Margaret Atwood.

The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, explores themes of female oppression and resistance in a patriarchal society. The title is similar to the names of stories, ie The Knight’s Tale in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The novel, set in the Republic of Gilead, won the Governor General’s Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

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Five

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded … …. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think … … are a pretty neat idea.

This quote is missing four words:

1. What two words follow ‘a small unregarded …’ and complete the first sentence?
2. What two words near the end of the quote ‘… are a pretty neat idea.’?

Answers

1. Yellow sun
2. Digital watches

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams, follows Arthur Dent’s adventures after Earth’s destruction. The franchise includes radio, novels, comics, TV, games, stage shows, and a film.

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