A Magnificent, Maddening Mess: George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons
George R.R. Martin is a literary madman, a fellow obsessed with teeth (bad ones), genitalia, women’s breasts, and human entrails, all confluent with homely food, reminiscent of food that might have been common in the British Isles during the medieval era.
And author Martin brings together these obsessions in the fifth book of his saga, A Song of Ice and Fire (reviewed earlier here).
Death of characters, not deserving of such, continues unabated. And characters forgotten in the swelter of author Martin’s fantastical rampage haunt readers who hope that he might repent of his previous literary sins and keep a few in situ or alive, redemptively as it were.
Readers know that author Martin knows how to addict them, to sell further renderings?
Moreover, they know his welter of words describing locales, dress, and adornments are suborned to screenplay or television script, HBO having already taken on the first books in his series. (Martin is a child of TV script-writing, having provided some to The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast.)
But what is the cause of his scatological onslaughts and rabid death-dealing of characters not deserving?
It is, I surmise, author Martin’s theological belief, which can be found on Page(s) 763/764 of the hard cover edition of this most recent book:
“At night Tyrion would oft hear praying. A waste of words. If there were gods to listen, they are monstrous gods who torment us for their sport. Who else would make a world like this, so full of bondage, blood, and pain? Who else would shape us as they have?”
As I said in the overview of the Ice and Fire books, previously here, Martin is not an archetype of Lucifer/Satan, as found in Milton’s Paradise Lost but he assumes the mantle and direction of that “angel” – not by looks but, rather, by literary actions: Martin does to his creation, exactly what Tyrion (his favorite character?) said above about the gods.
Author Martin is an astute, commercial-oriented writer but not one without loads of magnificent yet defiled talent.
His books and story are addictive, no matter what.
This reader will certainly, under protest of a kind, get his next outing, The Winds of Winter.
The books are published by Bantam Books, NY and can be found at most bookstores or online at Amazon, Powells, Buy.com, and other venues.
N.B. There is a mistake on Page 854 (hardcover)....Queen Cersei is thinking to herself: They were looking at her, all the hungry eyes. But what were they seeing? I am beautiful, she reminded himself.
RR
And author Martin brings together these obsessions in the fifth book of his saga, A Song of Ice and Fire (reviewed earlier here).
Death of characters, not deserving of such, continues unabated. And characters forgotten in the swelter of author Martin’s fantastical rampage haunt readers who hope that he might repent of his previous literary sins and keep a few in situ or alive, redemptively as it were.
Readers know that author Martin knows how to addict them, to sell further renderings?
Moreover, they know his welter of words describing locales, dress, and adornments are suborned to screenplay or television script, HBO having already taken on the first books in his series. (Martin is a child of TV script-writing, having provided some to The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast.)
But what is the cause of his scatological onslaughts and rabid death-dealing of characters not deserving?
It is, I surmise, author Martin’s theological belief, which can be found on Page(s) 763/764 of the hard cover edition of this most recent book:
“At night Tyrion would oft hear praying. A waste of words. If there were gods to listen, they are monstrous gods who torment us for their sport. Who else would make a world like this, so full of bondage, blood, and pain? Who else would shape us as they have?”
As I said in the overview of the Ice and Fire books, previously here, Martin is not an archetype of Lucifer/Satan, as found in Milton’s Paradise Lost but he assumes the mantle and direction of that “angel” – not by looks but, rather, by literary actions: Martin does to his creation, exactly what Tyrion (his favorite character?) said above about the gods.
Author Martin is an astute, commercial-oriented writer but not one without loads of magnificent yet defiled talent.
His books and story are addictive, no matter what.
This reader will certainly, under protest of a kind, get his next outing, The Winds of Winter.
The books are published by Bantam Books, NY and can be found at most bookstores or online at Amazon, Powells, Buy.com, and other venues.
N.B. There is a mistake on Page 854 (hardcover)....Queen Cersei is thinking to herself: They were looking at her, all the hungry eyes. But what were they seeing? I am beautiful, she reminded himself.
RR
posted by RRRGroup at 1:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home