When the series was released, I came to it half-heartedly, greatly impressed by the cinematography, rich tapestries of otherworldly landscapes, taken from this Earth but not of this World, thus evoking Peter Jackson's extraordinary use of New Zealand's unique beauty to create Middle Earth for LoTR. In a series like 'Game of Thrones', however, the viewer who is unfamiliar with the original novels is at a distinct disadvantage. There are too many characters for a start, and moreover, too many important characters. At the same time, a principle that had guided me too much in my youth was holding me back from true enjoyment. I recognise it as a character flaw. I am an elitist at heart. When something is overly popular, I tend to eschew it utterly... Thus, the wild enthusiasm that accompanied the release of 'Game of Thrones' on HBO would have prevented me from watching it once upon a time.
Thank God for small steps towards maturity of character. Part of the reason I am less rigid in that respect is because I see the same trait in my own daughter and it exasperates me beyond belief. She refuses to watch 'Game of Thrones' for no other reason than the fact that it reigns paramount in the conversation of her peers at University. One of the great gifts that our children bestow unwittingly upon us is self-knowledge as they often are mirrors of our own characters to some extent. She is very much 'her own person' but her wilfulness and stubbornness are inherited. Dashing myself against the unyielding fortress formed from her opinions perhaps one day will improve my own character.
The same book, film or show can operate on many different levels, appealing to different individuals for very different reasons. How can popularity truly negate the value of a book, film or show? It may be annoying when there is media-saturation of any particular popular work, but it does not invalidate the work itself in any way. Furthermore, mass popularity of any work makes it a part of the general culture of that point in time. If one cuts oneself off from knowledge of anything that the masses love, one separates oneself from a phenonmenon that is akin to the 'collective unconscious'. As Merry protested to the Ent Treebeard at the Entmoot, 'But you're part of this world, aren't you?'
As one of those idealistic souls who, despite all evidence to the contrary, believes that human beings individually CAN change for the better, I believe I have addressed some of my early tendencies towards arrogance and elitism. Moreover, I fervently hope that I am a kinder, more patient and compassionate individual than I was at my daughter's age. The passage of years and encounters with a multitude of extraordinary artists certainly have taught me some humility. I no longer believe I can be the best, but I do retain some aspirations of doing something 'worthy' before I die. Like Auda abu Tayi as portrayed in Lawrence of Arabia, conceiving of a raid in order to take something 'worthy' home as spoils, I still long to write something that will set even a little fire in the hearts of those who read it. Of course, Auda abu Tayi was a man after my own heart to some extent, described by T.E. Lawrence as follows:
'He saw life as a saga, all the events in it were significant: all personages in contact with him heroic, his mind was stored with poems of old raids and epic tales of fights.'
One could do worse certainly than to aspire to something similar. At the end of the day, however, growing up to some extent is the realisation that one may be able to create only small moments of significance and beauty rather than an opus consisting of a larger-than-life tapestry.
Which brings me back to 'Game of Thrones' and its underlying theme which is not the epic tale of rival kings and queens striving for the Iron Throne but a multiplicity of 'coming of age' tales of outsiders, misfits and other individuals who would not appear to be 'hero material' at the outset.
There are many novels that feature an outcast or social misfit as protagonist and trace the history of that individual's progress from a rocky start to a glorious finish. 'The Hunger Games' trilogy is a recent popular example of this. The hero or heroine in these novels may have one or more characteristics that do not fit into the idealised portrait of a classical hero but on the whole, he or she does demonstrate most of the important traits of a person with a grand destiny.
This is not the case in 'Game of Thrones'. In 'Game of Thrones', there are countless characters who do not appear to be hero material in the least but who gain in stature and ultimately show themselves as heroic in small or great ways. 'Game of Thrones' gives every one hope in that respect. To paraphrase Varys, 'a very small man can cast a very long shadow.'
Although there are classical heroic figures such as Eddard Stark, other 'heroes' include a dwarf, an overweight self-confessed coward, a bastard, a hoyden and a paraplegic. One suspects that the writer, George R.R. Martin, like Tyrion Lannister might confess that: 'I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things.'
Some have declared 'Game of Thrones' to be a work that one day will be recognised universally as a classic. Epic tales often do become classics by sheer force of their plots, even where the style of the writer is not quite equal to that of the greatest lyrical novelists or poets. The fact of the matter is that 'Game of Thrones' like 'Lord of the Rings' may indeed possess the timeless eternal appeal that is the hallmark of any 'classic' in literature. Both Tolkien and Martin are masters at the art of storytelling and create memorable, unique characters. They both are adept at dialogue and can toss off epigrams to rival those of Oscar Wilde. If every sentence penned does not proclaim them to be 'great writers' in every sense of the word, it cannot be denied that both are great storytellers and truly great writing is to be found in their works. It is difficult for long epic tales to achieve stylistic consistency in any case. The writer of a novella or short story can hone each sentence until it shines but when one is dealing with thousands and thousands of pages, it is virtually impossible to achieve the same quality of style in every paragraph. I would not even mention this had it not been for a comment my daughter made to the effect that, although 'Lord of the Rings' remains one of her favourite literary works, she does not consider Tolkien to be a truly 'great' writer.
A very successful writer who has been a close friend of mine for many years told me that he reminds himself constantly that a writer first and foremost is a storyteller and if the writing gets in the way of the story, it must be excised from the tale. Invaluable advice. I strove too much for stylistic brilliance in my early writing, as I greatly admired many writers who had achieved a 'succes d'estime' and indeed felr then that commercial success somehow was a blot upon the escutcheon of any serious novelist. Yes, I was a somewhat insufferable precocious child, to say the least...
As with 'Lord of the Rings', it would be a mistake to ignore the series/films in favour of the books or to ignore the original books in favour of the cinematic form. They truly work together. One has to concede always that any cinematic version of an epic of this length and breadth must make changes in the plot in the interests of effective use of time while remaining as true as possible to the original. Both Peter Jackson's 'LoTR' and the HBO series of 'Game of Thrones' manage this difficult feat. In the case of the latter, it helps immensely that George R.R. Martin himself worked on the project.
In either form, 'Game of Thrones' is an epical tale to inspire every one, be he or she large or small, young or old, brilliant or half-witted, sound of body or crippled. It allows every individual to see a path that will lead him or her to an heroic goal, however unusual that goal may be. It's a damned fine yarn as well...
