Game of Thrones - A Man Without Honor...

Saw Game of Thrones: "A Man Without Honor" last night and was reminded of why I stuck with reading the books. Or what I loved about the books - the moral ambiguity.

This review by Maureen Ryan on Huffington Post does a rather good job of summing up many of the elements of the episode and why it worked for me. Although I admittedly got lost during the Dany/Quarth political scenes. Did in the book too. To many characters, damn it.

Once you read that review, you might understand why Jamie Lannister is one of my favorite characters.

At any rate, it's this bit here from her review that ...worked for me. And I thought, yes, this, precisely.
( spoilers for Game of Thrones )

Oh, brief list of favorite characters from GoT/books in no particular order:

1. Jamie (although he gets on my nerves in Feast of Crows, actually everyone got on my nerves in that book...it is bone-draggingly slow.)
2. Ayra
3. Tyrion
4. Ygritte
5. Arrya (Theon's Sister - she rocks in Feast of Crows, I don't remember her showing up before then, but then I admittedly have forgotten most of Clash of Kings)
6. Dany
7. Ser Jorah Mormount
8. Sam Tramwell
9. Bran and Osha
10. Cersei (in the tv show, I can't stand her in the books...she's grating to me)
11. Tywin Lannister
12. Bronn
13. Shae (in the tv show, she annoys me in the books)
14. Brienne
15. Spyder (Varys)

I can't say I'm much of a Robb or Jon Snow fan...although I like them better in the tv series than I did in the books and they are easy on the eyes. Catelynne is also more likeable in the tv series than the books. She annoyed me until Storm of Swords in the books.

(no subject)

1. Well this quote from Mark Watches sort of nails why I got obsessed with Spike, Whedon and the series:

Spike rehearsing with a Buffy mannequin. HELP ME. What has this show done to his character? Like, I had a moment during this episode where all I could think of was how he used to be when he was first introduced. HE IS NOTHING LIKE THAT ANYMORE. Oh my god, it’s just so fascinating to watch.

Rarely does this happen. A character being changed, having the layers taken away bit by bit. And when it does, it is rarely done this well. When it is done well - it is magic. Say what you will about Whedon or this series...that blew me away.

Actually what also blew me away about Buffy - is I went into it pretty much the same way everyone else did...expecting Charmed or Vamp Diaries or Grimm or Supernatural maybe. You don't tend to expect much from these types of series - they are marketed towards a tween audience, have angsty romance, campy mysteries, and silly monsters. They are fun. But hardly deep. Yes, we get fannish about them. But...still they are pulpy fun. I let them get a way with a lot. Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad (yes, I hate this show but admit it is brilliantly written - I can hate brilliant tv shows, I claim that right, actually I'd probably hate it less if it was not brilliant), Mad Men, Sopranoes - these aren't.
But Buffy surprised me. Much like it is surprising Mark and just about everyone else who makes it past the first season, possibly the second. Whedon did things I didn't think you could pull off. And are rarely done. Or done even remotely well. He broke the envelope and changed tv as a result. I may want to strangle him at times for his victimized little girl trope fetish (which a lot of people share for a variety of reasons and I only recently got annoyed at - blame GWDT, Dollhouse and the Buffy comics), but he does experiment and play with genre along with the audiences expectations regarding genre. Whedon is genre/pop culture geek's dream come true. Why else do you think geeks everywhere are all over him? Hello?

2. Since I can no longer escape and read my lj flist during lunch or any entertainment blogs or articles during lunch (damn evil governmental work place - can't they lift the ban at lunch time), I am entertaining myself at lunchtime by reading book reviews on Amazon.com. Specifically of bad contemporary romance novels. These are hilarious.

Examples:

1.It's hard to know what to say about this book. I gagged at some of the comments made by other readers about abuse and abusers. Life is what it is and unfortunately abuse and abusers are reality. I don't really see how they made the connection because Travis wasn't abusive, he was just misguided and emotionally stuck. Abby was a very believable character as was America. Parts of the storyline repeated but I didn't mind. The tension between the leads was unbelievable. I don't think I've read better. I read it in 24 hours if that says anything. Some of it may have been out there but I still couldn't put it down.

2.I keep this short and simple. This book was a good book. My only complaints is that Pidge, the main character, was annoying. She kept pushing Travis away (granted he's no mdel citizen), but my thing is if you forgive somebody forgive them. Don'y keep bringing up old things for from the past because it becomes a pain after awhile. As for the love scene it was "okay". I wasn't impressed by it because the author doesn't go too indepth with her details. Other than that this book was great!

3.I would have to say that this is easy one of the best books I've read in my life and I've read hundreds, maybe almost a thousand. The story is beautifully written, simple and sweet...you just cannot put it down until the end...I would have to say that I thoroughly enjoy it from beginning to end. It's a romance but not stupid sheepish romance kinda story, if you know what I mean...it 's a kind of story that makes you have that warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach like when you're in love! :) Recommended!

