WI 16-17 10.2 Double Trouble

[Kate S]

10.2 Double Trouble Read a book by an author whose surname has a double letter. Examples are Wilkie Collins, Kurt Vonnegut, Virginia Woolf. (From Summer 2014)

Please ask any questions about task 10.2 in this thread.

[Valerie]

I'm quite sure I know the answer.... but to confirm:

Moore is fine, but Wiwa is not.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Valerie wrote: "I'm quite sure I know the answer.... but to confirm:

Moore is fine, but Wiwa is not."

Correct. The letters must be adjacent to each other.

[Valerie]

How do double barreled surnames work, like Alexander McCall Smith

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Valerie wrote: "How do double barreled surnames work, like Alexander McCall Smith"

He works because his surname is McCall Smith.

[Valerie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "How do double barreled surnames work, like Alexander McCall Smith"

He works because his surname is McCall Smith."

Ok, good!

[Karin]

So, what about a country where there are no surnames? I'm guessing that means, no, we can't use this category for this. I'm speaking of Iceland, because they don't have them. That second name you see isn't a last name, just a descriptive modifier to help, and even their phone books (which are likely becoming obsolete as they are here) list people by their given name. You hope you know their dad's name so you can figure out who is who if there is more than one Olof (that's a woman's name--Olaf is a man's name) in that book.

Of course, women are easy, since dattir has 2 r's and you could just act as thought that's a surname, which most English speaking people do.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Karin, we're not sure we can answer such a generic question. Do you have an author you want to read in mind so that we could answer more specifically?

[Karin]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Karin, we're not sure we can answer such a generic question. Do you have an author you want to read in mind so that we could answer more specifically?"


Sorry, I thought you'd said no, but that must have been something else (very busy weekend so I've been a bit distracted). I was thinking of Snorri Sturluson. Sturluson is not actually a surname, but more of an identifier in a country where most are referred to by their fathers' names with son or daughter attached, or, especially in his day, by nicknames relating to physical or other attributes (eg "short" etc)

However, I have decided that I am not going to go for most strategic because I'd have to average well over 80 points on my last 7 books to be a contender now, and that's impossible to do if I also finish all three categories, so highly doubt I'd read him after all.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Yes, that name would work for this task.

[Rosemary]

Confused ... how does that work? There's no double letter in Sturluson.

Is it the first name that counts for Icelandic authors? Does that mean Yrsa Sigurðardóttir would not qualify?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Rosemary wrote: "Confused ... how does that work? There's no double letter in Sturluson.

Is it the first name that counts for Icelandic authors? Does that mean Yrsa Sigurðardóttir would not qualify?"

I checked how BPL alphabetizes it, which is Snorri Sturluson, not Sturluson, Snorri.

[Rosemary]

I see. They have "Sigurdardottir, Yrsa", so she will qualify?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Rosemary wrote: "I see. They have "Sigurdardottir, Yrsa", so she will qualify?"

Yes!

[Karin]

Okay, that's what I thought. You're using the tag as a surname, and I'm not surprised since it's how Goodreads treats it. Iceland is rare in listing people primarily by given name and not having surnames as we know them, and we aren't living in Iceland.

Therefore, ALL Icelandic women who are authors with traditional paternyms (well, they aren't true paternyms) count, since they will add have "dottir" in them. Men with paternyms such as Snorrison will also count. However, if you want Very Old Books, you won't find women saga writers, or textbook writers, or history writers from way, way back when even though intelligent women have been prized there since the country started. I thought of Snorri because he's considered one of the two top historians of the middle ages (scholars disagree as to who is the most important and who is the second). He has a history book from the 13th century I was thinking of finally reading from start to finish.

As usual, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. The answer is always no if you don't, and sometimes yes if you do :)