A quiz on literature, at Rajiv GAndhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam

1. LET THERE BE LIT !
A QUIZ ON LITERATURE
QM: ARAVIND RAM K

2. GUIDELINES
 SINGLE ROUND WITH 20 QNS
 5 STAR MARKED QNS – TIE BRAKER
 NO NEGATIVE POINTS – FEEL FREE TO GUESS
 QM IS HITLER!

3. ….

4. Q1
 Alfred Htchcock bought the rights to the novel X anonymously from Robert Bloch for only 9000
USD. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could keep the ending a secret.
 Which novel?

5. SAFETY SLIDE

6. Q2
 The cover page of this book was designed by David Eldridge, who also designed the cover for
the previous novel of the author. The cover is a vertical picture of decaying white marble grave
with a withered rose. The photo was taken by Mayank Austen Soofi.
 Soofi was commissioned by the author to take pictures around Delhi for the cover in October
2016, nearly an year before the release of the book. The photo was selected from a hundred of
photos Soofi sent.
 Cover of which book?

7. SAFETY SLIDE

8. Q3
 Characters of which novel?
 Ganga Dutta
 Lady Geargina Drewpad
 Vidur Hastinapuri
 Jayaprakash Drona
 Draupadi Mokrasi
 Mohammed Ali Karna

9. SAFETY SLIDE

10. Q4
 Eric Arthur Blair was born in Motihari, Bihar, on June 25, 1903. After his education in England, he
became a imperial policeman in Burma, and then he returned to England, where he started his
writing career.
 His most famous works are Animal Farm and 1984.
 What pen name did he used/ How do we know him?

11. SAFETY SLIDE

12. Q5
 X‘s first novel, Y is set mostly in Bombay in the 70s and 80s, and sets out to tell the city's secret
history, when opium gave way to new cheap heroin. • X has said he wrote the novel, ―to create
a kind of memorial, to inscribe certain names in stone. As one of the characters Y says, it is only
by repeating the names of the dead that we honour them. I wanted to honour the people I knew
in the opium dens, the marginalised, the addicted and deranged, people who are routinely called
the lowest of the low; and I wanted to make some record of a world that no longer exists, except
within the pages of a book.

13. SAFETY SLIDE

14. Q6
 Although X originally wrote this book mostly for his followers, it grew in popularity. From the
royalties, X was able to afford a Mercedes automobile while still imprisoned. Moreover, he
accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reich mark (about US$ 8 million today, or €6 million) from the
sale of about 240,000 copies by 1933.
 The book was in high demand in libraries and often reviewed and quoted in other publications.
 The book was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front.
 By the end of the war, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in
Germany

15. SAFETY SLIDE

16. Q7
 X was selected as one of 2011 Time 100 list of most influential
people. • X's work has been described by the Los Angeles
Times as having "complex story lines, fascinating characters,
great dialogue, perfect pacing",while the New York Times sees
it as "fantasy for grown ups― • It goes beyond princely
control.

17. SAFETY SLIDE

18. Q8
 X is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. The word
was coined in Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book X, describing a fictional
island society in the Atlantic Ocean

19. SAFETY SLIDE

20. Q9
 This is Alice Liddell, photograph taken by a famous author. The novel
which he wrote, has this girl and her fantasies as the central
characters.
 Which Novel?

21. SAFETY SLIDE

22. Q10
 In a letter dated 12 December 1935, the secretary of the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Break Up of
Caste system), an anti-caste Hindu reformist group organisation based in Lahore, invited X to deliver a
speech on the caste system in India at their annual conference in 1936. X wrote the speech as an essay
under the title “Y" and sent in advance to the organisers in Lahore for printing and distribution. The
organisers found some of the content to be objectionable towards the orthodox Hindu religion, so
intemperate in the idiom and vocabulary used, and so incendiary in promoting conversion away from
Hinduism, that they sought the deletion of large sections of the more controversial content endangering
Brahmanical interests. They wrote to X seeking the removal of sections which they found, in their words,
"unbearable”. X declared in response that he "would not change a comma" of his text. After much
deliberation, the committee of organizers decided to cancel their annual conference in its entirety, because
they feared violence by orthodox Hindus at the venue if they held the event after withdrawing the
invitation to him. X subsequently published 1500 copies of the speech as a book on 15 May 1936 at his own
expense as Jat-Pat Todak Mandal failed to fulfill their word.
 X and Y?

23. SAFETY SLIDE

24. Q11
 In June 2011, a Chilean judge ordered that an investigation be launched, following
suggestions that X had been killed by the Pinochet regime for his pro-Allende stance
and political views. X's driver, Manuel Araya, stated that doctors administered poison as
the poet was preparing to go into exile. In December 2011 Chile's Communist Party
asked Chilean Judge Mario Carroza to order the exhumation of the remains of the poet.

25. SAFETY SLIDE

26. Q12
 Biologist Richard Dawkins dedicated his book The God Delusion (2006) to X, writing on
his death that "Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain
gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender."