[Okay, clearly you have only been reading really bad books...because seriously it's Not that good.]

4.The moment I finished the sample I knew I had to get the book. I really couldn't put it down at first. Then I realized that the events in the story were kind of repetitive & I began to get disappointed in the way that everything started to unfold. It was a good book, their relationship was nuts & i loved every second of it don't get me wrong but It's just so unrealistic. Guys don't go from whores to husbands. I'm very into the fictional romances though so I'm all for it. If you're looking for a realistic romance don't read this book. If you're looking for a thrilling, chaotic story then this is for you.

5. This book had so much hype behind it that I bought it thinking it would be a great read. I was definitely left unfulfilled. I will never understand how a supposed bad ass guy becomes a love struck begging puppy and why the girl takes the guy back after she's treated like crap. I think this book is written more for YA crowd than an adult who has adult relationships.

6.I have never left a review before, but this book inspired me to finally write one. It was that bad.

First off, the characters are awful. Abby is vapid and Travis belongs in prison. I know that it's fiction and just romantic fantasy, and I'm a lover of the alpha male as much as the next girl, but Travis needs help. There is nothing redeeming about him...at all. He's abusive, controlling, misogynistic and violent. I don't know why so many reviewers seem so head over heels for this character. If I met someone like him in real life, I'd run far and fast.

As for the plot, oy. It was going ok until the whole professional card playing in Vegas/mob thing came out of absolutely no where, and it added zero to the plot. It got even more ridiculous after that.

At the end, if it were true to the characters, Travis would be in prison for killing Abby in a blind jealous rage.

Don't waste your time with this one, folks. I will no longer trust the bloggers that highly recommended this drivel.

7.I was horrified by this book, and even more horrified by the glowing reviews that readers gave it. This book is about a "romance" between two young college students. As a therapist, I was completely overwhelmed by the level of dysfunction of a relationship that we are supposed to view as ideal. The man in the relationship is controlling, obsessive, abusive, and violent. The narrator Abby is just an idiot. Some people claim that this is a young adult novel, if my child was reading this book I would be very very scared.

8.If you are looking for a perfect, hard to believe this is real, romance...this book is not it! The story is very real and honest; it does not shy away from the problems that emerge between Travis and Abby (I started to write Pigeon, for those that have read the book!) They are far from the perfect couple, sometimes immature, but real. Sometimes their reactions to situations were frustrating but I could see myself reacting the same way once I really thought about it. The romance definitely built up throughout the book and kept you begging for it to actually happen. There were some twists and turns that were very entertaining in which I did not see coming. I did also read that the author is planning to write the story from Travis's point of view!

9.I, personally, found this book boring and repetitive. The characters were silly and it seemed very juvenile except for the boring sex scenes.

Go here for more


LOL! We go from "this is the best book EVER!" to "How could you possibly love this book you stupid person you!" (I shouldn't find this as entertaining as I do...but...it is addictive. I love reading these reviews. They are so emotional.)

Highly entertaining and oddly comforting. People are so judgmental of each other's tastes and so incapable of understanding that other people do not look at the world the same way they do, and that's okay. Cubicle mentality is what we call it at the office - describing someone who can't see outside their own job, own duties, and own world-view. Or inability to see the world outside of your cubicle. I call it tunnel vision.

Also, people forget that often we like to read about abusive relationships in fiction to understand them better...or to comfort ourselves with the thought - thank god, I don't have that. As bad as my life gets - it could be so much worse.

The book I'm reading now - which was described in the reviews above reminds me a great deal of some Everybody's Human Spike/Buffy fanfics...to such an extent, that I can't help but wonder if the writer is a Spuffy fanfic writer.


Off to make gluten-free spaghetti and meatballs - I always crave it at this point in the month.

11 Question Meme

Courtesy honorh

I don't tend to do memes the way you are supposed to...I just grabbed the questions I could answer.
( the questions provided )

Okay here's mine. Part of the meme is providing your own eleven questions. I'll answer mine in a later post..

1. Name a favorite actor or actress and explain why they are your favorite?

2. What one thing would you change about a favorite movie, tv show or book that you are fan of? That would make that book, movie or tv show perfect in your opinion?

3. Name a favorite book from your childhood that you still recall vividly and love to this day?

4. Who is the fictional character that you most admire? Why?

5. If you could give a million dollars to any charity - which one would it be?

6. What country other than the one you are currently residing in would you want to live in?

7. Name your happy place - a place that makes you happy?

8. Name a happy book or tv show or film that makes you laugh or smile?

9. Name three fictional characters that you would want to invite to dinner?

10. What two fictional universes would you like to merge?

11. Name three characters real or imagined that you would like to rewrite or change their canonical story? (Not quite the same as fanfic, here you would literally change their canonical story arc - so that the old one did not exist and this one did - like traveling back in time and re-writing their history) And what would it be?