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| Snow Angels |
I'm still working my way through the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin. I just finished Game of Thrones and started A Clash of Kings. These books are chunksters -- it doesn't hurt that I got snowed in for a few days last week. :-)
I read Game of Thrones after seeing the first two seasons of the HBO series with the family (after the 9-year-old goes to bed, of course). This didn't diminish my enjoyment of the novel much. True I knew what was coming, and it spoiled the mystery of the sordid secret Ned Stark with uncover at Robert Baratheon's court (which I'd figured out quickly while watching the show). But having seen the program also helped me keep up with the labyrinthine cast of characters in the novel.
These novels aren't literary fiction, but Martin is a master of his craft. He has a knack for elegant, artful word choices, carefully chosen, vibrant descriptive details, and rich character development. Best of all, he knows how to spin a good yarn, with so many tangled threads I'm motivated not to let my attention wander. These books are long. The first in the series alone is 800 pages. But I can honestly say nothing is wasted. There is no extraneous description or dialogue, and no storylines are wasted. This novel is so long because the story is just that rich.
The television series follows the novel quite closely. It's essentially the same story, but because of the exposition and internal dialogue a novel provides, I got to know the characters in a bit more depth. The series enriches the dialogue among the characters, delivered through outstanding performances, and provides additional naughtiness -- you get to see scenes in the brothel.
In addition to some excellent performances, the series offers an opportunity for attractive, talented young actresses to showcase their breasts. Seriously, the overuse of tits on this show has become a household joke around here.
Sarah and I don't particularly mind, and I'm fairly confident The Hubby has no objections. But it makes James uncomfortable. He's right on the cusp of puberty and hasn't had this much breast exposure since he was weaned. He keeps saying, "Seriously! Is all this really necessary?"
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| Damn right it's necessary. HBO viewers expect this shit! |
About the female warriors -- I've heard it argued that this is a "psyche out" technique used against their male opponents. According to The Hubby, when most men get a good look at breasts, it's kind of like casting a Confundus charm. The guy gets all dopey and can't think straight, let alone artfully wield a sword.
Huh. I'm just not gonna comment on that. :-)
Some Blog Posts I've Enjoyed:
- Ryan at Roofbeam Reader wrote a terrific post on Jane Austen.
- m.brown, one of my favorite reviewers on the interwebs, wrote a hilarious review of Taken 2. It sounds like one of those "so bad it's good" movies. Solid gold cinematic shit. ;-)
- Margaret wrote a brilliant installment in the Visual Parallels series comparing imagery in Skyfall and The Dark Knight.
- Brittani wrote a great, concise review that inspired me to add Hello, I Must Be Going to my watchlist.
- Alex wrote an In Character post about Peter Stormare. Two words: Gaear Grimsrud. Possibly my favorite cinematic psychopath of all time.
- Ruth wrote a fabulous post on visiting London through films. Pure pleasure!
Linking To:
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey
Great post, Game of Thrones tv series totally rocks, the naughtiness is a bonus lol. Can't wait for season 3!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week and happy reading :)
I know -- it's an awesome series. Thoroughly addicting. :-)
DeleteI'm really looking forward to reading the first in this series.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteKudos to you for sticking through with it, I think I would get bored halfway into the series! Horrible attention span that I have.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Bookish Memes post.
Have a great week!
I know what you mean. I have to be in the right mood for a really long book. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI AM going to get this series one of these days. My brother-in-law borrowed them to me but I just haven't gotten to them yet. Too many books darn it! ;)
ReplyDeleteI know! So many books.
DeleteSeriously...I am with James when it comes to Game of Thrones>He keeps saying, "Seriously! Is all this really necessary?"
ReplyDeleteI have written about it in my blog months ago...I like the story but couldn't stand the exposure of sex and breast. Maybe because I am from the East and my culture just don't go with that. I don't mind seeing sex and nudity as long as it's necesary. I thing the sex in Dany's case is necesary.
Speaking of Dany...can you spoil me with what happened to her? I like her character the.most but I dont want to see season two at all.
Novia, it might be partly cultural, but many Westerners feel the same way you do about nudity and sexuality on screen. :-)
DeleteSPOILERS
Not as much happened with Dany's character in the 2nd season. However, Khal Drogo's men (the ones who were still in the group after most of them absconded) did stand by her and follow her leadership. After she emerged from the flames with the dragons ... well, what else were they going to do? :-)
They almost died trekking through the desert without enough supplies. They were offered shelter my some untrustworthy characters who were intrigued by the opportunity to meet "The Mother of Dragons." One of them claimed to have enough wealth to buy her all the ships she needed and offered to marry her. She turned him down. Jorah is still in love with her, but Dany doesn't seem to notice.
While they were staying with the untrustworthy characters, Dany's dragons were stolen. Jorah tried to convince her to leave without them, for her safety, but she insisted they were her babies. Before finding them, she had to go through a series of tests.
She entered several rooms which tempted her to give up the search for the dragons. In one she found the iron throne, but she didn't sit in it. In another, she found Khal Drogo with their baby. :-( That was sad -- she was tempted to stay with them, although she knew it was an illusion. But she left and found her dragons.
Thank you for the summary :)
DeleteI wish I can see her parts only. Love her character so much.
Such a funny post! I haven't watched/read Game of Thrones, but my boyfriend has warned me about the frequent nudity :P
ReplyDeleteI must say the Confundus charm analysis makes sense!
