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Earlier this week after I heard a review on NPR that mention young adult narrators in adult literature, I thought that would make a fun topic for a Sunday Salon trivia contest. The NPR article mentioned the first three on the list below. I got the first two right away but had to think a bit to come up with the third. See how well you can do.
Here's the list....have fun....
- Holden Caufield
- Scout Finch
- Frankie Adams
- Esther Greenwood
- Ponyboy Curtis
- Piscine Molitor Patel
- Stephen Dedalus
- Christopher John Francis Boone
- Oskar Matzerath
- Sybylla Melvyn
Each narrator listed above comes from a book that could be labelled 'literature.' Only one is clearly from a piece of young adult literature although two come from books sometimes marketed as young adult. All but one come from a book written in English. You could argue that one is really an adult, but I think she's such a close cousin of Holden Caufield's that I put her on my list anyway.
If you think you know the books these characters narrated, list one in the comments section. Please just list one so that others can play, too. If you have some more that you'd like to add, please do so in your comment--just list the narrator so we can all have a guess at the book's title. I'd like to limit the narrators to just those who narrate books marketed towards adults in at least one edition.
With the one exception, of course.
To make things more interesting, I'm giving away $1,000 dollars to one lucky commenter.*
I'll publish a complete list of correct answers next week.
*Not really. There's no prize. This is just for fun.
14 comments:
The Outsiders. I knew three or four but it is early!
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I'm about even with Sandy...What fun!
Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders is correct!!!
However, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is incorrect. :-( That's a good one though. Who is the narrator in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?
Stephen Dedalus is Joyce's 'Portrait of an Artist' if we're playing narrators. I find the whole idea of the unreliable narrator fascinating but very often students have problems with it. They seem to think the author isn't playing the game.
One point to thinkinginfragments!
Is #6 from The Life of Pi?
#6 is Life of Pi. That's the narrator's full name. He goes by Pi Patel a couple of chapters into the novel.
I thought I knew all but two of these, but I see from the comments so far that I had #3 wrong. (I thought Frankie Adams was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but now that I think about it her name was Francie. Can't remember her last name.)
Is Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar?
I think I know the others, except 3, 8, and 10.
I thought of Moll Flanders, but that's also the title of the book.
What about Mary Katherine Blackwood?
Esther Greenwood is The Bell Jar. I'll have to double check Francie and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She's a very different sort of narrator than the others, though.
I guess Moll Flanders does start out as a child. Does she narrate the book? I had the same problem with both David Copperfield and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
I'll have to figure out Mary Katherine Blackwood. She's not one I recognize.
I'll give you some hints. #3 is a classic from a female American Author. #8 is a recent book by an English author sometimes marketed as YA. #10 is a classic by an Australian author.
Scout Finch is To Kill a Mockingbird!
Melissa is correct!!!
Although I would argue that Stephen Dedalus from Ulysses is more than a young adult. From Portrait yes, young adult. Would be fun arguing. ;)
I knew 1, 2, 5, and 7. Fun!!
I know several of these, but a couple have me stumped. I'm pretty sure #8 is from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. One of my favorite books.
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