Ben

I think it has now.

Oh I wouldn't worry, it's bubbling away nicely.. I've just seen Novak turn up and start playing. 4-1 up in the second. Edit: Not even an hour played and that's two sets done. Novak stepping up his game now. 1-1, game on!

Well Federer breezed through his first set against Novak.. 1-0 in twenty-four minutes. Routine stuff.

Excellent reviews. I hope they could persuade people to read them because it really is a good series. I'd comment more upon the actual plot but I think we've covered a fair bit of that already.

I can't see him stopping Tsonga from taking any sets at all.

No no, of course we don't mind. What you say makes a lot of sense, actually. When I was studying it for A Level we did Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales which is of course set in a medieval period, and doesn't really contain many of the other elements that we'd suggested fit into the Gothic genre. I suppose a lot of words and meanings change over time, though.

Might just be lulling us into a false sense of security before she pulls off a shock.

I think Tsonga's going to beat him.

I've never read Wuthering Heights but I don't think I could define Great Expectations as a Gothic text, although it has got darkness within a character (Magwitch) and creepy settings. I think there could be an argument made for it, but something would stop me from describing it as Gothic. If that makes any sense at all.

Yep, I haven't been in the right mind-state to read it recently, it requires concentration that I can't give right now. I'll go back to it, because it wasn't so difficult that I'd give it up entirely or anything, but just going to put it to one side for now. It's an interesting question, and one which I wouldn't feel comfortable answering without insisting that by no way is my answer 'right'. I think a Gothic text offers different things for different people, and it's difficult to define it as a genre. For me it has to convey a sense of fear or terror, be eerie or mysterious, and have spooky and perhaps desolate settings; in the same vein that a 'horror' novel would. I have only looked at a few texts that could be described as Gothic though.

YES! Very gritty tie-break from Murray there, did well to come out on top! 1-1.

Books on the go! As well as Crime and Punishment which has pretty much been confined to the back-burner, I've got another couple of books on the go. Sworn Secret by Amanda Jennings. Synopsis: When Anna, Lizzie Thorne's charismatic sister, is killed in a tragic fall from the roof of her school, her family is plunged into shock and despair. One year on and grief still has a suffocating hold on them. Lizzie's mother, Kate, consumed by loss and desperate to find someone to blame for Anna's death, retreats from her family, locking herself away to paint Anna's portrait for hours on end. Jon, her father, is doing his best to care for his loved ones but the pressure of trying to stop his manage collapsing is pushing him to breaking point. Looking forward to this one, reminds me of Afterwards by Rosamond Lupon. In addition I've decided to say hell to it and I'm starting the second of George R. R. Martin's novels in the Song of Fire and Ice series - A Clash of Kings. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it and once again seeing how it was transformed from book to screen.

It's just so close. Wouldn't bet against another tie-breaker.

There's always something happening and I didn't feel bored with it at any stage so hopefully it'll be the same for you. As for the review I'm very behind on some articles that need writing and then I'll get around to writing up my review. That's the exact same reason I want to read them. Ah Jekyll & Hyde is great, I wrote about it for my English coursework along with The Picture of Dorian Gray. I'll pop by your reading thread a bit later and check out your Vampire Rites review - best of luck with the rest of them.

Give it a few more episodes, I think it certainly gets better as it goes.

Horrible cover.

I've never read any Jasper Fforde.

I went for the third-from-bottom option. I've just finished A Game of Thrones and really enjoyed it, but I've never really tackled fantasy that much other than a select few: The Original Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks, Lord of The Rings. Other than them I've definitely never hunted out fantasy books, and I think Martin's novel will inspire me to do so. I'm planning on going over to Timstar's fantasy thread as that seems as good of a place as any to start.

You should let me know how you get on with Frankenstein, I think it's superb. Ah, the classics. I've wanted to read more of them for years but haven't ever made much progress. I even made a 'classics challenge' thread at the start of summer and made a good start but I've stumbled to a bit of a halt with Crime and Punishment. I finished it a couple of hours ago, and thought it was fantastic. When I first started it I thought it would get a bit lengthy but it didn't have a dull moment for me. I mean even Lord of the Rings can drag a little at times in my opinion, and as that probably set the bar for high fantasy texts, it's a good sign that I enjoyed every page of A Game of Thrones. I'm planning on writing a full review on it soon so I'll be back to add some more depth to my thoughts, but I would definitely recommend.

Finished A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and although I was extremely tempted to immediately start the next book in the series - A Clash of Kings - I decided to rein in my enthusiasm and start my next review book for the board: Sworn Secret by Amanda Jennings.

Kylie, put your shelves up!

Akala, Comedy Tragedy History.

I'm currently just coming to the end of A Game of Thrones and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. Anyway, welcome to BCF.

I was waiting for that post. At least you can watch at normal volume now. Murray takes the first set. He looked a bit cagey early on but finding his feet now.