Give a Yiti

On Mon, 5 May 2008 12:20:14 -0700 (PDT), Will in New Haven And why is he making such a fuss about a book he won't be reading? And, frankly, about a book that will NEVER COME OUT. Never, I tell you. I'm afraid to say I'm leading to this view myself;  the story has spun out of control and Martin has no idea how to get it back together. I'd like to float a proposition to you. You say that the story has spun out of control. What might cause a story to spin out of control? Being extremely complicated, with scores of characters, dozens of subplots, a back-story of hundreds if not thousands of years, the whole thing supported by (and this shocked me when GRRM described it) only a few pages of hand-written notes.

On Mon, 5 May 2008 12:20:14 -0700 (PDT), Will in New Haven And why is he making such a fuss about a book he won't be reading? And, frankly, about a book that will NEVER COME OUT. Never, I tell you. I'm afraid to say I'm leading to this view myself;  the story has spun out of control and Martin has no idea how to get it back together. I'd like to float a proposition to you. You say that the story has spun out of control. What might cause a story to spin out of control? Being extremely complicated, with scores of characters, dozens of subplots, a back-story of hundreds if not thousands of years, the whole thing supported by (and this shocked me when GRRM described it) only a few pages of hand-written notes. That sure seemed like a dangerous way to proceed when I heard about it. At the time, though, I thought he was doing a really good job of keeping it together. Now I'm not sure it worked. He may have crashed and burned.

It has nothing to do with how long people lived. A 13 year old is still a thirteen year old, barely over being a kid. Incorrect. Due to the dramatic difference in age-to-maturity level, it was considered culturally normative for a 13 year old to display the kind of maturity (both emotional, intellectual and sexual) that is still barely common to today's 30 year old kidults. There are scores of historical documents which show just short life could be in Europe, and it's made very clear: by 13, no one was a kid. People were by relative standards, adults. They were allowed to be kids from age 4 onwards to maybe 7. Remember that Bran is 7 years old in A Game of Thrones and even he is told to behave like a man. This is very much in keeping with the kind of world in which people lived well over seven hundred years ago. Ilya the Recusant

You read it to get a sense of what it was really like in actual history? That's such a blatant display of self-deception. The fact is that History is full of alternate examples. Martin picked and chose what history he would focus on. You like MARTIN'S choice of historical detail . Why? Only you can answer, if you wish to be honest with yourself. Actually, I take that back. You honestly seem to think that you are reading a novel describing a wierd alternate universe that is interesting for it's differences. I'm just trying to remind you that you are reading FICTION, and that it's effects on your perceptions of what is Normal in today's world may not be affected for the better. Wolfspawn.... give it a rest.  You don't like these books. Fine.  Why not pour this same level of detailed dissection on other books?  Anita Blake. Heinlein.  Piers Anthony. Mercedes Lackey.  Anne McCaffery.  H.G. Wells.  Even my faves... Cherryh and Lee&Miller, and heaven help you if you ever read the Malazan books.  You can find _object_ionable material in just about any author.  But only Martin seems to raise this level of invective from you.  Why is that? Rebecca

I'd like to float a proposition to you. You say that the story has spun out of control. What might cause a story to spin out of control? Being extremely complicated, with scores of characters, dozens of subplots, a back-story of hundreds if not thousands of years, the whole thing supported by (and this shocked me when GRRM described it) only a few pages of hand-written notes. That sure seemed like a dangerous way to proceed when I heard about it. At the time, though, I thought he was doing a really good job of keeping it together. Now I'm not sure it worked. He may have crashed and burned. AFfC was certainly a bad sign.  I'm waiting for the next one (assuming it's ever published) before I give up entirely.

still a thirteen year old, barely over being a kid. How old did Martin say Khal Drogo was? The point is the disparity in age, and the lingering over the
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