If you had a chance to invite anyone to dinner – that is anyone who has ever lived – who would you ask? The concept came up the other night during dinner with friends and as I enjoyed another glass of red. (It was a very good Coonawarra cabernet, and thank you for being interested). I had heard of the idea before but never really contemplated who I would choose.
There were rules, of course, as we explored this fictional dinner party. First, they all had to speak on a set topic of conversation that was chosen by the host i.e. you. Second, they had to come in period appropriate dress and, third, no-one was to hog the limelight or kill one of the other guests. After all, a certain level of civility was to be expected.
One of my friends was quite certain of who he would invite and why. The topic was to be ‘How can you ascertain world peace?’ (This friend is no slouch in the thinking department.) He wanted to have Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, Machiavelli, Joan of Arc (I think to add some gender parity to the mix), Marx and Lenin. See, I told you he was a bit sharp. There was also some talk about Jean Jacques Rousseau and Sartre, but I was having trouble keeping up.
I quipped that Alexander the Great’s answer would be a short one – ‘conquer them all and then you have peace!’
As we chatted about the relative merits of each historical figure, my subconscious was working overtime to even think of seven figures let alone contemplate their philosophical bent in how they saw the universe.
One of my card-carrying atheist friends decided she wanted to have Jesus at her dinner table. Go figure. And she wasn’t really clear about what question she would ask. ‘What is the meaning of life?’ Monty Python attempted that as did The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy – number 42 is the answer to life and the universe and the whole damn thing.
Being an ex-English teacher (though that seems an oxymoron really as we never ever give up being pedantic and obsessed with words), would I have Shakespeare? Jane Austen, Steinbeck, Hemingway and Harper Lee? Would I ask some trite question like ‘What gave you inspiration?’ or would I too go for the high moral ground and ask them what they thought was the most important thing in life?
The trouble, of course, is that my idea of writers – and historical figures for that matter – seems to be rather Anglocentric. What about all the great Eastern philosophers and writers, many I have no clue about. And those from other parts of the world. Too hard.
As the wine bottles emptied, the brain cells faded, and the cheese course was demolished, we changed the nature of the game.
Pick a chef and then they have to come to dinner with their specialty dish. Back to basics. Better to eat than think too hard. Cheers.
Who would you have to dinner? Have you played this game before? Share your guest list in the comments section below.
Also read: ‘I heard their voices, their love of country and their desire for respect’
