Okay so my idea, because I've now read the books through four times (because I'm a geek) was to do some character rereads. I'm going to focus the first one on Bran and perhaps if I can be bothered I'll write something up at the end/or not I'll decide at the time. I was thinking I can probably finish up Bran's chapters by the new year. He only has 21 chapters so that seems achievable unless people wanted to go a little slower. Let me know if anyone is interested in joining in.
I always liked Bran's earlier chapters. The first showcased everything that's really good in Martin's writing: his style, his ability to introduce seamlessly a whole cast of characters without getting heavy or cumbersome, his talent of planting the seeds of plots through different methods and his skill in simply telling a fascinating story.
“Don’t fight in the North, or the South. Fight every battle everywhere. Always, in your mind.”
Okay so my idea, because I've now read the books through four times (because I'm a geek) was to do some character rereads.
Four is good. Four means you get it. Four is the number before I consider someone a legit ASOIAF geek. Four means that if I drop some seemingly random quip, like "my parry was almost lazy," or call someone a prancing jackanapes, you know what I'm talking about.
From one such geek to another, well done.
Tis an accomplishment. A single-read reader will recall much and more of the main plot, but without becoming a forum-nerd, often will not remember less prominent ones and will oft forget entire characters.
My own wife, the gloriously beautiful Mrs Voice, could not recall the name of Maester Luwin the other day. Upon further investigation, she called Catelyn "Katherine". She has kept up with the show, but has not read the novels in at least 4 years.
Had she not read the Dunk and Egg novellas last summer, we likely would have divorced. LOL
I was thinking I can probably finish up Bran's chapters by the new year. He only has 21 chapters so that seems achievable unless people wanted to go a little slower. Let me know if anyone is interested in joining in.
Either way. Slow or fast, Bran offers plenty of food for thought. Count me in for sure. Gotta love Bran.
Regarding the 21 chapters...
7 are in AGOT
7 are in ACOK
4 are in ASOS
0 are in AFFC
3 are in ADWD
What do you guys think of a folder for the project, and a thread for each, such as:
Bran reread (All books)
AGOT Bran I
AGOT Bran II
AGOT Bran III
AGOT Bran IV
AGOT Bran V
AGOT Bran VI
AGOT Bran VII
ACOK Bran I
ACOK Bran II
ACOK Bran III
ACOK Bran IV
ACOK Bran V
ACOK Bran VI
ACOK Bran VII
ASOS Bran I
ASOS Bran II
ASOS Bran III
ASOS BRAN IV
ADWD Bran I
ADWD Bran II
ADWD Bran III
There are simpler/shorthand ways to catalogue them as well. Some folks do 1.1 to refer to Bran I, AGOT, and 1.0 to refer to the Prologue of AGOT. In that system, 5.34 would refer to Bran III ADWD (5th book, 34th chapter).
I always liked Bran's earlier chapters. The first showcased everything that's really good in Martin's writing: his style, his ability to introduce seamlessly a whole cast of characters without getting heavy or cumbersome, his talent of planting the seeds of plots through different methods and his skill in simply telling a fascinating story.
I could NOT agree more. Bran I is a perfect chapter. It really sets the tone for House Stark.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
I read the first one today! It felt like putting on an old and comfortable shoe. The truth is that I had the option of reading Wild Cards I, as I finally caved in and borrowed it. So I read Bran I instead. Story just flows.
I always liked Bran's earlier chapters. The first showcased everything that's really good in Martin's writing: his style, his ability to introduce seamlessly a whole cast of characters without getting heavy or cumbersome, his talent of planting the seeds of plots through different methods and his skill in simply telling a fascinating story.
I could NOT agree more. Bran I is a perfect chapter. It really sets the tone for House Stark.
It was good to see Ned Stark teaching some Stark values like "the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword", that a man should take no pleasure in that task or more general ones such as: "the only time a man can be brave" is when he is afraid or that "a ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is". I missed Ned. Poor guy was just trying to be a dad to Bran. Gave in with the puppies but was stern with the: you better take care of it yourself, no servant will waste time for THIS total parent. Except that most parents these days end up taking care of the kids' pets themselves But I digress.
What else... I liked two things that I forgot were there or maybe never thought about. It's been a while since I read AGoT so I am not sure which.
One: Bran is hilariously close to what happens with the Carster's babies according to the show.
"He was a wildling", Bran said. "They carry off women and sell them to the Others."
Too bad Old Nan didn't tell him what the Others DO with the women!
And the other is right at the end of the chapter. I never actually thought of it but the dialog is such a parallel to what happens with Jon and is predicted by no one else than Ned himself:
"He must have crawled away from the other", Jon said. "Or been driven away", their father said, looking at the sixth pup.
This of course would be Ghost who was found away from the mother direwolf and the rest of the pups. And Jon IS driven away to the Wall by the Starks, no matter how I look at it. However, if Jon's last words in the chapter are to be a foreshadowing, then I have faith in him outlasting everyone. When Theon said that the sixth pup will die faster than the others his answer is:
"I think not Greyjoy", he said. "This one belongs to me."
EDIT: I am very unorganized when it comes to book readings. I will probably end up commenting all over the place about something from a different chapter. I'll do my very best to keep to whatever threads you guys decide to do if anyone is interested to read everything Bran. If not, I can stick just as well with one thread. This one.
voice,I like the folder and single threads for chapters idea. It will help keep things from getting to jumbled and messy. How do I go about creating a new folder? I'm a bit of a novice here. Nyx,good that you've managed to start already. I had planned to start last night but got a last minute offer to go watch the football. I'll start today.
voice,I like the folder and single threads for chapters idea. It will help keep things from getting to jumbled and messy. How do I go about creating a new folder? I'm a bit of a novice here. Nyx,good that you've managed to start already. I had planned to start last night but got a last minute offer to go watch the football. I'll start today.
