Guess the book!

A game I ran across on another site: Guess the author by reading a quote or quotes from one of their books. As each guess comes in, the quote-poster gives a hint and adds another quote. The first person to guess the author starts the next game by posting a new author's quote. Try to avoid names and places in the quote because that will too easily give away the book and author.

First quote:

"My throat felt dry and tight, and my eyes were burning. Oh, God, I thought, this is like two people in a play, in a moment the curtain will come down, we shall bow to the audience, and go off to our dressing-rooms. This can't be a real moment in the lives of ____ and myself."

Anyone have a guess?

Rebecca (by Daphne du Maurier)?

Gosh I didn't think you'd guess THAT fast. :)

Please post a new quote. It can be as long or short as you like. If you get a wrong guess, use the guess to eliminate a category of authors...kind of like twenty questions.

Ex: If the guess is for an author who's dead, your clue could be that the Mystery author is still living.

Thanks for playing!

I only guessed it because I recently read it. :)

Ok, quote number two:

"Out of his zestful study of Man...he had confirmed into an unassailable conviction his earliest conscious impressions of the general insanity of his own species."

Could that be John Kennedy Toole in Confederacy of Dunces?

enheduanna: am I right?! wrong?! Do I get another clue?

:)

Sorry! I've been busy and I completely forgot about this. -_-

Ok, well, you're wrong, but I'm not that great with these clues so... let's see...

This author wrote lots of books, rather than just the one.

If I'm not doing these clues right, feel free to let me know!

"zestful study of Man" ...that's got to be an important clue right there... not that I have any idea...

#9: You're right, it is an important clue! But if you make a guess, any old guess, even if it's wrong, I'd be able to give another clue! Then maybe someone would guess it and it can be someone else's turn... (I stink at this)

Okay, just so we can get another clue ... the Nashville phone book?

Actually, that did give me an opportunity for a clue: The author's parents were opera singers. (let's say, as opposed to country singers, such as one might find in nashville.)

Scaramouche ?

enheduanna, don't forget you can post a new sample of the author's writing after each guess! :)

#13: YES! Oh brilliant! That's right, it is Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. Now it's your turn!

#14, thanks for mentioning that, I wondered if that was appropriate or not.

Ok, hopefully this is easy, a recent book by a popular author. A fast game is a good game :)

"As she made her way down the stone staircase to the front door, Isabel encountered the cat she had seen on her first visit to Florence's flat. He was sitting on a chair on a landing, his tail hanging down beneath the seat. He watched her warily as she walked past, looking up at her, holding her gaze for a moment, before he turned his head away to stare at the banisters with affected interest in something invisible to a human being. Then he closed his eyes, as if to dismiss her, and she walked quietly on. Many people in pursuit of the cool, thought Isabel, would give anything to appear as indifferent, as insouciant, as this indolent cat, but they would never make it. Wrong species: we are too engaged, too susceptible to emotion, to far from the consummate psychopathy of cats."

Mr Andrew, aka lucky #13

#16 Alexander McCall Smith "The Right Attitude to Rain"

Is #17 correct? I want this game to continue. I was enjoying lurking and hoping I'd be able to make a guess...

>18 eba1999:: Me too!

Me three!

MrAndrew, was I right to guess the book? Can you please let us all know as I agree with 18. 19. 20 and many others and would love this to continue. If I was right, I'll post the new one right away for all to guess.

For the sake of the game, I cheated. :)

I looked up the first line of the book you guessed, Booksy, and that's not it! (But I still don't know what the right book is....)

I don't think it has to be the first line of the book, so she's not necessarily wrong.

I agree with you philosojerk, I also understood it didn't have to be the first line. I think I am right, however can't be 100% sure. I just remember I recently listened to this book (audiobook that was) and it was when Isabel went to check the flat that she wanted to buy for her housekeeper and that was when she encountered that cat with attitude. I remember I loved that piece a lot.
Anyway, shall we wait for McAndrew to confirm or deny it, or shall I place the new "puzzle"? What do you all think?

why, hello everybody! somebody on the bookmooch forum just alerted me that i had abandoned this thread... well, i did check in daily for the first week, then every couple of days, then every week or so. Then i put a picture of this thread on a milk carton, and taped notices around the neighbourhood: "has anyone seen my thread? reward!". Guess it paid off :)

#17 Booksy, absolutely correct, The Right Attitude to Rain (not the first page). Please post a new quote, i promise to pay attention.

Oops! Sorry, I really should have re-read the rules before posting!

Thanks so much MrAndrew, thank you for finding the thread and for reassuring me too.

It's so great, almost a miracle, to have been able to find this thread with this game, I've always dreamt of being able to play this game with my friends but none of them was crazy enough to oblige... Here we are, I found the LT and the game!!! Thanks you all so much!

Here is a new quote (from one of my favourite recently read one):
"There will be fish falling from the sky, like rain. A lot of fish. Mostly sardines, I believe. With a few mackeral mixed in."
"Sardines and mackerel, eh?" the policeman laughed. "Better turn the umbrella upside down, then, catch a few. With vinegar it would make a meal."
"Vinegared mackerel's one of Nakata's favourites," Nakata said with a serious look. "But by that tomorrow morning I believe I'll be gone."

Kafka on the Shore.

But if I'm right, could someone else please put up a new book because I'll be on holiday for a while?

So that was Michael's life, a life that for all practical purposes was now over, because he had drowned on May 1 and come back, haunted, obsessed, rambling on and on about the living and the dead, unable to remove the black gloves from his hands, fearful of what he might see--the great inundations of meaningless images--and picking up strong emotional impressions even from those whom he did not touch.

ETA: I don't know if the previous was Kafka on the Shore.

I can't say for sure either, but it definitely is a book by Haruki Murakami. I believe Kafka on the Shore is right. But we need Booksy to confirm that...

Pamelad, Thalia and Citygirl, you all are right, it is indeed Kafka on the Shore...
Thanks for the right guesses.

#29 citygirl: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice?

You got it, Mr Andrew. Was it too easy?

>33 citygirl: seedygrrll- no! very hard! i have been puzzling over it for days, seemed so familar but just couldn't quite place it. That was a guess really, i didn't think i had it right. Nice quote though.

gorram, i don't have another quote ready. Anybody got one? preferably easy?

Okay --

"And a quiet old lady whispering 'Hush'"

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I think I have that one memorized...

Here's another:

And there aren't any lines in space, so you could join bits of Orion to bits of Lepus or Taurus or Gemini and say that they were a constellation called The Bunch of Grapes or Jesus or the Bicycle (except that they didn't have bicycles in Roman and Greek times, which was when they called Orion Orion.)

And anyway, Orion is not a hunter or a coffeemaker or a dinosaur. It is just Betelgeuse and Bellatrix and Alnilam and Rigel and 17 other stars I don't know the names of. And they are nuclear explosions millions of miles away.

And that is the truth.

The curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

I loved that book, just read it recently. Still don't have a quote though. If i'm right, someone else go for it.

That's right, MrAndrew! Anyone want to post a new one?

Here is a new one, if nobody objects:

"... whenever we moved he did perceive the new place as better, for a while. After that he would perceive it as merely different, and after that as merely the same. But he valued the illusion of transience more highly than the illusion of permanence, and our entire marriage took place in a kind of spiritual train station."

(Exactly the story of my life :-))

> 39: i have no idea, so i'm going to submit a guess just in the hope of getting another clue or some authors/genres eliminated: White Teeth by Zadie Smith.
Booksy, some help here, silvousplait.

It's familiar, but I can't capture it. I second the request for a hint.

Morning all (well, it's morning in rainy Queensland)...
It's a contemporary Canadian author...
Please let me know if you'd like me to post a few more hints :-)

Thanks to all for guessing.

I thought maybe early? It's been too long since I've read them, but maybe Surfacing?

>Talbin
Very close, but not quite. The author is correct though.

Another of her novels that depicts a very creative woman in search for happiness and meaning in art, love and life.

Shall I give the answer or somebody may still want to take some time to look for the answer themselves?

Lady Oracle?

Exactly! You are right citygirl. Congrats!

So...I guess it is my turn...

