Reader Challenges
Classics in 6 Words
Reader @auistinblan originally suggested this idea, and we loved it so much we thought we’d make it this month’s Reader Challenge. Take the biggest, most literary, or most “important” book you know and summarize it in 6 words—no more, no fewer—and share your micro-masterpieces here.
(And many thanks, @auistinblan!)
Replies (131)
Posted by
-
BIBLE: For Peace, by God, to man.
Jun 16, 2009 6:49 pm
by Cloward -
The Iliad: Blame it all on the woman.
Jun 18, 2009 10:57 am
by Brouhaha -
Carl Sagan's Cosmos: everyone, everything is made of starstuff.
Jun 18, 2009 12:47 pm
by christe -
The Aeneid: Go, Aeneas! Found Rome! Don't dawdle!
Jun 18, 2009 12:48 pm
by jayursus -
The Aeneid (in Latin): I, Aenea! Romam conde! Ne morareris!
Jun 18, 2009 12:56 pm
by jayursus -
Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea: It was "this big"! No, really!
Jun 18, 2009 1:09 pm
by blacksheepval -
Oliver: More food? Stop thief! Poor orphan
Jun 18, 2009 1:21 pm
by davosmith -
Lies, love, lust, lechery, loss: Lolita
Jun 18, 2009 1:22 pm
by jdienerb -
Talking animals? It must be communism.
Jun 18, 2009 2:16 pm
by tpete -
Robinson Crusoe: Decades alone. Thank God, it's Friday!
Jun 18, 2009 2:51 pm
by dcsohl -
Pride & Prejudice: They end up together. The End.
Jun 18, 2009 3:30 pm
by saturntv -
Romeo & Juliet: Boy meets girl. Both die tragically.
Jun 18, 2009 3:32 pm
by KurtTrew -
King Lear: Family conflicts kill everyone. Edgar survives.
Jun 18, 2009 3:39 pm
by abby.of.the.year -
Brideshead Revisited: Boys, women, relationships wrecked by faith.
Jun 18, 2009 3:58 pm
by Sharvo -
Brideshead 2: Boys, women, house, wrecked by faith.
Jun 18, 2009 4:04 pm
by Sharvo -
The Count of Monte Cristo: Edmond gets jailed, escapes, gets even.
Jun 18, 2009 4:07 pm
by actaos -
This Side of Paradise: "Catcher In the Rye" grown up!
Jun 18, 2009 4:11 pm
by Kwitt -
Proust's In Search of Lost Time: meditation on love, memory, music, art
Jun 18, 2009 4:14 pm
by jyocom -
God's love, man's sin, Christ's salvation
Jun 18, 2009 4:15 pm
by grammy -
Toil, moral bankruptcy, starvation, Mao sucks - Wild Swans
Jun 18, 2009 4:17 pm
by mandyhd -
Moby Dick: Good, evil, obsession, less about whale.
Jun 18, 2009 4:21 pm
by KCronin -
Hamlet: He worries, suspects, dithers, avenges, dies.
Jun 18, 2009 4:35 pm
by KatherineEllen -
War and Peace: Work it out! Talk about it.
Jun 18, 2009 4:37 pm
by PM27 -
The Great Gatsby: Gatsby loved Daisy. So did Daisy.
SeagoatJun 18, 2009 4:55 pm
by seagoat -
Slaughterhouse-five: no matter what happens, keep humanity
Jun 18, 2009 4:55 pm
by donttread22 -
Dante's Inferno: Hell was frozen over all along.
Jun 18, 2009 5:43 pm
by ieke85 -
The Iliad: Petulant sulking precedes poetic blood bath.
Jun 18, 2009 6:20 pm
by magisterchristianus -
Anna Karenina: two women, three men
Jun 18, 2009 6:23 pm
by Lady_Bercilak -
Of Human Bondage: Rather take the whips and chains.
Jun 18, 2009 6:37 pm
by stringsandpots -
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Girl overcomes poverty and drunken father.
