What would you most like to ask?

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Mon October 18th, 2010, 2:35 pm

I had the honor of meeting Toni Morrison a few years ago and have since been haunted by all the questions I wish I'd thought to ask. This got me wondering what others would do in similar situations . . . . so which author (dead or alive) would you most like to have dinner with - and what burning literary questions would you hope to discuss?

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon October 18th, 2010, 4:50 pm

Well, I suppose that after our lively discussion under the "Classics" thread, I would now like to sit down with Charlotte Bronte. I would ask, "So, Charlotte, please settle the question once and for all; what were you really trying to say in Jane Eyre?"

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Mon October 18th, 2010, 5:09 pm

I'd love to be a fly on that wall!

LoobyG · Post by **LoobyG** » Mon October 18th, 2010, 6:34 pm

I'd love to have dinner with Jean Plaidy and ask her about her inspiration for books, and how she managed to write so many in her career. I wonder if she'd have liked Indian food?

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon October 18th, 2010, 7:28 pm

The person I'd really like to talk to is Margaret Mitchell. The person who could create Gone With the Wind is utterly fascinating in my book. I read a biography of her several years ago, and she was apparently quite an engaging personality, a born storyteller. I would like to just spend an evening in her company.

rockygirl · Post by **rockygirl** » Wed October 20th, 2010, 12:01 am

I would like to meet Colleen McCullough. I would ask if I could see her collection of books about ancient Rome. Apparently, she is known for having the best private collection on the topic in the world.

Gabriella · Post by **Gabriella** » Wed October 20th, 2010, 12:24 am

I would love to have dinner with Jane Austen (awfully cliché I know) or Ann Radcliffe... or Hildegard of Bingen.
I have been sitting here, trying to think of what to ask. My mind is blank. I would be too star struck.

Katherine Ashe · Post by **Katherine Ashe** » Wed October 20th, 2010, 3:11 am

I was seated in front of Norman Mailer at the opening of a production of his play The Deer Park. He asked me what I thought of it, and I asked him if he didn't consider the world a little worse for his making the unspeakable not only spoken but a trifle nearer to being acceptable. I was only 20 at the time. Now I wish I'd asked him how he came up with his ideas regarding women. Seated next to John Updike at a dinner, I went totally blank.
I would most like to dine with John Murray Kendall and ask him so many questions about Richard III! Along those same lines, dinner with Pushkin would be high on my list, so I could ask him what his original intention was in writing about Boris Godunov before the Czar edited his manuscript for him. Was he reading Shakespeare's Richard III?

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Wed October 20th, 2010, 1:15 pm

[quote=""Gabriella""]I would love to have dinner with Jane Austen (awfully cliché I know) or Ann Radcliffe... or Hildegard of Bingen.
I have been sitting here, trying to think of what to ask. My mind is blank. I would be too star struck.[/quote]

That was my problem meeting Morrison! Funny how those we most admire have that effect.

LoobyG · Post by **LoobyG** » Wed October 20th, 2010, 2:31 pm

[quote=""Michy""]The person I'd really like to talk to is Margaret Mitchell. The person who could create Gone With the Wind is utterly fascinating in my book. I read a biography of her several years ago, and she was apparently quite an engaging personality, a born storyteller. I would like to just spend an evening in her company.[/quote]

I agree Michy, Margaret Mitchell would be fascinating to have dinner with! I'd like to ask if she ever meant Scarlett and Rhett to get back together, or if she'd always planned to leave the ending open like she did.