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Classic Novels by Plot #1

Can you name these classic novels based on a description of their plots?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 23, 2015
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First submittedNovember 5, 2012
Times taken66,361
Average score55.6%
Rating4.33
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Plot
Book
Sea captain seeks revenge against white whale
Moby-Dick
Mad scientist constructs a monster and brings him to life
Frankenstein
Animals overthrow the farmer only to establish their own tyranny
Animal Farm
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and quickly start behaving like savages
Lord of the Flies
Adultress wears an A on her clothing
The Scarlet Letter
Lawyer defends a falsely accused man in Jim Crow Alabama
To Kill a Mockingbird
Man kills a pawn broker with an axe, is convicted, and sent to Siberia
Crime and Punishment
If you're insane, then you can get out of the army. Unfortunately, wanting to get out
proves that you're sane.
Catch 22
19th century English woman bags a rich bachelor, but almost doesn't because of
her tendency towards premature judgments
Pride and Prejudice
Literature professor embarks on an icky sexual relationship with his
12 year old stepdaughter
Lolita
In the future, we'll have a strict caste system and a wonderful drug called soma
Brave New World
Oklahoma sharecroppers seek a better life in California, but don't find it
The Grapes of Wrath
Man is stranded on an island for many years. He gets a sidekick after rescuing him
from cannibals, and eventually returns home.
Robinson Crusoe
Escaped French criminal establishes a new life as an upright citizen, but is hounded
by a merciless police investigator
Les Miserables
Two fast-living beatniks take road trips across America
On the Road
River boat captain meets an ivory trader who has gone savage in deepest Africa
Heart of Darkness
Man wakes up one day to find that he has become a giant insect
The Metamorphosis
Boy embarks on a quest for a pirate's buried treasure
Treasure Island
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53 Comments
MayaB
+4
Level 73
Nov 4, 2012
I really like the quiz. It would be great if you make another one... or two... or... :-)
Rachel24601
+2
Level 46
Nov 4, 2012
Sweet quiz. I only missed two, one which I've never heard of, but which sounds interesting.
samiamco
+3
Level 68
Jun 16, 2016
Which two?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Mar 3, 2020
I only missed Brave New World
Apekid
+3
Level 26
Nov 5, 2012
Got 'em all with 2:17 left.
filiphoset
+1
Level 62
Mar 16, 2024
didn´t ask
ruudsje
+4
Level 69
Nov 6, 2012
Great Quiz! Couldn't come up with the English title of the Kafka book, only know it as 'Die Verwandlung'. Could that be acceptable, after all, so is 'les Miserables'. Although I don't think that has a translated English title.
Baltimorean
+2
Level 66
Oct 22, 2017
I typed "Methamorphosis," which I believe is the version written by Hunter Thompson.
RobNobody
+6
Level 78
Dec 1, 2018
Yeah, it isn't really comparable, since Les Misérables IS the title that's used in English printings.
dunkinggandalf2
+4
Level 69
Feb 17, 2021
I second the idea to accept "die Verwandlung".
TheWombat
+1
Level 73
Oct 1, 2013
I loved this quiz. Loved it. Thanks QM.
burntfrost
+3
Level 48
May 26, 2014
Is that what happened in Heart of Darkness? I was forced to read it in 12th grade...I'm thinking now maybe I didn't.
Symmetrik
+1
Level 57
Apr 27, 2015
Same, and I know I didn't read it. Took 12th grade English in summer school, and that book was ridiculously dense. I think I read about 30 pages.
Freestatebear
+9
Level 86
Apr 27, 2015
Watch the movie "Apocalypse Now." It's the same story, only updated to be set during the Vietnam war. Some of the character names are even the same!
HectorVortac
+2
Level 48
May 15, 2018
I read it voluntarily as an adult and absorbed very little. Whose brilliant idea is it to expect a high schooler to find anything in it?
dasubergeek
+5
Level 74
Apr 27, 2015
"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt." The best opening to any book, anywhere.
sillie
+5
Level 76
Apr 28, 2015
Should accept "miserables" without the article, after all the English "the" isn't required, ergo the French "les" shouldn't be either. - yes, I typed "miserables" first.
Arii78
+1
Level 45
Mar 6, 2020
Same here.
RobNobody
+5
Level 78
Sep 29, 2023
It's not really the same thing, though. When foreign titles are used verbatim in English, the leading article becomes an integral part of the title. Any English-language encyclopedia or catalog alphabetized by title would have it under "L," not "M," while something like, say The Great Gatsby would be under "G." And leading articles in English are frequently and easily dropped, as in people just saying Great Gatsby or Tale of Two Cities, but no one speaking English would ever call it just Misérables.
francescafawn
+2
Level 43
Apr 28, 2015
'The average score is 10' and here was I thinking I should be ashamed with 16! guys, go and read these books!
dirkster42
+3
Level 90
Apr 29, 2015
For Treasure Island I kept thinking, "No, not The Goonies. No, not Pippi Longstocking."
ILikeQuizes
+1
Level 62
Nov 8, 2016
Of this list I've read To Kill a Mockingbird, Robinson Crusoe, Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness, the Metamorphosis, and Treasure island but got all except Les Miserables.
tshalla
+1
Level 77
Aug 29, 2018
Yup, I've read 'em all except for The Scarlet Letter. But when it came to Les Miserables, all I could think of was The Fugitive.
kenpo17
+2
Level 66
Jan 6, 2017
Is there a second quiz of these? This one was really cool and there are plenty more classic novels you could use.
Anzi
+1
Level 69
Oct 22, 2017
Yes, enjoyed this quiz, and enjoyed guessing the ones I didn't know but had vaguely picked up an idea of the plot from somewhere - which was about half of them. Please make more!
BlackLab
+1
Level 66
Oct 23, 2017
Don't know what I was thinking.. "Two fast-living beatniks take road trips across America" Easy Rider.
ander217
+1
Level 74
Jun 23, 2018
Easy Rider wasn't about beatniks - they were hippie bikers. Different subcultures.
kenpo17
+3
Level 66
Nov 16, 2017
I made a part 2 for this quiz, since there wasn't one.
Sirinwara
+1
Level 47
May 15, 2018
The Grapes of Wrath - is that really a classic novel?

