Short-cut classics: all your own work
Last month, The Independent published a compendium of classic novels whose plots were summarised in 25 words or less - and challenged you to do better. These are the highlights...
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Your support makes all the difference.THE BIBLE
God worked. God rested. Man toiled. God promised rest. God worked again (on wood). "It is finished." God sat down, now man can rest eternally. John Kerr, by e-mail
"Be Good!" Tony Viney, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh
WAR AND PEACE, by Leo Tolstoy
Men: Aristocratic estate managers gallop about, fight battles and discuss Napoleon and God.
Girls: Aristocratic adolescents say prayers, wear posh frocks and attend soirées. Stephen Davies, by e-mail
MOBY DICK, by Herman Melville
Man goes fishing and eventually has a whale of a time. White is definitely not his colour. Ian Dovey, West Bridgford, Nottingham
THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN, by John Fowles
A Victorian tale of impossible love involving Charles the Darwinist, a mysterious, caped woman and an absent Frenchman. Poignant or just corn on the cobb? Terry Williams, St Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal
WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, by Raymond Briggs
"Let's have a nice cup of tea and listen to the wireless, dear." Boom. "Oh, you look a bit peaky!" Linda Cutts, by e-mail
OLIVER TWIST, by Charles Dickens
Workhouse boy's future takes twist when Oliver bumbles into Fagin's smoker. Could Oliver be Maylie? May be. Sykes' no nancy, but Nancy shops her Bill. Janey Thompson, by e-mail
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Never cared much for landladies. Anyone seen my sister? Honest, officer! Rushin' toward a bleak ending. Excellent paper-weight. Laura Ashton, Richmond, Surrey
CHOCOLAT Joanne Harris
Good-time girl blows into town. Pious mayor satisfies lust for titillating Mayan delight. Floating gypsy breezes into town, gets girl, fixes draught excluder. Stephen Davies, by e-mail
GONE WITH THE WIND, by Margaret Mitchell
He loves her, she loves him not. There's a big fire in Atlanta. She loves him, he loves her not. See what happens tomorrow. Ian Dovey, West Bridgford, Nottingham
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, by Virginia Woolf
"Shall we go?"
"Not until Mrs Ramsay has died in brackets." Amanda Langley, by e-mail
THE WOODLANDERS, by Thomas Hardy
Little Hintock, early 19th century: simple girl loves woodman. Woodman loves sophisticated girl. Sophisticated girl falls for doctor. Doctor runs off with rich bald woman. Virginia Astley, by e-mail
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen
Suitable girl from unsuitable stock meets unsuitable man from suitable stock. After suitable length of time, she discovers he has behaved very suitably. Suitable ending. Linda Cutts, by e-mail
OEDIPUS REX, by Sophocles
Boy loves girl, girl is his mother. Richard Hutley, by e-mail
DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens
Something turning up. Must be a girl! No, it's the boy David. Heaps of infamy - donkeys trespass; Ham is sandwiched; Emily steers forth, comes third. J Thompson, by e-mail
CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, by Louis de Bernières
He's feeling plucky. She's feeling lucky. The beach starts getting mucky. Who are you calling ducky? It's all Greek to me. John Ellis, London
A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by Charles Dickens
Londoner volunteers to have his head chopped off in revolutionary tale - he could be in Seine. Ian Dovey, West Bridgford, Nottingham
HEDDA GABLER, by Henrik Ibsen
Oh my God. Bang. David Thompson, by e-mail
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, by Evelyn Waugh
I was once having lunch in the Granada Television canteen in Manchester. At the next table two electricians were discussing the production of Brideshead, then being made at the studio. "What's it about then?" one asked the other. "Well," came the reply, "it's about two poofs, and one of them dies." As a succinct summary of Waugh's masterpiece, it was hard to beat. David Kemp, by e-mail
MACBETH, by William Shakespeare
Scottish megalomaniac urged on by wife, eventually meets his doom because he can't see the trees for the wood. Ian Dovey, West Bridgford, Nottingham
Three knew: ambition angst. Dripping daggers; spooks, spots and somnambulant Scots; shifting shrubbery and an unborn boy. Who'll mop up the castle in the end? Laura Ashton, Richmond
TRAINSPOTTING, by Irvine Welsh
Yir jokin? Naw, jist gies a line ah'm all oot ay puff. Rents stirrin n away wi the big kitty. Widnae trust nae one. Stephen Davies, by e-mail
ULYSSES, by James Joyce
Man ambles round Dublin for hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of pages. Nothing happens. Amanda Langley, by e-mail
WAR OF THE WORLDS, by HG Wells
Ooh-la-la. Overgreen, overlord and over here. Avoid Clapham and take the underground for a brave, new whirl. Tiny ticks topple tinned terrors. Laura Ashton, Richmond
Nasty aliens from Mars decide to invade. Doesn't matter - our weapons are smaller than theirs. Nature is wonderful. Ian Dovey, West Bridgford, Nottingham
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, by Thomas Hardy
Curiously named country girl falls for the wrong bloke, but gets together with a nice farmer at the end. Louise Dempsey, London
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