The only thing that kept her going was the image of the refreshing shower ahead of her, but unfortunately she was never able to enjoy it, because the drops that fell from the shower never made it to her body: they evaporated before they reached her. Her body was giving off so much heat that the wooden walls began to split and burst into flame.

Side note: I don't know the author of the new quote, but I thought I'd point out that my message #43 should have said, "early Margaret Atwood." Something wonky happened with the touchstone.

Anyway, good job, citygirl!

Citygirl: is it Like Water for Chocolate?

Why, yes, weener, it is. Tres bien! Your turn.

Yay! This one's a little long:

I don't know what I expected-perhaps to actually find myself swollen to Captain Marvel magnitude, flying away replete with cape, spit-curl, and neon-orange leotard- but as I stood there, holding the buzzing phone at my side, hearing the overacted melodrama deing coughed and sobbed out upstairs, I knew that I had in no way achieved the stature I had subconsciously dreamed that my revenge would bring about. I had very successfully completed my ritual of vengeance; I had accurately mouthed all the right mystical words...but instead of turning myself into a Captain Marvel, as the ritual and words were supposed to do according to the little-guy-beats-big-guy tradition...I had merely created another Billy Batson.

Lizard Music?

I just took a guess from your library. I really have no idea.

HAHAHA! No.

I'll give you a hint. The author's most famous book (not this one) was made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson.

>#51 weener, is your quote from Der Verdacht by Friedrich Durrenmatt, author of The Pledge , which was a 2001 film starring Jack Nicholson?

No, i didn't look it up, i happen to have memorised the entire oeuvre of Durrenmatt and the rest of the The Gruppe Olten. Hasn't everyone? And the captain marvel reference was very unusual in swiss dramatic literature, so it's memorable.

just kidding. How about Kesey's Garage Sale by Ken Kesey, of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest fame?

>54 MrAndrew:: Laugh of the day so far ;-))))

Ha. No. But you're on the right track. :)

I think you're supposed to give us a new hint after each incorrect guess (hint hint).

OK........
It's set in Oregon.

Hmm... I'm attempting MrAndrew's tactic, only looking for other books by James M. Cain. Only problem is, I don't know if any are set in Oregon. I'll guess... Serenade?

Sometimes a Great Notion?

You got it, d2vge! Excellent book, too.

d2vge, got another quote for us?

Sorry for the wait! Here's one (also sort of long...):

I was now in the old quarter of the town. The little church stood up dim and grey and unreal. At once the experience of the evening came back to me, the mysterious Gothic doorway, the mysterious tablet above it and the illuminated letters dancing in mockery. How did the writing run? "Entrance not for Everybody." And: "For madmen only." I scrutinised the old wall opposite in the secret hope that the magic night might begin again; the writing invite me, the madman; the little doorway give me admittance.

I am not very sure, but can it be Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon?

Good guess, but no.
Here's a clue: it was originally written in German.

Is it Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf?

Yes!

Hesse is one of my favorites. I'm partial to The Glass Bead Game, though.

New quote:

Something jerks mightily on his back: the static line, still attached to the airplane - God forbid that American fighting men should be entrusted to pull their own ripcords. He can just imagine the staff meeting where they dreamed up the concept of the static line: "For God's sake, General, they're just enlisted men! As soon as they jump out of the airplane they'll probably start daydreaming about their girlfriends, take a few hits from their pocket flasks, catch forty winks, and before you know it they'll all pile into the ground at a couple hundred miles an hour!"

Catch-22?

No, though I had a feeling someone might guess that - I love that book, too.

For a hint, I'll say that the war relevant to the quote is WWII.

Slaughterhouse-five, perhaps?

Nope, but you do have a penchant for naming really good books!

Next hint: This book was published within the last decade.

A Rumour of War?

Nope. Here's another quote from the book in question:

He knew perfectly well that if he were stuck in academia these people, and the things they said, would seem momentous to him. But where he came from, nobody had been taking these people seriously for years. So he just withdrew from the conversation and drank his wine and looked out over the Pacific surf and tried not to do anything really obvious like shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

Cryptonomicon ?

Yes! (I'd forgotten about this thread...) Your turn, MrAndrew!

cool bananas. i've actually got one this time:

He was worth looking at. He wore a shaggy borsalino hat, a rough grey sports coat with white golf balls on it for buttons, a brown shirt, a yellow tie, pleated grey flannel slacks and alligator shoes with white explosions on the toes. From his outer breast pocket cascaded a show handkerchief of the same brilliant yellow as his tie. There were a couple of coloured feathers tucked into the band of his hat, but he didn't really need them. Even on Central Avenue, not the quietest dressed street in the world, he looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

Farewell my Lovely by Raymond Chandler

hmmm, too easy, huh? Correct of course, joehutcheonsonjensonson. Over to you.

At sunrise on a first of April, there appeared. suddenly as Manco Capac at the lake Titicaca, a man in cream-colors, at the water-side in the city of St Louis.

This thread died, and although I don't know the book in 82, I'll make a guess so joe can give us a clue and get us rolling again...

Is it The Titicaca Effect by Richard N. Tooker?

(no touchstones today, sorry. *sigh*)

No; it's the opening line from the last novel of a 19th century American author who also wrote one of those huge books that people struggle to finish.

the half-blood prince? damn, wrong century.

remembrance of things past? damn, wrong country.

the tell-tale heart ? damn, wrong thickness.

i'll have to get back to you.

People have a hard time finishing Moby Dick from what I understand (I've never tried it). Wiki says Melville's last novel was Billy Budd.

The correct author, but Billy Budd was published posthumously.

OK, then that means it's The Confidence Man by Herman Melville, published in 1857.

Right?

Assuming I am, I am going to post my own passage. Give me a minute...

This one might be too easy for you brainiacs:

And the old man let his scanty tears dry upon his cheeks and they made salty stains there. And he stooped and took up a handful of the soil and he held it and he muttered,

"If you sell the land, it is the end."

I'd forgotten about this thread! Yours sounds very familiar, but I can't place it... must think on it a bit.

Is it The Grapes of Wrath?

Nope. Ooo, this is fun. I totally thought you smarties would get it in an hour.

Clue#1: Two clues to the title lie within the quote.
Clue#2: (in case you want to check my library) I read it recently.

the good earth ?

the human stain ?

gone with the wind ?

Looking up your library would be cheating. Guessing randomly, however, is not.

The Old Man and the Sea?

No Country For Old Men?

I believe strongly that it is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

#94--YES! no and no.
#95--nope
#96--nope
#97--yes again! But MrAndrew got it first, so unless you want to negotiate with him, he's got dibs on posting the next quote.

And, MrAndrew--12:40 a.m.??? Couldn't sleep?

Wow. Could have thought on that one all I wanted, and never would have figured out where I recognized it from, since The Good Earth is still in my TBR pile! Must have read it in a dream....

oh my sainted mother. Totally random guess, i have not read the book. I feel like i've cheated januaryw, who no doubt is erudite and well read, and truly recognised the quote. But you snooze you lose ;)

And eba, i'd like to say that your quote was keeping me awake. But it wasn't, because i knew i didn't recognise it. I just happen to live many timezones away from the LT server. In fact, I reside some hours in your future. The weather tomorrow will be good, if you're wondering. Winning lottery numbers available upon request.

>#99 pj: That would be sleepreading. It's a common phenomenon amongst the more devoted LT-ers. If only we could harness it, we could make serious inroads into our TBR piles.

Ok, here's one i'm almost ashamed to post, since there are much better passages that i should be quoting from this book. But this is all i have to hand:

"somewhere in all the snow, she could see her broken heart, in two pieces. Each half was beating, and glowing under all that white. She only realised her mother had come back for her when she felt the boniness of a hand on her shoulder. She was being dragged away. A warm scream filled her throat."

No fair! I have a good one :-(

Ooooh, I know this one!! It's The Book Thief!

Can I give my turn to januaryw? I'll only come up with a rubbish one :-s

well, that lasted a few hours anyway. if i ever get another one right, i'm finding the most obscure quote ever.

#102 correct, Listy. I like it that you sound excited.
And no, you can't.

oh wait, i don't set the rules, do i? Ok jan, hit us.

