Any thoughts welcome.

I think every generation has asked this question for the past two hundred years, and usually (no offence!) my people with not enough imagination to keep it alive. It takes one genuis to reinvent the novel as a form and everything is reborn until the next person asks `Is it dead` and the process continues!

Yeah. But if you go to Waterstones you get three dead novels for the price of two...and dead or not, that`s a bargain.

no, it`s just gently resting. but seriously, if you think the novel isn`t an effective means of communicating or entertaining anymore in this age of DVD, PC, TV and CD, then just exactly why was Zadie Smith`s White Teeth such a big deal? both the book and the tv adaptation were massive hits, with critics, bookbuyers and audiences full of praise for her debut novel. Maybe because there`s still nothing as subtle, poetic, and portable as a novel for expressing tragedy, comedy, characterisation and incredibly intricate plots. So there.

Is the novel dead?

I sincerely hope not, because I'm writing one!

well mine is, I just killed it...got in before it killed me. But in general, no, the novel isn't dead - more fiction is being published and bought than ever before. And if a novel's a good one, TV & movies can't compete because a good novel gives your imagination full reign, and TV/movies don't. And an imagination in full flight is a wonderous thing...that will never change. QED?

Judging by all the people on the Northern Line holding on for dear life with one hand and head deep in a paperback, the novel is well and truely still alive and kicking.

A bit of controlled escapism is more important than ever in these troubled times, and readers are diving into lengthier novels and multi-part works to prolong the experience. Since brevity is not one of my gifts, I am delighted.

Good point- the authors I know whose earlier books were, er, slim, are all writing great long epics. And a good thing too- I'm in agreement, I resent thin books, they're over too quickly if I like them, and if I don't, I feel cheated..

If the novel really is dead, them I'm about to get arrested for keeping six mouldering stiffs in the spare bedroom.