A Clash of Kings; a slow, slow reading

I have known writing and finishing a piece would be a slow, trying, and often tiring meticulous process, but reading a book?

A Clash of Kings, the 2nd book of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series turned out to be just the one book that does this to me.

I want to read but it takes hours for me to split open its pages to start reading. And after hours of deliberation and effort, I read one chapter or so without feeling the thirst to keep going.

Visiting youtube or the internet to remember who the characters the book mentions were does not help, either. As a matter of fact, it makes me more attracted to the clips of the show more than the book; I have no problem keep watching them or read about the fan opinions on the net.

Why I wonder I have little motivation or interest to read the book. Why?

I am a book lover myself. I can read. And I love to read. And I am so interested in everything these books will tell me, which were not reflected in the HBO series.

I read a couple of reviews of this book, which naturally differ in opinion; some loved it and some like me are finding it as a hard or slow reading. I really would like to read the entire series as soon as possible; hopefully before Season 6 starts in April. Then there will be many spoilers on the net that I will be attracted to read. I would love to know the entire story of the first 5 books till then. Especially the  developments of characters Jaime Lannister and Arya Stark.

Maybe it is not the right time for me; maybe I have more interesting or urgent things to do with my time; maybe I am just cursed by the GoT – seeing the show earlier made me less interested in it; maybe the show is easier to grasp (there can be some truth to that; the book gives so many details of an unknown world and so many different characters which may be hard to conceptualize if one is not familiar with it); maybe I just need to be patient, change my mindset, stop forcing or expecting me to read the books at once.

Maybe it is because I already have favorite characters and characters whose POVs I cannot wait to read; maybe this is the reason that I cannot find in myself the interest to go thru each of the POV chapters.

GRRM: I wished you have not invoked this kind of conflicts and difficulties in me as a reader; the fact that your stories and characters already are making me think and re-evaluate things in life, like choices or love or duty, my thoughts are already challenged, already transforming. Tiring and influential at the same time. I want to say well done, but a girl is a little bit tired, a little bit mesmerized, and a little bit pissed off as a result.

 

 

GoT – why can I not read it as much as I wished?

Reading the “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series by GRRM has turned out to be a long and tedious job for me.

Why? I wonder.

When I have ordered them, I could not  wait for them to arrive. And when they did a week later, I started reading them right away.

This has been a month ago. I just finished the 1st book – A Game of Thrones – last week and I have read the first 76 pages of the 2nd book – A Clash of Kings.

Pretty slow reading I have here……

Why can I not feel the excitement and the enthusiasm to dwell into reading these books?

I have three hypotheses:

1. The fact that I have seen the show, I am kind of not interested in the books that much (although I also recognize that the book is deeper and gives more or additional details and points of view, dreams, or thoughts than the TV show)
2. Since the author GRRM places seemingly unimportant yet critical-to-understand-the-story-type-of-clues here and there frequently, I want to pay attention to each sentence, which is tiring…
3. I have favorite characters, like Jamie, Tyrion, Arya, and Brienne, and the rest of the characters unfortunately bore me. This hypothesis is more likely to be true as I am really bored about and not that into the Daenerys or Salsa characters. As a matter of fact, I believe I dislike both of these characters. There, I said it.

Unfortunately it looks like Daenerys is an important character in the story and as such there will be no escape from her. The same for Sansa.

Argh…

Maybe I should just get an HBO subscription and watch the Season 6 starting in April rather than going thru this “OMG-how-come-I-can-not-read-a-book-I-am-so-interested-in” dilemma.

 

finished reading “A Game of Thrones”

I have just finished reading “A Game of Thrones” by George RR Martin.

I had previously made some notes about the thoughts that reading the book has created in my mind; I have little else to add at this moment to what I found interesting and relating to life in this book.

Overall, I am very pleased to see that the HBO series and the book are very similar, which made it a delight to read the book. I sure loved seeing the phrases/quotes/sentences uttered in the book also used in the show.

The book certainly is better than the show – revealing more, especially in terms of dreams and inner reflections, but the show is certainly more memorable.

