Tom Wolfe gone. For years I thought Bonfire of the Vanities to be an unsurpassable

[Herbert Augustus Chapman]

No. I thought it was yet another self-conscious attempt at 'THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL' and - like most such attempts - overblown, grandiose and with a positively chasmic discrepancy between reach and grasp.

'fess up - you didn't even read the ****ing thing.

[Burney]

'fess up - you didn't even read the ****ing thing.

It's hack work, h. Full of ciphers masquerading as characters and metaphors masquerading as plot. Go and read Tolstoy.

[Sir C]

It's hack work, h. Full of ciphers masquerading as characters and metaphors masquerading as plot. Go and read Tolstoy.

Balls to Tolstoy. Du Maurier's where it's at. The one with the French pirate is the best.

[Burney]

Balls to Tolstoy. Du Maurier's where it's at. The one with the French pirate is the best.

She was a good, solid storyteller, certainly. Nothing against her and it could be argued she is unfairly overlooked.

[Sir C]

She was a good, solid storyteller, certainly. Nothing against her and it could be argued she is unfairly overlooked.

Jamaica Inn's a bit shít, mind. The King's General and Rebecca are ace.

[Burney]

Jamaica Inn's a bit shít, mind. The King's General and Rebecca are ace.

Yes. And sadly for many that's one of the only of her books people have read.

Since you're all about the Cumbria these days, have you read Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole. It's set around Keswick.

[Sir C]

Yes. And sadly for many that's one of the only of her books people have read.

Since you're all about the Cumbria these days, have you read Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole. It's set around Keswick.

I've read the first one. It's an odd story, really, given that nothing seems to actually, you know, happen.

[World's End Stella]

It's hack work, h. Full of ciphers masquerading as characters and metaphors masquerading as plot. Go and read Tolstoy.

Pretentious nonsense, if you don't mind me saying so, Burney. I prefer novels written in my lifetime as I can - unsurprisingly - relate to them more easily. In the same way that Sympathy for the Devil means more to me than Beethoven's 5th.

People who rave about novels/music from days gone by frequently do so because they think it makes them look intelligent and sophisticated.

Not that I'm accusing you of this, of course.

[Herbert Augustus Chapman]

It's hack work, h. Full of ciphers masquerading as characters and metaphors masquerading as plot. Go and read Tolstoy.

Mercy me, is this the bitter invective of envy? Are you a failed novelist b?

[Sir C]

Mercy me, is this the bitter invective of envy? Are you a failed novelist b?

Who isn't a failed novelist, h? I think we've all felt, at one time or another, as if we had a book within us, if only we could release it...