Game Of Thrones - Book/TV discussions - WITH SPOILERS

I think he just lacked the foresight to understand the differing time requirements between doing a seasonal TV show and the books. With the books, he could take however long he wanted, and it was released when he wanted, but the TV/HBO show is "X episodes at This Date, every year". I'm thinking the TV show caught up faster than he was expecting, and he was more involved with the show than expected, which just took away his book-writing time.

And I'm not sure I care about the TV show being different than the books... I kind of treat them both as the separate entities that they are; there's obviously going to be so much more detail in the books, and that means that the show will be edited/rewritten slightly anyway to deal with an hour-long show format as it is, and once you go a little off the books I don't really care how much more you go.

To me a visual experience is different from a reading one, and I have no problem compartmentalizing the two without any angst or bitterness.

 

I don't think George is bitter about anything. Frankly, as I've been saying all along, anyone who follows these books as long as I have (I read GoT back in 99) knows the following:

Martin rewrites and changes things constantly. For a more recent example, let's look at the much maligned AFfC and DoD scenario. So what happened? George wrote way too much material for one book. So he decides to split it (in a very strange way). But here's my point: even with 2/3 of DoD already written, you'd have expected DoD to come out fairly soon. Of course, you'd be incorrect. Why? He went back and fucking rewrote the stuff he already had, in essence throwing out what he already had written/rewritten/edited/rewritten again/reedited again for AFfC. This has been Martin's process from the get go.

My issue with the books following the show is the influence the show writers will have, mostly because it will be difficult for Martin to deviate too much from the show, and given that he's already referencing twists not in the show, I suspect the stories will diverge even more dramatically. I want to read A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin, not 'Disney World Presents A Show Somewhat Similar in Some Respects to A Song of Ice and Fire Which Will Deviate in the Interests of Commercialization' by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.

I always find it a bit fraudulent - in movies or tv - to adapt a book and then rewrite it for whatever reason. As someone pointed out - the readers made this show possible. So yes, a bit raging, but it comes down to this: If you don't like the story in total, don't fucking adapt it, or write a better one. That hasn't happened here.

 

Some stories just dont translate well from one medium to another. One thing thats always missing when a book is adapted is the internal monologue of the characters, that always removes a dimension of the story that cannot be captured otherwise unless you have a voice-over. Thus, fundamental structural changes are needed to fit the format. The Shining is another perfect example. Stanley Kubrick's adaptation, while arguably one of the greatest movies ever, is a pretty shitty adaptation of the source material and Stephen King had no qualms expressing his feelings toward it. He even adapted his own version in the late 90s for a TV movie. And while true his material, it sucked ass.

GOT is similar. Martin knew he was giving up some kind of creative license when he signed on with HBO. They dont give you a number on a contract with 7+ zeros behind it without making him relinquish some creative power. And for good reason, hes not a showrunner. Hes a guy in his 70s that writes the books in a fucking DOS program. He even went as far as mapping out the entire rest of the story for the show's producers in case he dies before the books are finished (which is almost a moot point if the show finishes before he writes them anyway). I've read a few of the books, not quite all yet, but as someone who is 100% caught up with the Walking Dead comics, there are so many changes to the story in the show compared to the comics its almost unrecognizable. And Nett made a good point, you need to take them as two adaptions of the same thing and look at them in a vacuum.

Or as another theory I read stated, look at them the way people should be looking at the Mad Max series. That series is supposed to viewed as many different interpretations of the legend of that character, not sequential cannon. GOT can be also looked at as two different tellings of the same story. It wouldnt surprise me if the end is someone telling the entire tale around a campfire a few hundred years in the future. Just my $0.02.

 

I can see why book fans will be upset when the show's creators add new material the books don't or will never have. Having read the first three books and watched the show it seems like the show runners ideas for the series doesn't deviate much from the source material unlike say The Shining or Starship Troopers did from theirs. For the most part I am willing to give movie makers much more leniency if one, they are super talented like Kubrick, or two made make no bones about wanting to create a different experience ala Starship Troopers. So far the changes made in the show have been mostly needed condensing and formatting changes and have worked out great. To not catch shit they'll have to make at least equally compelling stories as the stories from the books. I won't mind if the show's version of say Dany has different themes and motivations as long as it is as compelling as the ones in the books.

 

Well hopefully we get the next book within the year. I just finished Dance and am hoping against hope some of the material they skipped in that book make it into the show. I am hoping Ian Mcshane turns up as either the Crow's eye or Victorian. Some of the stuff needed to be cut, like Prince Doran's son's whole story.

 

Yes. And I've pretty much decided that George can stick the remaining two books/ manuscripts up his ass. I don't really even care anymore.