Writing style: I  keep thinking how interesting is the author’s writing style. I noted this before, but it does not hurt to say again that one needs to pay attention to each sentence; GRRM writes even the most critical/impactful event (such as the fall of Bran out of the window, or the death of Ned Stark) in short passages; as if it is as naturally flowing as taking a breath. And in these books with each single breath, the life and fate may change dramatically. So, keep alert readers – you do not want to miss the plots. Looks like life has many and frequent sharp turns in this book.

Should I have not watched the HBO series, then I sure would have been shocked by the death of Ned Stark. But no; thus far the author did an excellent job by desensitizing me. While I am so fond of Brienne and Jamie, I know they may as well die in the 6th book – so I am slowly but steadily detaching myself from these characters now. I thought at first maybe the author was killing the characters out of boredom or for being stuck at and not moving forward, but then I realized that if Bran had not fallen and Ned Stark was not killed, then there would be no war and thus no story anyhow. Seems like a very delicate planning.

Characters: There are a number of  notable characters in the book; Ser Barristan Selmy the bold, Tyrion, Arya, Syrio Forel, Blackfish, and the dire wolfs. Aemon Targaryen, with his wisdom and watching over Jon Snow, has been a recent favorite. Jon Snow, as someone who is constantly rejected because of his bastard status, is another character I like to read about. Too bad that he died later in the books, too (is he coming back in season 6?).

Sansa – One character that I cannot get to like is Sansa; am I the only one? I understand that she is young (what? 11? 12?), but her younger sister Arya has even more sense in herself than Sansa. Despite all she is going thru, I cannot even feel for this character. Yet, I gotta give credit to this character – the only time I have seen a shred of strength or a character was when she was forced by king Joffrey to look at the head of his father and she said to herself “I can look, but I will not see”. I think the actress playing this character did an excellent job on the HBO series reflecting this on the screen, too.

Daenerys Targaryen – In this book, there is quite an emphasis on Daenerys Targaryen; more chapters than the other characters. This intrigues me. Looking forward to seeing more how her story line will evolve over the books. Since the name of the 5-book saga is “A Song of Ice and Fire”, I kind of think that Starks (or whoever is holding the swords made by Ned Stark’s sword Ice) and the dragons (and thus Daenerys) will eventually determine the fate of the characters in the book.

I also note that one of the biggest character transformations in this book was for Daenerys; she was a frightened child (by her brother) first, then a child bride to a savage (Khal Drogo) whom eventually she loved and made him love her, and finally made bad choices that possibly resulted in the death of her husband (at her own hand) as well as her child. I expect this character to undertake more in the future; more like a mad woman who lost her mind. I know from the show that this does not happen, but man, did she really make bad choices….I wonder how does this character handle it?

Of note – The number and the richness of the characters created makes this book really interesting, too. I kept thinking; after the ‘War and Peace” by Tolstoy, this book must be the second one that has created such a large number of notable characters. Hats off to both writers – it cannot be an easy job.

 

The conflicts of human heart and mind: I have noted this before in a couple of posts, but I cannot not say it again; GRRM makes excellent points about the conflicts created by heart and mind; love versus duty; family versus honor; realm/people versus kings (the character Varys and the Kingslayer Jamie Lannister in the later books). I love these contradictions that force characters to make choices and the pain experienced as a result more than anything else (not that I like pain; pain just shows that sometimes there is no good choice). If there was another book as influential as this one in this regard, it would have been “Sophie’s Choice” by William Styron.

Now, I will start with the second book in the series – A Clash of Kings. Hope to read more about Brienne, Jaime, Tyrion, and Arya.

 

A Game of Thrones; choices

The more I read, watch, and think about the “A Game of Thrones” book by the author George RR Martin, the more I am fascinated.

This book so far has been about unique and creative circumstances the author created, reactions of a chunk of characters to these circumstances, conflicting emotions (love versus other values such as duty or honour particularly), being human and being susceptible to the glory or the tragedy, and most importantly, about making choices.

Long story short; the author is telling us that harder the circumstances, easier (and perhaps inevitable) it gets to make the harder choices.

what is it with George RR Martin and love? – II

I am increasingly thinking that the author George RR Martin has the love and contradictions it causes in life as one of the central, if not the central, theme, in his book “A Game of Thrones”.

