I am currently 170 pages into A Game of Thrones and considering whether or not I should start a Twitter account just so I can note random thoughts as I go on (and make predictions, those are always fun). The book's good. It's intricate enough to keep me engaged, fairly good pace in terms plot, even if it still lacks something in terms of thematic grittiness. The most annoying thing so far is the length of description for scenery. I have now made the promise to myself that unless a particular setting is especially crucial to either the development of the characters or plot I will not spend paragraphs rhapsodizing about the view from the shore or the mystery of decaying trees in any story I write from now on. Just...no. My favorite thing, aside from a plot that actually understood that not everything can be split into right vs. wrong, is the characters. Mind you, I don't like most of them, especially Sansa (I like her even less than I like the antagonists). It's perhaps very telling that I identify the most with Lord Stark (second place is a tie between Tyrion and Snow). The lack of female characters at this point is not due to the fact that the females lack strength of will (which is a nice surprise) but the fact that all of them so far, despite of their strength, are still ruled by their passion and none of them seems capable of just being logical for a scene. I've also concluded that at least half of the Starks are going to die. I suspect that the queen will probably die too. Or the king. Or both. The odds of royal family's survival, at this point, isn't looking too good either. Daenerys might live. And grow a backbone, which would be nice. The beggar king lacks crucial survival instincts but might live out of sheer perversity (it'd suit him). Tyrion might live to mock everyone from his corner, but seriously, with all the foreshadowing I think the royal household will be the death of the Starks.
In other news: PI got me a external harddrive that's 500G and smaller than my hand. And strawberry soda is very good. It is still shedding season at the Animal Shelter.
1 comment:
I am literally BOUNCING IN MY SEAT :DDDD
I don't care if you get twitter or not, but do keep on recording your thoughts/predictions/etc. somewhere!
You probably didn't read my reactions as I read the first book, but it was basically that I found myself liking very, very few of the characters even as I really enjoyed the book itself. I think that really derives from how real and flawed they are. No matter who you're looking at (with veeery few exceptions) you can find reasons to dislike him or her. BUT! Just as they are akin to real people in this, similarly, the more you get to know the characters, the more you find things you like about them and the more you are willing to forgive the negatives as you start becoming friends with the characters and go through their journeys and character growth (and oh god is there a lot of that). Know what I mean? I guess it applies stronger to the series as a whole as opposed to just the first book, but it's applicable there too, I think. (Just to give you an idea, Sansa was one of my least favorites in GoT as well but then she moved on to my Top 3 favorites. As did another character that shall remain nameless. And yeah, Ned's one of the few likeable ones.)
How are you adjusting to the character-to-character jumps? It was a bit of a steep climb for me to get to know each character because there are so many and just as you start caring about one, he jumps to the story of another. And yes, the author is fond of descriptions, including that of food and sounds. I think he said it has to do with wanting you to see/feel everything the character does.
Finally, in response to your predictions, "Winter is coming." *coooough*
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