It is interesting to see the reviews of George R.R. Martin's works, calling him an "American Tolkien".
It is hard to fathom why someone would make this comparison. Both authors wrote very verbose fantasy fiction. That's where the comparison ends, unfortunately for Martin.
Tolkien's books were deep and theological, with profound truths and an underlying spiritual theme that was in harmony with his Catholic faith. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, is certainly large in scope, and features a rich tapestry of characters, but I see no redeeming 'big picture' in his stories. It strikes me as having more in common with the Sopranos TV series than it does Tolkien's Epic. He creates a lot of characters, creates reasons for conflict, and have them start doing each other in. That's Martin's world, a world in which there is very little in the way of true nobility or selflessness.
This doesn't mean I can't enjoy the story that IS there, but the combination of foul language, explicit graphic sex (most of it would be fairly described as rape or prostitution), and lack of any overarching morality simply make this an epic 'adult' soap opera, and not an Epic on par with Lord of the Rings. For this, Tolkien has no peer in ANY nationality. To match Tolkien you need layers, and Martin's story has no layers.
Back to the content for a moment, I tend to skim the more graphic sexual content. It adds little to nothing to the story and seems to be Martin's attempt to kowtow to whatever we call an 'adult' audience. I have to enjoy Martin's works IN SPITE of some of his content, in much the same way as we may enjoy a movie in spite of some scenes we have would rather have not been included.
If nothing else, Martin's works serve to remind us of the base evil inherent in humanity, and there are very few people one could call good, nor do his characters provide any kind of model anyone should want to be like. His storylines are dark and oppressive, and although he is a fine writer, I would never call this an uplifting or inspirational work.
If you want to read the fantasy equivalent of the Sopranos...pick up Song of Ice and Fire and watch the betrayal and murder begin.
And that's my vent.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have to completely disagree with you in just about every sense. I first read The Hobbit when I was 9 or 10 years old. I fell in love with it, and became a fantasy junkie ever since. I have looked for something that would draw me in like his works ever since. I never found it until I found the Song of Ice and Fire. These charactars are so deep and layered that I don't know where to begin. The only character in Tolkien's work who was not completely black or white was Boromir. EVERY character in SoIaF is gray. That is what makes his writing so great. There are no truly perfect people. Everyone must make tough choices and deal with their own moral code. The language and the sex is there for a reason. It is completely needed in order to understand each of these characters and try to figure out what makes them tick. If Jaime and Cersei did not have their love for each other, the entire book falls apart. SoIaF is definitely an "adult" saga and I will gladly present it to my son to read when he progresses past LoTR and Harry Potter.
I think you missed my point, or maybe we are just communicating on two different bandwidths.
The point is, you cannot call GRRM an American Tolkien, because the two are SOOO dissimilar. I find that to be a bad thing, you find it to be a good thing, and that's fine.
As far as character development goes, in the sense that the characters in GRRM are far more self-serving, I suppose you're right. In Tolkien's work, the characters are largely selfless. In GRRM they are largely selfish. Which is easier to root for?
While the sexual content can be legitimately written, his is over the top to the point where it feels like GRRM is just a perv writing his sordid fantasies instead of a novelist building a plot.
But ultimately where GRRM fails for me is that his stories appeal to our most base instincts, not our most noble instincts. I like books that inspire, not books that titillate. I like books that give hope, not yank it away. Stories that leave you with something other than numbness at the sheer savagery of it all. Every time I start to get attached to a character in GRRM's stories, he kills them.
Finally, as a note, I purchased the Kindle version of Feast of Crows, and was reading the amazon reviews and comments, and sure enough, some idiot told me about a character death that happens at the end. That someone should die in these stories is just assumed after the first three books, but naming that character and wrecking the book was bad enough -- that the amazon reviews largely pan Feast of Crows as extremely boring just makes it worse. I have thus not yet started FoC.
Post a Comment