Maybe if Martin spent less time publicly masturbating and more time writing he could actually finish his grim work. Though in a way leaving it unfinished is a perfect way to end it. Its message after all seems to be, "nothing matters and life sucks," so why should it have a satisfying end?
I stopped reading after the fourth book, figuring I'd finish after it was done. Here I am nearly 20 years later, still waiting. But not really.
Once he got his hands on the Game of Thrones money from HBO, he seemed to forget about finishing the books. He's always running around, traveling here or there, and spending time on other projects. He'd have done better to buckle down, simplify his plots, get rid of unnecessary characters, and finish the books. Once they were out of the way, he could have then spent his time doing whatever he wanted.
I am the first to agree that Marten is a skilled writer. However, he will never finish the books, because he wrote himself into a dead end, slaughtering way too many of the characters he needed to make his story complete. Nihilism never pays...
Really liked this essay Morgthorak, honestly gosh I didn't think my essay all that powerful stuff. If I may to focus on something more positive than Martin; your Mme Heinz truly gave you a special gift. I pray she is still well, as the gift of reading is a great one. I love that you give her such a place of honour and respect in your essays on Tolkien.
Truly she was an inspiring teacher, I've had myself one principal, and two teachers like her. Her sort are a gift and a blessing on earth.
As to Tolkien I do think he's got a special place with God, same with his magnificent son Christopher. I must admit that that paragraph made me smile.
I have to ask, any chance you might some day trying your hand at fantasy fiction? You write well and have a clear mind, writing fiction is heady stuff and politics I know is your main topic hereon your stack and I support that but on the side some fantasy fiction stuff of yours could be fascinating to write. I do apologize, I love the genre I belong to and always wish to share it and see others' vision of it. As my good friend Black Knight once said 'fantasy strikes closest to the Spirit of Truth' which as you know is Christ (I love that quote of his), so that fantasy to me is a truly Christian or given my own Catholique stances Christian/Catholique genre in my view.
Once again though, thank you for your kind words Morgthorak, you're as always too kind to me, I truly appreciate it mon ami.
Thanks for your kind words. Great point about Christopher, I had forgotten him when I wrote my article, but you are right. He did a wonderful job protecting and expanding his father's legacy. A pity he died as the younger Tolkiens don't seem to have the same commitment protect JRR Tolkien's legacy.
You’re more than welcome mon ami, as to Christopher it’s ok, I think he did a wonderful job also, if only his kids had the same love for Arda as he did.
My humble words are not powerful enough to fully encapsulate the true meaning of the Spirit of Truth, though I did make a valiant attempt. I must agree, in recent years most of the stories I wrote were primarily science fiction, yet I wove Fantasy elements into them. 'Tis mayhap one of my first, best Sword & Railgun story which gave birth to a whole new series of novellas, and these are more on the sword than the railgun side. Give it a read if you will: https://theblackknight.substack.com/p/a-mandate-of-sword-and-railgun-292 I aim to deliver inspirational fiction, and though I shall never reach Tolkien's level of supreme command of the written word, I may be able to spread a hopeful seed here and there.
Well, why would we like it? The stupid movie producers always stereotype us and lump us in with ghouls and zombies. Ghouls will eat any human body part they can get their hands on, and zombies want brains. We are not ghouls or zombies, yet Hollywood always tries to push the lie that we are them.
Agree 100% about Tolkien. Kind of like you, once I picked up The Hobbit I could not stop reading them all. I do enjoy GOT on TV as entertainment and I really like House of the Dragon but I have no desire to pick up the books.
There is entertainment value in Martin's books, but once you've read them, there's not much to go back for in re-reads. Tolkien is the opposite, I read those books at least once per year and I always enjoy them. But the same cannot be said for Martin's books, and that's why he'll be forgotten over time.
I haven't read any of the Martin books, so can't comment on their qualities. I managed to sit through the first series of GOT and had had enough of the truly gratuitous and tawdry sex and brutality. I just thought "if there is a story , just tell it. If it has value - moral and just universal human resonance - then it will carry the narrative without all the filler filth". I am no prude, but it's all about context, and for me there was no context for this explicit stuff. So I gave up. It looked great with the sets and everything, and I liked the sort of historical implied parallel of Lanister/ Stark with the House of Lancaster and the House of York. But it just left me cold, and I am sure it's for the reasons you stated in your piece, Morg. Martin's statement about Tolkien being read for many years to come was very telling of his resentment. And it's laughable. Tolkien will be read as long as there are humans who acknowledge God as their redeemer, because the LOTR is at its heart about that: Man is capable of being weak and vain and gullible, but with God is capable of the most extraordinarily heroic and selfless deeds.
Maybe if Martin spent less time publicly masturbating and more time writing he could actually finish his grim work. Though in a way leaving it unfinished is a perfect way to end it. Its message after all seems to be, "nothing matters and life sucks," so why should it have a satisfying end?
