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A review by notwellread
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5.0
I read this a while ago and (at the time, at least) didn’t get around to reviewing it, so I will be brief in my comments. I loved it! However, I will at least elaborate a little more than that.
The book is gory and gritty at heart, as is common knowledge at this point, but manages to be moving and draws us into the characters’ hearts at the same time. The ‘picking sides’ aspect common to many stories of this type is very well avoided, since a widely hated character will always seem so different from their own perspective – for instance, Sansa antagonises Arya and disappoints her father through her behaviour, but from her own perspective we see it is her fundamental idealism at heart that directs her actions, and although this is deeply misguided in the world she inhabits it is difficult to condemn her for this. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, and read this on someone else’s recommendation (unusually for me), so my review should be taken in the light of inexperience, but would highly recommend the series to history lovers (like me!) – there are a lot of thinly-veiled allusions to historical figures and events, and the fantastical aspects tend to take a backseat. Martin has been praised for writing such a ‘real’ and progressive fantasy series, and these compliments do not go amiss of the text, which deals with both diversity and prejudices very well, showing women and disabled characters making their own ways in a world fundamentally against them. I call it a feminist series, as others already have. The POV chapters are balanced too in this respect – Tyrion or Daenerys would seem very different characters from an outsider’s point of view, but we get a unique insight from seeing the world as they see it, and viewing them as they view themselves. Some fiction uses a hyper-patriarchal society to create a toxic-masculine environment for men’s enjoyment (though their creators would probably not admit to this), but here these elements are used to show the oppressed rising above it all through their own strength of character.
As a note, I would urge anyone who is tentative about starting the series not to be deterred by the sexual explicitness: I think the show is guilty of magnifying these parts and putting in gratuitous sex (and a million pointless brothel scenes, not to mention rape shown in n attractive light when it should be horrifying) unnecessarily to draw a wider audience and titillate men by objectifying women, but I would insist that the books are not an uncomfortable read and any sexual references, toned down with comparison to the show, are plot-related and not there for the sake of smut. I was afraid going in that I would struggle to get through these parts, since I am not usually one to read that sort of thing (and being a big reader of the classics, it generally doesn’t feature all too much) but it wasn’t a problem at all and they served to add to the general tone.
Jon Snow was my favourite at first but fell out of favour with me a little because of his being so full of himself (about the steward vs. ranger issue), and I loved Littlefinger (whom I wanted to be good all along, (Harry Potter spoiler)) but who also fell out of favour with me for obvious reasons. However, I grew to love Tyrion (of course) and Daenerys, and have always liked Arya and Eddard (who makes me cry with what a great Dad he is – RIP), and of the minor characters my favourites are Sam Tarly (so relatable), Brynden ‘the Blackfish’ Tully (why won’t he be married?! It’s never explained, and I don’t think it’ll come up later when he’s so minor!), and Jorah Mormont. Jon and Daenerys both have a few ‘special snowflake’ moments and traits (no pun intended for Jon – though I would hesitate to accuse them of being Mary Sues, since the plot works against them according to their weaknesses plenty), but I think these come from the origins of the story (where the plot was quite different and a lot more cliché, less historically-based and far less subversive than the published version), so I’m not too worried about its impact on the wider story, since I think this will remain under control, although they do pale a little in comparison to the more complex characters (though this may be to do with their age, and I expect they will develop much further in the sequels).
The flashbacks provided my favourite scenes, those being Tyrion about Tysha, Littlefinger duelling Brandon Stark (as remembered by Cat), and (if it may be counted as a flashback) Ned’s fever dream remembrance of the Tower of Joy. It is a shame that they chose not to include the details in the show – I understand this as an artistic choice, but the alternatives they went for turned out rather weakly (Peter Dinklage delivered Tyrion’s backstory with Tysha very well, but the scene in the brothel when Littlefinger explains his history, and entire life philosophy, to two prostitutes pleasuring each other was awful, and mutilated one of my favourite parts of the book).
