a quill and vellum

Literary Dinner Party Tag

 

Renee at Nahoma52 has just posted her Literary Dinner Party Tag.  The rules for this tag are quite simple.  You invite eleven fictional people to a dinner party.  Those eleven guests shall consist of the following:

1. One character who can cook/likes to cook

I am a foodie and there is nothing I would appreciate any more than a dinner party surrounded by my most favorite fictional characters.  The chef for this dinner party would have to be Babette Hersant from Isak Dinesen's Babette's Feast.  If you have not read this story, I would highly recommend that you do for it is a sumptuous feast of words.

2. One character who has money to fund the party

Our dinner party would be funded by F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby who not only has extravagant wealth but also a penchant for extravagant dinner parties.

3. One character who might cause a scene

The rules stated that this character does not have to cause a bad scene, necessarily, so I would invite J.K. Rowling's Luna Lovegood.  I am sure Luna could cause an interesting scene through her discussion of obscure magical creatures.

4. One character who is funny/amusing

My amusing guest would have to be none other than Miss Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice who possesses a most charming and amusing personality. 

5. One character who is super social/popular

This seat of distinction would definitely go to one of the most popular characters in all of fiction....the boy who lived....Harry Potter!

6. One villian

The villanous guest in attendance would have to be Professor Moriarty who possesses great intellect and wit and could greatly add to the dinner conversation.

7. One couple - doesn't have to be romantic

I grew up devouring Agatha Christie mysteries, so the couple I would invite would be Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot.  They could be set to the task of preparing most excellent British tea and biscuits. 

8. One hero/heroine

Our hero for the evening would be Bilbo Baggins and he can enthrall us with his many heroic adventures in Middle Earth.

9. One underappreciated character

Throughout most of the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape was underappreciated for all of the work that he did to assist Dumbledore and keep Harry Potter safe.  Since Professor Snape is my most favorite character from the Harry Potter Universe, he would most definitely be one of the dinner guests.

10. One character of your own choosing

My most favorite series of books of all times is the Dune Saga created by Frank Herbert.  The protagonist of Dune, Paul Muad'Dib,  is someone I would love to talk to and find out first hand knowledge about the Dune Universe.

 

The Dune Universe

In the late 80s, I saw David Lynch's 1984 production of Dune, a movie which greatly intrigued me.  Following the film, I was fascinated to learn that it was based upon a creation of the Hugo Award-wining author, Frank Herbert; and not only was there a book called Dune, but five others comprised the Dune Saga.  These six books have been touted as the greatest works in science fiction and I highly agree with that sentiment.  

Frank Herbert died in 1986, but in 1999, Herbert's son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson created a prequel to the Dune Saga.  The prequels have been met with mixed reviews.  I have read the prequels and I feel that the authors, while not possessing the philosophical mindset and austere writing style of Frank Herbert, certainly are good story tellers.  

I mention this because I am soon to undertake a chronological reading of the entire Dune Universe, which follows the following order:

1. Hunting Harkonnens (short story)
2. The Butlerian Jihad
3. Whipping Mek (short story)
4. The Machine Crusade
5. The Faces of a Martyr (short story)
6. The Battle of Corrin
7. The Sisterhood of Dune
8. House Atreides
9. House Harkonnen
10. House Corrino
11. Paul of Dune (Parts II, IV, and VI)
12. The Winds of Dune (Parts II)
13. A Whisper of Caladan Seas (short story)
14. Dune
15. Paul of Dune (Parts I, III, V, and VII)
16. The Winds of Dune (Part IV)
17. The Road to Dune (short story)
18. Dune Messiah
19. The Winds of Dune (Parts I, III, and V)
20. Children of Dune
21. God Emperor of Dune
22. Heretics of Dune
23. Sea Child (short story)
24. Chapterhouse: Dune
25. Hunters of Dune
26. Treasure in the Sand (short story)
27. Sandworms of Dune