Jun 18, 2009 6:50 pm
by baltomel -
The Hobbit: furry short creature saves the world
Jun 18, 2009 6:55 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
The Remains of the Day: Above all else, we must repress!
Jun 18, 2009 6:57 pm
by Dellastr -
Gone With The Wind: selfish Scarlett destroys then attempts redemption
Jun 18, 2009 6:58 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Just a whale of a story.
Jun 18, 2009 7:01 pm
by anncee -
Twilight: tortured vampire+ virtuous maiden, in love
Jun 18, 2009 7:03 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Silas Marner - Gold is where you find it.
Jun 18, 2009 7:05 pm
by anncee -
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck and Jim fighting racial injustice
Jun 18, 2009 7:08 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
1984: Big Brother is watching came true
Jun 18, 2009 7:11 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Anne of Green Gables: delightful orphan builds friendship and family
Jun 18, 2009 7:13 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Gone With the Wind - Lifestyle gone, beware winds of change
Jun 18, 2009 7:13 pm
by anncee -
Lord of the Rings: Good victoriously battles Evil, changes world
Jun 18, 2009 7:15 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy fighting, then loving
Jun 18, 2009 7:18 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Sherlock Holmes: fictional character believed to be real
Jun 18, 2009 7:19 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
The Three Musketeers: sword-wielding reprobates fighting for royalty
Jun 18, 2009 7:21 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
There was only one catch: Catch-22
Jun 18, 2009 7:23 pm
by Virbonus -
The War of the Worlds: evil aliens killed by tiny bug
Jun 18, 2009 7:24 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
Ender's Game: wargames prodigy manipulated into obliterating opposition
Jun 18, 2009 7:26 pm
by syhilkemeyer -
In Search of Lost Time: Oh yeah, I just remembered something.
Jun 18, 2009 8:34 pm
by Skippy -
Dude gets nailed. All our fault.
Jun 18, 2009 8:42 pm
by Brouhaha -
Mansfield Park: Fanny a prig? No way!
Jun 18, 2009 8:43 pm
by pemberlolly -
Sense and Sensibility: Manic and depressive find love!
Jun 18, 2009 8:46 pm
by pemberlolly -
Pride and Prejudice: Petulance + Perspicacity = bestseller
Jun 18, 2009 8:53 pm
by pemberlolly -
Northanger Abbey: Gothic obession = guy with castle
Jun 18, 2009 8:56 pm
by pemberlolly -
Persuasion: Never throw away a blue coat!
Jun 18, 2009 8:58 pm
by pemberlolly -
Emma: Clueless, overconfident and offensive in Highbury
Jun 18, 2009 9:00 pm
by pemberlolly -
babbitt: isn't the middle class just awful?
Jun 18, 2009 9:05 pm
by vircorri -
Lady Susan: Mom schemes - eats daughter.
Jun 18, 2009 9:17 pm
by pemberlolly -
Down and Out in London and Paris: Never order the fish on Monday.
Jun 18, 2009 9:24 pm
by Brouhaha -
Ulysses: Leopold Bloom walks around Dublin Yes.
Jun 18, 2009 9:59 pm
by jdoublep -
Dune: Eat some spice. Ride some worms.
Jun 18, 2009 10:01 pm
by jdoublep -
House of Leaves: Closets that appear overnight are bad.
Jun 18, 2009 10:04 pm
by jdoublep -
Tender Buttons: Objects Food Rooms. Dirty is yellow?
Jun 18, 2009 10:06 pm
by jdoublep -
Robin Hood: outlaw robs the rich, helps poor.
Jun 18, 2009 10:20 pm
by gaylord -
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Christian love overcomes enslavement of human beings.
Jun 18, 2009 10:31 pm
by gaylord -
Little Women. Joe in charge, all is well.
Jun 18, 2009 10:49 pm
by eyewrite -
Count of Monte Cristo; One Danglars Two Villefort Three Mondego.
