A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings
by George R.R. Martin
A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2
read: 2013

I started watching the HBO series Game of Thrones before reading the books in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, so I have the perspective of knowing some of what's going to happen. It's interesting where the book and series differ. The first season of the show tracks the first book A Game of Thrones, pretty well. Season 2, based on A Clash of Kings, deviates a bit more. I'd say there are two main impulses: 1) cutting on down on elaborate battle scenes, I'm guessing primarily for cost reasons but also because of time and maybe also because there aren't a lot of little person stunt doubles for Peter Dinklage, and 2) cutting down on the sheer number of characters in Martin's series. Rather than introducing a whole bunch of minor characters and historical characters throughout the series, it's just easier to ascribe actions to more-established characters so we don't have to constantly ask, "Wait, who is that guy?" There are enough characters, honestly. I would probably be pretty lost reading the series if I hadn't seen it on TV already.

Everything Is Illuminated

Everything Is Illuminated
by Jonathan Safron Foer
read: 2013
Guardian 1000 Novels

It's not that I didn't like Everything Is Illuminated ... it's just that it seemed very calculated, like it was trying to appeal to me. The humor, the epic sweep of history, the moments of emotional poignance, the family connections, memory, loss, love, tragedy ... it's all there. But it felt a bit contrived. It's the same problem I have with Zooey Deschanel.

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones
by George R.R. Martin
A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1
read: 2013

Professor Corey Olsen, in his course on J.R.R. Tolkien, starts the class by talking about medieval literature. One of the characteristics of medieval literature is an affection for the past: modern life is decayed, corrupted, and generally inferior to days of yore. In George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, we see some themes along this line - the disappearance of dragons, the loss of magic, the softening of youth who have never seen winter - but it's impossible to argue that the novel glorifies this era. The world is dirty. Poor people eat raw rats. Even kings die of infection. Death by freezing, hunger, and exposure is everywhere. Incest, rape, and bastard children abound. We mostly see Martin's world through the eyes of the kings, lords, and knights, but we're reminded throughout that the poor are starving, freezing, miserable, and constantly at the mercy of those who play "the game of thrones."

Moral ambiguity also sets A Song of Ice and Fire, the larger group of novels A Game of Thrones is part of, apart from other fantasy worlds. There isn't a dark evil force that the good guys are battling. The Lannisters do some awful things, but Tyrion Lannister is one of the most sympathetic and likeable characters. The morality is a lot less black-and-white than in most novels of the genre, and that sets up some interesting dynamics, where characters the reader likes are pitted against one another.

From Russia with Love

From Russia with Love
by Ian Fleming
read: 2013

Apparently From Russia with Love was one of President Kennedy's favorite novels, which is kind of terrifying, especially in light of how he and his staff handled the Communist threat in Vietnam. Fleming paints the Russians as cold and calculating, in contrast to the English who can be swayed by human feelings and foibles (a bit ironic given how Americans often characterize the Brits). The scheming chessmaster Kronsteen explicitly notes the advantages of asexuality in secret service work, and we see this in Red Grant and in Rosa Klebb. No U.S. foreign policy was actually based on this stuff, right?

This was my favorite Bond film, and while the book and the movie lined up more than in Moonraker or Live and Let Die, there are some interesting differences. The first third or so of the book is entirely from the perspective of the Russians, and James Bond is only mentioned in passing. We're meant to appreciate the ruthlessness and cunning of SMERSH and Soviet intelligence. In the movie, SMERSH isn't even the enemy; Grant and Klebb work for SPECTRE. And the battle on the Orient Express is certainly more epic and memorable, though Robert Shaw isn't as physically imposing as the novel suggests Grant should be.