Awwww! You guys are sooooo sweet! Thanks!
I didn't bring the book with me, so the real quote with more information (clues!) will be posted later, but the quote below will get you started...

"A personal injustice is stronger motivation than any instinct for philanthropy."

Total guess:

Giving by Bill Clinton?

("Giving" touchstoned as "The Giving Tree", so I de-touched it.)

Nope.
Here is the promised quote:

"...that his conversion to Christianity was the love bite of a transvestite serial killer deminshed the doctor's already declining religious zeal; that the toe-biter had not been the ghost of the pilgrim who dismembered St. Francis Xavier was more than a little disappointing."

januaryw: that is an awesome quote! I've never seen it before though, so I have no idea! It's not Dracula, I know that much ;-)

You are right! It is not Dracula. I don't think that was a guess--was it?

Heh, not really. I was sort of throwing it in and leaving it for you to decide whether you wanted to give any clues, based on how hard it is ;-)

"Keep falling in the net!"

#106 Kiss of the Spider Woman?

Oooooh, interesting guess, but not right :-s
"Keep falling in the net!" was a clue... some of the caracters say it to mean that they are still living and working.
A big clues lie in this quote:

"Usually the dwarfs kept bringing him back--back to the circus and back to India. The doctor was familiar with the feeling of leaving Bombay "for the last time"; almost every time he left India he vowed never to come back."

*I know that I am not supposed to give locations, but someone said that this one is hard.

Is it The Satanic Verses?

januaryw, I only said it *might* be hard! ;-) I'm super clueless about most of these types of things unless I've read them in the last month (I'm not going to pry into what that tells me about how well I retain what I read :-s )

#114 Nope!

The main character is a doctor and a word from the title is in my last qupte (message 113)

A new quote... hmmm
"What contributed to the elephant's mirthful or mocking expression was that one of its tusks drooped in the normal position; the opposite tusk was raised, almost as if an elephant could lift a tusk in the manner that a human being can cock an eyebrown. This was a small ironical elephant--an elephant with an inappropriate sense of humor."

edited because I am a slow typist and also to stick my tongue out at LizT :-P

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter?

Nope! Keep falling in the net!
Clue: the elephant was a drawing found at crime scenes in the book
quote to come

"Below her, in the gray-brown light, was the usual gathering of beggars--child performers, for the most part. Those international travelers who were still staggered by jet lag would find these early morning urchins their first contact with India in the light of day."

A Son of the Circus - John Irving.

Yes! Yes! Yes!
Your turn citygirl

"Curiously enough he found in senior year that he had acquired a position in his class. He learned that he was looked upon as a rather romantic figure, a scholar, a recluse, a tower of erudition. This amused him but secretly pleased him -- he began going out, at first a little and then a great deal. He made the Pudding. He drank -- quietly and in the proper tradition. It was said of him that had he not come to college so young he might have 'done extremely well.' In 1909, when he graduated, he was only twenty years old."

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Close, but no cigar.

Brideshead Revisited ???

Doesn't sound at all English to me - but does have the feel of Scott Fitzgerald. How about This side of Paradise?

Haven't we earned some more clues / quotes, citygirl? ;-)

clues, they want clues.

1 - It's not Brideshead Revisited.
2 - WHL and abbotthomas have the author correct
3 - Zelda. Doomed love.

Is it This Side of Paradise?

Tender is the Night?

I didn't think it'd be this hard. I must be the only person to ever have read this book.

Clue: The title tells you the fate of the main characters.

The Beautiful and the Damned?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

elvisettey, your turn.

Yet, (he) was no rebel. He had no greater need for rebellion than have most Americans, which is none at all. He was quite content with any system which might give him comfort, security, enough money to do as he liked, and freedom to think, eat, drink, love, read, and write what he chose.

() -character's name deleted

Uh, too obscure? Here's a second quotation from the book, from a fairly famous scene:

In this way, the terrible hours of the morning lengthened out, while they spent themselves trying to escape from the tragic net of frustration and loss in which they were caught. Their spirits soared to brief moments of insane joy and exultancy, and plunged into black pits of despair and hysteria.

The Dice Man by Luke Rheinhart....
It doesn't seem right but I know I've read this quote somewhere and it's the only book springing to mind...

That's not it, but you're right that it's from a memorable scene.

Also, The Dice Man is too late, for your next clue.

Let's see..."black pits of despair"...

Something by Sylvia Plath?

They are both really familiar to me but I can't quite place it. For some reason I keep thinking either The Great Gatsby or Lemony Snicket's An unfortunate series of events and both seem not quite right (and nothing like each other. It's late here though, my brain is tired.

The book's date falls between The Great Gatsby and Sylvia Plath. Also regarding 138, it's not something that would be considered Juv.

Clue: quotation in 134 is from a death passage (that is, a passage with someone dying, if I'm not making myself clear, which is entirely possible, because it's bedtime here)

Catch-22?? Again, this doesn't seem right but I somehow feel like I'm on the right track (it may not be a recognisable track but there must be a series of links in my head between this book and the right answer if I can only follow the trail....)

dreamlikecheese, if your track is American modenism, then you're on the right track.

Clues:
-the novel is very autobiographical
-there is constant family tension in this death scene, particularly involving the mother

The Neon Bible?

No, not that one, either. So here's another hint with another quotation:

-First off, remember that it's heavily autobiographical. To that I add: right down to the setting, where the name of the city has been changed.
-This death scene is full of family tension. To which I add: meaning people fussing, snapping, and yelling at each other.
-The book's date of publication falls between The Great Gatsby and Sylvia Plath, but I'm not going to say where it falls on the spectrum.

New hint: The author died before reaching 40. He proclaimed his genius at age 23.

New quotation: (Name deleted) stumbled to the other side of the bed and fell upon his knees. He began to pray. He did not believe in God, nor in Heaven or Hell, but he was afraid that they might be true. He did not believe in angels with soft faces and bright wings, but he believed in the dark spirits that hovered above the heads of lonely men. He did not believe in devils or angels, but he believed in (Name deleted)'s bright demon to whome he had seen him speak so many times.

Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe?

You got it!

My favorite: "We can believe in the nothingness of life, we can believe in the nothingness of death and of life after death-- but who can believe in the nothingness of Ben? Like Apollo, who did his penance to the high god in the sad house of King Admetus, he came, a god with broken feet, into the gray hovel of this world. And he lived here a stranger, trying to recapture the music of the lost world, trying to recall the great forgotten language, the lost faces, the stone, the leaf, the door.

O Artemidorus, farewell!"

Out of curiousity, what gave it away?

His age at death, and his self-declared geniusl I didn't recognise his prose style.

OK, this is another US writer, who lived a bit later than Wolfe: this is from his first novel, published in 1952:

''On All Saint's Day, seven days out and half the journey accomplished, God boarded the Purdue Victory and acted; Camilla was stricken with acute appendicitis'

I have no idea, but I want to read it!

The Secret History?

No, it's older than that. The author only wrote a handful of books; the title of one was just two letters long.

here's a random guess to get another clue. It's a 1952 novel, but it doesn't fit the writing style or the "handful of books" clue... unless you have reeeeeeally big hands.

East Of Eden

Is the book just called Camilla?

151 & 152

No to both.

A couple more clues; the two-letter book title is the same as the initials of the villain in Dallas, and in another book, the author describes a Japanese-built car as a 'Sosumi'.

the two-letter book title is the same as the initials of the villain in Dallas

Are we talking JR? That gets me to William Gaddis, but according to wiki, his first book was published in 1955, and so that leaves me with nothing from 1952. I'll go ahead and guess The Recognitions anyway.

The Recognitions it is! My (Penguin) copy says 'Copyright William Gaddis 1952'

It's one long book; 958 pages in my edition. You'd think he'd have padded it out to an even 1,000 pages having got that far.

Ah. Of course, copyright dates refer to the edition, not necessarily the first date of publication.

Going through my books looking for a quote, I'm starting to feel bad for picking on people in the first line game for being too obscure with their book choices, as the first three quotes I found that I liked were from books which had only between 300-400 copies cataloged on LT!

