Ben

But... I have to start from the very beginning, right? *tries to justify it despite not having the time*

I do love this from Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven--thanks for posting Poppy--and Yeats in general. Think the following is worth leaving here: An Irish Airman Foresees his Death I know that I shall meet my fate, Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan's poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before. Nor law, nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds; I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death.

Didn't manage to catch it but would like to, looks like the first episode is worth a watch at the very least. Think it'll be a BBC iPlayer job this.

New Ben Howard effort, I Forget Where We Were. Fantastic CD.

Aw, that's a shame that I missed out on the 5/6 chance of winning. Well done to those that did.

This is incredible... but I never did watch series 7. They're still in the cellophane. *gulp*

I recently decided to revisit David Ficher after seeing Gone Girl at the flicks last weekend--which I thought was a dark, very well-crafted thriller, but considered the ending a disappointed--and watched The Game. Absolutely fantastic exploration of human limitation with typically Fincher-esque tension throughout. I'd still likely put S7even, Zodiac, Fight Club and The Social Network above it in terms of his catalogue, but still a truly wonderful piece of cinema.

Mine would have to be not achieving something in my life--no matter how insignificant. Sadly, I know it sounds awfully pretentious but I'd stress that it's my fear and I would never suggest that, say, everyone should think like that.

I'll do this properly some other time, but Birdsong was published 1993.

Not sure if you're after some suggestions or not, but I recently read Night by Elie Wiesel and at well under two hundred pages it'd be perfect for that section of your challenge. Haunting--essentially auto-biographical--portrayal of the atrocities that took place at Birkenau and Auschwitz that moved me profoundly, both to anger and tears. An incredible must-read if you haven't already...

I'll just pop in here to say I told you so... But seriously, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. It's such a beautifully written novel.

I always thought Cell was pretty good, too. I can't wait to hear what you think of To Kill a Mockingbird. I eagerly await your thoughts.

Only took 1:47, that's not bad...

Outrageous last set...

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley.

Terraqueous.

Shoulders.

Oh my this is difficult. This will be changed multiple times before I post. Right... 7p. to Oscar Wilde. 6p. to George Orwell. 5p. to Charles Dickens. 4p. to Jane Austen. 3p. to Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 2p. to JRR Tolkein. 1p. to Terry Pratchett. (Side note: there's definitely a few worthy winners in my mind - a very strong final line-up).

Man 'The Mountain and the Viper' was so good. Even though I knew what was coming, I thought it was superb television (as usual)...

Oh wow, I didn't realise that Midnight's Children was the reading circle choice for June. I'll definitely be back to write in here and discuss the questions with everyone when I get chance. This is one of my favourite novels.

Tell you what, had never heard of this before but it sounds pretty good. Also, it's a Steven Moffat brain-child, might check this out...

I was so torn during the final this time around. Ronnie's my favourite player of all time (as you've probably seen from me gush about his game in this thread) but Selby's great, one of my favourite players, and such an ambassador for the sport. You're right, The Rocket didn't really get into the match and I think that's credit to Selby. He played gritty, kept it tight, and played to Ronnie's 'weakness', if you can say he's got one. Refreshing to see that O'Sullivan feels he's in one of the best places of his career, though, I think that's important. I still wouldn't bet against him going on and winning another title or two in the future, but with the standard these days who knows? I'm happy that he's not thinking about retirement or anything like that. The new ranking system will favour the way he picks and chooses tournaments, and means if his head stays right he'll be around for a while yet.

Yes, great results. Going to be a great next round...

Goodbye, Rushdie. Found this round much easier (bar a few exceptions), by luck of the draw, but it's clearly only going to get harder! Charles Dickens –vs-- Neil Gaiman Vladimir Nabokov –vs-- Terry Pratchett George Eliot –vs-- Edgar Allan Poe Paulo Coelho –vs-- JRR Tolkien E M Forster –vs-- Jane Austen Edward Rutherford –vs-- Oscar Wilde Leo Tolstoy –vs-- Gabriel Garcia Márquez Fyodor Dostoyevsky –vs-- Donna Leon Stephen King –vs-- George Orwell Peter F Hamilton –vs-- Franz Kafka

If there's no consensus on one of the other head-to-head's can we have Rushdie through as a lucky loser? Only kidding...