I stopped reading after the fourth book, figuring I'd finish after it was done. Here I am nearly 20 years later, still waiting. But not really.
Once he got his hands on the Game of Thrones money from HBO, he seemed to forget about finishing the books. He's always running around, traveling here or there, and spending time on other projects. He'd have done better to buckle down, simplify his plots, get rid of unnecessary characters, and finish the books. Once they were out of the way, he could have then spent his time doing whatever he wanted.
I am the first to agree that Marten is a skilled writer. However, he will never finish the books, because he wrote himself into a dead end, slaughtering way too many of the characters he needed to make his story complete. Nihilism never pays...
Really liked this essay Morgthorak, honestly gosh I didn't think my essay all that powerful stuff. If I may to focus on something more positive than Martin; your Mme Heinz truly gave you a special gift. I pray she is still well, as the gift of reading is a great one. I love that you give her such a place of honour and respect in your essays on Tolkien.
Truly she was an inspiring teacher, I've had myself one principal, and two teachers like her. Her sort are a gift and a blessing on earth.
As to Tolkien I do think he's got a special place with God, same with his magnificent son Christopher. I must admit that that paragraph made me smile.
I have to ask, any chance you might some day trying your hand at fantasy fiction? You write well and have a clear mind, writing fiction is heady stuff and politics I know is your main topic hereon your stack and I support that but on the side some fantasy fiction stuff of yours could be fascinating to write. I do apologize, I love the genre I belong to and always wish to share it and see others' vision of it. As my good friend Black Knight once said 'fantasy strikes closest to the Spirit of Truth' which as you know is Christ (I love that quote of his), so that fantasy to me is a truly Christian or given my own Catholique stances Christian/Catholique genre in my view.
Once again though, thank you for your kind words Morgthorak, you're as always too kind to me, I truly appreciate it mon ami.
Thanks for your kind words. Great point about Christopher, I had forgotten him when I wrote my article, but you are right. He did a wonderful job protecting and expanding his father's legacy. A pity he died as the younger Tolkiens don't seem to have the same commitment protect JRR Tolkien's legacy.
You’re more than welcome mon ami, as to Christopher it’s ok, I think he did a wonderful job also, if only his kids had the same love for Arda as he did.
My humble words are not powerful enough to fully encapsulate the true meaning of the Spirit of Truth, though I did make a valiant attempt. I must agree, in recent years most of the stories I wrote were primarily science fiction, yet I wove Fantasy elements into them. 'Tis mayhap one of my first, best Sword & Railgun story which gave birth to a whole new series of novellas, and these are more on the sword than the railgun side. Give it a read if you will: https://theblackknight.substack.com/p/a-mandate-of-sword-and-railgun-292 I aim to deliver inspirational fiction, and though I shall never reach Tolkien's level of supreme command of the written word, I may be able to spread a hopeful seed here and there.
George R.R. Martin is a horror writer at heart who veered off into fantasy. Some of his short stories are disturbing as hell.
Compare him to Stephen King, not Tolkien.
Good point, Fabius. I'm not a big fan of horror, so I'll pass on his short stories. He's weird anyway, so I expect the stories will be weird too.
Undead being not being fond of horror.
What's wrong with this picture?
Well, why would we like it? The stupid movie producers always stereotype us and lump us in with ghouls and zombies. Ghouls will eat any human body part they can get their hands on, and zombies want brains. We are not ghouls or zombies, yet Hollywood always tries to push the lie that we are them.
Agree 100% about Tolkien. Kind of like you, once I picked up The Hobbit I could not stop reading them all. I do enjoy GOT on TV as entertainment and I really like House of the Dragon but I have no desire to pick up the books.
There is entertainment value in Martin's books, but once you've read them, there's not much to go back for in re-reads. Tolkien is the opposite, I read those books at least once per year and I always enjoy them. But the same cannot be said for Martin's books, and that's why he'll be forgotten over time.
His post is still better than Season 8.
😂👍🏻
I haven't read any of the Martin books, so can't comment on their qualities. I managed to sit through the first series of GOT and had had enough of the truly gratuitous and tawdry sex and brutality. I just thought "if there is a story , just tell it. If it has value - moral and just universal human resonance - then it will carry the narrative without all the filler filth". I am no prude, but it's all about context, and for me there was no context for this explicit stuff. So I gave up. It looked great with the sets and everything, and I liked the sort of historical implied parallel of Lanister/ Stark with the House of Lancaster and the House of York. But it just left me cold, and I am sure it's for the reasons you stated in your piece, Morg. Martin's statement about Tolkien being read for many years to come was very telling of his resentment. And it's laughable. Tolkien will be read as long as there are humans who acknowledge God as their redeemer, because the LOTR is at its heart about that: Man is capable of being weak and vain and gullible, but with God is capable of the most extraordinarily heroic and selfless deeds.