Dickens quiz at The Mirror

Give it a try! I got 24 out of 25. It's not the best quiz ever -- at least one of the questions is based purely on speculation, not fact -- but it's a fun one.

Comments

[Jerry]

Same here Gina, 24 of 25. I got the health question wrong. I don't know if I've ever heard about that before, and I've read Peter Ackroyd's book and so many others cover to cover. Guess I just keep blowing right by that little bit of information. Fun quiz though. Thanks for sharing!

[Gina]

Jerry, that's the speculation I was referring to. No one knows for a fact that Dickens had . . . the condition that this quiz says he had. It's only a theory.

And you're welcome!

[Christopher Lord]

Well, I disagree with the question regarding which Dickens considered his favorite work. Wikipedia uses a secondary source document no longer available, and no doubt refers to a letter he wrote Forster during the early numbers that claimed it was his strongest yet, but what source confirms that he felt the same way when the book was finished?

That David Copperfield was "his favorite child" has been quoted so often it no longer needs attribution. Regarding the malady, a textbook mentions renal "colic," and Dickens's kidney problems as an adolescent are covered in every major textbook.

So I think two of the questions are flawed, not to mention the incorrect spelling of Ebenezer, Trotwood, and Peggotty...so much for my two cents' worth.

[Gina]

You're right, Christopher, that question and answer are suspect as well. As for misspellings, so many of those are floating around that I've gotten sadly used to them. Just today I was reading an interview with Tony Jordan in which the interviewer consistently wrote "Miss Haversham" (and whoever wrote the caption for an accompanying photo wrote "Lady Haversham"!).