27. SAFETY SLIDE

28. Q13
 Set in Kizhakkemuri, a fictional picturesque village in Kerala, the novel describes the
plight of the protagonist Govindankutty, the youngest son of a proud Nair tharavadu, as
he is trapped between the social scenario, social injustice and his own inner
consciousnessThe novel was adapted into a film with the same title in 1968. The film,
directed by A. Vincent and scripted by M. T. Vasudevan Nair himself, featured noted
actor Prem Nazir as Govindankutty.
 Which novel?

29. SAFETY SLIDE

30. Q14
 Sreedharan from Oru desathinte Katha sits down on a bench in the corner and eats Kuthira
Biriyani.
 What is Kuthira Biriyani?

31. SAFETY SLIDE

32. Q15
 This 2005 novel by Keigo Higashimo is the 3rd in his Detective galileo Series, and is the most
famous of his works, having won many awards.
 Which highly acclaimed Indian film has been heavily inspired by this novel?

33. SAFETY SLIDE

34. Q16
 Set in the premises of Gujarath earthquakes, this Malayalam story won the Kerala sahitya
Academy award for story, of that year. The title of this book is an apt description of the disaster,
and the author later went on to get Kerala Sahitya Academy for Best Novel, 10 years later. He is
also the only Malayalam writer to feature in the list of outstanding young Indian writers by TOI.
 Which is the Story?

35. SAFETY SLIDE

36. Q17
 Sahadevan is a leftist Kerala youth, who lands in delhi and shocked by the news of the Chinese
attack of 1962. A semi biographical narrative, which is mostly the authors 40 years of life he spent
in Delhi is what this novel is.
 This author is famous for his narrative of story telling by the place. His another novel sets in the
premises of his home town.
 Id the novel where Sahadevan is the protagonist.

37. SAFETY SLIDE

38. Q18
 A couple named Neelakantan and Devayani live on a hill inside a forest. After living in self-
induced isolation for six years, They are coming to the place named Swarga. There they see an
unusual environment with children and calves with deformed bodies, ponds with no fish and a
sky with no birds, and realize that Swarga is no heaven at all.
 A 2009 novel with very critical acclaims and used as a textbook in seven universities.
 Which Novel?

39. SAFETY SLIDE

40. Q19
 “The kids rolled their eyes and snickered. Their father’s claim was so laughable because, at that
point, ____ was a long way from the best-seller list. His previous two novels were well-reviewed
but had sold about enough copies to fill a modest station wagon.
 So ____ had decided to sell out. He put his highbrow literary aspirations aside and set out to pen
a big, honking, commercial book that would bring him fame and fortune. Or at least enough
money to pay off his mounting debts.”
 What Bestseller novel came out as a result?
 The novel was then made into movie

41. SAFETY SLIDE

42. Q20
Which Book?

43. SAFETY SLIDE

44. ANSWERS!

45. Q1
 Alfred Htchcock bought the rights to the novel X anonymously from Robert Bloch for only 9000
USD. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could keep the ending a secret.
 Which novel?

46. PSYCHO

47. Q2
 The cover page of this book was designed by David Eldridge, who also designed the cover for
the previous novel of the author. The cover is a vertical picture of decaying white marble grave
with a withered rose. The photo was taken by Mayank Austen Soofi.
 Soofi was commissioned by the author to take pictures around Delhi for the cover in October
2016, nearly an year before the release of the book. The photo was selected from a hundred of
photos Soofi sent.
 Cover of which book?

49. Q3
 Characters of which novel?
 Ganga Dutta
 Lady Geargina Drewpad
 Vidur Hastinapuri
 Jayaprakash Drona
 Draupadi Mokrasi
 Mohammed Ali Karna

51. Q4
 Eric Arthur Blair was born in Motihari, Bihar, on June 25, 1903. After his education in England, he
became a imperial policeman in Burma, and then he returned to England, where he started his
writing career.
 His most famous works are Animal Farm and 1984.
 What pen name did he used/ How do we know him?

52.  GEORGE ORWELL

53. Q5
 X‘s first novel, Y is set mostly in Bombay in the 70s and 80s, and sets out to tell the city's secret
history, when opium gave way to new cheap heroin. • X has said he wrote the novel, ―to create
a kind of memorial, to inscribe certain names in stone. As one of the characters Y says, it is only
by repeating the names of the dead that we honour them. I wanted to honour the people I knew
in the opium dens, the marginalised, the addicted and deranged, people who are routinely called
the lowest of the low; and I wanted to make some record of a world that no longer exists, except
within the pages of a book.

55. Q6
 Although X originally wrote this book mostly for his followers, it grew in popularity. From the
royalties, X was able to afford a Mercedes automobile while still imprisoned. Moreover, he
accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reich mark (about US$ 8 million today, or €6 million) from the
sale of about 240,000 copies by 1933.
 The book was in high demand in libraries and often reviewed and quoted in other publications.
 The book was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front.
 By the end of the war, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in
Germany

57. Q7
 X was selected as one of 2011 Time 100 list of most influential
people. • X's work has been described by the Los Angeles
Times as having "complex story lines, fascinating characters,
great dialogue, perfect pacing",while the New York Times sees
it as "fantasy for grown ups― • It goes beyond princely
control.