I am reading a Jon Snow chapter again where the Maester Aemon talks to Jon about the reason why the men of the Night Watch are sworn to not marry or father children (page 662). Simply put, he says that it is almost impossible to carry on a duty or being dedicated to a cause/honour unless love is eliminated from their life, otherwise at one point or the other, there will be a situation when one needs to choose (love over duty/honour, or vice versa) (to some extend of course, as their lives do not exclude the brotherly love they have for each other. I believe this is even necessary should they want to keep their order together).

Maester Aemon says that “we are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy“.

It is indeed, especially in this book.

I have not read the entire series of the books yet but so far, we have this theme meshed up in this saga in many different ways, by many different characters (Jamie Lannister, Ned Stark, King Robert).

Love is such a strong, influential feeling. I want to ask; when was the last time one has made a choice (right or wrong) for love, because of love?

On a separate note, I love it when Master Aemon says Jon that as someone who has gone through this choice before (after he makes it known to Jon that he is a Targaryen), he cannot say whether Jon should stay or go (at that time, Jon’s father Ned Stark has been arrested for treason charges against King Joffrey) and whatever Jon chooses, he is the one to live with the consequences of the choice for the rest of his life (i.e. Aeron did not impose any choice on Jon, which is admirable).

I guess Maester Aemon has suffered too much of his own choice (of not leaving the Night Watch to help his brother and his family). Apparently, when he made his choice it was the right choice. But this does not make it the right choice for all the time.

Love, duty, honour, values, choices, contradictions, and regrets; life as it is.

I am loving this book deeper and deeper every day.

 

 

 

what is it with George RR Martin and love?

I do not know what recently fascinates me more about the book “A Game of Throne” by the author George RR Martin; his creativity or his thoughts/observations on love?

I am reading a Jon Snow chapter in the book and there is a sentence with a similar tone to “The things I do for love” (by Jaime Lannister) and “The lies we tell for love” (by Ned Stark).

While Mormont at the Night Watch telling Jon Snow about the death of King Robert and the arrest of his father, Ned Stark, he says “They say the king loved to hunt. The things we love kill us every time, lad” (page 561, A Game of Thrones, GRRM).

 

Lots to think about.

 

A Game of Thrones – what wrong we can do for love?

What would you do for the people you love?

In biology, there is this concept that is called “kin selection”, which says that people (and sometime animals) can sacrifice (lives or materials) for the well-being of genetically close individuals, such as family members. It is also possible to do so for non-genetically close but culturally or value-wise close communities/societies: defending countries in wars is a good example.

Anyways, you know my fascination with the George RR Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” (the first book of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series) and puzzlement by the phrase uttered by the character Jaime Lannister “the things I do for love” right before he pushes the character Bran out of the window to presumably protect himself, his lover-twin sister Cersei, and their 3 kids (and yes, I still am disgusted by this incestious relationship).

Since these two characters (Jaime and Cersei) are possibly the most hated ones at the beginning of the book(s), it is so hard to believe for me that a great and pure feeling as love would be felt by them and can have a direct role in such a horrible act (that eventually crippled Bran, a 7 years old boy at the time of the incident).

Yet, later in the book we see a similar phrase “the lies we tell for love“, this time by possibly the most liked character, Ned Stark (page  504, A Game of Thrones, GRRM), when he chooses to write “my heir” rather than “my son Joffrey” in the will that King Robert is dictating him at his death bed. Ned stark does this as he believes Joffrey is not King Robert’s son and has no claim to the throne. Ned Stark, who is the most honorable character in that book, thus slips to the dark side…

Or not?

Should Ned have done the right thing and write down the exact words dictated by the King? Or, was what he has done the right thing?

I keep wonder; what is the right thing to do in this situation?

Consider a parent stealing food to feed his children who have not eaten in the last one week. This act is wrong, but then how about the alternative? What is worse and more wrong – to steal or to starve your children and let them die?

If you had read the book (or watched the movie) “Sophie’s Choice by the author William Styron”, you will notice a similar dilemma where no choice is better than the other.

I do not wish anyone to have such dilemmas in their lives. But as these examples make it clear sometimes there is no better alternative, a clean solution. Sometimes all possibilities are bad or unacceptable one way or the other. I hope no one will find themselves in such situations and will always have a chance to do the right thing.

