In May 2020 I compiled a quiz based on the openings of a variety of books on our bookcases - a mixture of the well-known and the slightly obscure, the literary and the popular, with a dusting of SF/fantasy sprinkled in. I’ve now put together a second quiz, this time on book endings.
This page includes the book closing lines and the answers: there is a spoiler-free version with only the questions also available.
Book 1
As before, a classic ending to get started.
Answer: Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Book 2
I agree with this writer’s view of dishwashers…
Answer: Appetite (Nigel Slater)
Book 3
Answer: The Chrysalids (John Wyndham)
Book 4
Answer: Notes from a Small Island (Bill Bryson)
Book 5
Answer: A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
Book 6
Answer: 1066 and All That (W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman)
Book 7
I snapped this tome up when it came out, and now only remember a few scenes - but the river of gold at the end stuck in my mind.
Answer: Crytptonomicon (Neal Stephenson)
Book 8
I sadly didn’t see this at the theatre, but since heard great things about it. No velociraptors on this last page, though.
Answer: Enron (Lucy Prebble)
Book 9
I did see this at the National Theatre (and, dare I whisper, might have preferred the tighter telling of the tale there).
Answer: Northern Lights (Philip Pullman) - also known as The Golden Compass
Book 10
A first picture round.
Answer: The Sandman - Volume One - Preludes and Nocturnes (Neil Gaiman)
Book 11
“Widely regarded as a book that helped establish the genre conventions of steampunk”, says Wikipedia. It’s been on my shelf for a while, sounds fascinating - I just need to get round to reading it!
Answer: The Difference Engine (William Gibson and Bruce Sterling)
Book 12
Still a fantastically funny play.
Answer: Noises Off (Michael Frayn)
Book 13
Answer: The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
Book 14
Sometimes the Catchphrase clue “say what you see” does the trick…
Answer: The World According to Garp (John Irving)
Book 15
One from the Kindle collection.
Answer: No Shame (Tom Allen)
Book 16
Answer: The Man Who Died Twice (Richard Osman)
Book 17
The National Theatre adaptation cut the line lodged in my memory about sending money through the post.
Answer: Emil and the Detectives (Erich Kästner)
Book 18
Answer: Storm Front, the first of the Dresden Files series (Jim Butcher)
Book 19
I should try harder to come up with some suitably cryptic clues.
Answer: Atonement (Sebastain Faulks)
Book 20
The second and final picture round.
Answer: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore)