The Reading Room

Bookworm

00:04

0

I'm trying to find a copy of a book my sister (soon to be 60) used to tell by heart when she was a young girl. The first line was "Once upon a time, far away in the land of the misty mountains..." I can't remember any more than that, but I'd love to get her a copy for her 60th. It was a hardback ...

CDR

00:37

(Random question, not something I think fits as a meta-post, although I've seen this.) Reading this question made me wonder if there's a list anywhere of posts that got author-answers. Anyone know of any others?

verbose

04:22

@Bookworm h'm I wonder if I could get away with asking a question about whether Benjy and Frankie in H2G2 were inspired by Reepicheep

verbose

05:38

@MattThrower as a NorCal person I'm of course delighted that you describe Los Angeles as being a six hour drive from San Francisco, but I'm kinda wondering what the actual relevance of that factoid is to the rest of the answer? The NorCal/SoCal rivalry is real, and Angelenos would not relish having their (much bigger) town being described only in relation to the city

Bookworm

0

Q: What is the source of this quote within Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Mr Quin?

In Agatha Christie's short story "The Face of Helen," Mr Satterthwaite sees an extremely beautiful young woman named Gillian West. His first impression is that she ranks with legends such as Cleopatra or Helen of Troy. Later, he realizes that apart from her extraordinary beauty, she is an ordinar...

short-stories quote-source agatha-christie harley-quin

verbose

06:16

@MattThrower (contd.) Also, it's a six-hour drive now (well, more like eight if there's traffic and/or if you intend to stop to eat like a civilized person instead of scarfing chips with one hand while steering with the other) But in Jackson's day, it would have likely taken longer.

Bookworm

09:47

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Q: Is the title best translated "A Dollhouse", "A Doll House" or "A Doll's House"?

In the foreword to his translation of Henrik Ibsen's plays, Rolf Fjelde explains that the title of the 1879 play is A Doll House: There is certainly no sound justification for perpetuating the awkward and blindly traditional misnomer of A Doll’s House: the house is not Nora’s, as the possessive ...

translation title scandinavian-languages henrik-ibsen a-dolls-house

bobble

14:59

8

A: What is Paul's character based on in "Code Name Verity"?

Not sure how I landed here, but this is the Horse's Mouth speaking. Paul is based on every single slimy dude who ever chatted me up or groped me. All his lines and suggestive actions are based on real things that happened to me (not by the same guy). In his character I was also exploring a theme ...

8

A: What is Paul's character based on in "Code Name Verity"?

Not sure how I landed here, but this is the Horse's Mouth speaking. Paul is based on every single slimy dude who ever chatted me up or groped me. All his lines and suggestive actions are based on real things that happened to me (not by the same guy). In his character I was also exploring a theme ...

@CDR two I thought of off the top of my head

Rand al'Thor

18:58

@ClaraDiazSanchez Yes!

@CDR OK, this is weird. I swear I had not checked the chat transcript when I made this meta post asking the exact same thing at almost exactly the same time!

Great minds think alike ... and randomly on the same day ... or something?

@bobble You posted the same one twice :-)

@verbose A priori, that feels like a streeetch. Is there any evidence that they might have been?

@Bookworm The shape of an HNQ, the curve of a rep graph!

Clara Diaz Sanchez

19:23

@Randal'Thor I see that Showsni also identified the quote, but as they haven't posted it I hope it's not too much of a faux pas for me to step in.

Rand al'Thor

19:51

@ClaraDiazSanchez I think your chat message was before Showsni's comment anyway. (Much like CDR and me!)

bobble

21:06

51

A: Did Gaiman and Pratchett troll an interviewer who thought they were religious fanatics?

I haven't found a transcript or recording of the interview itself, but I did find a transcript of a different interview where the two spoke about this interview: Neil Gaiman: "The first radio interview we did in New York, the interviewer was asking us 'Who is Agnes Nutter? What is her history? I...

oops

goes to die in hole

verbose

22:44

@Randal'Thor Well, as I've said in two previous questions, in the absence of evidence I'd settle for wild speculation.

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