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I'd say yes, limiting my list just for kicks, but I don't have time today to look up everybody I'm not sure about. Therefore, here are the top ten authors I'd love to meet, alive or gone on.
1. J.K. Rowling. I might actually drop dead—or at least unconscious—at the thought of meeting her in person. Of course, I'm the helpless sort of person who gets a little starstruck even meeting the mayor. I did once dream, though, that we had a lovely chat over lunch at my grandmother's house.
2. David the Psalmist. Anyone who can write poetry that's endlessly beautiful even in translation is a genius in my book. The charismatic, multi-talented shepherd-turned-king wrote some of my favorite pieces in existence.
3. Jane Austen. I think. It'd probably be a riot, hanging out with her, but unlike Mr. Darcy, I'm not confident that all my own failings are beyond being laughed at. But I'm sure she'd be courteous and use a pseudonym for the over-shy, childishly enthusiastic housewife in her next book.
4. Orson Scott Card. He can talk. I will listen.
5. Shannon Hale. Another potentially hilarious conversationalist, and she can autograph my copy of Princess Academy.
6. C.S. Lewis. I want to attend some of his lectures, especially anything on medieval thought and symbolism. Maybe I should finish The Discarded Image first.
7. St. Augustine. I've never yet finished reading the Confessions, but I'd just love to hear him preach or talk about love for God.
8. Elizabeth Goudge. I suspect I would have liked her.
9. Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). The stories about him are almost mythic, and oh, the man could write.
10. Madeleine L'Engle. I count her A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door as among my greatest influences in loving and writing science-fiction and fantasy.
Who would you meet? I'm curious.
What a fun list, Jenna! I would add Charlotte Bronte for sure, and try to get her to a good doctor if I could!!
ReplyDeleteAusten, Lewis, L'Engle, and Rowling made my list too. I opted for St. Paul but thought about King David.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be lovely to have all these people around the same table?!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Twenty-Seven Authors I'd Love to Meet (Sorry, I Couldn't Stop at Ten). I hope you will stop by. Also, don't forget to enter my July Giveaway.
I'd definitely add P.G. Wodehouse and George MacDonald. Flannery O'Connor would be interesting, though I might be a bit scared of her...
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose we can sit in on a C.S. Lewis lecture in heaven? I'd SO be there. I wonder at things like that... Will theology still be a topic of debate or even discussion when we're sitting at the very feet of Jesus?
Carrie-Ann, good call on Charlotte Bronte! She definitely would've made my top twenty. And yes, a good doctor! Her life was just too short.
ReplyDeleteAnne, St. Paul is a good choice, too! I thought about St. John as well.
Deb, yes! I'd be so intimidated, though. :) Any one of the batch would probably leave me tongue-tied.
Carrie, I thought of Wodehouse and MacDonald, too! If I'd have kept going past ten--I'd just love to meet those guys. I didn't think of O'Connor, but she'd be interesting, too. (And I really need to read her work.)
I'm sure Lewis can find something to teach on in heaven. That mind is too brilliant to keep still and silent for eternity. If he's not talking theology as we know it now, then there'll be something we can all get dizzy with wonder over. :)
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, St. Paul, St. Luke (because he's kind of a historian), Blessed Dr. Martin Luther, St. Augustine, G.K. Chesterton, Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, Wilfred Owen.
ReplyDeleteI did get to meet L'Engle at a book signing here in Spokane, when her last YA was published. She autographed two books for me (I chose one of her poetry books and another for a friend, although I wish I'd had her sign A Ring of Endless Light, 1st. ed.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, she was delightful. in a very brief time we talked about poetry, and I asked if we'd ever learn what kind of man Charles Wallace became. She looked a bit startled and said, rather bemusedly, "well, if I ever find out, so will you," or something to that effect. I really wish I'd brought my camera.
I'd like to meet Lloyd Alexander.
--Arabella
Great list, George! HOW DID I LEAVE CHESTERTON OFF MINE?! Yipes.
ReplyDeleteArabella, I love your story about meeting L'Engle! Charles Wallace was always close to my heart... he was a fascinating mix of intensely competent and intensely vulnerable.
I confess that I always thought Charles Wallace was odd, right down to his awkward name. I like him better in A Swiftly Tilting Planet, my favorite of the trilogy. But in the first two, he's unreachable, unrealistic, and too adult in an annoying way. I recently reread the trilogy and liked it a lot less than I once did.
ReplyDeleteAlas, there goes my fantasy cred. ;-)
--Arabella
Eh, I never really liked L'Engle's books either. Back in elementary school, we'd have reading time & A Wrinkle in Time was read to us. I liked it well enough then but think I've only read it once since that time. I also read A Wind in the Door but that was it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, reading time was also when I was first introduced to Tolkien & Lewis, so I at least got that out of public schooling. :)
I've re-read A Wrinkle in Time every summer since I first read it at the age of eleven, so.... that makes about 32 reads in all. I guess you can say that I love that one! I didn't really like A Wind in the Door, but really like A Swiftly Tilting Planet, so I'd recommend giving that third one a try, revgeorge--I agree with Arabella that Charles Wallace is at his best in the third novel.
ReplyDeleteThree thumbs-down on A Wind in the Door? I'm totally surprised. That one is my favorite of all L'Engle's work... had me in tears just this week. :)
ReplyDeleteI really do need to re-read A Swiftly Tilting Planet, though! Haven't read it since grade school, at which point I was very confused by the goings-on. Besides, it has a unicorn in it, and I like unicorns. :D