Another hats-off to George RR Martin for not only writing a highly creative saga but also constantly challenging our minds and understandings.

 

a slow read: A Game of Thrones

I have been meaning to read the 5- book series of the “A song of Ice and Fire” pretty soon after I have got them; this was 3 weeks ago.

well, I am still on the 1st book, “A Game of Thrones” and all I could read was the first 466 pages…

I admit that I am not reading it as frequent as I thought I would during these holidays, but when I read I gotta read it slowly, with paying attention to any word or sentence. And that takes time.

Why reading it slowly?

The author George RR Martin has an interesting writing style. In a short paragraph something very critical for the story can happen (e.g. pushing of Bran out of the window by Jaime is merely 4 sentences in two short paragraphs (which also includes the famous phrase “The things I do for love” (page 85; A Game of Thrones, GRRM).

Do you see what I try o say? It is impossible to read these books without reading and digesting every single sentence.

These books demand absolute commitment from the readers.

This is writing in excellence. Hats off to George RR Martin.

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GoT – book and TV show differences

Reading the A Game of Thrones; in the Ned Stark chapter is a difference between the HBO series and the book.

In The HBO series, when Ned Stark is encountered by Jaime Lannister after Tyrion is captured by Lady Stark, and they sword-fighting, a soldier stabs Ned’s leg behind and that stops the fight there; I had noted this scene a while ago, saying this was a nice thing Jaime character ever did prior to losing his hand.

Well, I take it back – in the book this scene does not appear. Rather Ned is heavily hurt, mostly by his horse slipping. I must say this section in the book is not as exciting as the way it was done by the TV series.

For a show that very nicely kept on track with the book, this change of course, is interesting.

As a result, I not only wonder who George RR Martin wrote these highly creative saga, but also how the show producers made choices to change the book sections.

Back to reading.

 

GoT: Bran’s story and Lady Stark

This is more of a post of noting my questions and my thoughts about the first 10-12 chapters in the book “A Game of Thrones” for later use; nothing fancy 🙂

Bran’s first encounter for the crow: it is really well written. I missed it in the show, did I not? I am now getting more interested in Bran’s story.

Dany and Khal wedding: the scene at the TV shows was not cool at all where Khal coldly rapes Dany in their wedding day. The book, on the other hand, describes this encounter as a sensual one. I wonder why the series producers chose to present rape.

Come to think about it, the producers repeated this again, later with Jamie and Cersei at Jeoffrey’s wake. They after the reaction they have got from the fans, I believe but cannot find a link on the net, stated that they did not think/intended it as a rape; go figure. I guess they have no or little understanding about what rape is. Another strike for the HBO series.

The book, my friends, is way better.

Other than that, so far I found the book and the TV shows are quite parallel, which to me is pleasing.

A number of things I wonder, though:

One: how Lady Stark came to realize Jamie Lannister was not out hunting with the King Robert and others when Bran fell off the tower. That is a crucial piece of info, as this event not only introduced us Jamie’s dark side and the famous quote “the things I do for love”, but also started the conflicts and all other events leading to the death of many people, including Barn’s father Ned Stark, brother Robb Stark, and mom Lady Stark. I think the entire story-line starts with that one critical event. If any of you knows how Lady Stark got this information, please drop a line in the comments section.

Two: is there an importance of the fire breaking at the library (when somebody attempted to kill Bran) but nowhere else? I am a book lover and as such was pretty amazed by Winterfell having a library of books and manuscripts; so naturally upon the fire, my first thoughts were wondering about the damages; are the books lost? what was the damage like? I also remembered that Ned Stark has let Tyrion Lannister borrow some books from the library. I wonder whether there is any importance to these?

Three: Tyrion’s fascination with the dragons. I have a feeling that there is more into Tyrion being Tyrion and dragons being dragons.

 

GoT – “The things I do for love”

I have finished the chapter in the “A Game of Thrones” yesterday, where the character Bran is pushed off the window of an old building by the character Jamie Lannister.

I must say there are a lot said about this event by others (check the internet); it is a horrible thing to attempt to murder a 7-year old child (Bran). In cold blood and with no remorse or contemplation observed or expressed by Jamie.