Anyway, this one is from a definitely-not-obscure book:

"No, I don't mean love, when I say patriotism. I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression. It grows in us, that fear. It grows in us year by year. We've followed our road too far."

Not even a guess in 24 hours? This book has a few thousand copies on LT, so it's not unknown.

A hint and another quote:

Hint: The book has won a well-known fiction award
Quote:

"I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession..."

It's not ringing any bells, I have to say, so maybe an author whose work I don't know very well. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer?

Nope. Guess that means I'm supposed to give another hint, eh?

It's considered by many to be a sci-fi classic.

Dune?

Not Dune.

Another quote, with the name of the main character extracted:

"There's really only one question that can be answered, _____, and we already know the answer... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."

Stranger in a Strange Land?

Not Heinlein, but Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my all-time favorite books.

OK, here's another quote which I think should pretty much give it away to anyone who has read the book:

"I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist, too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth."

It sounds like a very interesting book, but I've no idea what it is.

I've never read it, so a pure guess, but could it be The Fountainhead? It's clearly American ("plowland"), and it's political in a portentous sort of early 20th century way, and it talks about art and religion...

No, it is not The Fountainhead. Note the clue in #159: this book is widely considered to be a classic of science fiction.

Man I'm running out of hints and stuff! So far I've given the following quotes:

"No, I don't mean love, when I say patriotism. I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression. It grows in us, that fear. It grows in us year by year. We've followed our road too far."

"I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession..."

"There's really only one question that can be answered, _____, and we already know the answer... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."

"I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist, too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth."
(edited to add, and this might give it away: this quote is from the introduction, and so is written from the author's POV instead of being within the story.)

And the following hints:
- The book has won a well-known fiction award.
- It's considered by many to be a sci-fi classic.

Here's a new quote, with a couple of place names extracted, and a new hint:

"He was a hard shrewd jovial politician, whose acts of kindness served his interest and whose interest was himself. His type is panhuman. I had met him on Earth, and on _____, and on _____. I expect to meet him in Hell."

And this book was written by a woman.

Ooh Ohh!!! It's The Left Hand of Darkness, right?

I remember underlining the quote you gave in #157 because it spoke to me so.

Ding Ding Ding! You got it weener, your turn :D

(and the rest of you: go out and read that book!!!)

Gah! I'd guessed the author, but don't know that book.

That book is a tough one to guess because it is so all over the place. Every one of those quotes sound like they could be from a different book. It didn't even occur to me what it was until you got around to telling us it was science fictionby a woman, and I read it just a few years ago.

Here's the next one:

"Back in the kitchen she took off the apron and put it in the stove and poked the coals until a flame sprang up on the cloth. She washed her hands and inspected her shoes and stockings and wiped a dark spot from the toe of her right shoe. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her cheeks were bright with color and her eyes shone and her mouth turned up in its small childlike smile. Oh her way out she hid the jelly jar under the lowest part of the kitchen steps. Her mother had not been gone even ten minutes."

East of Eden? That part when the evil Cathy burned down her parent's house?

Yes! Your turn.

Oooooh goody! This one is probably too easy for the likes of you guys, but here goes!

“The English, by and large, being a crass and indolent race were not as keen on burning women as other countries in Europe. In Germany the bonfires were built and burned with regular Teutonic thoroughness. Even the pious Scots, locked throughout history in a long drawn-out battle with their arch-enemies the Scotts, managed a few burnings to while away the long winter evenings. But the English never seemed to have a heart for it.”

This is just a wild guess....but the tone and the topic reminds me of Corelli's Mandolin.

Nope, but I'll have to read that one!

I am having a devil of a time coming up with a hint that won't give it away... hmmm... I guess by now it is clear that this book is funny.

“Oh, he did his best to make their short lives miserable, because that was his job, but nothing he could think of was half as bad as the stuff that they thought of themselves. They had a talent for it. It was built into their design somehow. They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse.”

Oooh, is it Good Omens?? I recognise the second quote and it has a definite Crowleyness about it...

Yes! I told you it was an easy one!
Your turn LizT

"I fought the bear that stalked the city beneath Berlin. He had killed a thousand men, and his claws were stained brown and black from the dried blood of a hundred years, but he fell to me."

It's pretty popular on LT, so I'm guessing someone will get it fairly swiftly :-)

>#178 and yet no responses. Maybe people are preoccupied with that superbowl thingy. I'm going to guess just so we get another clue, but i'm sure that i haven't read it. The Teddy Bears Picnic ?

OK, so, a hint. It's been made into a TV series, and the author has been involved in several films (screenplay and/or original book).

"Richard was thunderstruck: it had been like watching Emma Peel, Bruce Lee and a particularly vicious tornado all rolled into one and sprinkled with a generous helping of footage he had once seen on a wildlife channel of a mongoose killing a king cobra. That was how she had moved. That was how she had fought."

Is it The Terminator by Randall Frakes?

No :-) Um, more hintage. The author is a blogger and the book is owned by over 5000 people on LT. (And is in my library!) I feel like I must have been choosing really obscure quotes. And now hubby has stolen it to read so I can't post another one. I'll try to get it off him if noone gets it soon!

Now it sounds like comic sci-fi and it also sounds familiar but I know I haven't read it.

My comic sci-fi is mainly Terry Pratchett and Tom Holt and although it sounds very Pratchett to me I can't think of a book of his that would meantion Emma Peel and Bruce Lee. The only Pratchett book I haven't read is Good Omens, which he wrote with Neil Gaiman and you just guessed that, so it's not that.

I haven't read everything by Tom Holt but I would guess at something by him. But what?

I'm going to check your library for Tom Holt books.

You don't have any Tom Holt books, so that's that theory out. I also looked for Robert Rankin but there weren't any of his that I could see either.

You have a lot of Terry Pratchett, some Neil Gaiman (which is possible, since he worked with TP) and some Phillip Pullman books which I haven't read but might be what you've quoted, except it seems too light-hearted.

What I forgot to check were how many copies of those authors books were noted, so I might have to go back in and look.

Had to get hubby's help on this one, but we are going with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Yep! BKieras, your go :-)

I realise it was slightly perverse having had Good Omens, but I'd typed out and posted the quote before I realised :-s I obviously need to use my brain more....

Yay! I'm ridiculously excited to play.

Here's my quote:

"If I keep my can in the air," he heard the old man say, "nobody can shut nothing on me," but when they got his box to the hole, they let it drop down with a thud and his father flattened out like anybody else.

I have no idea (I'm not even certain I can make sense of what's going on in that quote, though I suspect that's the point), but since no one has guessed in well over 24 hours, I'll float a guess just so we can get a hint and/or another quote...

Is it something by Terry Pratchett?

Nope, Terry Pratchett is not the author. I'm sorry to have picked a hard one, so I will give a hint and a new quote. The hint is that the book is listed in 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die and the author has multiple listings.

The quote is:

"The park was the heart of the city. He had come to the city and - with a knowing in his blood - he had established himself at the heart of it. Every day he looked at the heart of it; every day; and he was so stunned and awed and overwhelmed that just to think about it made him sweat. There was something, in the center of the park, that he had discovered."

Did I ruin the game?

No, you just picked something no one has read. Sounds like a great book though.

I'll hazard a guess. Life of Pi?

I don't think Yann Martel has multiple listings in 1001 BTRBYD.

I can't even hazard a real guess, however, because I don't think it's one of the 32 books that BK and I have in common.

But in order to get another clue, I'll throw out a WAG from BK's library:

Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe?

(Please don't mock me because I'm ignorant.)

Oh oh oh! I think I know! The thing about the park srtuck a cord with me. Ummm... what is that frickin' book? *roots around memory.
Ah, is it a short book by Flannery O'Conner? Wise Blood and I think it was in a collection... Three by Flannery O'Cconer.

Edited to fight those pesky touchstones... erf

Yay januaryw! You nailed it. That line was referring to the mummy the kid later steals from the park.

Your turn....

Yippee!!

“When the volume had been wiped and placed back on the shelf, they again took to the path. Irrigated by snow-melt the recently awakened grass on the slopes glittered like spinach between the teeth of the hard earth. Far below in deep, narrow gorges, worked themselves into a lather roaring like all the sea shells in the world turned inside out; and above, great cold peaks in mineral armor were trying to smash the sky. Step by step the path led them down and away from this terrible beauty.”

