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Is the opening quote in Michael Crichton’s “Airframe” real or fictional?
Michael Crichton’s 1996 novel “Airframe” opens with two quotations, one of which reads:
The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion.
This is attributed to “Veteran reporter John Lawton, 68,…
user149408
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Why is the Agatha Christie play called "The Mousetrap"?
The Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap has not only the longest initial run of any play in history (it's been running continuously for nearly 65 years, mostly in the very same building in London), but also an ending which is traditionally kept…
Rand al'Thor
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Why does "it always turn out to be the King of Sweden"
In Reginald at the Theatre, Saki writes:
[Reginald]: “There are certain fixed rules that one observes for one’s own comfort. For instance, never be flippantly rude to any inoffensive grey-bearded stranger that you may meet in pine forests or hotel…
TomDot Com
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What is "the poem" that the spider refers to in Philip Dick's short story "Expendable"?
In the short story "Expendable" by Philip K. Dick, the protagonist is a man who can communicate with spiders. At one point, after fighting off a home invasion by an army of ants, the protagonist is seated at his desk, armed and despairing, when a…
user5387
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Was Tom Robinson's trial the only inconsistency between To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman?
In case you were unaware, (spoilers for both)
Tom Robinson loses the trial and ends up dying in To Kill a Mockingbird whereas in Go Set a Watchman, where Atticus wins the trial and Tom goes free.
This quote is from Go Set a Watchman for those who…
Matrim Cauthon
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How might Shakespeare have become familiar with Dante's work?
A recent question on our site asked whether Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing contained a reference to Dante's Divine Comedy. In his answer, Matt Thrower mentions Beatrice, the name of both a character in Much Ado and the woman who inspired some…
Tsundoku
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What evidence is there for the "recession of accent" theory?
In the late 19th and early 20th century, there was a theory that certain oddities in the rhythms of Shakespeare and other early modern English poets could best be explained by recession of accent.
The history of this theory seems to be as follows.…
Gareth Rees
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What is meant by the word "cumfarting" in the 1742 English novel "Joseph Andrews"?
Yes I know it sounds like a superslang portmanteau of modern obscenities (and indeed it is), which is why I was surprised to see it in a 1742 book, and why I'm asking.
Toward the beginning of Book 4, Chapter 5 of The History of the Adventures of…
Jacob Ford
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Why is Daphne Farquitt never seen?
In the Thursday Next series, there is an author named Daphne Farquitt. She is a prolific and popular writer, although all her books are pretty much the same unimaginative love stories. (With one exception, where the plot was accidentally changed…
Vixen Populi
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What makes something a literary or poetic movement?
I have recently been reading about the various poetic and literary movements that occurred prior to the 21st century, and one thing that I don't understand is how they become a movement. Most of them have a single book, which significantly inspired…
Benjamin
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What is the libellous meaning of ‘daffy-down-dilly’?
In Dorothy L. Sayers’ novel Unnatural Death, the barrister Mr Towkington advises Lord Peter Wimsey to be careful to avoid libel:
‘You are too easily surprised,’ said Mr Towkington. ‘Many words have no legal meaning. Others have a legal meaning very…
Gareth Rees
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Meaning of a Trollope quotation about the "best dressed gentleman"
In the self-help manual Pushing to the Front (1911) by Orison Swett Marden, at the start of Chapter XV ("What a good appearance will do"), I find this quotation:
I hold that gentleman to be the best dressed whose dress no one observes.—ANTHONY…
Saeed Vrz
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What’s the link between “The Amazing Maurice” and the Tiffany Aching books?
I’m slowly reading the novels of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and I finished all the Tiffany Aching saga.
Then I read The Amazing Maurice and its Educated Rodents since from this Discworld Reading Order image, there was a minor connection…
Exodd
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In The Bet, why does the lawyer willingly stay fifteen years instead of five years for no extra reward?
In The Bet by Anton Chekhov, the lawyer voluntarily accepts to stay in prison for 15 years, instead of the original agreed upon 5 years. Here's the relevant passage:
"The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral, but if
I had to…
fi12
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In de Maupassant's Two Friends, why does the colonel allow the two men to go into a warzone?
In Two Friends by Guy de Maupassant, the two men wish to go fishing in a warzone and are allowed to do so by the colonel who controls the checkpoint between the safety of Paris and the warzone outside of it.
An hour later they were walking side by…
fi12
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