Long story short, Bran likes to climb over trees/buildings and one day, despite the efforts of his mom, Lady Catelyn and others around him, he manages to climb over an old building, once half destroyed by a natural event and now is vacant. As he climbs outside the building, he hears a conversation, which is related to his father, Ned Stark. He cannot deduce the individuals by just their voice so he, even though is a little bit scared, looks thru the window with an awkward and difficult grip on the outside wall. There he sees, without understanding what exactly is happening (in the book, Bran thinks that a man and a woman was “wrestling”), the characters Jamie Lannister and Cersei Lannister/Baratheon having an intercourse. The fact that Jamie and Cersei are twin brother/sister and that Cersei is married to the King Robert, the situation is of course pretty nasty, immoral, and as such being a witness to this act puts Bran (unknowingly) at a very dangerous position.

Cersei once sees Bran becomes quite anxious, they stop, and Jamie goes towards Bran. Cersei declares that “he saw them”. Jamie first puts him at ease by giving Bran a hand to stabilize his grip of the wall, and then initiates a cozy conversation by asking him how old he is. Bran tells Jamie his age, and I assume by thinking that he is safe from the fall (that he saw as the danger; the innocence of kids are so amazing…), loosens his other grip off Jamie’s arm. Cersei, perplexed with Jamie’s help of Bran, reacts negatively and feels the urge to remind Jamie. Jamie turns to Cersei, says the famous “The things I do for love” and while loathing also pushes Bran off the window.

Loathing, but no apparent remorse.

We face, for the first time, directly the character of Jamie as a practical and cruel one. In a single paragraph for that matter.

Literally, in the book it was a very simple description of a scene. As if it is a regular thing to do in life, a regular thing to write in a novel.

The HBO series differs a little bit from the book. In the series, Cersei’s anxiety is well emphasized and palpable. I believe Cersei’s more pronounced reaction and anxiety was added to create a “thrill” to the scene and it did work; I could see how desperate Cersei felt. Additionally, the Jamie character is annoyed by Cersei’s behavior/talk/reminders but does not show any feeling of loathing or dislike for pushing Bran off the window; he is very comfortable making this decision to silence the little child and attempting to kill him. This served well I guess, as now we all hate this horrible character and almost call it a psychopath.

My take: the book does not convey the terror and suspense of this scene real-time; everything happens very fast, simply, and easily. But, when we realize what just happened, then the reader I am sure is as shocked as the viewers (of the HBO series). In other words, it is written in such a way that it does not alarm the reader beforehand, the scene happens, and the reality and the cruelty strike only after a while. Like an aftermath. Well done GRRM.

Of course, through the evolution of the story and characters, we yet to see the more features and perhaps the multiple faces of these characters and maybe become sympathetic to Jamie. But, I do not think anybody ever forgave the Jamie character for trying to murder a kid.

I certainly did not and that is what makes the Jamie character even more interesting – the internal conflict this character creates in the reader/viewer towards this character; how do we forget the horrible things Jamie has done? Are the reasons of his behavior/acts, however brutal and cruel they seem, serve a bigger and interestingly, favorable purpose? How and why do we forget or forgive his actions? Is there a possibility of redemption for Jamie, and anyone else for that matter?

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PS: Not to forget Jamie and his sister’s relationship, which is another nasty/immoral behavior to deal with. In the world the stories develop, this kind of relationships seem to be acceptable to some extend, though not within the social circle of Jamie and Cersei. Considering the fact that many events/behaviors in this fantasy stories are not existing or acceptable in our current world, I will let this one go, too, without further dwelling on how bad, disgusting, and unacceptable it is. I feel like I must do this to have an objective attitude towards the literary value of these stories.

 

First 50 pages of “A Game of Thrones”

I have read the first 50 pages of the 1st book, A Game of the Thrones, in the series of “A Song of Ice and Fire”.

Boy…. I am amazed how much the HBO series kept close to the book, even the sentences or the events. I am so pleased with this. I have seen the HBO series twice and as such developed visual memory as well as knowledge on the characters and events. I did not get everything, though. Now the book fills all of these blanks.

I had missed, for example, the sword of Ned Stark called Ice. I know in the later books, it has a critical role (learnt while surfing sites about the books). I also had never paid attention to the character Rhaegar Targaryen before.