Edited for exactness

>196 joehutcheon:

LOL!

Ha! Pooh! Oh, too funny, too funny... here is your hint then... it is NOT a children's book ;-)

“He was becoming unstuck, he was sure of that—his bones were no longer wrapped in flesh but in clouds of dust, in hummingbirds, dragonflies, and luminous moths—but so perfect was his equilibrium that he felt no fear, he was vast, he was many, he was dynamic, he was eternal.”

Aww come on guys, this one is kind of fun!

Is it one of Anne Rice's vampire books? I'll guess The Vampire Lestat

This is just a random guess from looking at your library...is it Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle?

>198 januaryw:- stop teasing us, and admit that it's A.A. Milne - that's taken from the bit where Pooh gets stuck in the door, isn't it?

#200 nope, but my book does have the eternity and immortality in it
#201 I like that one, but no
#202 with imagery like "with bones no longer wrapped in flesh" I am thinking that it isn't in Pooh! Ha!

Since there were two guesses, I think I owe you guys two quotes. This first one is the opening line
“The Citadel was dark, and the heroes were sleeping. When they breathed, it sounded as if they were testing the air for dragon smoke.”

This next one is describes one of the characters:
“Speaking of noses, his consort sported a grandiose banana that was almost musical in the way that it curved. Upon a more angular woman this might have been ridiculous, but this dark creature was such a walking barrage of burpy bulges and bending lines that her nose blended perfectly into her contours.”

Absolutely no idea, but i like the sound of this book. "walking barrage of burpy bulges".

I'm hoping it's something in your catalogue... how about:

For whom the bell tools (i just love the new title).

Ha! I love that title! Not the right book though.

Hint Beets

This might not be helpful, but I just like this quote!

“The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplaceable being.”

Edited to add: This book is not catalogued... I mainly keep my TBR pile in there... I have read this one and I LOVE it.

How about a totally stupid guess on my part? I have been lurking around in here, and have got hooked on this.

Has to be Jitterbug Perfume from your catalog. Did I get it, huh, huh?

You are absolutely right!

Just because I speant 10 minutes trying to tyoe this out, I am going to add it.
“Pan had waited until dark to return home so that he might more stealthily transport the wig stolen from Descartes’s redundant funeral. He had not eaten since early morning, and so the scrape of his hooves (not meant for city streets) and the blast of his stench (meant for no place save the rutting grounds), were added stomach grounds, terrible and rude. From grass, he had woven a short rope, which he tied to the wig so that he might drag it along behind him. In the dim light those pedestrians who saw it scurrying up the street believed it to be blown along by the breeze. Several gave pursuit, only to have it yanked away each time they thought they had it in their grasp. One by one they gave up. “It stinks, anyway,” said the last to quit the chase.” And Pan arrived at the incense shop with wig in tow, having painted the gentle April gloaming with shades of Halloween.

Your turn oh2read!

I am totally flabbergasted! I was just throwing that out there.
Here goes...
"This story begins in the night. It begins in the middle of the story. In the middle of the night. When the thief comes, when the bridegroom comes. When the bride has long since given up hope. When the foolish virgins are snoring. When only a whore is awake."
Guess away.

The Virgin Suicides?

No, sorry. Here's another passage.

'"Let go of time, daughter. Stop holding it so tightly. Don't you know the river is always rising and always meeting the sea?"
I didn't know what she was talking about, but her voice seemed to come from some great distance, from Tir na mBan, from the stars beyond the wind and the rain. At the same time her voice was inside me.
"Our lady Isis knows all about loss, longing, searching, exile. Pray to her tonight. Pray for a dream. A dream to show you what is true."'
I loved this particular passage.
Hint: the title character has always been portrayed as passionate and whorish.

Madonna ?

Close, but wrong biblical character.

I give you permission to cheat MrAndrew. And I'll give you another lovely bit of prose....
"And I know something more. For it is my own beloved's feet that I picture most clearly when I think of him. It is his feet that walk beside me in my dreams, his feet, brown as earth, beautiful as the flight of birds. In the feet of every god-bearing stranger I remember him whom my soul loves. When I open myself to the goddess, he is restored to me again in the stranger's embrace."

Beautiful words, but maybe this book isn't well-known enough?

Mary, Called Magdalene? I got the character, then checked your library for the correct title.

Come on keep guessing.

I must be away for a while, but I give you permission to cheat (look at my library) or let someone else start a quote.

Will check in ASAP.

Sticking with Mary Magdalen and reviewing your library.....is it The Passion of Mary Magdalen?

Either way....how are both those books? Sounds interesting.

Queen Jezabel?

I just googled it and #215 BKieras is right, it is The passion of Mary Magdalen by Elizabeth Cunningham

Kudos to you! I was afraid I didn't do very well on my choice. Will do better if I get another turn. BKieras have at it.
BTW... the book is fabulous! Read it, both of them.
Gotta go, work calls.

Yay! Too bad I am at work and didn't bring the book I wanted to use with me. Check for a posting tonight!

Okay kids, here is your quote....

"Never again did he want to feel anything like hope. That was what was wrong; he had let that preacher talk to him until somewhere in him he had begun to feel that maybe something could happen. Well, something had happened: the cross the preacher had hung round his throat had been burned in front of his eyes."

Is it Song of Solomon?

Nope. Another quote? And a hint - this book is also listed in 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die.

"Fingerprints! He had read about them in magazines. His fingerprints would give him away, surely! They could prove that he had been inside of her room! But suppose he told them that he had come to get the trunk? That was it! The trunk!

No guesses? At all? The reference to the trunk should be a clue to those who may have read this book. This book is in my library.

I feel like it's floating in the back of my head, BKieras, but I've got nothing in the way of guesses...

Is it The Cement Garden?

No, not The Cement Garden. A hint: the book is set in Chicago and the main character is a young black man.

Another quote:

"The food was good. This was not going to be a bad job. The only thing bad so far was that crazy girl. He chewed some bacon and eggs while some remote part of his mind considered in amazement how different this rich girl was from the one he had seen in the movies. The woman he had watched on the screen had not seemed dangerous and his mind had been able to do with her as it liked, but this rich girl walked over everything, put herself in the way and, what was strange beyond understanding, talked and acted so simply and directly the she confounded him."

Ok, BKieras. Is it Sophie's Choice?

Nope. Gee, I really know how to pick them don't I? The quotes probably aren't helping at this point, so I will give clues instead.

The book was published in 1940. It has been described as "a warning to white America of the violence that the country was harboring within it."

Symbolic of that violence, the main character takes three lives: those of a rat, a wealthy young woman, and his own girlfriend.

A-HAH! I cheated and got it easily (I think) from your library. I haven't read it, and so can't take credit, but I'm giving the answer anyway. Some other non-cheating person should give the next quote.

BK's quote is from Native Son by Richard Wright.

eba1999, I wouldn't worry too much. I cheated and didn't get it right. I had some cheaters when I posted my book.
Go for it.

eba1999 - You got it! And I don't know if there are rules for this game, but I think after a few guesses, "research" is definitely allowed. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us. And by the way.....read it! Great book.

Sorry, guys. I fell off the boat for a few hours. I'm back, and here's my quote:

"His oval face had lengthened; his smiling mouth had assumed the firm and determined lines indicative of resolution; his eyebrows had become arched beneath a single pensive wrinkle; his eyes had a look of deep sadness in them, and at times gloomy fires of misanthropy and hatred would sparkle in their depths..."

David Copperfield?

Nope. Clue=the rest of the quote:

...his skin, hidden from the light of day and the rays of the sun for so long, had assumed the pale and soft colour which, when the face is encircled with black hair, makes the aristocratic beauty of the North.

More clues, because I just can't wait:

Originally written in French.

Jim Caviezel played him perfectly.

(Now it's too easy!)

The count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

Right! Your turn, marvas.

Way cool, eba1999. I love the Count of Monte Cristo, and I should have got that one. Kudos on a great choice!

marvas?? Hello?? Are you going to take your turn? Did all of the talk about cheating scare you off?

