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Grex > Books > #77: The Mysterious Quote - Fall 1998 Edition | |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 207 responses total. |
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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remmers
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response 25 of 207:
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Oct 6 20:49 UTC 1998 |
That's a common assumption, but not the one I had in mind.
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aruba
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response 26 of 207:
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Oct 6 23:37 UTC 1998 |
C. S. Lewis?
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