Anyhow, I try not to miss any details about the lives, life events, and history of the characters or the houses in the series. This way, I hope to get a good idea about the author and the stories depicted.

I am glad that I have watched the series before and has been reading about the story-line and character on the net. Now I have a basis to further expand.

This is quite contrary to what I would do usually – I generally would not show such a deep interest in a story that I would have known about. Yet, here I am all excited and eyes and ears, reading the books. The mind of the author GRRM. The style it has been written with. And all the details that have not been captured by the TV series. Or, by me.

I do not know why these books/stories captivate so much….

Imagination? Richness of characters and events? Unexpected twists?

I do not know, but life is good 🙂

 

My “A Song of Ice and Fire” series of books arrived! :)

My 5 books series of “A Song of Ice and Fire” by the author George RR Martin have arrived this evening – I cannot wait to start reading them.

Expect me to disappear for a while while I read these amazing books!

 

random thoughts

Well, after a long work day at home, I am finally settling down and trying to enjoy by reading stuff about, well, yes my latest interest, Game of Thrones 🙂

I know that for all things that are interesting or loved with such a tense interest eventually come an end.

I thought this morning that I would lose my interest in the books soon if I continue to keep reading about  them. My books are about to arrive next week and I heard that they are long and many (5 to be exact). Will I lose my interest? Will I get more interested in? I do not know. But I sure would like to read these stories and write about the characters.

It is very interesting though – now that I have seen the TV adaptation (twice) and read about a couple of characters mostly on the internet (Jamie Lannister and Brienne of Tarth mostly), I wonder what I am going to find in these books? All the details I was curious about? The characters as they were written by the author GRRM? How the HBO series and the original story did differ from each other?

Possibly all these.

On the net, I have found many excerpts from the books, which were not reflected in the series. Remembering this actually makes me keep interested. This per se should be enough for me to eagerly wait for my books and start reading them with affection and amazement until I am done with all.

Until, the next book in the series comes along of course.

They say the release date of the next book in the series is not known. It was initially scheduled for late 2015, but who knows what is going on. Even GRRM says the HBO Season 6, which will air in April 2016, is likely to be earlier than the book #6. Considering the fact that the Season 6 is based on book #6, it is weird…. If I was the publisher, I would have a trouble with that.

As a reader/audience I have a problem, too. Man, my problem is a) how to watch the Season 6 now that I have no subscription to HBO, and b) I am assuming the book #6 will be expensive and if I want to order it right after it is published, I will have to start saving money for it.

Well…. Let my only problems be these 🙂

 

 

one noble thing we have seen with Jamie Lannister prior to lose of hand

The Game of Thrones madness continues – my books (the first 5) are supposed to arrive next week. I really cannot wait. Since I cannot wait and do search on the net and watched the HBO series for the second time, man, I am not sure what the books will tell me anymore. I yet to see.

With the partial idea based on the HBO series (which is not deep enough to reflect all the stories told in the books) and the many different interpretation and analyses filling the internet, it is hard for me to make my own interpretations. Yet, one thing I notice is one noble thing the Jamie Lannister character did prior to the start of his transformation after he lost his hand.

This is when he stopped fighting with Ned Stark when one of Jamie’s men stabs him at the leg and put him in a vulnerable situation. Jamie punches the man and leaves the scene, without further fighting or killing Ned.

His father, Tywin, when heard the incident, tells Jamie that he should stop thinking what the others would think about him (Tywin thinks that Jamie did not kill Ned because Ned was injured by someone else along the process and it would look like Jamie took advantage of the situation should he kill him after that).

I am not sure about that.

Along the way we see a Jamie character that would not care enough to make a case (by explaining the true story) about him killing the Mad King, while he would continue to have a huge resentment about his nickname Kingslayer. I find it interesting that he would not tell the reasons for this act for years and get recognition and appreciation from others, if he was that interested in others’ opinions..

This Jamie Lannister character is interesting in too may ways; bad, good, misunderstood, bad again, noble here and there, ridiculous in moral aspects, and all. I do not know whether all his actions should fell in a well-articulated plan by the author George RR Martin, or we should expect flaws  in this character time to time (like any other character in the story or in life).

how teased are we by the characters in the GoT?

I really would like to know how the author George RR Martin writes his Game of Thrones themed books; does he plan everything from the beginning on, or does he improvise as time goes on?