59. Q8
 X is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. The word
was coined in Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book X, describing a fictional
island society in the Atlantic Ocean

61. Q9
 This is Alice Liddell, photograph taken by a famous author. The novel
which he wrote, has this girl and her fantasies as the central
characters.
 Which Novel?

63. Q10
 In a letter dated 12 December 1935, the secretary of the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Break Up of
Caste system), an anti-caste Hindu reformist group organisation based in Lahore, invited X to deliver a
speech on the caste system in India at their annual conference in 1936. X wrote the speech as an essay
under the title “Y" and sent in advance to the organisers in Lahore for printing and distribution. The
organisers found some of the content to be objectionable towards the orthodox Hindu religion, so
intemperate in the idiom and vocabulary used, and so incendiary in promoting conversion away from
Hinduism, that they sought the deletion of large sections of the more controversial content endangering
Brahmanical interests. They wrote to X seeking the removal of sections which they found, in their words,
"unbearable”. X declared in response that he "would not change a comma" of his text. After much
deliberation, the committee of organizers decided to cancel their annual conference in its entirety, because
they feared violence by orthodox Hindus at the venue if they held the event after withdrawing the
invitation to him. X subsequently published 1500 copies of the speech as a book on 15 May 1936 at his own
expense as Jat-Pat Todak Mandal failed to fulfill their word.
 X and Y?

65. Q11
 In June 2011, a Chilean judge ordered that an investigation be launched, following
suggestions that X had been killed by the Pinochet regime for his pro-Allende stance
and political views. X's driver, Manuel Araya, stated that doctors administered poison as
the poet was preparing to go into exile. In December 2011 Chile's Communist Party
asked Chilean Judge Mario Carroza to order the exhumation of the remains of the poet.

66.  PABLO NERUDA

67. Q12
 Biologist Richard Dawkins dedicated his book The God Delusion (2006) to X, writing on
his death that "Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain
gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender."

68.  DOUGHLAS ADAMS

69. Q13
 Set in Kizhakkemuri, a fictional picturesque village in Kerala, the novel describes the
plight of the protagonist Govindankutty, the youngest son of a proud Nair tharavadu, as
he is trapped between the social scenario, social injustice and his own inner
consciousnessThe novel was adapted into a film with the same title in 1968. The film,
directed by A. Vincent and scripted by M. T. Vasudevan Nair himself, featured noted
actor Prem Nazir as Govindankutty.
 Which novel?

71. Q14
 Sreedharan from Oru desathinte Katha sits down on a bench in the corner and eats Kuthira
Biriyani.
 What is Kuthira Biriyani?

72.  PUTTU, KADALA AND PAPPADAM

73. Q15
 This 2005 novel by Keigo Higashimo is the 3rd in his Detective galileo Series, and is the most
famous of his works, having won many awards.
 Which highly acclaimed Indian film has been heavily inspired by this novel?

74.  DRISHYAM
 THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X

75. Q16
 Set in the premises of Gujarath earthquakes, this Malayalam story won the Kerala sahitya
Academy award for story, of that year. The title of this book is an apt description of the disaster,
and the author later went on to get Kerala Sahitya Academy for Best Novel, 10 years later. He is
also the only Malayalam writer to feature in the list of outstanding young Indian writers by TOI.
 Which is the Story?

77. Q17
 Sahadevan is a leftist Kerala youth, who lands in delhi and shocked by the news of the Chinese
attack of 1962. A semi biographical narrative, which is mostly the authors 40 years of life he spent
in Delhi is what this novel is.
 This author is famous for his narrative of story telling by the place. His another novel sets in the
premises of his home town.
 Id the novel where Sahadevan is the protagonist.

79. Q18
 A couple named Neelakantan and Devayani live on a hill inside a forest. After living in self-
induced isolation for six years, They are coming to the place named Swarga. There they see an
unusual environment with children and calves with deformed bodies, ponds with no fish and a
sky with no birds, and realize that Swarga is no heaven at all.
 A 2009 novel with very critical acclaims and used as a textbook in seven universities.
 Which Novel?

81. Q19
 “The kids rolled their eyes and snickered. Their father’s claim was so laughable because, at that
point, ____ was a long way from the best-seller list. His previous two novels were well-reviewed
but had sold about enough copies to fill a modest station wagon.
 So ____ had decided to sell out. He put his highbrow literary aspirations aside and set out to pen
a big, honking, commercial book that would bring him fame and fortune. Or at least enough
money to pay off his mounting debts.”
 What Bestseller novel came out as a result?
 The novel was then made into a cult movie.

83. Q20
Which Book?

84. Q20