The Agony and Ecstasy of Reading of “A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones”... While Missing Season Five
For those of you who are following my journey through, yet again, another ginormous series that looks daunting to complete, I am continuing my read of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, and I have come to the conclusion that Martin had many fantastic ideas and way too much time on his hands. Only sort of kidding! The amount of detail and intricate and engaging story lines that he weaves together is stunning, and feels like it must have taken a lifetime of writing to accomplish. I have to say—this book beats all other books I have read this year. Well, wait, I take that back. I’d say it’s probably tied with The Hobbit.
In this past week, my journey through A Game of Thrones has taken me 142 pages, and I am on page 335 currently. I am constantly finding time to read, even when I don’t really have the time, and I think that says something about the writing, the drawing in that takes place, and the immersion into many other peoples, kingdoms, and personal lives. And, with this, I am always meeting my weekly reading goals for the week, because there really isn’t even a reason not to. Well, maybe upon second thought there is a damn good reason: I sort of promised myself that I would not begin watching the last season of the G.O.T TV series until I finished this book. It is killing me!
This week, most of my passages in A Song of Ice and Fire revolved around Jon Snow and his time at the wall. Jon is by far my favorite character, other than Arya, and I always enjoy reading his stories the most. One interesting detail that I read about this week and that I was not aware of from the TV show, is the relationship between the Night’s Watch and the Realm. I wasn’t really understanding that you could be any type of criminal or king slayer or murderer, and when you reach the wall and “take the black,” you are washed of all those past wrongs and became a brother of the Night’s Watch, as long as you take the vows. I guess I thought it was mostly rapists, thieves, and such—naturally all horrible crimes, but somehow I didn’t think murder and betrayal of the throne were tolerated and allowed in the Night’s Watch. Learning of this through Jon’s perspective was really fascinating because his entire life he has been classified as “only a bastard,” which is a huge mark in most of the realm, and it was interesting to see him deal with the fact that he would be living with these people for the rest of his life—those with many stains and those who would now become a lifelong family without the stain of being a SNOW.
By the way, thinking of Jon Snow and experiencing so much of his life this week in my reading, I can’t help but think about how frustrated I am with my situation between reading this book and my desire to turn on HBO. I know I mentioned it a bit earlier in this post, and I know I refer to the connection between A Song of Ice and Fire and the TV series called Game of Thrones!! Yet, I don’t think I mentioned the timing that is increasing my frustration. It just so happens that at the start of last week’s reading (last Sunday), the first episode of the fifth and final season of the TV series aired on HBO, but somehow I felt restrained from watching it. So, to alleviate some of my frustration and when I want some down time watching television, I have chosen to watch through some old episodes, just as I finish reading up on them in the book. I know; I know. It does sound like I am obsessed a bit right now.
Still, as I travel through this obsession, I find that the book provides so much more that I can sink my teeth into, so much more character development (and my gosh, the TV show certainly does a great job, so that’s really saying something huge), and just so much depth. I just love that about books. For example, the relationship between Catelyn Stark and Jon Snow, who is the bastard son of Eddard Stark, Catelyn’s husband, is much more intense and strained. Catelyn definitely hates Jon in the TV series, but in the book, we don’t just see it on her face and hear about it as an ongoing issue. Instead, her hatred and opinion of Jon Snow is much more fierce. She does not accept any part of him as a family member, and does not even allow him to see Bran after his fall and crippling injury. Basically, the book hardens (or softens) characters that are too soft (or hard) in the show and broadens characters at times that come off as one-dimensional on the screen.
Enough writing about reading...now back to more reading and my journey through A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones. After all, I did skip church for this! And after all, it is another Sunday night with another frustrating pass on the new episodes!