The genius behind the critically acclaimed, and cultural phenomenon "Game of Thrones", George R.R. Martin has cemented himself in the genre of fantasy as the modern day J.R.R. Tolkien -- an author from whom the former draws much of his inspiration. Yet, despite the epic nature of the stories they have told, and are still in the process of telling, Tolkien and Martin could not set farther apart in style and approach to storytelling.
Where Tolkien was romantic as he was lyrical that reminded one of reading a Lord Bryon Poem, Martin is poetic, but more in the manner that is ominous on a level that is perhaps Shakespearean, or even closer to Shakespeare's friend -- Christopher Marlowe. Where the lines of good and evil are clearly drawn in "The Lord of the Rings", "Game of Thrones" unapologetically blurs them, abuses them, and kicks them down the stairs. Mixing the broken pieces into an amalgamation of blood, bones, and mud, and leaving behind a mush made for appetites as primal as the hands that made it. And where good eventually triumphs in the Tolkien universe after a trail of sorrow, for every evil that is excised, the Martin milieu ensures that those among the decent sent packing for another world number that of the Red Wedding the number of corpses and blood. With a trophy case lined with Hugo, Emmy, and Nebulas Awards, here are five of the best lines delivered by The American Tolkien -- George R.R. Martin:
1. “Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.”
One who was often victorious in the war of words, this reflected none the more in George R.R. Martin's adept understanding of politics and diplomacy. In an age where armed conflict is far less common than in medieval times, such misgivings are often prevented by a backroom deal where the closes thing to bloodshed is the ink drying on the signatures that appear at the bottom of piece of paper.
2. "Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same."
Lookbooks and the stories written within them, Martin believes love only offers a temporary form of escape from a world where it remains scarce. That a deluded fixation on the sentiment of its permanence and its ability to conquer all was still not enough to overcome a society defined by shifting alliances made out of the primal instinct to survive and to obtain more power to do so. Just ask Rob Stark.
3. "Bran thought about it. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him."
Nobody understood courage better than Ned Stark, something that was perhaps his downfall. Nevertheless, courage is about facing your fears. Not running from them. Not burying them. Something Lord Stark never did. No matter how much it snowed up in The North. Even with winter coming.
4. “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.”
Identity politics is crucial to how we understand ourselves and those whom we coexist with. Even now, the precedent it holds may even be larger and more influential than its bearing during less enlightened times. Cripple, bastard, dwarf... Black, White, Muslim... we've shifted from prescribing dignity on physiology and birth status to skin color. Which hardly qualifies for change if it can even be called that all. Not to mention how the contemporary era still remains very much sexist and discriminates based on religion. At least people aren't being burned at the stake for not being Catholic. Nevertheless, Martin believed that regardless of our height, parenthood, gender, or race, there was no shame in being who we are. And that while such prejudices are designed to divide and hurt, it is being able to embrace our identity as people that nullify the pain, and allows us to conquer it.
5. "Fear cuts deeper than swords."
Simple but not lacking for subtlety, fear of pain can prove to be as traumatizing as the trauma left behind by real pain.
Rejecting the saccharine tendencies of past works in the canon of literary fantasy, George R. R. Martin has established himself as storytelling icon by rejecting the notion that the efforts of decent people translate into a decent world. Bringing the universe of "Game of Thrones" to life by acknowledging how society remains mired in an ongoing cyclical struggle between good and evil because the world is never entirely bereft of such individuals, Martin attunes his readers to the reality that fear gets the better of mankind as often as evil over good. A fear that has many looking towards the conclusion of "Game of Thrones" with much anxiety. And anticipation.
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