Libraries in literature

Libraries in literature

 

영국 <가디언> 인터넷판 2010년 11월 23일자. 도서관에 대한 예산삭감에 대한 문제 제기의 한 형태로 '문학 작품 속의 도서관'에 대한 퀴즈 문제. 이 문제 속에 드러난 '도서관에 대한 인식'을 살펴본다.

 

Libraries are facing widespread cuts and closures as councils try to save money following the government's funding cuts. But not only are libraries a crucial part of the book world, they also play an integral role within literature. Test your knowledge with our quiz.

 

1. Librarians serve a terrific role in our communities, bringing books and readers together as well as inspiring many literary characters. The main protagonist in the Kingsley Amis novel That Uncertain Feeling is an assistant librarian tempted towards adultery. What is his name?

 

2. Libraries are safe and non-judgemental spaces where anyone can go and feel at home. Yet not all literary libraries are benign. Which of these MR James ghost stories is set in “a certain famous library” where “an unnaturally strong smell of dust” heralds some frightening events?

 

3. Many writers have also been librarians. That is true of one of the following – but can you tell which?

 

4. What is the meaning of the title of Alan Hollinghurst’s debut novel The Swimming Pool Library?

 

5. It’s no mystery why people love libraries so much, because they are a fantastic free resource when people need reading and information. But which famous library features in the background of the Dorothy L Sayers Peter Wimsey mystery Gaudy Night?

 

6. A librarian features in all these novels but one. Which one?

 

7. Libraries offer universal access to literary culture, and many great works have been created in them too. Which of these writers carried out the research for their groundbreaking studies in the famous Reading Room of the British Library?

 

8. What is the name of the monastery librarian in Umberto Eco’s historical murder mystery The Name of the Rose?

 

9. Time for more author-librarians. Everyone here has worked in a library – bar one. Pick out the exception.

 

10. Which of these authors have not expressed opposition this month to the drastic cuts, closures and job losses being proposed in the library service?