Back from a lovely time in Snowdonia, where it snowed and was unutterably beautiful. Reminded me of Psalm 95 – specifically: “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”
Consequently I am rather sleepy – walking and playing and praying and travelling have taken it out of me. So I shall just point you in the direction of a great BBC quiz, and shall duck when those of you who aren’t from the UK realise that you can’t watch The Book Quiz. In an age when mass media is accused of dumbing down, often quite rightly, it is nice to see a literary quiz – and, what’s more, a very tricky one. See this week’s episode here, if you’re in the UK, and see if you can do better than me.
The rounds involve identifying opening lines of novels; poet’s r
eading their own poetry; picture clues for a book; quickfire questions, each interlinking; thirty seconds or so to name as many examples as possible of, say, George Eliot novels. The team got one for that – Middlemarch. Go on, how many can you get in thirty seconds? Shamefully, I managed three – and none of them were the one I’ve read. Pressure!
Good fun, very challenging, and covers an enormous range of literature. Well done, BBC.
In other culture news, I spent this evening pretending to be Doctor Who for a Social Sciences Library introductory video…
Oh my. I’ve been to Snowdonia (yes all the way from Minnesota) and it is indeed a holy place. Well said.
Say, what fun that book quiz must be! Imagine…questions on George Eliot instead of pop stars. I am so sorry I can’t watch it :(
Deborah @ Exuberant Reader
Hoo, I couldn’t believe they didn’t get An Unofficial Rose. Nothing like a quiz you’re not taking part in to make you feel smug.
I saw it too! Has it been going long?
Never mind the literary quiz (although I do agree, Bravo BBC) but please please can we see you as Dr Who … pleeeease?
its good isnt it? i have been watchin for about 3 weeks now and have learnt that i know nothing about poetry! i got 4 eliot’s tho…. XxX
I love the Book Quiz – and Snowdownia.
I echo Angela – can’t wait to see Stuckinabook as Dr Who!
Karen – this is the second series, the first was presented by David Baddiel – slightly different rounds now.
And, everyone else, I’m afraid Doctor Who may never be available! Not unless you’re joining the Social Sciences Library. If I ever get my hands on it, I’ll point you in the right direction ;-)
Ugh. There will never be anything like this on American television. It says something when there is a popular program called “Are you smarted than a 5th (I think it’s 5th) grader?”
Congratulations on your bloggiversary! Those Du Maurier books are awfully tempting….at least we can order from TBD over here.
You’ve read Mill on the Floss, right?