Heart of Darkness?

I am from Europe and never heard of these two.

HectorVortac
+2
Level 48
May 15, 2018
"Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language." (Wikipedia) And most John Steinbeck novels qualify as classic in the U.S.
ander217
+4
Level 74
Jun 23, 2018
Yes, and Steinbeck is also one of only eleven Americans to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1962). As the academy stated, "Dear Mr. Steinbeck - You are not a stranger to the Swedish public any more than to that of your own country and of the whole world. With your most distinctive works you have become a teacher of good will and charity, a defender of human values, which can well be said to correspond to the proper idea of the Nobel Prize..." https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/press.html
CardinalSin
+1
Level 79
Nov 11, 2019
Sirinwara, Yes. Grapes of Wrath is classic novel - and I'm not American.
cyninoregon
+1
Level 36
Mar 6, 2020
You must read John Steinbeck! He captured the desperation of the Depression in America like no one (although Preston Sturgis in Sullivan's Travels made one of the best films ever out of the situation and his heart. Steinbeck was a wonderful writer who was not afraid to let his heart dictate some scenes. The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men are his 2 greatest works. Don't miss them.
HectorVortac
+1
Level 48
May 15, 2018
Doesn't that fall a little short for the plot of Brave New World?
RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Dec 1, 2018
I guess it's really more a description of the premise than the plot.
SpacemanSpiff
+3
Level 66
Aug 29, 2018
I thought "Pride and Prejudice" was about HER pride, and HIS prejudice.
RobNobody
+2
Level 78
Dec 1, 2018
No, it's really the other way around. He was haughty and stand-offish and thought LIzzie's family were beneath him, while she had formed an early dislike to him before getting to know him based on his manner and second-hand stories (that turned out to be false.)
JonOfKent
+3
Level 57
Apr 29, 2020
Well, it can be seen either way round - or, better, both ways round. There is a tendency to say "she is prejudice and he is pride" but it is much more complex than that. A significant dynamic in the book is how pride begets prejudice and prejudice bolsters pride, in both directions. Both Mr Darcy and Lizzie show evidence of both at different times.

Sense and sensibility - now there you can apply the two words to the two main characters. But not in Pride and Prejudice, at least not without losing a lot of the depth of the story.

JackBeNimble
+2
Level 81
Jan 6, 2019
I really have to take a break between taking "chain" quizzes and others. I almost ran out of time because I was trying to find answers beginning with the last letter of the previous answer...
pmeplant
+1
Level 51
Nov 11, 2019
I'm on fffffffffffffffffire
Anzi
+3
Level 69
Nov 11, 2019
Enjoyed this again!

But quibbling that Jean Valjean is not an escaped convict - more a parole violator ..

Arii78
+1
Level 45
Mar 6, 2020
Every time I end up here, I keep trying Two Years' Vacation for the Lord of the Flies clue...
Damangio
+1
Level 64
Mar 6, 2020
Very surprised that none of the answers I got came from Wishbone.
BizarroTommy
+2
Level 69
Jul 4, 2021
not going to lie, whoever wrote Lolita should be locked up. Not sorry.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 71
Dec 14, 2021
We're reading Crime and Punishment for AP Lit right now so I was expecting to see that here
AllenY
+1
Level 68
Dec 19, 2021
Animal Farm is very short, a novella, almost reads closer to a short story than a novel? Perhaps would be better to change or add caveat that novellas are included. Ditto Metamorphosis and maybe a couple others
Remster
+2
Level 78
Sep 29, 2023
Good point. I spent the four minutes racking my brains for a full-length novel in which animals overthrow the farmer only to establish their own tyranny.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 71
Jul 12, 2023
17/18, missed On the Road
GoblinOfCooz
+1
Level 77
Sep 1, 2023
I've read it so it doesn't hurt me, but the clue for Crime and Punishment is a pretty major spoiler
Remster
+1
Level 78
Sep 29, 2023
What's the name of the scientist who built Frankenstein? I always forget.
RobNobody
+2
Level 78
Sep 29, 2023
Shelley.
Remster
+1
Level 78
Sep 29, 2023
That's a good, if disappointing, answer.
duckwantbread
+1
Level 65
Sep 29, 2023
I tried East of Eden for the Grapes of Wrath because that's also about someone moving to California in search of a better life and failing to find it (although in East Of Eden they move from Connecticut), odd that Steinbeck used a similar plotline in two of his most famous books.
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