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Jorge Luis Borges was appointed Director of Argentina's National Library in 1955, by which time he had become almost completely blind β surrounded by 800,000 books he could no longer read.
Is this true or false?
Explanation:
True. Borges reflected on this cruel irony in his 1960 poem 'Poem of the Gifts': 'God granted me at once 800,000 books and darkness.' He was the third blind director in the library's history.
Charles Dickens had a hidden door in his study disguised as a bookshelf with fake books bearing humorous titles he invented, like 'Cats' Lives' in nine volumes.
Is this true or false?
Explanation:
True! At Gad's Hill Place, Dickens hid a door behind sham book spines with titles like 'Cats' Lives' in nine volumes and 'Hansard's Guide to Refreshing Sleep.' They still exist at the Dickens Museum.
Franz Kafka instructed his close friend Max Brod to burn all his unpublished manuscripts after his death, but Brod defied this wish and published them instead.
Is this true or false?
Explanation:
True! Kafka left instructions to burn his unpublished works including 'The Trial.' Max Brod famously disobeyed, giving the world influential 20th-century masterpieces.
Ernest Hemingway wrote most of his famous works while standing up at a specially designed chest-high desk, believing it kept his prose lean and direct.
Is this true or false?
Explanation:
This is true. Hemingway preferred writing standing up at a chest-high bookshelf in Key West. He believed this position kept him alert and his prose concise, contributing to his famously sparse style.
In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days, triggering one of the largest manhunts in British history. She was eventually found at a hotel, registered under the name of her husband's mistress.
Is this true or false?
Explanation:
Entirely true. Christie vanished in 1926 and was found at a Harrogate hotel as 'Teresa Neele' β her husband's lover's name. She never explained this mystery.
Did the great Argentine writer lose his sight just as he was appointed director of Argentina's National Library?
Did Dickens hide a door behind fake books with joke titles he invented?
Did Franz Kafka ask his friend to burn all his unpublished manuscripts?
Did Ernest Hemingway write all his novels while standing up?
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