# Guess the book **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004 "2000-11-06T21:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/61 "2000-11-22T01:13:04Z")
I’ve been glancing at this good game, but not taking part. Is it OK to butt in here and suggest Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/62 "2000-11-22T01:29:06Z")
Ahh! No wait I think you’re right. It might be Adams. Although I’d guess Restaurant at the end of the Universe… ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/63 "2000-11-22T03:55:18Z")
No, no, no, and no. It is not Adams, though you’re certainly on the right track. 🙂 LL ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/64 "2000-11-22T04:06:31Z")
Terry Pratchett, then? But I have no idea which one right now. ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/65 "2000-11-22T05:24:10Z")
Pratchett is one of two authors. And that should give it away to anyonw who’s read it. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/66 "2000-11-22T05:33:52Z")
“Good Omens” - Pratchett with Neil Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/67 "2000-11-22T15:01:47Z")
We have a winner! LL ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/68 "2000-11-22T18:15:45Z")
Well, as the answer I got right was practically given away, I’m using something that might be easy too. Perhaps someone will come along and raise the literary tone later. "Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I’d disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmeralda, more or less on a whim. That’s my score to date. Three. I haven’t killed anybody for years, and don’t intened to ever again. I was just a stage I was going through." ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/69 "2000-11-22T18:22:23Z")
Well, first, I (and the author) meant "intend, not “intened”. (I’ve broken my spellchecker.) AND, I’ve just checked, and that is **incredibly** easy to check with a quick search, so if you want to have any fun at all, don’t search. Of course I trust you! ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/70 "2000-11-22T19:45:28Z")
Celyn, that’s _The Wasp Factory_ by Iain Banks, one of the best British post-war novels IMHO, which also contains one of the sickest passages I have ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/71 "2000-11-22T19:50:24Z")
Is that from _The Young Poisoner’s Handbook_ by someone whose name I don’t know? (assuming it was even a book before it was a movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/72 "2000-11-22T19:53:23Z")
D’oh! Please ignore my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/73 "2000-11-22T20:12:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TomH \* > \*\*Celyn, that’s _The Wasp Factory_ by Iain Banks, one of the best British post-war novels IMHO, which also contains one of the sickest passages I have ever read. \*\* Yes, although I wonder which one you mean by sickest passage - perhaps one concerning Eric? I wasn’t sure how widely read it would be in U.S. and Canada, hence the very obvious choice of quote. The silly thing is that I wouldn’t normally read books with so much blood and guts in them, but Banks is wonderful, and always seems to be such a happy, mellow character in interviews etc. Oh, and “Complicity” is fun too, but it sounds as though you might know that already. So, your turn next then? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/74 "2000-11-24T19:13:05Z")
Mmmmm. If its as sick as you say it is, I may have to add it to my reading list… ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_io](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/65b543/32.png) [@Ol\_io](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_io)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/75 "2000-11-24T19:44:53Z")
“The Autumn Moon” by Gardener ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/76 "2000-11-24T20:42:34Z")
Are you disputing the ‘The wasp factory’ answer Ol io? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/77 "2000-11-24T20:44:05Z")
This is a good game. If TomH is not around, couldn’t someone else, perhaps Zoggie, go next? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/78 "2000-11-24T21:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > \*\*This is a good game. If TomH is not around, couldn’t someone else, perhaps Zoggie, go next? \*\* ::nods head vehemently:: Perhaps! 🙂 (i’m too in to this game!) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/79 "2000-11-26T22:38:36Z")
i’ve got what I think is a pretty good passage; can I go? ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/80 "2000-11-26T23:58:21Z")
I haven’t answered yet, but may I propose a rule I’ve seen in other fora? If 24 hours passes without a q, the floor is open. Zoggie could then post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004.md?page=5)