Thanks, Oh2. I love that one, too. Read it with my book club, and then read it again with my 11-year-old.

I'll try to leave marvas a message on his/her profile to give us a line, but I say we give her an hour and then someone else can jump with a line.

Oh, BK already left a message. I nominate Oh2read to take the next turn if marvas doesn't check back in soon.

I second the nomination!

All in favor?

I guess it's a good thing I happened to check in just now. I'll be looking for something, and I'll be back soon. Marvas has about 30 minutes, right?

I guess I'm going for it. If marvas comes back, let's just switch to him/her.

"She never meant to cause trouble. She was a quiet girl, brilliant and full of life. When she laughed, others laughed with her. When she cried, she hid her tears. She was blessed with many gifts and took none for granted. At seventeen, she had already brought honor to the town. No one would have predicted this end.
But then no one really knew her.
Only me."

Something by Jodi Picoult?

I'm going to try Keeping Faith by Jodi Picolt.

(I've been lurking for soooo long, but hi everyone)

No. The author is male, and it's a fairly recent work.
Here's another bit:

'"Shad wants to prove you murdered Kate. He wants to prove it badly."
"Does he really think I'm capable of that?"
"All men are capable of that, Drew. We can talk about Shad's motives later. Right now, under these circumstances, giving him the sample is the best thing you can do. It'll buy us three or four weeks while the lab does the test. And time is what we need more than anything right now."'

Sorry for making you wait so long, had a very busy couple of days.
Here is my quote

"When he reached the quayside he realised that whatever was happening was both more serious and more interesting than he had imagined. An ambulance was parked on the road and a police car was pulled up behind, its blue light revolving in the cold air. Ordinarily he would have walked away, not wanting to be thought ghoulish. but nothing was ordinary today."

Is it Dark Places?

We can pick up my quotes again later.

It's not Dark places. Next quote:

"He would have to kill himself.
It was not a comforting thought but it was something he could do, and this made him feel a little more in control of the situation.
The only question was how."

Oh2read, is your book Blood memory?

No, but right author.
More recently written.
"Not many people look good haveing sex, but Drew seems frozen above Kate like a statue by Michelangelo, hs muscles flexed in stark relief. He's looking down into Kate's eyes, and she appears awestruck, her mouth partly open, her eyes filled with indescribable emotion. This single image brings home the reality of their relationship in a more visceral way than all Drew's explanations of it, or even my imagined reality."

Turning Angel?

The third degree: a novel?
Touchstone dodgy

The Quiet Game?

Sorry; after I left that last quote I went to bed. I have to get my beauty sleep when I work days back to back.
Yes, philosojerk, right you are. You are the next contestant on "Guess That Book!" Come on down!

P.S. good guesses marvas and januaryw. You're after my heart by reading Greg Iles, or did you all cheat?

I've not read him, I made an educated guess based on your "more recently written" comment.

I wonder if this isn't too easy, but here goes:

The old man with the black eyepatch had understood that the portable radio, as much for the fragility of its structure as for the information known about the length of its useful life, was to be excluded from the list of valuables they had to hand over in payment for their food, in consideration of the fact that the usefulness of the set depended in the first place on whether there were or were not batteries inside and, in the second place, on how long they would last.

edited to finish the quote

I'm must admit I studied your library.
Rather hesitantly I remind you of my book which nobody has yet guessed. I'll give you a hint:
It is about a year and a half old and was highly anticipated when it came out.

marvas
I fail to see the quote that you left... we took your turn away because you did not respond for over 24 hours.

Marvas's quote is #250, and I don't think we should take anyone's turn away because they don't spend all their time on LT (although, how can you not?)

I don't have a clue, so I'll offer a random guess: Anansi Boys?

Didn't mean to jump over you marvas! I don't see why we can't have them both going. It'll be like in pinball, when you get multi-ball! ;)

Very sorry marvas! I looked and looked, but it took aviddiva's eyes to see... it is your turn by right!
Or is it... which quote are we on?

Is it A Handmaiden's Tale?

I'm making this a little complicated aren't I, very sorry.
The previous quotes are posts 250 and 252, post 260 contains a hint.
It is not Anansi boys or The handmaid's tale
Next quote:
"He went back downstairs, got the scissors out of the drawer and sharpened them with the little grey whetstone they used for the carving knife. For good measure he sharpened the carving knife too, and took both implements upstairs, laying them on the end of the bath opposite the taps."

Another hint: the author is a winner of the Whitbread book of the year award.

(edited spelling error)

The End of Mr. Y? I'm running out of guesses.

Is there another name for that award besides Whitebread?

It is now called the Costa award, but when the author won it it was the Whitbread.
The end of Mr. Y is a good book, but not the one I'm looking for.
Another hint: you won't find this book in my catalog.

"Jamie was kneeling on the stairs with a washing-up bowl of soapy water, sponging his father's blood from the carpet.
That was the problem with books and films. When the big stuff happened there was orchestral music and everyone knew where to get a tourniquet and there was never an ice-cream van going by outside. Then the big stuff happened in real life and your knees hurt and the J-cloth was desintegrating in your hands and it was obvious there was going to be some kind of permanent stain."

Marvas - is your book White Apples by Jonathan Carroll?

ETA - I don't think he won the Whitbread prize though, so I'll answer my own question with no.

Sorry no. I didn't think thisone would be so hard. Over 1360 people have this book in their library so someone must have read it, surely.

I'm running out of hints.
Ok: the author is already in this thread.

"He had removed his trousers and was putting on the bottom half of his suit when he noticed a small oval of puffed flesh on his hip, darker than the surrounding skin and flaking slightly. His stomach rose and he was forced to swallow a small amount of vomit which appeared at the back of his mouth."

The Teddy Bear's Picnic ? Jimmy Kennedy is already in the author thread.

Oh yeah, i guessed that before. Sorry.

Is it The Great Fire? or The White Earth?

Sorry for the two guesses, but I'm really desperate here. I know these two won that award in the last couple of years.

#271 no, #272 no and no.

The author is male, he won the Whitbread award for a book originaly written for children.

"He pressed the blades of the sharpened scissors around the stretched skin and pressed hard.
He did not need to remember to breathe out. It happened entirely of its own accord.
The pain was so far beyond any pain he had felt before that it was like a jet aircraft coming in to land a couple of feet above his head."

Is it A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon?

Okay, this one is driving me nuts and freaking me out... is the whole book this dark and painful or is it just your chosen passage? This guy wrote a CHILDREN'S book... holy cow!.

Maybe the next wuote should be an opening line or something.

I'm with you, januaryw! I am now so frustrated with this one, I just HAVE TO GUESS IT! Or, if not me just someone. I am really dying to know this one!
Back later with a guess.

Dreamlikecheese has got it! Hooray!
# 275 The book is actually hilariously funny, and also incredibly painful. It's about a middle-aged guy who discovers a lesion on his hip (#270) and is convinced it's cancer, even though his doctor tells him it's just a mold. And then everything slowly spins out of control. He starts behavinging more and more strangely, his family don't know what to do with him, they also have problems of their own.
I could go on, but you should all just read it.
Another three cheers for Dreamlikecheese!

Yay dreamlikecheese!.. Let's have another one....

Ok. I'm back. And here's the first quote.

"His eye is healing surprisingly fast:after a mere week he is able to use it again. The burns are taking longer. He retains the skullcap and the bandage over his ear. The ear, uncovered, looks like a naked pink mollusc: he does not know when he will be bold enough to expose it to the gaze of others."

I just read this! It's Disgrace by Coetzee. My first Coetzee and I really enjoyed it.

I got a little confused when we had multiple books running. Did anyone post a book that did not get solved? If so, I pass my turn to that person. Otherwise, I'll post a clue tomorrow after official confirmation from dreamlikecheese.

It is Disgrace! I thought that would be much harder. Oh well. Congratulations BKieras!

BKieras, I've keeping up and both marvas and I had our books solved. So have at it; I can't wait.
This is rather addictive. I have hardly checked my other threads!

Will do! But sorry, you will have to wait until I get home because I forgot to bring a book to work. That should give you time to catch up on your other threads!

Thanks much.

