The 12th of October was not just Spanish National Day! Secret Kingdoms English Bookstore in Madrid celebrated October 12th with a Literary quiz and wine tasting. Six teams fought it out over 5 rounds covering everything from El Cid to Douglas Adams, and enjoyed a selection of fine wines. After the last round a tie-breaker was needed to separate the top two teams! Here we see the winning team celebrating their victory with us. It pays to know who wrote “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”!
If you want to find out or learn more about our upcoming events in Madrid, do visit our events page online or call in person, in person at c/ Moratin 7 in Madrid. If you want to try your luck at the quiz, keep reading!
Round One – Spain (5 Points available)
Q1 – Which of the following writers does NOT specifically praise the wines of Toro
- A) Juan Ruiz the Archpriest of Hita,
- B) Quevedo,
- C) Dan Brown
- D) Miguel de Cervantes,
Q2 – The song of El Cid is one of the first great poems of Spanish Literature, but when did the events described take place?
- A) Second half of the 9th Century
- B) Second half of the 10th Century
- C) Second half of the 11th Century
- D) Second half of the 12th Century
And for a Bonus Point – how do the legendary final exploits of El Cid relate to the 1980s film comedy “weekend at Bernies”
Q3 – What message of hope did Madrileña novelist Almudena Grandes leave us this week:
- a) Everything will get better
- b) Its never too late
- c) Love is all you need
- d) Everything is for the best
And for a bonus point – name her first novel (available in English in Secret Kingdoms)
Round 2 – Literary Classics (6 points available)
Q1 – Which of the following is NOT the title of a work by Mary Shelley?
- A) Frankenstein
- B) The Last Man
- C) Matilda
- D) Prometheus Unbound
And for a bonus point – how did Mary Shelley´s husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley die?
Q2 – In Emily Bronte´s novel Wuthering Heights, who relates the bulk of the story?
- A) Heathcliff
- B) Cathy
- C) Ellen Dean (Nelly)
- D) Zillah
And for a bonus point – under what pen name was the novel originally published?
Q3 – After the success of “The Three Musketeers” Alexandre Dumas went on to write a sequel, but what was it called?
- A) The Return of Milady
- B) The Black Tulip
- C) Twenty Years After
- D) The Man in the Iron Mask
And for a bonus point – Alexandre Dumas had a son – also called Alexandre, who wrote a novel “Camille” which inspired which opera by Giuseppe Verdi?
Round 3 – Contemporary Literature (6 points available)
Q1 – The Booker Prize was first awarded in 1969 and continues today. Over its 53 Years only 4 writers have won it twice J.M. Coetzee was the first person to win twice, in 1983 and again in 1999. Peter Carey won first in 1988 and then in 2001. Margaret Atwood won first in 2000 and then in 2019.
Who else has won it twice?
And for a bonus point – can you name the winning novels of this 2 time winner?
Q2 – This was the first novel of a Scottish Author in 1993 and was longlisted for that years Booker prize. It it believed to have failed to make the shortlist after “offending the sensibilities of two judges”… Is it?
- A) A Disaffection
- B) Trainspotting
- C) The Crow Road
- D) Porno
- E) The Wasp Factory
- F) How late it was how late
And for a bonus point – can you name the author?
Q3 – “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” is the opening line of which novel.
- A) My Cousin Rachel
- B) Frenchman´s Creek
- C) The House on The Strand
- D) Rebecca
- E) The Scapegoat
- F) The Loving Spirit
And for a bonus point – Can you name the author?
Round 4 – Genre Fiction (6 points available)
Q1 – Radiohead’s “OK Computer” Album references a famous science fiction series, particularly its second track “paranoid android”. But what was that series?
- A) Foundation
- B) 2001 – A Space Odyssey
- C) A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
- D) Red Dwarf
- E) Dune
- F) Star Wars
And for a bonus point – can you name the author? (or the Android?)
Q2 – Stephen King´s “Western Fantasy” is his “Dark Tower” series across 8 Novels. But what is the first book called?:
- A) The Cowboy
- B) The Gunslinger
- C) The Showdown
- D) The land turtle
- F) The Dark Tower
And for a bonus point – give the name of the main character and the link to a Romantic British Poet
Q3 – Phillipa Gregory is one of our most prolific historical novelists. But which age does she being to life in her main series of 15 Novels?
- a) The Wars of the Roses and Tudors
- b) Regency England
- c) Ancient Rome
- d) The Roaring Twenties
- e) The Victorian Age
And for a bonus point – where was she born?
Round 5 – Children’s literature (6 points available)
Q1 – The Hogwarts express takes Harry Potter and his pals to school each year. But what station does it depart from?
- Pancras
- Charing Cross
- Kings Cross
- Marylebone
- Paddington
- Waterloo
And for a bonus point – what station does it arrive at?
Q2 – In the Philip Pullman Novels “His Dark Materials” what are his “dark materials”?
- a) Antimatter
- b) Dust / Dark Matter
- c) Our Daemons
- d) The books in the Oxford Libraries
- e) The dark side of our souls
And for a bonus point – what is the name of the heroine?
Q3 – The Classic novels “Anne of Green Gables” and their successors are set where?
- a) Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia / Prince Edward Island)
- b) Western Canada (British Columbia)
- c) Eastern USA (Maine)
- d) Western USA (Washington)
- e) Ireland
And for a bonus point – what is the surname of the heroine when she arrives as an orphan?
Answers:
R1 – Q1=C, Q2=C, and “title characters exploits carried out whilst dead” (El Cid’s Body was strapped to the back of his horse for a final charge, whilst Bernie was propped up by two teenagers), Q3=A, and “The Ages of Lulu”
R2 – Q1=D, and “Drowned”, Q2=C and “Ellis Bell”, Q3=C and “la Traviata”
R3 – Q1=Hilary Mantel and “Wolf Hall + Bring up the Bodies”, Q2=B and Irvine Welsh, Q3=D and Daphne Du Maurier
R4 – Q1=C and Douglas Adams/Marvin, Q2=B and “Roland” the link is to Lord Byron’s poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came”, Q3=A and Nairobi/Kenya
R5 – Q1=C and Hogsmeade, Q2=B and Lyra, Q3=A and Shirley
How did you get on? Our winning teams scored 28.5 points each (using a joker to double their best score) and had to be separated by the following tie-breakers:
Q1 – In “Swallows and Amazons” what is the youngest walker child called?
Q2 – Name Judith Kerr´s semi-autobiographical novel about fleeing Nazi Austria?
Q3 – Who wrote “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
A1 – Bridget
A2 – “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit”
A3 – Eric Carle
The Secret Kingdom: With 125 square meters of space, Secret Kingdoms is the biggest 100% English Language Bookstore in Madrid.
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