When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (128before.28-30)
- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Final Days (127before.15)
- Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome(99before.1)
- Herman Melville, Moby Dick(89before.3-7)
- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle(58before.14, 52before.8)
- W. H. Auden, "As I Walked Out One Evening" (49before.2-4, 136after.10)
- Edna S. Vincent Millay, "Not So Far as the Forest" (47before.3-8)
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince (28after.1-3)
- William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury(83after.1, 119after.1)
- Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (119after.2)
- Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (119after.2)
Last Words
- Francois Rabelais, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps" (136before.18, 20after.23, 118after.2, 136after.12-13)
- Simon Bolivar "How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" (128before.121, 2before.79, thelastday.43, 6after.21-24, 136after.9)
- Henrik Ibsen, "On the contrary" (128before.56)
- John F. Kennedy, "That's obvious" (128before.115)
- Millard Fillmore, "The nourishment is palatable" (109before.23)
- Albert Sidney Johnston, "Yes, and I fear seriously" (67before.2)
- Robert E. Lee, "Strike the tent" (67before.2)
- Ulysses S. Grant, "Water" (67before.3)
- William McKinley, "We are all going" (2before.76, 79; 51after.3)
- Che Guevara, "Shoot, coward. You are only going to kill a man" (thelastday.43)
- Sedgwick, "They couldn't hit an elephant from this dis—" (thelastday.45)
- Henry Ward Beacher, "Now comes the mystery" (thedayafter.44)
- Dylan Thomas, "I've had eighteen straight whiskeys. I do believe that's a record" (thedayafter.44)
- Eugene O'Neill, "Born in a hotel room, and… died in a hotel room" (thedayafter.44)
- Princess Diana, "Oh God. What's happened?" (thedayafter.44)
- James Dean, "They've got to see us" (thedayafter.44)
- Meriwether Lewis, "I am not a coward, but I am so strong. So hard to die" (6after.8)
- Thomas Edison, "It's very beautiful over there" (136after.18)
Historical References
- Emperor Augustus (76before.9)
- Karl Marx (21after.5)
- Mona Lisa (69after.7)
Pop Culture References
- Radiohead (87before.11)
- The Flaming Lips (87before.11)
- The Simpsons, (christmas.4)
- Nightmare on Elm Street (2before.8)
- The Brady Bunch (thelastday.13, 24, 33)
- National Geographic (thedayafter.30)
- Prince (102after.36)