I read it on-line and realized how clueless I'd been
Yes, the internet. Although I don't think you are necessarily clueless. The only people who picked up on it as far as I can tell - either have read the books several times and a lot of meta or picked it up online. I mentioned the mystery about his heritage to my co-workers - who have read all five books and they looked at me blankly and said, what? No, he's obviously Ned Stark's kid. Of course they also think Catelynn is still alive and not undead...so there is that.
I like puzzling them out
Oh, I agree...I enjoy doing it too.
But the problem with GRRM's books is they are too bloody convoluted to begin with - we have over 20 pov's per book, and they aren't the same pov's - he likes to add new ones. New one's that are fairly obscure and don't even names. And he seems far more interested in providing the reader with little details like what it was like to eat seafood soup out of bread trencher on a cold night while listening to old war stories, or how you burn someone alive then actual plot. Which is fine - but this is over-kill. Reading Song of Ice and Fire at times feels like battling one's way through a bramble bush to get to a great garden. The man needs to learn how to prune.
Adding some convoluted puzzle about one of 100 different characters parental lineage...is sort of well like hiding a rose in a bramble bush, after a bit you think - it's just another rose, who cares! Think of the other puzzles the writer has thrown out there - only to drag them out for so bloody long that by the time you are told the resolution, you've either forgotten the puzzle/mystery or you don't care what the answer is.
* The assassination attempt on Bran. (We don't find out until the end of Storm of Swords, and by that time...I no longer cared and the writer had to explain it - because I think he forgot to put the clues in the first two books. They aren't in the tv series at all - so if they ever tell the viewers of the tv series, the viewers will think, "huh"." ) And that by the way - was a far more crucial puzzle than Jon Snow's parentage. But it becomes all rather anti-climatic.
* Who kills Joffrey. (which we find out in Storm, but it's not clear. I had to explain it to someone recently. It too is rather convoluted and anti-climatic.)
I can't really say I care that much who Jon Snow's parents are nor do I understand why it matters - at least from a plot perspective.
I suppose it would matter - from an ironic standpoint. Because it would be incredibly ironic. But since so many of the characters that actually would have cared, are either dead or soon to be dead (I don't see the Lannister's surviving, well except for Tyrion), the irony is bit on the anti-climatic side of the fence.
There is a nice parallel - both Dany and Jon's families have been slaughtered by Lannisters. So both have a beef with the Lannisters. But all the Lannisters will be dead by the time either finish their tasks. Or it gets revealed. That's the frustrating thing about these books - there's really very little sense of catharsis. Outside of a few things here and there. Also, when someone gets their "karmic" reward - you're sort of either rooting for them to be redeemed or you've forgotten about them or stopped caring. (I like the books or aspects of them, but I also find incredibly frustrating at times.)
My hunch is that GRRM's end-game is a Jon Snow/Dany. (ie Jon Snow = Ice, and Dany = Fire, and they are the Song of Ice and Fire in the story - and it's their dual/parallel coming of age tales that are central in the book.) but I could be wrong about that. If that's the case - than yes, Jon Snow's parentage might make a difference, although I'm not sure how - since Dany has no problem marrying relatives. It's hardly taboo in that world. Nor would it make Jon any more King than it would Dany. So I honestly don't see why it matters from that standpoint. Also from Jon's pov - he's Ned's bastard. If he became Rhaegar and Lysanna's kid - he'd still be a bastard, or a Snow. And his parents would still be dead, except he never knew them. Everyone who did know them or cared - is also dead or soon to be dead, so again...why is this relevant?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-04-13 02:52 am (UTC)Yes, the internet. Although I don't think you are necessarily clueless. The only people who picked up on it as far as I can tell - either have read the books several times and a lot of meta or picked it up online. I mentioned the mystery about his heritage to my co-workers - who have read all five books and they looked at me blankly and said, what? No, he's obviously Ned Stark's kid. Of course they also think Catelynn is still alive and not undead...so there is that.
I like puzzling them out
Oh, I agree...I enjoy doing it too.
But the problem with GRRM's books is they are too bloody convoluted to begin with - we have over 20 pov's per book, and they aren't the same pov's - he likes to add new ones. New one's that are fairly obscure and don't even names. And he seems far more interested in providing the reader with little details like what it was like to eat seafood soup out of bread trencher on a cold night while listening to old war stories, or how you burn someone alive then actual plot. Which is fine - but this is over-kill. Reading Song of Ice and Fire at times feels like battling one's way through a bramble bush to get to a great garden. The man needs to learn how to prune.
Adding some convoluted puzzle about one of 100 different characters parental lineage...is sort of well like hiding a rose in a bramble bush, after a bit you think - it's just another rose, who cares! Think of the other puzzles the writer has thrown out there - only to drag them out for so bloody long that by the time you are told the resolution, you've either forgotten the puzzle/mystery or you don't care what the answer is.
* The assassination attempt on Bran. (We don't find out until the end of Storm of Swords, and by that time...I no longer cared and the writer had to explain it - because I think he forgot to put the clues in the first two books. They aren't in the tv series at all - so if they ever tell the viewers of the tv series, the viewers will think, "huh"." ) And that by the way - was a far more crucial puzzle than Jon Snow's parentage. But it becomes all rather anti-climatic.
* Who kills Joffrey. (which we find out in Storm, but it's not clear. I had to explain it to someone recently. It too is rather convoluted and anti-climatic.)
I can't really say I care that much who Jon Snow's parents are nor do I understand why it matters - at least from a plot perspective.
I suppose it would matter - from an ironic standpoint. Because it would be incredibly ironic. But since so many of the characters that actually would have cared, are either dead or soon to be dead (I don't see the Lannister's surviving, well except for Tyrion), the irony is bit on the anti-climatic side of the fence.
There is a nice parallel - both Dany and Jon's families have been slaughtered by Lannisters. So both have a beef with the Lannisters. But all the Lannisters will be dead by the time either finish their tasks. Or it gets revealed. That's the frustrating thing about these books - there's really very little sense of catharsis. Outside of a few things here and there. Also, when someone gets their "karmic" reward - you're sort of either rooting for them to be redeemed or you've forgotten about them or stopped caring. (I like the books or aspects of them, but I also find incredibly frustrating at times.)
My hunch is that GRRM's end-game is a Jon Snow/Dany.
(ie Jon Snow = Ice, and Dany = Fire, and they are the Song of Ice and Fire in the story - and it's their dual/parallel coming of age tales that are central in the book.) but I could be wrong about that. If that's the case - than yes, Jon Snow's parentage might make a difference, although I'm not sure how - since Dany has no problem marrying relatives. It's hardly taboo in that world. Nor would it make Jon any more King than it would Dany. So I honestly don't see why it matters from that standpoint. Also from Jon's pov - he's Ned's bastard.
If he became Rhaegar and Lysanna's kid - he'd still be a bastard, or a Snow. And his parents would still be dead, except he never knew them.
Everyone who did know them or cared - is also dead or soon to be dead, so again...why is this relevant?