Opinion: Want to quit the quiz? Tired of trivia? Time to return to work | rgloveroz
Every summer holiday, various newspapers decide to print a daily quiz. They have an image, I suppose, of an extended family, happy and sun-kissed, some kindly uncle or aunt reading out the questions, and then the joyous sound of the tribe delighting in its collective intelligence.
The Bennet family as seen in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice. Mr and Mrs Bennet, with Lydia, Elisabeth, Jane, Mary and Catherine. But which is the fourth daughter?For a start, there are whole areas of human endeavour that have bypassed every member of our group. “Oh, not another sport question,” we all groan. Or: “the periodic table...again!” As a family, we’ve failed the first rule of the pub trivia quiz: make sure your team includes a sport nerd.
“Would you mind grabbing that file?” we ask the helpful assistant while we lean nonchalantly against the front desk. “You know, the one with the names of all the Bennet sisters? I used to have it to hand but I remember sending it to the stacks for safekeeping.”“Certainly,” says the chief librarian, straightening her spectacles and tucking a lick of loose hair behind her ear. “It will be here in a minute.”Next up, a question about mid-century British politics. All heads turn to me.
I consider, for a moment, my brain. There was once a largish library back there, of that I’m certain. I’m not claiming it was the Great Library of Alexandria, that wonder of the ancient world, but it seems to have suffered an identical fate. It’s been sacked by the barbarians. Someone has lit a fire in the stacks. The vandals have run amok. All that’s left is a pile of smouldering papyrus.
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