I already made a subforum for you, and moved this thread to it.
I was thinking if you liked that idea we could add links to each chapter to this OP. Within the sub forum, threads are automatically sorted by the most recent comments, so that would help folks find chapters as they read along.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
voice ,Okay I blitzed through the first five chapters earlier today and took a few notes I'll try to get round to creating some new chapter threads tonight if I get time.
voice ,Okay I blitzed through the first five chapters earlier today and took a few notes I'll try to get round to creating some new chapter threads tonight if I get time.
Damn! And here I thought I was quick!
I am only just now opening the book to Bran I, AGOT. LOL
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
Oh, I'm at the third. And I didn't get yet to comment on the second but this thing is too good to pass up. And got me so excited because of course I could not remember this before. Yes, it's been THAT long...
BRAN III
There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.
Is that the FrankenMountain threateningly looming over both the Hound and the Viper?! I think it's time to freak out now. And this is of course the first Bran vision we get.
Oh, I'm at the third. And I didn't get yet to comment on the second but this thing is too good to pass up. And got me so excited because of course I could not remember this before. Yes, it's been THAT long...
BRAN III
There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.
Is that the FrankenMountain threateningly looming over both the Hound and the Viper?! I think it's time to freak out now. And this is of course the first Bran vision we get.
I think it's Ilyn Payne looming over the Hound and Barristan Selmy. But I think I'm in the minority on that one.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
Nyx,I thought of the Mountain straight away with that one too (not sure how to quote properly yet) but its cool to think George might have had a vague outline for even side characters (or the odd couple anyway) even this early on.
I finished the last two Bran chapters of A Game Of Thrones last night and what becomes quite clear is just how much happens to him in just 7 chapters. Finds a mystical beast/pet, gets crippled, is left by everyone in his immediate family except his four year old brother and his dad's dead. Oh plus he's being contacted by a crow which is sending him visions. It's really quick.
Also I think its interesting to see so early on the motivations of the 3 eyed crow. When talking to Bran in the chapter where he awakes (chapter 3, I think), he tells him to forget about Jamie's face. This implies he (Bloodraven, though I don't think his character was worked out at this point) was interested in Bran's abilities and had no interest in influencing the war. After all if Bran had been able to point out that the Lannisters were behind Bran's fall they may have had to contend with the judgment of the crown.
Nyx,I thought of the Mountain straight away with that one too (not sure how to quote properly yet) but its cool to think George might have had a vague outline for even side characters (or the odd couple anyway) even this early on.
The Mountain certainly fits that description. But I think it is noteworthy that Ser Gregor was not present at the Trident... nor was the Viper.
Bran's vision seems to be a realtime one, and I would argue that the characters/places he glimpses are in situ. Rather than be a dream, I believe Bran is experiencing a surveillance-satellite-view, out-of-body spirit flight.
Finds a mystical beast/pet, gets crippled, is left by everyone in his immediate family except his four year old brother and his dad's dead. Oh plus he's being contacted by a crow which is sending him visions. It's really quick.
It really is. Every time I reread, I am always struck by how tight GRRM's writing was in the first book. It's fairly tight in the second...but you can feel the superlatives growing larger. The third moves at a quick pace, but the 4th and 5th double as thesauri for E!, Food, and Travel Networks.
Also I think its interesting to see so early on the motivations of the 3 eyed crow. When talking to Bran in the chapter where he awakes (chapter 3, I think), he tells him to forget about Jamie's face. This implies he (Bloodraven, though I don't think his character was worked out at this point) was interested in Bran's abilities and had no interest in influencing the war. After all if Bran had been able to point out that the Lannisters were behind Bran's fall they may have had to contend with the judgment of the crown.
It seems the awol albino Lord Commander would agree with the 997th Lord Commander:
"When dead men come hunting in the night, do you think it matters who sits the Iron Throne?"
One wonders if Mormont wasn't influenced by his raven.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
The Mountain certainly fits that description. But I think it is noteworthy that Ser Gregor was not present at the Trident... nor was the Viper.
Agree.
we do know that eventually, years and thousands of pages later, the Mountain became un-Gregor and fits the description. But can we believe that Martin would have had this bit of detail mapped out so far in advance, as an author who admits he writes the details as he goes?
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
voice,I'm not really fussed either way on the threads. I think it's been working okay so far as just the one thread as people can just chat generally about what ever point interests them.
One thing I would like to know peoples opinion's on is the final Bran ACOK chapter. In the first one or two paragraphs of his wolf/summer dream he sees a winged snake that's raw is a river of flame and this appears to be in real time not a cryptic vision. Can we take it at face value that we have a living dragon in the north? Or is there another option? I've seen it suggested that it could have been a horse on fire which I don't really buy. Also although Ramsey had Winterfell put to the torch and you'd expect the wooden buildings to go up easily enough its also mentioned that the iron portcullis is warped by fire. I'm not an expert temperatures iron can withstand but I'd imagine it needs to be a fair amount. On the other hand if there was a dragon why has no one mentioned it? It would have been a fairly big deal.
Anyway, I've got one chapter of the reread left now and its been good to do it with other people and throw ideas about.
Hey I think I'll join in, I need a distraction. I kind of like a forensic file idea and having threads to discuss individual chapters so people can refer back to it if one rereads at a later time. Can we try that?
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones