A. 嵐が丘　B. 高慢と偏見　C. 動物農場　D. 二都物語　E. 蝿の王

F. 指輪物語：王の帰還

First off, we at the Wandering Wordsman have been instructed by Ray Bradbury’s lawyers to inform the audience that he is from Waukegan, Illinois, which has not been part of the British Empire since more than 120 years before Mr. Bradbury was born.

But on to the guesses.  B was a popular choice this week, with both Theoman and A Fan assuming it was Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.  The former identified it based on the inclusion of “and” in the name, and A Fan presumably recognized it based on his extensive knowledge of Austen and her oeuvre.  It is curious that neither of them went for Sense and Sensibility, also a well-known Austen work that follows the “_____ and _____” formula.  Curious and fortuitous, for B is none other than P&P.  Well spotted.

There was also considerable mention of Mr. Orwell’s 1984, which, as Theoman surmised, is not on this list.  People seem to have forgotten about the other Orwell book that they always make kids read in school: Animal Farm.  Well, I guess A Fan didn’t forget about it, he just misplaced it.  Napoleon and Boxer and all their communist buddies are hanging out at C, trapped between Mr. Darcy and . . . whoever is the male lead in A Tale of Two Cities–I never read it–at D.  A Fan’s guess of Animal Farm for E (provided, of course, that we assume he meant to write “E” instead of “F”) is slightly right in that the title does contain the name of an animal.  The symbolism in E, however, is much more Christian than Marxist, as it is William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (similar in that it also tells a story of living beings that really shouldn’t be in charge of anything having to take care of themselves).

Shirley’s devotion to  Trollop and A Fan’s to Greene are inspiring but, in this case, unhelpful.  And there were a couple of Shakespeare guesses as well, though none of his plays appeared either (hmm, might have to consider that for a future quiz).  The final remaining answer, F, is Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.  This was a hard one, I admit, both because it’s not one that most people read in English class and because the Japanese title is not quite as literal a translation as with the others: Yubiwa monogatari is the “Tale of the Ring(s)” rather than the “Lord of the Rings.”

Oh, and A is Wuthering Heights.  What a terrible book.

And now this week we have the follow-up: American Lit.  To help you guys out, I will say that we have one work by Faulkner, one by Hawthorne, one by Hemingway, one by Melville, one by Steinbeck, and one by Twain.  If I were you, I would take Theoman’s advice and not look for titles featuring people’s names or numbers (though I will say that one of these is not a direct translation of the English title).

A. 怒りの葡萄　B. 王子と乞食　C. 誰がために鐘は鳴る　D. 白鯨

E. 響きと怒り　F. 緋文字