Literary Analysis

Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' won the 'Booker of Bookers' award in 1993 to commemorate the Booker Prize's 25th anniversary, judged the best novel to have won the prize in its first 25 years. It again won the 'Best of the Booker' in 2008, celebrating 40 years of the prize. The novel magical realism explores India's transition from British colonialism to independence.

Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer (1876) is widely documented as the first novel submitted to a publisher in typewritten form, though there's some historical debate about earlier typewritten manuscripts.

Shylock is the Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'. He demands a pound of flesh as collateral for a loan from Antonio. The other plays listed (The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It) do not feature Shylock.

Les Hommes de bonne volonté (Men of Good Will) by Jules Romains is an epic novel cycle published in 27 volumes between 1932 and 1946. It is widely cited as one of the longest novels ever published, containing over 2 million words. It is not the oldest; that title often goes to works like the Tale of Genji.

Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol in French) was first introduced in 'Red Rackham's Treasure' (1944). This adventure follows 'The Secret of the Unicorn' and features the treasure hunt where Calculus's inventions prove crucial. The other options are later adventures where he appears.

Thomson and Thompson, the bumbling detective twins, made their first appearance in 'Cigars of the Pharaoh' (1934), which is the fourth Tintin adventure. They were initially introduced as antagonists before becoming recurring characters. They appear in most subsequent Tintin books and are central to the comic appeal of the series.

In The Tempest, Caliban is the son of Sycorax, a witch from Algiers who was banished to the island and died before the play begins. Prospero mentions her in his dialogue. Miranda is Prospero's daughter, Iris is a spirit, and Ariel is Prospero's spirit servant - none of these are Caliban's mother.

Iago is the villain who manipulates Othello into believing Desdemona has been unfaithful with Cassio. Through careful innuendo, staged conversations, and the handkerchief deception, Iago poisons Othello's mind against his innocent wife. This deception drives the tragedy of the play.

'I Shouldn't Be Alive' is a Discovery Channel/Animal Planet series that features firsthand accounts from ordinary people who survived life-threatening situations. Each episode includes the survivor narrating their experience while actors re-enact the dramatic events.

The two maneless male lions that terrorized railway workers in Tsavo, Kenya in 1898 became known as 'The Ghost' and 'The Darkness.' Patterson's book describes how they killed dozens of workers, and the lions are now displayed in Chicago's Field Museum.

J G Farrell indeed won the Lost Man Booker Prize for his novel 'Troubles' in 2010. The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special prize created to recognize works from 1970 that weren't considered for the Booker Prize at the time.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson is the seminal work of gonzo journalism, a style that blurs fiction and nonfiction by placing the reporter at the center of the story. Gravity's Rainbow, Catch-22, and Slaughterhouse Five are postmodern classics but not works of gonzo journalism.