There are so many characters in the series that are generally good (e.g. Ned Stark, Robb Stark) and some who are generally bad (e.g. Cersei Baratheon, Joffrey Lannister).

While they are characters with bad nature, who has not felt for Cersei after the walk of shame or for Joffrey after his death?

I know these stories develop in a world and time quite different than ours, so we cannot possibly understand it, but I keep wondering whether the author is constantly teasing us (by evoking opposite emotions on the same character time to time)?

And in the case of character Jamie Lannister; boy did we hate it at the beginning for his arrogant behavior, by pushing a 10 years old child (Bran) from a high window, for being in love with his own sister and fathering 3 kids with her, and all bunch of trolling it has done to others, and killing his own cousin or someone to escape from capture by the Starks, just to name a few.

Now, after an obvious transformation after he has lost his right hand and a change in the behavior (though we still need to remember that he is not all noble or has completely redeemed himself yet; this I say mostly based on his rape of Cersei, which I heard does not happen in the books but only in the HBO series), a substantial portion of the readers/audience are applauding this character. How have we forgotten what he has done? Is through understanding the reasons of his past behavior do we forgive? Or is thru the most recent impression (which is a much positive one) we do forget his past and see him as he is today as if he has always been?

I expect more twists, more tease from the author George RR Martin; I guess that is his writing style. Based on my own amateur writing experience (which I found full of hard corners where things or emotions change in completely opposite directions in a split second), although I must say I am teased quite a bit, I also feel that this experience is good for my own development as a naive writer.

 

the only time Jamie Lannister was happy

The only time I have seen the character Jamie Lannister (from the Game of Thrones series) happy was when he and his daughter, Myrcella, came clean about him being her father. Unfortunately, Myrcella died right after this affectionate scene.

I really had hoped this would not happen so that we could get to know Jamie’s relationship with the women in his life.

He lost her mom when he was a kid so we have no idea about it.

The two other characters in his life (at least based on the HBO show) are Cersei (his twin sister with whom he is in love and fathered 3 children – gross!.. I cannot stand this horrible idea no matter how many times I say I will not discuss it…) and Brienne; an exact opposite of Cersei in terms of beauty, capabilities, and values.

We know how dysfunctional and delusional his relationship with Cersei and how interesting it has been developing with Brienne. Brienne had, directly or indirectly, a positive influence on Jamie character; through the end of the season 5th, we ended up witnessing overall a less disgusting, less arrogant, and less bad Jamie. This transformation makes this character particularly interesting. But more than that, his interactions with the character Brienne was the only one we witnessed as a “normal, humane, or non-dysfunctional” relationship.

I wonder whether while some keep thinking Brienne and Jamie are in love and will end up together later in the series, the entire excitement could mostly be because we have never seen Jamie in a normal, friendly relationship before.

Just a thought.

I think Jamie Lannister will “choose” love

Alright; again the Game of Thrones madness here.

I just asked in a previous post “What exactly did he mean when he said “we do not get to choose whom we love”.

He, the character Jamie Lannister, used this phrase twice in the TV series; once while speaking to Brienne and then to Myrcella, his daughter.

I believe Jamie will eventually “choose” whom he will love. Will she be Brienne? Will she be Cersei (OMG, I hope not)?.. But, nevertheless I am not sure. But I guess if I was the author (which I am not), then that (i.e. choosing whom to love) would be one reason to emphasize this sentence.

We all will see; hopefully Jamie will not be killed by the author just yet. I will be totally disappointed and will refuse to read or watch any further.

Man… this story is captivating.

You know why?

even though it develops somewhere and sometime we will never know, I guess we all relate to or understand somethings about ourselves while watching or reading it (eventually the author is a human and he I assume meshes his story around the human emotions in addition to the imagination). That is why. At least, this is the case for me. However wrong or cruel some of the contents are.

Great work George RR Martin.