Ha ha! You're too funny. :-)
DeleteI've only got to Feast of Crows in the books. Got halfway through and then I misplaced it (found it again not so long ago). Haven't had the heart to go back to it as I have lost my mojo with them a bit. Loved the series to begin with though. I have the boxset of season 1 but yet to watch it too. Will get round to it though as I have heard that it's pretty good (despite all the boobs but there were scenes in the books I wondered if they would keep in or out. I am guessing from your post that they kept them in). Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean -- it's sometimes hard to get into a series after you've left it for a while. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI love Game of Thrones. I have to reread them though, because the first time around I kind of rushed through some paragraphs because I was so anxious to find out what happens next. Now I want to reread it and enjoy the beautiful descriptions and fun dialogue. :)
ReplyDeleteI also love the TV series. There's a lot of nudity yes, and I usually was a bit weary of that in the Tudors and Spartacus, whining if it was truly necessary, but in Game of Thrones I don't seem to mind, for some reason. Maybe because it fits with the story.
Take a look at what I'm reading this week.
I know what you mean about rushing through the books to find out what happens next. Based on the first book, I think Martin creates suspense very well. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI'm always amused when anyone mentions the nudity on Game of Thrones. As you've found out from reading the books, the TV series has actually toned down the sex in the stories. It also aged all the teen characters up a few years to avoid controversy (i.e. Dany is 13 when she is married off to Khal Drogo in the book.)
ReplyDeleteYou'll also find out as you go along that Martin didn't keep to the crisp pace of the first book. He starts wandering a little more with each one. I would actually describe the pace of books 4 and 5 as "glacial".
Yes, when I started the series, I noticed right away that they'd aged the characters in the T.V. series. Thank God! If Dany were 13 in the show, I would *not* want to see that! :-)
DeleteSo far I haven't noticed much graphic sex in the books. Does it get more lurid as the series goes on? If so, it's something else to look forward to. ;-) Ha ha! Actually, I don't find the show that graphic -- it's just way more than I'm used to seeing on T.V. And I don't have a problem with the nudity, but it has become a running joke in our house, especially since my son is somewhat sensitive to it.
I'm disappointed to hear the later books in the series are not as focused and well paced, but I'm glad you warned me.
I saw your note on Sati's site where you lamented having to wait a year to watch the third season. Depending on your own personal code of right and wrong, you can easily see the episodes online, often within an hour of the episode showing on HBO. Frankly, that's how I saw all of Season 1 at the time. (I used HBO GO for Season 2 - I felt it wasn't really ready for primetime yet. Hopefully they've improved it in the last year.)
DeleteThose gifs are awesome! I get a huge kick out of people complaining about the nudity in Game of Thrones too. Mostly because HAVE YOU SEEN SPARTACUS!? I will never complain too much about gratuitous nudity after watching Sparacus. There's only like 2 or 3 instances I can think of off the top of my head that I thought nudity was unessecary on GoT. Like Chip pointed out, at least they aged the characters.
ReplyDeleteStorm of Swords is the best book of the series in my opinion. But I actually think I prefer the show to the books in a way. The books get really expansive in FFC and DWD and we start seeing other point of views that I really just didn't care for. Still, it's totally addicting and I love it.
Thanks for the link, BTW! and Sorry for the GOT rant I just went on. I just really love this show.
Ha ha! I love rants, especially about books/films/shows people are passionate about. It makes things fun.
DeleteI don't actually mind the nudity in GoT, but it has become a running joke in our house, especially since my son is somewhat sensitive to it. But yes, it is essential that they aged the characters!
Several people have mentioned that Storm of Swords is their favorite book. I'm looking forward to finishing Clash of Kings so I can start it.
And no, I haven't seen Spartacus, but I've heard it pushes the envelope. :-) Is it a good movie?
It's a TV Show on Starz, I don't think it's very good. It's mostly just blood and nudity. They have some cool shots, and the the original actor that played Sparatus (Andy Whitfield, before he passed away) was good, but the rest is just kind of gross. IMO
DeleteWell let's hope since the winter is coming the ladies will wear more clothes :) I hope you will get to book 3 soon - it's the best one!
ReplyDeleteIt cracks me up to see all these men sitting around heavily clothed, with cloaks and all, next to naked prostitutes. They MUST get cold. ;-)
DeleteBetween yours and Sati's posts, I'm baffled by my own avoidance to GoT. Seriously, BAFFLED.
ReplyDeleteI guess the only thing that trumps my adoration of unnecessarily exposed lady bits, is my fear of commitment to something longer than 100 minutes. A dilly of a pickle, that.
Thanks for the link, Steph. Very cool of you to do that.
I have read your daughters posts, and your discussion on evil, but all on my phone...where I refuse to attempt a comment for the dreaded fear of auto-correct. Tonight is the first time I've been on my laptop in a week, and I'm supposed to be doing schoolwork, but shhh...that's between us.
I am baffled too. Truly. ;-) You may want to rent the first disk and try an episode or two.
DeleteI had to skim much of that as I'm literally just about to start Game of Thrones hopefully tonight. Bit worried my wife's not even going to get through the first episode with all these boobs bouncing around by the sound of things.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! It's not actually all that bad -- it's just way more than I'm used to seeing on television. If I didn't have a teenage son in the room, I probably wouldn't even react to it.
DeleteI wanted to read the Game of Thrones series after hearing such rave reviews but my husband bought the series and we started watching it. It's a great, intense drama and the show is saving my reading time for other books. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Here's my weekly monday list...hope you are having a great week!
ReplyDeletehttp://momssmallvictories.com/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-march-11-2013/
For a while, I got Game of Thrones confused with the Spartacus series, which I've seen some of and don't really care for. I've heard nothing but good things about this though, so I might just have to give it a look.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of reading George R.R. Martin lest I spoil the rather wonderful tv show! Sad, huh? :-) RE unrealistic cleavage I saw a 'fake' Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen recently, not far from the original statue, that had a similar problem, lol. And yes, it made me think of video games and comic books!
ReplyDelete