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1500 questions
19
votes
1 answer
Short story about an atomic energy agency van, with a funny surprise ending
My question is about a short-story with a surprise ending.
The story is about an atomic energy agency van that accidentally gets off the road down a steep slope and hits a small tree.
People on the road stop and look down. They identify the van…
Luiz Jorge Cavalcanti
19
votes
3 answers
Was Holden Caulfield molested as a child?
In chapter 24, Holden goes to Mr. Antolini's place to stay for the night. He crashes on the couch, and suddenly is woken up by Mr. Antolini stroking his (Holden's) hair while he sleeps. There are, then, two passages that caught my eye:
I know more…
JNat
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19
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1 answer
How much did forensic science at the time of Sherlock Holmes' publication influence it?
Was Arthur Conan Doyle influenced by any particular forensic techniques or methods used in his time? Were there any specific ones utilized a lot in the Sherlock Holmes series? And if so, what were they?
Buffer Over Read
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19
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1 answer
Did Lady Macbeth communicate signs of her instability prior to the blood scene?
I'm looking back on Macbeth, and I'm wondering something that's piqued my interest again. There's a very well-known scene in Macbeth: the blood-spot scene, the hand-washing scene, and other such names. In it, Lady Macbeth goes... somewhat…
user80
19
votes
1 answer
Is there a name for a comic relief character that temporarily becomes highly capable?
This is a trope that I've seen sometimes in comic books. I haven't seen it in prose fiction yet.
Sometimes, we see a character who provides comic relief become highly capable for a single issue or chapter. Examples include a few Donald Duck stories,…
Vixen Populi
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19
votes
5 answers
Where did the term Kwisatz Haderach in Dune originate?
I've always been curious how names and words are created in literature. Having finished the main Dune books last year, I was thinking how the term "Kwisatz Haderach" came about. Did Herbert make it up, or does it have some history or explanation to…
Devar-TTY
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19
votes
4 answers
What's the joke with "Best of Queen" in Good Omens?
A recurring joke in Pratchett and Gaiman's Good Omens is that all the music tapes in Crowley's car are songs from Queen, which is apparently a British rock band. From near the start of the book:
Crowley was currently doing 110 mph somewhere east of…
Rand al'Thor
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19
votes
1 answer
Which is the 'correct' version of "The Lady of Shalott" and why are there two?
It seems Tennyson wrote two versions of "The Lady of Shalott". They are quite similar but have some big differences, for example, the first stanza of the 1832 version is:
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe…
Mirte
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19
votes
3 answers
What did Scout mean when she said "It takes a woman to do that kind of work"?
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird in the chapter in which aunt Alexandra has come to stay with Jem & Scout at Maycomb county, she has a private chat with Atticus about Scout and Jem not knowing their heritage. After the chat Atticus comes to the…
RedBaron
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19
votes
7 answers
Significance of the Phoenician Sailor having pearls for eyes in The Waste Land
In T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land (which you can read online), the "Phoenician Sailor" (an image on a tarrot card) is described as having pearls for eyes in lie 48:
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his…
user111
19
votes
1 answer
How do I straighten out a paperback book's cover that is bent?
I read a lot of paperback books. Almost exclusively, in fact. I have one problem, though - all the covers get bent while I read them (or sometimes after one of the siblings has a crack at it). They end up with bent covers:
Now, I like to keep my…
Mithical
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19
votes
3 answers
Why does the Iliad start "in the middle"?
The Iliad starts at kind of an odd spot. It starts by describing the argument between Agamemnon and Achilles (Akhilleus in my translation) over the women they have acquired from raids. It mentions off-hand that they have been there for nine years.…
auden
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19
votes
2 answers
How can I check that used or old books are in good condition before I purchase them?
I go to used book sales about once or twice a year. Recently, I bought some books that I've been meaning to read for a while. However, when I started reading them, I realized that about a quarter of the books I purchased weren't in great shape -- no…
user111
19
votes
1 answer
Story about child slavery and mutilated body parts?
Can someone help me identify this story about child slavery?
I read this last year in my English class and its a book about slavery.
Synopsis:
The Protagonist is a young male who collects unmarked cans.
He collects certain types of containers, I…
Metro Boomin
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19
votes
1 answer
When did men dressed as women stop being the norm in English theatre?
This excellent answer by Joshua Engel draws a comparison between men dressed as women in Shakespeare-era plays and perspective jumps in modern cinema:
The audience would, of course, have been aware that these characters were portrayed by boys.…
Rand al'Thor
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