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Life: A User's Manual - Quiz
Contributed by: McIntosh
  • 1. What mathematical pattern did Perec use to determine the order of the chapters in 'Life: A User's Manual'?
A) Golden ratio
B) Knight's tour
C) Fibonacci sequence
D) Sudoku grid
  • 2. How many storeys are in the building grid used by Perec?
A) 99
B) 10
C) 9
D) 12
  • 3. How many chapters are contained in the novel?
A) 21
B) 42
C) 99
D) 100
  • 4. What is the total number of lists Perec used to generate the novel's content?
A) 99
B) 10
C) 42
D) 21
  • 5. What mathematical structure did Perec use to distribute list elements across chapters?
A) Fractal geometry
B) Graeco-Latin squares
C) Magic squares
D) Knight's tours
  • 6. How many bi-squares did Perec create?
A) 99
B) 10
C) 21
D) 42
  • 7. What do lists 39 and 40 contain?
A) Greek and Latin characters
B) Numbers 1 to 10
C) Couples like Laurel and Hardy
D) Fabrics and jewels
  • 8. What is the purpose of the 'Gap' and 'Wrong' lists?
A) To act as the table of contents
B) To determine the architectural layout of the rooms
C) To dictate how elements are included or omitted in a chapter
D) To list the characters in the book
  • 9. Which lists are exempt from the disruptions of the 'Gap' and 'Wrong' lists?
A) 39 and 40
B) 5 and 6
C) 1 and 2
D) 41 and 42
  • 10. According to David Bellos, what does it mean to 'gap the gap'?
A) Writing a chapter with no elements
B) Ignoring all 42 lists
C) Deleting the entire chapter
D) Not missing out any other constraint in the group
  • 11. What do the 41st and 42nd lists form?
A) Ten architectural plans
B) Ten couples
C) Ten groups of fabrics
D) Ten Greek characters
  • 12. How did Perec structure the building grid?
A) 9x9
B) 21x21
C) 10x10
D) 11x11
  • 13. What does the failure to complete the knight's tour reflect in the novel?
A) Bartlebooth's failure
B) The collapse of the building
C) The author's lack of time
D) A mistake in the editing process
  • 14. Are the lists in the book mandatory for every chapter?
A) No, they are only used for the appendix
B) No, they are often mere prompts
C) Yes, all 42 elements must be included
D) Yes, but only in the first chapter
  • 15. On what date is the apartment block frozen in time?
A) 1 January 1970
B) 15 July 1975
C) 23 June 1980
D) 23 June 1975
  • 16. At what time of day does the novel's action effectively pause?
A) At sunrise
B) At noon
C) At midnight
D) Just before 8 pm
  • 17. Whose death occurs moments before the block is frozen in time?
A) Bartlebooth
B) Smautf
C) Serge Valène
D) Winckler
  • 18. What is Serge Valène's profession?
A) Writer
B) Painter
C) Architect
D) Puzzle maker
  • 19. What does Valène intend to paint in his final project?
A) A portrait of Bartlebooth
B) The apartment block with its facade removed
C) A map of his life
D) The Parisian skyline
  • 20. What is the address of the apartment block described in the novel?
A) 11 rue Simon-Crubellier
B) 10 rue Bartlebooth
C) 11 rue de la Paix
D) 12 rue Simon-Crubellier
  • 21. How does the narrative movement of the chapters mimic a chess piece?
A) Like a rook
B) Like a bishop
C) Like a knight
D) Like a queen
  • 22. Who served as Bartlebooth's tutor before his world tour?
A) Morellet
B) Serge Valène
C) Winckler
D) Smautf
  • 23. What determines the number of chapters devoted to a specific apartment?
A) The date the residents moved in
B) The age of the residents
C) The social status of the residents
D) The number of rooms it has
  • 24. Which character is explicitly mentioned as having a direct connection to Bartlebooth's quest?
A) The concierge
B) A delivery person
C) A tourist
D) Smautf
  • 25. What was Perec obsessed with regarding the description of the building?
A) Lists
B) Mathematics
C) Poetry
D) Photography
  • 26. In what year was Life: A User's Manual first published?
A) 1975
B) 1950
C) 1987
D) 1978
  • 27. Who translated Life: A User's Manual into English in 1987?
A) Georges Perec
B) David Bellos
C) Gaspard Winckler
D) Valène
  • 28. With which literary movement was Georges Perec associated?
A) Surrealism
B) Dadaism
C) Postmodernism
D) Oulipo
  • 29. How many watercolors was Bartlebooth planning to paint in total?
A) 100
B) 1000
C) 439
D) 500
  • 30. What was Gaspard Winckler's role in Bartlebooth's project?
A) Cutting the paintings into jigsaw puzzles
B) Dissolving the colors of the paintings
C) Teaching Bartlebooth how to paint
D) Binding the paper with a special solution
  • 31. Who invented the solution used to re-bind the paper of the puzzles?
A) Gaspard Winckler
B) Valène
C) Bartlebooth
D) Georges Morellet
  • 32. How many puzzles did Bartlebooth finish before he died?
A) 439
B) 500
C) 438
D) 10
  • 33. What is the shape of the missing piece Bartlebooth is holding when he dies?
A) O
B) X
C) W
D) Y
  • 34. What is the shape of the last hole in the puzzle Bartlebooth is working on when he dies?
A) X
B) V
C) Z
D) W
  • 35. What was the original French title of the novel?
A) Life: A User's Manual
B) L'Oulipo
C) 11 rue Simon-Crubellier
D) La Vie mode d'emploi
  • 36. What is the starting year of the chronology found in the appendix?
A) 1833
B) 1846
C) 1978
D) 1982
  • 37. How many pages long is the index mentioned in the appendix?
A) 70 pages
B) 100 pages
C) 10 pages
D) 46 pages
  • 38. Approximately how many main stories are listed in the appendix?
A) 12
B) 46
C) 70
D) 100
  • 39. Which real historical figure is mentioned as an example in the index?
A) Georges Perec
B) Mozart
C) Bartlebooth
D) Captain Nemo
  • 40. Who is the fictitious character used as an example in the index?
A) Captain Nemo
B) Bartlebooth
C) Italo Calvino
D) Mozart
  • 41. In what year did Georges Perec die?
A) 1986
B) 1978
C) 1833
D) 1982
  • 42. How old was Georges Perec when he died?
A) 46
B) 33
C) 70
D) 100
  • 43. Who wrote the review in The New York Times Book Review?
A) Georges Perec
B) Italo Calvino
C) Paul Auster
D) Jules Verne
  • 44. Who described Perec as one of the most singular literary personalities in the world?
A) Paul Auster
B) Jules Verne
C) Italo Calvino
D) Captain Nemo
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