Alrighty then, here is the clue...

"In a split second his disbelief changed to terror. There was no disorientation now, no dreamlike unreality. The man was there, staring at him. Soft brown eyes staring at him. Then the man was simply gone. The room was cold. A breeze lifted the draperies. The doctor caught himself in the act of shouting. No, screaming, to be perfectly frank."

Is it Lasher by Anne Rice? It's the first ghosty one that came to mind.

Nope, but oh so close!

"The doors of the ambulance slammed, his body rocking to the side slightly as they pulled away from the curb.

The fist came down on his chest, once, twice, again. Oxygen pumping into him through the plastic mask, like a cold tongue.

The alarm was still going, or was it their siren singing like that, a faraway cry, like the cries of those desperate birds in the early morning, crows cawing in the big oaks, as if scratching at the rosy sky, at the dark deep moss-covered silence."

Wild guess-- Cat and Mouse?

Nope. Hint - Jodyreadseverything had the right author, wrong book.

How about The Mummy?

No....hint....think some more about Lasher.

The Witching Hour?

You got it Jody!

Thanks BKieras, Lasher was the only brown eyed ghost I could think of but I really enjoyed those books. I haven't read the other one (the last one?) about him though.

Here's my first quote, it's the only book I have with me at the moment but it's a popular one on LT.

"She dreamed of black shapes that slid from place to place, avoiding the light, until they were all gathered together under the moon. Little black shapes with little red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. They started to sing."

By the Light of the Moon?

No, it's not that. Next quote:

"The carpet beneath her feet was the same carpet they had in their flat. The wallpaper was the same wallpaper they had. The picture hanging in the hall was the same that they had hanging in their hallway at home.
She knew where she was: she was in her own home. She hadn't left.
She shook her head, confused."

The clue is: this book is by a male British author living in the USA and it's a very recent addition to my library.

Coraline? I know I've read this!

That's the one Aviddiva! Well done. I haven't read it yet but it's the book I had with me when I needed to post. I've been looking for good quotes while trying not to read too far out of sequence.

I'm glad you've got it, I can go to sleep now!

OK, here's one.

"They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs: they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs--however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"

Is it The Eyre Affair?

Nope.

"She thought that in all her life she had never seen soldiers so uncertain on their feet: they were always tripping over something or other, and whenever one went down, several more always fell over him, so that the ground was soon covered with little heaps of men."

Through the Looking Glass?

Good job, Alk290! Your turn next.

Alright, here goes:

"That afternoon I took the photograph from the upstairs closet, brought it back to my room, and held it against Ma's painting of the flying leg. What frightened me was the chasm between the two - the distance between Ma's innocent black-and-white smile and the disembodied winged leg she'd painted during her crazy days. This was what could happen to you: you could end up this far from where you thought you were going."

The Glass Castle?

Is it She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb?

weener, you got it right! your turn :)

Yay! I knew it! Here's mine:

"He stayed within the fence, and walked around the hotel again and again. On each of the three laps he passed the open doorway of the laundry room. Right inside was a gray steel box fixed to the wall. He knew what it contained: the junctions which married the hotel's telephones to the outside world. A good citizen of a million years ago might have thought of such a box, "What the telephone company hath joined together, let no man out asunder."

The Shining?

Nope.

"Great teacher that she was, she would go along with her students by describing the birds as "...ideal pets for Count Dracula." This entirely fictitious count, she knew, was a far more significant person to most of her students than George Washington, for instance, who was merely the founder of their country."

Hotel New Hampshire?

Heh, not even close. I'll give you a new quote and a hint:

"It has always been in my power to materialize, but I have done so only once, very early in the game - for a few wet and blustery moments during the storm my ship encountered in the North Atlantic during her voyage from Malmo to Guayaquil. I appeared in the crow's nest, and one Swedish member of the skeleton crew saw me up there. He had been drinking. My decapitated body was facing the stern, and my arms were upraised. In my hands I was holding my severed head as though it were a basketball."

Hint: the author of this book died almost a year ago.

That last quote sounds very much like Kurt Vonnegut who indeed passed away about a year ago. I haven't read this book though, so I am going to guess Gallapegos because it is the only famous one that I have't read.

*grumbles and kicks at the touchtones*
Stupid touchtones

Who else besides Kurt Vonnegut could come up with "Malmo to Guayaquil"?

Gallapegos though... hmmm... maybe it's a book that is not so famous??

Actually this post is a shameless ploy to the touchtone gods to spit their blue blessings upon my post, but alas, they do not.

*weeps to the touchtone Gods*

Could it be Hocus pocus?

It is indeed Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut. Your turn, januaryw!

I guess it help if you spell crap right! Galapagos... yep, that works better.

I am all a flutter! I left all of my books at the homestead... I will have to get back to you guys later.

This one might be too easy for the likes of you guys, but I thought it would be fun!

"The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just inside, pushed one of their number forward. In any other circumstances it would have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set down each foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him."

Treasure Island?

This sounds SOOOOOO familiar! Is it Tommyknockers by Stephen King?

Is it Water for Elephants?

Message 319: aces
Yep, your turn

I knew it was easy, but first guess?!?!

Yaaaaay, my turn!

"I shall be glad to know through your grandmother how you are getting on," she said meekly. "But now I would much rather that we part. Yes; do not question me. I would rather that we part. Good-bye."
Hardly knowing what he did he touched her hand, and obeyed. He was a scientist, and took words literally. There is something in the inexorably simple logic of such men with partakes of the cruelty of the natural laws that are their study. He entered the tower-steps, and mechanically descended; and it was not until he got half-way down that he thought she could not mean what she had said."

The Girl with the Pearl Earring?

Nope.

"Pausing where she stood the lady examined the aspect of the individual who thus made himself so completely at home on a building which she deemed her unquestioned property. He was a youth who might properly have been characterized by a word the judicious chronicler would not readily use in such a connexion, preferring to reserve it for raising images of the opposite sex. Whether because no deep felicity is likely to arise from the condition, or from any other reason, to say in these days that a youth is beautiful is not to award him that amount of credit which the expression would have carried with it if he had lived in the times of the Classical Dictionary. So much, indeed, is the reverse the case that the assertion creates an awkwardness in saying anything more about him. The beautiful youth usually verges so perilously on the incipient coxcomb, who is about to become the Lothario or Juan among the neighbouring maidens, that, for the due understanding of our present young man, his sublime innocence of any thought concerning his own material aspect, or that of others, is most fervently asserted, and must be as fervently believed. "

Hint: The author is male and has been deceased for some time.

It's got to be Hardy, but I don't immediately recognise it - could it be Two on a tower?

thorold, you are right!
It is Two on a Tower.
In the first quote the line "He entered the tower-steps, and mechanically descended" was a clue and also the fact that there were two people in said tower.

Good job. Your turn now.

Not bad for a guess - I don't think I've ever read it. I was hoping "tower" was a hint...

Shouldn't be difficult to identify the author of this one, but you might have to think a bit to pin down the book:

"I remember walking one day in Grosvenor Square with my aunt Brenda and her old pug dog Jabberwocky, and a policeman came up and said that the latter ought to be wearing a muzzle. My aunt made no verbal reply. She merely whipped her lorgnette from its holster and looked at the man, who gave one choking gasp and fell back against the railings, without a mark on him, but with an awful look of horror in his staring eyes, as if he had seen some dreadful sight."

Ok I will guess. Based on the pug dog "Jabberwocky" I think it could be a Jasper Fforde novel.

I'll guess the first one first I guess.
The Eyre Affair

No, sorry!

Another morceau, with a different character speaking:

"Now then, gentlemen, the simple question you have to ask yourselves is -- What is the gentleman in the telephone booth wearing? Or putting it another way -- What's he got on? Hence the term Clothes Stakes. It might be one thing, or it might be another. He might be in his Sunday-go-to-meetings, or he might have been having a dip in the Serpentine and be in his little bathing suit. Or he might have joined the Salvation Army."

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay?

The Big Over Easy? Not familiar with him, but he looks interesting. I checked him out b/c of msg #329.

No, you need to go back a few more years.

