Posted on 04/15/2014 7:09:01 PM PDT by Perdogg
Don’t think this is a burial of Game of Thrones; it really is one of the best shows on TV right now. But “the best” and “frustrating” aren’t mutually exclusive, and there’s a lot Game of Thrones does that it could stand to stop doing. Like, for example…
(Excerpt) Read more at uproxx.com ...
Actually I think of Martin as the anti-Tolkien - everything that is good and noble in Tolkien (and other High Fantasy books) is deliberately left out. Every character is deeply flawed, there is no good vs evil because everyone is evil, there is no romance, only tawdry sex. He can feel free to kill off anyone because there are no heroes. It's likely because Martin is a flaming leftist and thus only has evil in his heart. And yet the books are very good, though the last was less good - Martin is falling into the "stretch out the story to make an extra buck" trap that Robert Jordan also fell in. Martin is getting on in years - hope he doesn't die before he finishes the series llke Jordan did (though in Jordan's case it was finished by a technically better writer so it worked out fine).
The books have very little overt sex in them.
The discussion of sex in the books is not a bit out of line with what is normal in literary works, particularly of the realist sort. Sex is implied, or baldly discussed, but rarely if ever shown, and then without prurience. It is a very adult sort of treatment of life.
Consider Flaubert, Balzac, Zola or Hugo.
As for what HBO did, that is their doing and not essential to the work. The series would be substantially better with some editing of HBOs extra features.
btw, his wife is certifiably insane.
Author of this article should stick to watching ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’!
welllll I dont wanna spoil it for you.. just wait for a cpl of episodes
Ah, so you haven’t seen the episode yet where Loras gets his sex change operation and then marries Sandor Clegane.
Frustrating maybe but the ending of the latest episode was a most satisfying character resolution.
Shall we offer opinions on who killed you-know-who?
It is a realist approach to fantasy, to make a sort of oxymoron. Martins people are real people, imperfect. And he has killed off some of the most upright.
Consider the Iliad. For all the gods and goddesses, magic and myths, it reads very much like a modern novel.
The best of literature is full of compelling but imperfect characters. In the Iliad the best man is killed and the most annoying man manages to eventually get over himself, at least a little.
Couldn’t agree more. Mammothly complex books wonderfully brought to the small screen. I am amazed at what they have done. Just one of the great shows.
Wasn’t it just! ; )
To the positive, it’s a gorgeous series, from the locations to the costuming to the sets. It’s as close to perfect in casting as I’ve ever seen. The writing is first-rate, otherwise the very elaborate plot lines would devolve into gibberish.
To the negative, there is too much gratuitous sex that does not add a thing to the story. The most memorable, engaging characters all get killed off. It can be quite violent. It almost made me sick when Eddard Stark was beheaded, and not just because his was such an engaging, real character. It was also because the show lingered a little too long and lovingly on an incredibly upsetting and gory scene, one of many.
All that said, it’s the most awesome thing to hit tv that I’ve ever seen, I thought that with the first season and I still think so with the fourth having just begun. It’s beautiful and very affecting. Human weakness, greed, arrogance, scheming and murderous anger are on full display.
I watch it via On Demand with friends who have cable, I cut the cord years ago. I love the show, warts and all.
My kids call it: “Lord of the Rings without a plot.”
That is aline straight out of the Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus" as spoken by Mephistopheles to Faustus.
Interesting
Best TV in a generation.
Not really. The story is sort of “The War of the Roses” in a fantasy setting. It’s the seriousness that the author puts into his writing that invites the Tolkein comparison.
Well, I’m only on season 3, but I know by know that it’s just one long soap opera. With multiple non-intersecting storylines no episode will ever end on with a satisfying conclusion.
Arya Stark gets one early in season four.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.