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Would i get a better understanding of the show if i read the books?


Feologild

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I'd say yes and no. Yes because you'll understand who the characters are (there are so  many of them its hard to keep track who's who on the show sometimes) and also people's motivations better. No because the tv show has completely gone off track on 90% of the story lines. (Arya's being the only exception that I can think of)

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I'd recommend NOT reading the 4th and 5th books.  However since you've watched the first 4 seasons already I say go ahead and read the first 3 books.  The adaptation is reasonably close in terms of plot and you will in fact get more information about what's going on inside characters heads (what motivates them).  

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Not really. The show is self-explanatory. Freeze framing the title sequences or shots with particular characters in them will get you up to speed on most things a lot faster than the books will. There is also the Wikia Wiki, which will give you the background of show characters for the whole series so far, if you don't want to watch them all again.  Although there are a lot of minor characters you might not even be interested in if you haven't read the books. , 

The books might make you more appreciative of the pains taken by the showrunners / producers/directors/actors/props and set dressers to render a faithful adaptation. More likely they will make you picky and critical of these people when you feel they have made the wrong decision, or have failed to measure up.

If you were a pedant anyway, there won't be much difference. I've never met anyone who stopped watching the show after reading the books, but I've met plenty who get ticked off at every episode, and swear they are going to.

There are no huge show spoilers left in the first three books, but  LiveFirstDieLater has an important point: the books won't spoil the show, but the show really stuffs around your ability to think clearly about the books.

There are all these important little points that get screwed up - for example,

Spoiler

in the books the Sons of the Harpy don't wear masks, but the guys fighting against them do.

Book Catelyn insists that Ned must accept the post of Hand of the King. Book Stannis's King's Men worship the Old Gods. Book Qartheen do not invoke soumai. The show is so vivid and the subtle differences are so numerous, it is very easy to mix up  show characters and motivations and circumstances with book ones, which won't affect your ability to follow the show at all, but will severely affect your ability to accurately work out what is going on between the lines in the book.

As a show watcher, you won't care, but  you should know that if you read the books, there is a close to 100% probability that you will become a book reader, and then misremembered show details will spoil your speculations, analysis, and understanding of characters and events. Then it will really annoy you. But what can you do? Apart from waiting until after you read Winds of Winter, before watching season six (assuming you have the hope and self-discipline) , the damage is already done.

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Reading book 1 will help you understand the show a lot better. It's the closest part of the story to the show in terms of actually representing the characters as they are written in the books. You get to step inside their heads to see what they are thinking and that is something a show can't really do (unless it's told with a narrator which GoT isn't). But after the first season I doubt it will help understand much more. Why a lot of book readers will say that the show no longer makes sense is that so many of the characters are now very different people. Jaime, Littlefinger, Sansa, Cersei, Doran, Stannis, Varys, Daenerys etc etc  You will pick up some extra tidbits, but what the characters are thinking now is nothing like what the characters in the show are thinking because it doesn't match their actions.

So read book one and see what you think. If you enjoy reading you will probably want to read the rest of the series, not to understand the show better but rather because it is awesome.

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On 13 February 2016 at 3:47 AM, Good Guy Garlan said:

You don't have to read the books to understand that. Just watching season 5 should be enough. 

Yep, season 5 was just the worse, I find it hard to sit through without getting upset. It makes me worry about what they are about to serve up to us in season 6

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35 minutes ago, Neds Secret said:

Yep, season 5 was just the worse, I find it hard to sit through without getting upset. It makes me worry about what they are about to serve up to us in season 6

I'm not afraid at all, I'm convinced it will be worse than s 5. My only question is, how much worse? 

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On February 13, 2016 at 8:26 AM, Slowpoke Martin said:

That's not true at all, I began by watching the show and because of that I had a much greater understanding of the books and the numerous underlying themes.

So don't reply like an arrogant asshole just because you may not appreciate the show.

Oh also, it was the show that helped spark a MASSIVE increase in book sales, not the pretentious attitude of book purists like you.

I love the show, as its own form of entertainment...

But if it helped you understand the books then I seriously doubt you understand the books... And for the record this is a book forum.

Finally, I really could not care less about book sales, and I'm sorry if you were offended by what I thought was a funny answer... But fuck you and the horse you rode in on

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2 hours ago, LiveFirstDieLater said:

I love the show, as its own form of entertainment...

But if it helped you understand the books then I seriously doubt you understand the books... And for the record this is a book forum.

Finally, I really could not care less about book sales, and I'm sorry if you were offended by what I thought was a funny answer... But fuck you and the horse you rode in on

And a good day to you as well.

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Once you read the books you'll probably get frustrated with the show. That has happened to me. I do not regret reading the books. That was a good decision on my part and the content in the books kept me entertained and I enjoy rereading them at least once a year.There is so much more of the story, the actual story. The show is on its own path now. It is very different from the books and plays on other dynamics.

If you enjoy fantasy you'll love these books and even enjoy some of the theories floating around these forums.

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