Jun 18, 2009 10:49 pm
by Finkthinks -
Ulysses: Bloomsday and no Mike no Manhattan
Jun 18, 2009 10:56 pm
by Finkthinks -
A governess gives in to ungovernable passion.
Jun 18, 2009 10:59 pm
by Pamela123 -
Rebecca: Pardon, but your crime is showing
Jun 19, 2009 12:26 am
by prema -
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Everyone gets drunk, imaginary child dies.
Jun 19, 2009 1:47 am
by thejunesky87 -
Brideshead Revisited: following path of love to faith
Jun 19, 2009 8:48 am
by emiletic -
2001: A Space Odyssey - You shouldn't have named him HAL.
Jun 19, 2009 8:53 am
by laurie1b -
The Bible: Destroying the world, for two millennia.
Jun 19, 2009 9:20 am
by gravdigr_2000 -
Don't know if it's a book, but: Signs (the Mel Gibson movie): Aliens arrive. Squirt them with water.
Jun 19, 2009 9:26 am
by gravdigr_2000 -
Odyssey by Homer: It is hard to go home.
Jun 19, 2009 9:30 am
by gravdigr_2000 -
The Scarlet Letter - love is blind, the neighbors ain't
Jun 19, 2009 9:54 am
by trixiemc38 -
Grapes of Wrath: dirt, dust everywhere. Head West - failure.
Jun 19, 2009 10:20 am
by PinkKatelynn -
IN COLD BLOOD: NY writer takes down Kansas murderers
Jun 19, 2009 10:31 am
by Lectrice -
The Host: Humans fall in love with alien
Jun 19, 2009 11:23 am
by barbryt -
Ahab hassles God for his sins.
Jun 19, 2009 12:11 pm
by Theodore -
The Lord of the Rings: Hobbits destroy ring, the king returns
Jun 19, 2009 2:24 pm
by maestrie -
White Noise: Toxic Event creates a death obsession.
Jun 19, 2009 3:20 pm
by spifffyyy -
To Kill A Mockingbird: Learn about prejudice and meet Boo.
Jun 19, 2009 4:40 pm
by AmoLibros -
Pride and Prejudice: Proud guy falls for impertinent lass
Jun 19, 2009 4:54 pm
by gingersplace -
Wuthering Heights: They love, he leaves, she dies
Jun 19, 2009 4:58 pm
by gingersplace -
The Haunting: There's something about this house...
Jun 19, 2009 5:01 pm
by gingersplace -
Dracula: Nice neck
Jun 19, 2009 5:06 pm
by gingersplace -
Sun Also Rises: Neurotic drunks watch bulls run
Jun 19, 2009 5:12 pm
by gingersplace -
Don Quixote: Deluded lover with bipolar ego issues
Jun 19, 2009 5:20 pm
by dreamdust -
Rebecca: He adored first wife. Didn't he?
Jun 19, 2009 5:20 pm
by gingersplace -
Macbeth: Ambitious couple find crime doesn't pay
Jun 19, 2009 5:21 pm
by gingersplace -
Rendezvous with Rama: spaceship comes, Earthlings rendezvous, spaceship ignores.
Jun 19, 2009 11:49 pm
by christe -
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress": satellite or not, we want freedom!
Jun 19, 2009 11:52 pm
by christe -
To the Lighthouse: Fathers don't understand children, vice versa
Jun 20, 2009 9:29 am
by markbroadhead -
The Waves: I should've extended my social circle
Jun 20, 2009 9:33 am
by markbroadhead -
2666: Many women die. Was killer found?
Jun 20, 2009 12:27 pm
by CuChulainn -
Moby Dick; Don't Mess with the White Whale
Jun 20, 2009 7:46 pm
by yodcha -
Brave New World: civilization out-savages a savage
Da Vinci Code: Church hides huge secret, forgets Langdon
A Tale of Two Cities: Revolution kills, love preserves, substitutes replaceJun 21, 2009 12:14 am
by CAG_007 -
Cyrano de Bergerac: Big Nose, Big Love, Clueless Woman
Jun 22, 2009 10:46 am
by teresalovesscotland -
Pride and Prejudice: About time they got over themselves.
