My dinner guest list

Okay as I retweeted Kals Nats post on list of authors she'd love to have dinner with, she asked me to do one too. I'm kindly obliging her :) 

In no order:

Enid Blyton: I know it sounds childish, but most of my childhood was consumed by reading this wonderful author. And as clichéd as it sounds, I did imagine all of those midnight feasts (minus the meat of course!) complete with tins of pineapple slices. I'd read them all again.

William Dalrymple: I've read two of his books - The Last Mughal (partly) and Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (read review here) and I've been impressed. His flair for the language, style and narrative style have me hooked. I'm self-confessed fan, Mr Dalrymple :) And the fact that he is both a historian and a travel writer only adds to the list of attributes!

J K Rowling: No it's not the norm to add her name to the list. Rowling is indeed one of my favourites. Writing about magic is quite a tough job and it obviously requires much imagination. To make us imagine the sequences requires even more imagination. (Okay so you get the drift). Here's tipping my (imaginary) wand to you!

John Grisham: I think I've read almost all his books and they're pretty interesting (hey they keep me occupied!). He made me like law-based books, I owe him that much. My favourites are The Rain Maker and The Partner.

Ruskin Bond: My list can never be complete without Bond. I can visualize school memories of running to the library and borrowing his books, reading them, returning them and borrowing them for a second time. I've always wanted to meet and talk to him. I'm secretly happy that he lives in India!

Agatha Christie: I’m running the risk of my list sounding more and more un-elitist. Christie is one of those authors I’d read anytime, anywhere. This also evokes school memories where I’d ask my friends to borrow some so that I can read more than one at a time. I still ask my sister to borrow some books from school to keep the tradition going. Murder on the Orient Express is my all-time favourite book.

At this point you may argue saying that Arthur Conan Doyle writes better detective stories and that Sherlock Holmes is a better detective than Hercule Poirot, but I beg to differ. Poirot is an utter delight with his bald head, oiled moustache and prim and proper shoes! Especially his ‘tap those grey cells Hastings’ dialogue! Holmes’ fans can turn their noses up at me, Poirot wins hands down!

Ramachandra Guha: I like everything about this guy! The fact that he doesn’t restrict himself to one genre and explores various others is a blessing. His articles/columns are equally interesting to read. I’d say it’s a must to read his work! Him being cute is an added bonus! Again, I’d love to converse with him.

The list doesn’t end here though, there are various others I’d like to add but that’d just make it bulky.