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Grex > Books > #77: The Mysterious Quote - Fall 1998 Edition | |
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remmers
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The Mysterious Quote - Fall 1998 Edition
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Oct 3 20:00 UTC 1998 |
This is the fall edition of a Grex game that has been running for many
seasons now.
It works like this: Whoever is "up" posts a published quote. The object
is to guess the author. The first person to guess correctly gets to give
the next quote.
If you're up and people are having trouble, it's considered good form to
give hints and/or another quote by the same author.
If you're guessing, please guess one author at a time (that is, no
scattergun guessing by one person). If you're told that your guess is
wrong, then you're free to guess a different author.
Your quotes can be easy or hard, but the authors should be people that
at least some Grexers are apt to have heard of.
Since I'm entering the item, I'll start. Stay tuned for a quote to show
up momentarily...
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| 207 responses total. |
remmers
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response 1 of 207:
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Oct 3 20:06 UTC 1998 |
Okay, here's my quote:
We were camping in the oasis. My companions were asleep.
An Arab, tall and white, walked past me; he had attended
to the camels and was going to the sleeping area.
I flopped backwards into the grass; I tried to sleep; I
couldn't -- the keen howl of a distant jackal; I sat up
again. And something that had been so far away was
suddenly near. A swarming of jackals all around me; eyes
gleaming in matte gold and fading; lithe bodies in agile,
regular motion as if under a whip.
One jackal came up from behind, squeezing under my arm
and against me as if needing my warmth; then stood before
me and spoke to me, almost eye to eye:
"I am the eldest jackal far and wide. I am happy to be
greeting you here. I had already given up all hope, for
we have been awaiting you for an eternity; my mother
waited and her mother and every one of their mothers
all the way back to the mother of all jackals. Believe
me!"
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rcurl
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response 2 of 207:
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Oct 3 21:15 UTC 1998 |
Agora 36 - Fall 1998 Mysterious Quote - has been linked to Books 77.
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remmers
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response 3 of 207:
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Oct 3 22:42 UTC 1998 |
I should add -- there's no restriction on genre. Fiction, non-fiction,
prose, poetry, all fair game.
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polygon
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response 4 of 207:
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Oct 4 01:42 UTC 1998 |
It sounds like an American who doesn't actually have any direct
experience with North African or Middle Eastern deserts.
James Thurber?
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remmers
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response 5 of 207:
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Oct 4 02:49 UTC 1998 |
Not Thurber. But like Thurber, the author is (a) deceased, (b) male, and
(c) very well known (probably more so than Thurber).
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mcnally
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response 6 of 207:
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Oct 4 03:43 UTC 1998 |
re #5: presumably well-known for reasons other than his writing?
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sekari
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response 7 of 207:
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Oct 4 04:04 UTC 1998 |
shot in the dark= Hemingway?
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omni
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response 8 of 207:
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Oct 4 07:59 UTC 1998 |
Mark Twain?
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remmers
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response 9 of 207:
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Oct 4 10:21 UTC 1998 |
Re resp:6 - Nope, known primarily as a writer.
Not Hemingway or Twain.
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iggy
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response 10 of 207:
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Oct 4 15:04 UTC 1998 |
kipling?
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janc
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response 11 of 207:
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Oct 4 16:48 UTC 1998 |
Oh! She took my guess! She took my guess!
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remmers
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response 12 of 207:
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Oct 4 23:06 UTC 1998 |
Kipling's not a bad guess, but it ain't Kipling.
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rkuriyan
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response 13 of 207:
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Oct 5 11:10 UTC 1998 |
Kahlil gibran?
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remmers
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response 14 of 207:
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Oct 5 11:41 UTC 1998 |
Not Kahlil Gibran.
Here's another quote by this author:
We halted at the bridge spanning the mountain torrent;
those who had run further doubled back. The water below
smashed against rocks and roots as if it were not
already late in the evening. There was no reason why no
one jumped up to the balustrade of the bridge.
In the distance, a railroad train emerged from behind
some shrubbery, all the compartments were lit, the
glass windows were probably down. One of us began
singing a popular hit, but we all wanted to sing. We
sang much faster than the train moved, we swung our
arms because our voices weren't strong enough, our
voices formed a scrimmage in which we felt cozy. If
you blend your voice with other voices, you are
virtually caught on a fishhook.
And so, with our backs to the forest, we sang for the
ears of distant travelers. The adults were still awake
in the village, the mothers were making up the beds
for the night.
It was already time. I kissed the one standing next
to me, casually shook hands with the three nearest
ones, and began to run back; no one called out to me.
At the first crossroads, where they could no longer
see me, I turned off and ran back into the forest
along dirt roads. I was heading toward the southern
city which our villagers talk about:
"There are people there! Just imagine, they don't
sleep!"
"And why not?"
"Because they don't get sleepy."
"And why not?"
"Because they're fools."
"Don't fools get sleepy?"
"How could fools get sleepy?"
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davel
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response 15 of 207:
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Oct 5 11:51 UTC 1998 |
Hmm. Sounds much more recent than Kipling, Twain, even Thurber, IMO. I have
no idea who it is, however.
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remmers
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response 16 of 207:
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Oct 5 13:38 UTC 1998 |
The author lived around the same time as Kipling but was considerably
younger. His life overlapped significantly with Twain's as well. He
was definitely earlier than Thurber.
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davel
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response 17 of 207:
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Oct 5 22:09 UTC 1998 |
Hmph. Without checking dates, I'll guess G. K. Chesterton, then. So much
for my ear.
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remmers
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response 18 of 207:
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Oct 5 22:42 UTC 1998 |
Not G.K. Chesterton.
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remmers
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response 19 of 207:
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Oct 6 14:53 UTC 1998 |
To drop a somewhat obscure and possibly annoying hint -- all the
guesses so far make a tacit assumption that is, in fact, wrong.
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omni
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response 20 of 207:
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Oct 6 17:26 UTC 1998 |
Wodehouse?
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atticus
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response 21 of 207:
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Oct 6 18:14 UTC 1998 |
Sir Winston Churchill?
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jep
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response 22 of 207:
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Oct 6 19:04 UTC 1998 |
re #19: aha! I conclude that remmers is pulling everyone's leg, and all
the hints are lies; that the author doesn't meet any of the stated
criteria, and didn't write the quotes.
Arthur C. Clarke
(I so rarely get to make a guess in these items that I just couldn't
resist, though clearly I should have.)
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remmers
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response 23 of 207:
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Oct 6 19:38 UTC 1998 |
None of the above.
All the guesses so far still share the same erroneous assumption.
The author is *very* well known. However, I have not been quoting from
the author's better-known works. If nobody has it by this evening, I
think I'll post another quote.
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sekari
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response 24 of 207:
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Oct 6 20:20 UTC 1998 |
though i have no idea about the author, a common assumption about all the the
authors givin is that they were/are not natives of the settings described
in the selections.
I don't think that makes as much sense as it should. anyway, bait us some more.
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