Literary notes about Conundrum (AI summary)
The term "conundrum" in literature is employed with remarkable flexibility, serving as both a witty riddle and a profound puzzle. Authors use it to evoke a sense of playful mystery, as in the childhood riddle “When is a door not a door?” ([1]), while also applying it to more serious or even tragic predicaments where no clear solution exists ([2], [3]). In some instances, it highlights the perplexing nature of human existence or social dilemmas, such as the inscrutable aspects of behavior and identity ([4], [5]), and it can encapsulate a cleverly veiled pun or a linguistic trick ([6]). This multifaceted usage demonstrates how "conundrum" enriches narrative tone by bridging the gap between amusement and thoughtful perplexity ([7], [8]).
- "When is a door not a door?" was a conundrum of my childhood, and I think the answer was: "When it's ajar."
— from Everyman's Land by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson - This is not a conundrum, and, consequently, has no answer.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, February 28, 1891 by Various - It is a tragic situation, and no mere speculative conundrum, with which he has to deal.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - Human nature is a conundrum to itself hard to crack, as it is to other people, even its friends and neighbours who eat and drink with it at table.
— from Lures of Life by Joseph Lucas - Some of them called him a "conundrum," because they could not understand him.
— from Square and Compasses; Or, Building the House by Oliver Optic - “What kind of conundrum's that?” he demanded.
— from The Rise of Roscoe Paine by Joseph Crosby Lincoln - The learned men called it a problem--the problem of the unemployed--and gave it up as a conundrum.
— from Equality by Edward Bellamy - But to enable me to do so, I must first have found out the troublesome conundrum long abandoned.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
