Heavenly Dialogue

Author: (American) Langdon Coburn
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: While reading this book, readers may encounter some expressions that seem out of sync with the times. The author is fully aware of this. However, in this book, the author hopes that the deceased, who have been buried for over a thousand years, can discuss their preference for steak over eight-treasure carp, and attempts to spend time with readers by delving into theological views that have been forgotten for over 20 generations. Therefore, such situations are inevitable. Langdon Coburn's Conversations with Angels covers a wide range of knowledge fields, including literature, history, philosophy, religion, politics, music, and geography, with a vast temporal span. In Conversations with Angels, the author, with his rich imagination, breaks free from the constraints of time and space, adopting the form of dialogues between the past and the present to introduce dozens of influential figures in human history. Through the vivid depiction of the scene of inviting historical figures to a banquet, the book subtly highlights their life stories, ideas, habits, and personalities. Based on the narration of historical events and figures, it subtly expresses the author's worldview and reflections on contemporary social issues, which is the greatest feature of Conversations with Angels. From a literary perspective, the book certainly has certain research and appreciation value. Moreover, reading this book can not only give readers a general understanding of some famous historical figures and the social background of their time but also enrich their knowledge in the field of human literature. Of course, every reader will have their own feelings, but to gain something from it, one needs to think carefully. The book vividly recreates interesting scenes of meeting with some historical celebrities. Among them are Confucius, Plato, Voltaire, Thomas, and Jefferson, among others. The book mainly introduces spending a very pleasant night with Erasmus, arranging his room, welcoming William the Silent and General George Washington, Sir Thomas More as a guest of his old friend Erasmus, our delightful encounter with the Bach and Bruegel families, meeting the great masters of linguistics, literature, and art—Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Molière, the two bishops of Byzantium and Cyrene taking us back to a world on the verge of being forgotten, Descartes and Emerson arriving, making us forget our displeasure from last week, the charming women: Queen Elizabeth and Empress Theodora, Robespierre and Torquemada bringing an unforgettable nightmare, and Buddha's apology, among others.