Jamie Lannister – initial thoughts

I have not read the books of Game of Thrones TV series, yet here are what I am thinking about the character of Jamie Lannister:

1. He is twisted (has a relationship with her twin sister), trolling, talented, misunderstood, arrogant, and many other things. Yet, it is the only character that is constantly changing (from a bad and misunderstood character to a more decent one, albeit still twisted) and evolving. I wonder why?
2. His name is one of the few names in the series that is “usual” in today’s life. Another one is Jon (Snow); I wonder what his name, if ever, signifies or signals.
3. I wonder why he never made a case about himself after killing the Mad King to protect the others, especially the civilians. Does he not care or does he like his own misery (I am inclined to think so)?
4. What exactly did he mean when he said “we do not get to choose whom we love” and “all these things I do for love”. I wonder the meaning of love for this character; love for his sister, kids (from his sister by the way), father, brother Tyrion (which is palpable), and others.
5. What exactly does he find in Brienne that he did not find in others? What is the nature of the bond between these two characters?

It is possible that none of these are relevant, connected, or meant to be this important by the author George RR Martin. I really would like to know whether Martin initially planned the Jamie character to develop this way and with this speed and consistency?

I am not curious about the fate of this character in the novels, as the author Martin has already trained us the fans that only one thing is certain; that everybody dies and there is no guarantee for any of the characters in this story.

Yet, selfishly, I would like this character to survive a little bit more so that we can get to know it.

Games of Thrones and thoughts

I have been silent lately as I am busy watching Game of Thrones (GoT) 🙂

I could not resist and purchased the 5 books in the series – as a gift. I plan to read them during the holidays. Cannot wait!

This series of books (as they say) as well as the HBO TV series are full of violence and amoral behavior. I am not in favor of these and not going to further dwell into or discuss these aspect in detail. If you are interested in, many others did discuss these; just check the internet; there are many colorful discussions. Thus, I must say my interest in GoT is not about how wrong and cruel some of its contents are, but how creative and original are the stories and the imaginary world and time (the author George RR  Martin did a great job), and the questions it creates in my mind.

For one, GoT is no fairy tale where everything eventually gets better, good people triumph over the bad, and love always is cherished and wins. The dynamics of the stories is very shocking as no character is immune to violence, injustice, or death. The lives of anyone can be turned up or down any minute, anywhere, by any means.

This story, hence, more than anything else tells how unpredictable life is. Life we all can know, and even though the life in GoT cannot be comprehended fully (the rich array of life experiences described, some of which can only be known by reading history books, meshed in a creative tale that develops in a time and place that we never can know, perhaps unless we read the books), we can still relate.

A couple of characters are easy to admire (e.g. Ned Stark), some are easy to hate (e.g. Cersei Lannister, Joffrey Lannister), some are easy to relate to (e.g. Brienne of Tarth), some are easy to entice us by their wit and intelligence (e.g. Tyrone Lannister), and some are confusing, somehow disgusting, somehow humane, and continuously developing (e.g. Jamie Lannister).

I have been mostly interested in the interactions and influences on each other of Brienne and Jamie lately. The character development in the case of Jamie is interesting; such an easily hateable, in some ways disgusting (by today’s values), and sadly (as it is revealed later in the story) mostly misunderstood (as he never felt the need to make a case about himself) and vastly manipulated (by his own weaknesses) character can work on changing and redeeming himself is very, very interesting.

There have been a couple of things I have learnt/liked from the interactions of Brienne and Jamie in the story. Honor, loyalty, values, conflicting priorities, success, defeat, comradeship (the main theme later in the Brienne and Jamie story), support, kindness, and love (not only the romantic love) all of which can be and should be interpreted within a context. Context dependency, which is one of my interest in real life, makes all of these way more interesting than usual for me (this is the reasons why I noted above that reading the books that describe the world and time when these stories develop may be the only way to understand these stories).

Some fans on the internet say that Brienne and Jamie are in love with each other; most think it is obvious in the case of Brienne, but Jamie’s case is not clear. I am not sure about this yet. I think these two have a special bond; they both find something in each other that they did not experienced with others. Yet, I do not think it is a romantic love. Not yet.

One thing struck me about their relationship though; I started to think about the different types of love, even so called romantic love. The poem I have written yesterday directly reflects this. It does not always happen that I start re-evaluating things and experiences in life as basic as love – that tells me that these books and these two characters somehow help develop my understanding. That, too me, is both surprising and priceless.

It looks like you will hear from me about GoT in the coming days and months. Just let me get my books 🙂