Bring them back from the grave

[Etienne]

Well Dostoevsky did have a somewhat ambiguous relation with God, which is somewhat well represented by the ambiguous and maybe even evasive psychology of Dostoevsky's characters, I believe. And to loop back to the topic: we could bring him back from the dead to have a discussion about it.

[Homyrrh]

I'd resurrect the Apostle Paul. Saw it all and lived to tell about it

[Etienne]

I'd resurrect the Apostle Paul. Saw it all and lived to tell about it

Why not simply Jesus? Oh you want to skip those parables

[Homyrrh]

No, the Christ never wrote anything official

Thus the scribes...though parables were'n't the most convenient.

[jasons123451]

Edgar Alan Poe in an opium den. Would be very interesting to see were the inspiration came from.

[Etienne]

Edgar Alan Poe in an opium den. Would be very interesting to see were the inspiration came from.

And why not Poe, Baudelaire and De Quincey together? Well, my choice goes for this trio, in the end!

[JBI]

I'd resurrect the Apostle Paul. Saw it all and lived to tell about it

Did he?

[superunknown]

Oscar Wilde and Joseph Heller would make for very entertaining company.

I'd love to have a chat with Orwell too.

I'd say Hemingway but he didn't seem like much of a people person.

[Homyrrh]

Did he?

Reference the majority of the New Testament. Regardless of your faither or belief in the validity of the text, the fact is that he at least wrote it, right? Right!

[Homyrrh]

Oscar Wilde and Joseph Heller would make for very entertaining company.

I'd love to have a chat with Orwell too.

I'd say Hemingway but he didn't seem like much of a people person.

And, in reagrds to Hemingway, you're also most hopefully not a female human or male bovine.

[Janine]

Ernest Shackleton, the arctic explorer....what amazing tales he could tell. I would love to hear of his survival story first hand.

Ernest Shackleton counts because he wrote several books, one being "SOUTH The Endurance Expedition". I read it and loved every word. Fascinating and inspiring!

[hellsapoppin]

... why not Poe, Baudelaire and De Quincey together? Well, my choice goes for this trio, in the end!

Bingo! GREAT choice!!

[PabloQ]

I also was thinking 'could the person we bring back be other than an author?' I was thinking of interesting people like Gandi or the Roosevelts, Lincoln, JFK.

Theodore Roosevelt was an historian and a novelist so he counts. Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage so he's game too.

Now to answer the original challenge.

I'd like to board a steamboat in St. Louis and travel down the Mississippi with Mark Twain. Side by side, we'd lean against the railing and he can point out the inspirational points of interest along the way. Eventually, he'd tire of that, light his pipe, and set into telling his view of the world today. Laughter ensues.

One other note to Jamesian from way back in the thread -- it be an honor and a privilege to escort Mr. James back to whence he arose, if for no other reason than to slap him one for all my time he wasted with "The Wings of the Dove".

[JBI]

Reference the majority of the New Testament. Regardless of your faither or belief in the validity of the text, the fact is that he at least wrote it, right? Right!

The fact that the events in the bible actually happened are up for debate, but not here. I was just pointing out that there is a lack of evidence, and evidence against the notion that Paul actually penned any all the works attributed to him in the bible. The closest I can come to believing he wrote that stuff is that he passed the legacy down by word-of-mouth.

[HowlingMan]

Kurt Vonnegut or Philip K. Dick, both in a pub.

I'd say being in a pub with either of those fellas would be the greatest night ever.