This is in no way intended to bash those of you that read the books before the show came out (you are of course the purest of all fans!) or those of you that chose to read the books once they watched (and loved) the first season of the television show (most of my friends and family). In my estimation these things will only add to the experience. What got cut and why, was it the right call, what do I REALLY miss, etc. Martin I can rewatch the show and appreciate it on the more academic and critical level so many of you are enjoying it on now. Doing it in this order allows me to preserve all the best suspense and surprises of the television show and then later delve more deeply into material I already love.Īnd if I still haven't had enough of the world of George R.
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And once I have completed that experience, I fully intend to experience the books for what I hope (and somewhat expect) will be a brilliant series of fantasy novels. Since the books are naturally more dense and layered, it makes sense to me that I finish experiencing this brilliant television show for what it is - a brilliant television show.
At the same time, I also feel confident that reading the books after watching the entire series will still be a fantastic experience. I feel confident that knowing about these events prior to their execution on television (or them being lost on the cutting room floor) would diminish the purity with which I am viewing the show. While it's an interesting academic and critical experience to watch and speculate how they're going to handle things like cutting off Jamie Lannister's hand or The Red Wedding (gods, THE RED WEDDING.I WILL NEVER RECOVER), it's ultimately much sweeter for me to experience them for the first time in a visual medium. Watching the television show blind without any expectations preserves all of the plot developments, surprises, and the utter shock as the show delivers its fatal blows (and the occasional sweet one). I'm sure I'd still enjoy it - in fact, I'd probably enjoy it in a whole new way, but it would take away so much of what is utterly brilliant about the viewing experience. Potential spoilers (for the television show only) from here on out. no matter how good the source material may be. I am extremely hesitant to give up a near perfect, spoiler-free television watching experience. And thus, quite simply, I cannot bear to have my existing Game of Thrones viewing experience taken from me. Sure, we're going through a particularly lovely age of television - Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Homeland, Girls, Veep, The Good Wife, House of Cards (I could go on) - but even in this golden age, it's still infinitely easier for me to find a brilliant book than a brilliant television series. It's easier for me to find books I love than television I love.Īs a result, I am extremely hesitant to give up a near perfect, spoiler-free television watching experience (as Game of Thrones has been) no matter how good the source material may be. The endless and constant refrain from every person I know that I should "read the books."īut here's the incredibly simple reason why I'm not going to do that, and why y'all should stop hassling me: I look up invented languages on the internet in my spare time, and I even enjoy that stupid Time Warner Cable commercial featuring Drogon because I MISS EVERYTHING SO MUCH. I love GoT so much, I am in some kind of super mourning now that I have to wait a year for the next season. I cannot get enough, and it is on track to becoming my favorite television show of all time-right up there with The Wire, The West Wing, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer (and yes, I'm aware that one of those kind of doesn't belong).