I don't think either of you have any books by this author, unfortunately. The author is very well known, but there are fewer than 300 copies of this particular book on LT.

This next quote should give away the author, anyway:

"The door of the Drones Club swung open and a young man in form-fitting tweeds came down the steps and started to walk westwards. An observant passer-by, scanning his face, would have fancied that he discerned upon it a keen, tense look, like that of an African hunter stalking a hippopotamus. And he would have been right. Pongo Twistleton -- for it was he -- was on his way to try to touch Horace Pendlebury-Davenport for two hundred pounds."

BTW: even if you don't know the book, you could always try a guess at what the man in the telephone booth was wearing (see No.330).

well, now I know that the author is P. G. Wodehouse but I still have no idea of the book, maybe oh2read can take a stab.

If P.G. Wodehouse is the author (thanks aces) let's say Uncle Fred in the Springtime.

Ok based on your comment about what the man in the telephone booth is wearing and my snooping into your library titles I'm going to take another guess.
Young Men in Spats?
Just because it's the only title I could find that has an item clothing in it.

>336 oh2read:

Yes, Uncle Fred in the Springtime it is. (The speaker in the first quote was Uncle Fred himself.) And you'll have to read it yourself to find out what the well-dressed telephone user was wearing (it wasn't spats)...

Your go, Oh2Read!

Here goes:
"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum."

This is an easy one. To Kill a Mockingbird! Who could forget Maycomb.

Well, blast! I was hoping I could share more of its beautiful passages with you. Oh, well, my hat is off to you, and a platter of warm teacakes to you, my dear.

Go for it!

That was just one of the most memorable passages of the book for me, especially the part about the teacakes. :)

Here's mine:

"A real doctor grabbed my bare right foot and hefted it into the face of the other real doctors. The three turned it and poked it and took Polarois pictures of the foot, and it was as if the rest of the person, half dressed with God's gift half frozen, didn't exist. Only the foot, and the rest of the medical students pressed in to see."

geeze that's a familiar scene. It's not fight club, is it?

edited to fix funky touchstone

Yes, it is indeed Fight Club. Your turn!

doh! No quotes handy, no books with me... hang on while i get out the phone book... ah ha:

"Aardman, A. 18 Smith st, Lakemba...........9313-8703"

let's see you smarties get that one :P~

I guess we'll just wait till tomorrow for you.
BTW, how many of you on LT carry a book with you, everywhere?

gave up, huh?

actually, i've got two books in the office, but one of them i've already used in this thread, and the other i haven't read. But i have two more in the car... give me 30 minutes.

hands up anybody that doesn't have a book with them, everywhere?

#346 oh2read I generally have a book with me. I have a big messenger bag that I use as a purse.

I may not have one everywhere, but I always regret it when I don't!

ok, not my favourite quote of all time, but it'll do under the circumstances:

"There wasa soft beating of wings. Brother Francis glanced up in time to see the buzzard preparing to alight on a rubble heap a few yards away. The bird took wing again at once, but Francis imagined that it had eyed him with a sort of motherly concern in the manner of a worried hen."

Is it Dune? Please, please say yes.

I now realize how stupid my question in #346 was. Forgive me. But do y'all realize how many people absolutely can't amuse themselves?

Nup! ha ha ha.

umm, that wasn't a stupid question in #346, sorry if i implied that. I actually don't carry a book everywhere. But since i've been on LT and other book sites, i get the strong feeling that most of these guys do. I've never met such a big group of book nerds in my life.

*looks around nervously at the surrounding nerds, armed with heavy books, the sun glinting ferociously off their glasses*

ok, might just leave another hint and then back away slowly...

"Brother Francis visualised the Fallout as half-salamander, because, according to tradition, the thing was born in the Flame Deluge, and as half-incubus who despoiled virgins in thier sleep, for were not the monsters of the world still called "children of the Fallout"?

Hint: this book is supposed to be a classic of it's genre, the awkward run-on sentence above not withstanding. But then, the genre does not have the highest literary tradition.

It wasn't you who made me feel my question was stupid; actually the chorus of "I always carry a book" kinda made me think Well, duh, I am on LT.

Was the author Ursula Le Guin (sp)?
I'll check back tomorrow if nobody has got it. I am on the wrong side of the world, and it's beddie-bye-time now.

nup.

nighty-night :-D

I know it I know it!
I am so excited because I knew it right from the first quote.
It's A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller jr!
I studied that book for my Apocalyptic Science Fiction course in university.

*watches aces jumping up and down on the spot*

nup.

*watches aces little face fall*

ah, just kidding. Absolutely correct, it's A Carbuncle For Leibowitz. And thanks for saving me from listing another quote, i've just started the book.

Your turn.

Interesting university course, BTW.

I studied that book for my Apocalyptic Science Fiction course in university.

I want to go to school there!!

I hear that it's located directly over the Hellmouth.

Mr Andrew -some might agree with you in your comment in #358. I know sometimes I felt that way myself!
Here's my quote:

"She staggered and fell: nearly blinded with the blood that rained down from a deep gash in her forehead; but raising herself, with difficulty, on her knees, drew from her bosom a white handkerchief - ________'s own - and holding it up, in her folded hands, as high towards Heaven as her feeble strength would allow, breathed one prayer for mercy to her Maker.
It was a ghastly figure to look upon. The murderer staggering backward to the wall, and shutting out the sight with his hand, seized a heavy club and struck her down."

Is it The gunslinger?

Darn, MrA! I was going to say that just because you twisted that title in another thread. I guess I should go with those instincts, huh?

Well, aces, let me try yours.

It's not The Gunslinger or anything by King.

Quote 2:
"In short, the wily old ____ had the boy in his toils; and, having prepared his mind, by solitude and gloom, to prefer any society to the companionship of his own sad thoughts in such a dreary place, was now slowly instilling into his soul the poison which he hoped would blacken it, and change its hue forever."

I don't think any of this lot are old enough to have seen the musical, never mind reading the book :-)

(I got it wrong too - for some reason I had Great Expectations in my head. Doh.)

I've read it AND seen the musical, so there. But I didn't guess it right, so I won't give it away.

Oliver Twist?

Oliver Twist it is!
So dreamlikecheese is the officical winner, right? Thorold and aviddiva both guessed it but neither said it outright.

Oh and I've never seen the musical either, well except the Disney one with the dogs.

There's a disney Oliver Twist musical with dogs? Real dogs or cartoons?

Cartoon dogs!
It's called Oliver & Company and it's from 1988.

Oliver (who is a kitten actually, the pick-pockets are dogs) is voiced by Joey Lawrence and Fagin is voiced by Dom DeLuise.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095776/

Hmmm.....which one shall we choose....

"With a pair of barber's shears he cut hair out of the way until the outlines of this wound emerged cleanly. The bone had fractured and caved in considerably over an area of about four inches. The skin had split open, and from the laceration of the scalp a tiny strand of pink brain material protruded."

Ok. So it's been over 24 hours without a guess. I suppose I'll have to add a new passage.

"After three days they boarded another train and began a languid crawl toward California. At night the MPs who roamed from car to car came through telling them to pull down their window shades, and they passed the dark hours twisting in their seats and exerting themselves not to complain. The train stopped and started and jolted them toward wakefulness, and there was a constant line at the door to the toilet."

I've spent the last 24 hours since the first quote washing my hands. eeeeeeeeugh!

thankfully, the second one was much less... striking.

I'll provide a random guess of a book a haven't read, to get another hint. Snow Falling On Cedars ?

is it in your library?

I'll guess Of Mice and Men

MrAndrew got it right! I apologise for the first quote. It was the first page I opened with a significant passage which didn't mention any names.

GET-OUT-OF-HERE! I haven't read it, and it was a completely random guess.

Well, not completely random. I have seen the movie. I also looked through your library but I couldn't pick anything there that i thought matched the quote. I don't recall seeing Snow there... must have been a subconcious thing.

freaky.

Sadly, i am without a ready quote yet again. I graciously defer my turn to anyone out there that is better prepared. Preferably someone that hasn't had a turn yet, and who is just itchin' to drop a great quote on us. Hit me!

This thread is taking seriously long to load. Maybe the next quoter could start a new thread?

The next thread can be found here