More about 'Game of Thrones'

When I was a young girl, admittedly quite arrogant and elitist, the fact that a book, film or series was popular among my contemporaries would have caused me to swear off it completely.  I hope I have learned to be part of the human race now and to judge artists on their own merits rather than their general popularity or lack thereof.

Unfortunately, when George R. R. Martin first was recommended to me by my stepfather shortly after the publication of his first 'Game of Thrones' novel, I eschewed it mainly because I was not in the mood for new fantasy novels.  Furthermore, the fact that he had been compared to Tolkien made me cross.  For me, Tolkien had been the very backbone of my childhood dreams and visions and NO ONE could compare with the Master.

I have come to admire 'Game of Thrones' late and, contrary to my usual way of being introduced to an artist, through the series rather than the novels.  As a voracious reader, I usually have read a book before it ever was translated into any visual medium.  With 'Game of Thrones', however, I was seduced by the HBO series and only then began to read the novels.  As marvelous as the series is, the novels are even better.  Not surprising really...  A writer can be far more detailed in a novel than any film that attempts to capture his/her work.

My daughter Freya unfortunately is almost as elitist as I was at her age and refuses to watch the series or read the books because 'every one at University' talks about them endlessly. Her loss, but I expect she will come to both in the end as they are too wonderful to be ignored forever.

There are so many reasons to love the weaving of the tale, both in cinematic and written form.  For a start, Martin is fully as precise and detailed as Tolkien was in his creation of Middle Earth.  Although everything in 'Game of Thrones' is related to something in our own universe, whether taken from reality, history or myth, he has created something entirely new from the threads.  Flora and fauna, landscapes and history all possess an extraordinary attention to detail.  His characters are profound and each has a distinct personality, character and history.  The kingdoms are various and each has its individual landscape, cuisine, history and culture.

With all of this, there is an aspect to the series that makes it truly great.  The characters include a number of individuals who are unusual, even eccentric and who are ill-equipped either by Nature, their circumstances or their upbringing to fit into conventional society.  And yet they overcome their difficulties or their disabilities to carve a place for themselves in the world.  For me, this is one of the qualities of 'Game of Thrones' that proves it to be a classic in literature. 

Whether it is the dwarf who is born to a noble family and father ashamed to acknowledge him, the young girl who would rather learn to wield a blade than a needle, the Amazonian woman who demands recognition on the battlefield, the self-confessed obese young 'coward' who is forced to serve on the Wall or the young noble bastard who in childhood never had equality with his siblings nor affection from his stepmother, each of these characters somehow becomes an inspiration to any one who has been forced to find his/her unique path in life.

Even the wicked or the characters who generally are unsympathetic have moments of humanity... the Kingslayer and his sister Cersei who are bound by incestuous love are villains for the most part, but his courage and her love for her children must be admired even while the reader may wish defeat upon them both.

I do believe that, like 'Lord of the Rings', these are books and films that I will watch again and again for the pleasure of being immersed in the rich landscapes and tales from the imagination of George R.R. Martin.