Bring them back from the grave

[Asa Adams]

Hmm, pour moi, I can think of no one I should more like to hold convo with than cher maitre himself - Henry James!
I do not think we could even begin to cover in twelve hours all the things I would like to talk to him about - the man wrote a lot of stuff. But I would almost just like to let him pick a subject and roll with it, since his conversational style was reputedly so amazing. I would, however, have to find out his thoughts on Ulysses and on postmodernism, assuming he'd had time to consider these things while waiting for me to bring him back.
I should, of course, love to hear his thoughts on his own works - I mean, the specifics, not just stuff I can read in his Prefaces. Especially on the later novels. Plus, he would give me an opportunity to test my French, as he was supposedly almost as good with it as he was with English! (Scary thought)

Excellent choice, Jameson!!!

[PeterL]

Interesting. I have been working in Providence, RI recently, and I would love to walk some of the streets with Lovecraft. We probably would end up in a cemetery or a church. We certainly would complain about the traffic.

[metal134]

Wow, tough choice. But I might have to go with William Faulkner. His novels are so multi-layered and disoriented, I would love to have his insight as to why he did things a certain way and what he was thinking at the time.

[Niamh]

Probably J.M.Synge(surprise ) I'd probably ask him so much about his travels, and why the hell after years of being with molly algood,who he was engaged to before he died, could he not truely have the guts to turn around and say to his mother 'this is the woman i love and am going to marry. i dont care if she comes from a working class or that you dont like her. tough cookies!!'

[bazarov]

After seeing my avatar, some of you are maybe confused; is he trying to meet himself? No...
My pick would surely be Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, in my opinion; the greatest writer ever, and I doubt that anyone could ever become close to his genius.
We would meet in some quite place, big room with big armchairs, shelves around us filled with books( that's my imaginary personal library )
I would go down on my knees and I would tell him: Thank you!

He was a gambler and boozer, so after some roulette( i hate that play, I really don't understand why is anybody playing it) we would start our chat, with a lot of vodka in front of us.
I would ask him did he ever killed anybody because I don't understand how could he describe Raskolnikov so good, why didn't he finished those two novels what he started to write, what does he think about mushrooms in Anna Karenina, does he believe in happiness, does he believe in destiny or everything happens by an accident...
I doubt that 12 hours would be enough for everything, and on his way out he would give me 500 novels which he never published, just for me!

[Virgil]

Great choice. I'd especially like to hear him speak...I read that despite his impressive command of the English language on paper he spoke a rather guttural and strange dialect due to his familiarity with Polish and French.

Yes, English was Conrad's third language, and he learned as an adult. He is supposed to have had a very strong accent which may not be comprehensible to many of us. But so what. It actually makes his achievement as a writer in English so much more impresive.

[Asa Adams]

After seeing my avatar, some of you are maybe confused; is he trying to meet himself? No...
My pick would surely be Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, in my opinion; the greatest writer ever, and I doubt that anyone could ever become close to his genius.
We would meet in some quite place, big room with big armchairs, shelves around us filled with books( that's my imaginary personal library )
I would go down on my knees and I would tell him: Thank you!

He was a gambler and boozer, so after some roulette( i hate that play, I really don't understand why is anybody playing it) we would start our chat, with a lot of vodka in front of us.
I would ask him did he ever killed anybody because I don't understand how could he describe Raskolnikov so good, why didn't he finished those two novels what he started to write, what does he think about mushrooms in Anna Karenina, does he believe in happiness, does he believe in destiny or everything happens by an accident...
I doubt that 12 hours would be enough for everything, and on his way out he would give me 500 novels which he never published, just for me!

Great choice Baz. Try not to offend his genius too much Just kidding!

[bazarov]

Great choice Baz. Try not to offend his genius too much Just kidding!

You can see in his bear that his a cool guy!

[Bysshe]

Percy Bysshe Shelley



Just to sit and talk about life and love in general. I can't actually think of any specific question to ask him, although I'm sure many people would. Hmm. I might ask him about the people he knew - Byron, Mary Shelley, Keats...and Leigh Hunt - to see what he really thought. Otherwise I think I'd just like to enjoy his company, and see what he was like as person.

If I could somehow work it out so the meeting took place before 1822, I would probably advise him to steer clear of boats, too.

[Asa Adams]

lol...That would be a good bit of advice, Bysshe!

[kathycf]

I would choose Agatha Christie. I would like to sit with her in a cozy room of a quiet country house. Outside would be grey and misty, but inside would be warm and fragrant with the scent of Earl Grey tea. We would hang out and knit (although I knit badly) and discuss the neighbors and which one we think commited "the crime".

Dame Barbara Cartland!

There isn't enough pink and love in the literary world since she's gone...

You say that like it's a bad thing!!!

[andave_ya]

That would be rather nice. But she was shy...you'd have to charm her into speaking....well, for you that shouldn't be hard.

[kathycf]

Heck, she might not have liked Earl Grey tea and knitting too, for all I know. I guess I can't help but think of her as a "Miss Marple" type although that is wildly inaccurate of me.

[ennison]

joseph conrad
rob donn
padruig grannd
r c hutchinson

[Asa Adams]

I would choose Agatha Christie. I would like to sit with her in a cozy room of a quiet country house. Outside would be grey and misty, but inside would be warm and fragrant with the scent of Earl Grey tea. We would hang out and knit (although I knit badly) and discuss the neighbors and which one we think commited "the crime".:

How exciting. That would be very neat. I can picture the sweet and quiet sunday morning, the mist rising past the sheep and their sheppard, passing the old farm fences, and past the stone house. Lovely choice. How relaxing!