TheBastardOfBoro Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I have not read the books yet. However I would really like to and plan on doing so when the show is officially finished. I have chosen to delay reading the books because I don't want to compare the two whilst the show is still running and by waiting for the show to finish I can prolong enjoying the universe GRRM has created. So.... I am setting myself up to approach the watching of the show and reading of the books with this mentality; The show is a story someone is telling me, kind of like an Old Nan type figure. I have no way of knowing if it's true or accurate. Then when the show is finished I will start to read the books. I will read the books with a mentality that this is the actual truth. As if I have gained some kind of omnipresent power and that I know for definite that this is the factually correct version of events. That way, this mentality will compensate for all the things the show left out. All the characters that got changed, portrayed differently or not included at all. Because obviously when someone recounts a story things can become twisted, forgotten or biased. I think this approach will help me enjoy them both in their own way as much as possible. So if you have not read the books yet but plan on doing so; When do you plan on doing so and what approach will you take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AugustusTheGreat Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Honestly, the books lose a lot of readability early on, because it mirrors the TV show a lot. Its only later on after grinding the first couple of books do you start to see some very new plotlines emerge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Ghost of Someone Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I love the books but I recommend not reading them until the show is finished in 2 years. By then, GRRM will have released his second to last book and you will get the full enrichment of the story without being obscured by the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 On 8/7/2016 at 0:13 PM, AugustusTheGreat said: Honestly, the books lose a lot of readability early on, because it mirrors the TV show a lot. Its only later on after grinding the first couple of books do you start to see some very new plotlines emerge. The show loses so much of the internal struggle through their choices to not make up for it with dialogue, soliloquy, flashback, or other devices for communicating characters internal feelings, which completely changed how I saw Ned and Cat, who are big carriers of the story early on. A lot of the events are the same, but the why and so what are often different or have additional depth, so I don't think it particularly loses a lot of readability. The aging down of of Jon and Dany can be annoying when they act younger when you have the more mature versions in the show, but at the same time it can help explain some of the outbursts (particularly with angsty Jon). None of it was ever a problem for me (I came to the book after season 3). ETA: Also, I really suggest waiting. Know what D&D are working off of makes what they put out infuriating. Let yourself enjoy the show another 2 years before you can become retroactively mad at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancerman Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Characters that are heavily defined by internal dialogue have a different perspective in the book. Per the poster above me, Ned and Cat are a great example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AugustusTheGreat Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 45 minutes ago, JonSnow4President said: The show loses so much of the internal struggle through their choices to not make up for it with dialogue, soliloquy, flashback, or other devices for communicating characters internal feelings, which completely changed how I saw Ned and Cat, who are big carriers of the story early on. A lot of the events are the same, but the why and so what are often different or have additional depth, so I don't think it particularly loses a lot of readability. The aging down of of Jon and Dany can be annoying when they act younger when you have the more mature versions in the show, but at the same time it can help explain some of the outbursts (particularly with angsty Jon). None of it was ever a problem for me (I came to the book after season 3). ETA: Also, I really suggest waiting. Know what D&D are working off of makes what they put out infuriating. Let yourself enjoy the show another 2 years before you can become retroactively mad at it. I am not much of a "big book" reader, so reading the first book so far has felt tedious so far because I know what will happen to most of the characters. Im not mad at the TV show at all, because season one is very true to the material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 1 hour ago, AugustusTheGreat said: I am not much of a "big book" reader, so reading the first book so far has felt tedious so far because I know what will happen to most of the characters. Im not mad at the TV show at all, because season one is very true to the material. I'm retroactively mad at certain elements of season 1 because of where certain decisions have led. Minor things there are the earlier signs of a pattern that will be particularly bad later on (changes to Jon/Ned/Cat/Tyrion characterization for example). Separating the show from the discussion for the moment, I have found each subsequent reread to be more enjoyable, because there is so much depth to the story and character actions that you simply cannot catch it on one, two, or even three reads. I like to read for the why more than the what though, so maybe that's what's causing me to not feel fatigued by reading through the story I've already been exposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBastardOfBoro Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Yeah all of the replies so far are kind of what I assumed would be true, hence me wanting to wait. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashes Of Westeros Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 I started reading books when I watched s4 if I'm not mistaken. So my vision of characters is really influenssed by the TV show. But I don't mind. From the other side, reading books parallely helped me to understand story lines as well as character's intentions much better: Spoiler For example, Roose Bolton's treachery is hardly explained in the show, but in the books you get more insight on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel4s-JonSnow Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Honestly the books and the show are two different beasts. Its two very different media and different aims and audiences. I think its perfectly viable to enjoy both at the same time and take them for what they are rather than constantly try and compare the two. The show aims for a more fast paced, exciting style of storytelling, is far simpler and clearly lacks the depth and character development of the books, as well as most of the political manouverings. The books are heftier, slower and far more intricate and weaving, sometimes frustratingly so, but they create a huge almost believable world. The way I take it is that the show can give me the bare bones of the plot and tell me essentially what happens to the main characters and it will do it in a way that keeps me entertained and engrossed. But if I wanna know more or see the full 