Jun 22, 2009 12:40 pm
by baileymichelle (admin) -
The fountainhead: The belief in one own's self
Jun 22, 2009 1:00 pm
by adjel -
Count of Monte Cristo: Soap Opera where revenge triumphs all.
Jun 22, 2009 7:07 pm
by jede2583 -
The Crying of Lot 49: O paranoia! The signs are everywhere.
Jun 23, 2009 10:54 am
by emilyyoung -
A Void: Wholly lacking our most common vow(?)l!
Jun 23, 2009 11:02 am
by emilyyoung -
The Metamorphosis: Being a large bug really sucks.
Jun 23, 2009 11:15 am
by emilyyoung -
Atlas Shrugged: Looters take, producers withdraw, humanity wins
Jun 23, 2009 12:06 pm
by Wegason -
Watership Down: Rabbits, prophecies, exodus, battles, heroism, utopia.
Jun 23, 2009 12:58 pm
by shortattention -
Lord of the Rings: Hobbits prove little people change history.
Jun 23, 2009 12:59 pm
by shortattention -
Oedipus Rex: Don’t pursue the dark family secrets!
Jun 23, 2009 1:00 pm
by shortattention -
Heart of Darkness: Like ‘Apocalypse Now’—or the reverse?
Jun 23, 2009 1:08 pm
by shortattention -
The Turn of the Screw: Governess vs. ghosts, place your bet.
Jun 23, 2009 1:14 pm
by shortattention -
Antigone: Another Greek tragedy where everyone dies.
Jun 23, 2009 1:15 pm
by shortattention -
Harry Potter: Boy fights evil. Wins. Gets girl.
Jun 24, 2009 9:06 am
by harlanstanton -
A Clockwork Orange: Never could listen to Beethoven again.
Jun 24, 2009 1:58 pm
by OKSchuler -
Madame Bovary: dumb wife cheat on dumber husband.
Jun 24, 2009 6:04 pm
by yodcha -
The Age of Innocence: Society determined the course of life.
Jun 26, 2009 11:45 am
by pstrjb -
Summer: Father marries pregnant daughter. Love sucks.
Jun 29, 2009 10:24 am
by hope_sparkles -
Eat, Pray, Love: Woman's world journey to find herself
Jul 1, 2009 12:39 pm
by snider -
portrait of artist: never ever all kinds servear pleasure
Jul 1, 2009 1:31 pm
by Class -
Lord of the Flies- " You kids behave while I'm gone."
Jul 7, 2009 4:32 am
by retroneo -
I, the Jury: The first time for Hammer time.
Jul 8, 2009 11:19 pm
by Golem100 -
Gone With the Wind: The South loses, Scarlett window shops.
Jul 8, 2009 11:22 pm
by Golem100 -
Jane Eyre: Stays true to herself. Wins eventually.
Sep 17, 2009 10:34 am
by snailgenie -
Black Beauty: Hey, Narrator, why the long face?
Sep 17, 2009 10:37 am
by snailgenie -
The Portrait of Dorian Gray: Dorian behaves badly, ruining his image.
Sep 18, 2009 12:01 pm
by lorisa -
Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy will not last.
Sep 29, 2009 2:42 pm
by steventurner -
The Book of Ruth: I married into this family, forever.
Dec 11, 2009 12:30 am
by hellohello -
No Man Is An Island: handicaps,poverty,lonliness,companionship,hope,death.
Dec 28, 2009 2:48 pm
by gammoo -
King Lear: butt kissers are the bad ones.
Dec 28, 2009 9:14 pm
by kit50 -
The Moonstone: I bequeathed, I stole, I'm innocent.
Mar 8, 2010 5:07 pm
by x4xtazy -
The Fountainhead: Tall, thin, angular individualists smoking cigaretts.
Mar 26, 2010 1:49 pm
by Sharvo