Despite how real parts of it felt, I loved reading this as a story in a different world – reading it while feeling upset or stressed has made me feel a lot better, and I would thank it for improving my quality of life and generally giving me joy. I thought about it a lot between reading, which made me want to stick with it and get through its length, rather than losing interest or having to make myself read, as lesser books have done in the past. In view of its popularity it certainly deserves the hype (the exception to the rule with hyped books!) and can be enjoyed by seasoned readers as well as casual ones, but within reason this is something that I think the vast majority could enjoy and benefit from reading.
The book is gory and gritty at heart, as is common knowledge at this point, but manages to be moving and draws us into the characters’ hearts at the same time. The ‘picking sides’ aspect common to many stories of this type is very well avoided, since a widely hated character will always seem so different from their own perspective – for instance, Sansa antagonises Arya and disappoints her father through her behaviour, but from her own perspective we see it is her fundamental idealism at heart that directs her actions, and although this is deeply misguided in the world she inhabits it is difficult to condemn her for this. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, and read this on someone else’s recommendation (unusually for me), so my review should be taken in the light of inexperience, but would highly recommend the series to history lovers (like me!) – there are a lot of thinly-veiled allusions to historical figures and events, and the fantastical aspects tend to take a backseat. Martin has been praised for writing such a ‘real’ and progressive fantasy series, and these compliments do not go amiss of the text, which deals with both diversity and prejudices very well, showing women and disabled characters making their own ways in a world fundamentally against them. I call it a feminist series, as others already have. The POV chapters are balanced too in this respect – Tyrion or Daenerys would seem very different characters from an outsider’s point of view, but we get a unique insight from seeing the world as they see it, and viewing them as they view themselves. Some fiction uses a hyper-patriarchal society to create a toxic-masculine environment for men’s enjoyment (though their creators would probably not admit to this), but here these elements are used to show the oppressed rising above it all through their own strength of character.
As a note, I would urge anyone who is tentative about starting the series not to be deterred by the sexual explicitness: I think the show is guilty of magnifying these parts and putting in gratuitous sex (and a million pointless brothel scenes, not to mention rape shown in n attractive light when it should be horrifying) unnecessarily to draw a wider audience and titillate men by objectifying women, but I would insist that the books are not an uncomfortable read and any sexual references, toned down with comparison to the show, are plot-related and not there for the sake of smut. I was afraid going in that I would struggle to get through these parts, since I am not usually one to read that sort of thing (and being a big reader of the classics, it generally doesn’t feature all too much) but it wasn’t a problem at all and they served to add to the general tone.
Jon Snow was my favourite at first but fell out of favour with me a little because of his being so full of himself (about the steward vs. ranger issue), and I loved Littlefinger (whom I wanted to be good all along, (Harry Potter spoiler)
Spoiler
like Snape!The flashbacks provided my favourite scenes, those being Tyrion about Tysha, Littlefinger duelling Brandon Stark (as remembered by Cat), and (if it may be counted as a flashback) Ned’s fever dream remembrance of the Tower of Joy. It is a shame that they chose not to include the details in the show – I understand this as an artistic choice, but the alternatives they went for turned out rather weakly (Peter Dinklage delivered Tyrion’s backstory with Tysha very well, but the scene in the brothel when Littlefinger explains his history, and entire life philosophy, to two prostitutes pleasuring each other was awful, and mutilated one of my favourite parts of the book).
Despite how real parts of it felt, I loved reading this as a story in a different world – reading it while feeling upset or stressed has made me feel a lot better, and I would thank it for improving my quality of life and generally giving me joy. I thought about it a lot between reading, which made me want to stick with it and get through its length, rather than losing interest or having to make myself read, as lesser books have done in the past. In view of its popularity it certainly deserves the hype (the exception to the rule with hyped books!) and can be enjoyed by seasoned readers as well as casual ones, but within reason this is something that I think the vast majority could enjoy and benefit from reading.