'real' picture of the story I can read the books, and the story will feel very different. Its really not a problem for me to enjoy both. (Even though I don't think the show is perfect, and certainly neither are the books) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnowed Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 There are some differences but you could read the first three books now and and I do not think it would spoil your enjoyment of either media much. There is one notable exception which is the ending of the third book, this has been excluded from the TV show (thus far and almost permanently excluded) which may come as a huge shock to you. The fourth and fifth books things diverge and there is a clearly different feel although most of the main plot points are similar, a number of secondary characters are either cut, in an entirely different place or doing behaving very diffrently. That said, these books operate at a very different pace to the first three and introduce a wave of new characters who don't really do too much in terms of moving the plot forward, I was therefore left with a sensation of this could have been done much better reading through some of the chapters. My feel is that the latest season of the show will hit the main plot points of the next book but the details will be different, so I would hold on reading books four, five and six until the show officially ends. Whether we ever get a final book/ADOS is up in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSSELL BELL Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 On 07/08/2016 at 6:13 PM, AugustusTheGreat said: Honestly, the books lose a lot of readability early on, because it mirrors the TV show a lot. Its only later on after grinding the first couple of books do you start to see some very new plotlines emerge. Yeah I definitely noticed it with book one. Its literally like reading a script for the show with slightly more detail because it is adapted so faithfully. It was a real struggle to get through and I stopped reading for ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolorous Gabe Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 On 8/9/2016 at 0:24 AM, A Ghost of Someone said: I love the books but I recommend not reading them until the show is finished in 2 years. By then, GRRM will have released his second to last book and you will get the full enrichment of the story without being obscured by the show. this is what I recommend to friends now. Finish the show but absolutely read the books once it's over. On 8/7/2016 at 6:13 PM, AugustusTheGreat said: Honestly, the books lose a lot of readability early on, because it mirrors the TV show a lot. Its only later on after grinding the first couple of books do you start to see some very new plotlines emerge. I didn't find this at all. I saw season 1 before reading the books. They are similar but I thoroughly enjoyed the added richness and insight into character thoughts and motivations when I read the books. I admit I did speed up massively when I got beyond what I had seen onscreen though (not that I was going slowly before, but I did read all of A Storm Of Swords in only a few days). On 8/9/2016 at 7:21 AM, TheBastardOfBoro said: Yeah all of the replies so far are kind of what I assumed would be true, hence me wanting to wait. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into them though. As suggested above, I also recommend waiting till the show has finished. What I also recommend is trying to throw away any opinions you have of characters that were derived from the show. Some of the characters are presented in a fundamentally different way. Try to start it with a clean slate for all the characters and see if any of them surprise you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly A Mormont Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I have read books and book series that have later came out with movie or tv series. Every time, I was sadly disappointed with the later. I have made the resolution to never watch something that I have already read. My imagination is far more powerful than what can be visually produced. Therefore, if I watch something and enjoyed it, and I find myself intrigued with how much deeper the original author could take me, then I would consider reading the book(s). But if I ever find time for fiction again, I would start again where I left off with the Sword of Truth series many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Grizzly A Mormont said: I have read books and book series that have later came out with movie or tv series. Every time, I was sadly disappointed with the later. I have made the resolution to never watch something that I have already read. My imagination is far more powerful than what can be visually produced. Therefore, if I watch something and enjoyed it, and I find myself intrigued with how much deeper the original author could take me, then I would consider reading the book(s). But if I ever find time for fiction again, I would start again where I left off with the Sword of Truth series many years ago. IMO, this is one of the deeper series I've ever read. It's definitely a candidate if you're looking to dig deeper into a story you've seen the visual adaptation of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkstream Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 On 09/08/2016 at 3:30 AM, Channel4s-JonSnow said: The way I take it is that the show can give me the bare bones of the plot and tell me essentially what happens to the main characters and it will do it in a way that keeps me entertained and engrossed. But if I wanna know more or see the full 'real' picture of the story I can read the books, and the story will feel very different. Its really not a problem for me to enjoy both. (Even though I don't think the show is perfect, and certainly neither are the books) Not really, the characters from ASOIAF are not in GOT, and their namesakes in the show don't experience any of the same events that the book characters do, anymore. And I would consider "bare bones" to be a generous assessment. I would liken the show's plots, in comparison to the book's, as decomposed bone. Nothing left, but a trace of dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel4s-JonSnow Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 1 hour ago, Darkstream said: Not really, the characters from ASOIAF are not in GOT, and their namesakes in the show don't experience any of the same events that the book characters do, anymore. And I would consider "bare bones" to be a generous assessment. I would liken the show's plots, in comparison to the book's, as decomposed bone. Nothing left, but a trace of dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TepidHands Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 When you do begin the books, OP, there are wonderful guides over on the novels side of Westeros.org here (just note the sheer number of theory posts!). Ran and Linda have created a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge here (and a tangible one in the World of Ice and Fire, which I highly recommend if you're curious about history). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBastardOfBoro Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Thanks Tepid Hands. I will check it out. I do read the ASOIAF wiki stuff and love it. I can't wait to delve deeper. What a gift GRRM has given the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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