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If GRRM wrote himself into his books


StarkofWinterfell

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44 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

Really? I'm not really sure the Elder Brother had any character. I only remember him as some sort of monastic guy who doesn't like warfare all that much since the Trident.

I can't find a link, but The Fattest Leach remembered it too. She probably characterized it better than I did saying " GRRM did say that a part of him leaked into EB speech about politics and war. "

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No.

When a author write himself in his book it is a embodiment and when it happens we generally have a type of character known as Mary Sue/Gary Stu, a character that is flawless, too perfect, that overcome all obstacles easily and defeat all enemies handily and that every single character likes. A Gary Stu is boring and difficult to relate to. That is a mistake made by beginners and it would be surprising seeing George committing such mistake. 

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3 hours ago, Arrow of the Morning said:

No.

When a author write himself in his book it is a embodiment and when it happens we generally have a type of character known as Mary Sue/Gary Stu, a character that is flawless, too perfect, that overcome all obstacles easily and defeat all enemies handily and that every single character likes. A Gary Stu is boring and difficult to relate to. That is a mistake made by beginners and it would be surprising seeing George committing such mistake. 

Generally maybe, but not always. Just off the top of my head from two books I read very recently, David Mitchell writes a character of an author getting terribly harsh but accurate reviews for what's basically the actual book we're reading, and Markus Suzak depicts himself as a kind of an asshole who does horrible things to his characters for fun. 

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5 hours ago, Arrow of the Morning said:

No.

When a author write himself in his book it is a embodiment and when it happens we generally have a type of character known as Mary Sue/Gary Stu, a character that is flawless, too perfect, that overcome all obstacles easily and defeat all enemies handily and that every single character likes. A Gary Stu is boring and difficult to relate to. That is a mistake made by beginners and it would be surprising seeing George committing such mistake. 

Um, no.

Self-inserts, and even wish-fulfilment exercises, are not Mary Sues. As long as the world isn't twisted to suit the insert character's needs, it's fine (for a very old example, see Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner from 1820, where the author turns up in a cameo). And frankly Jon Snow is a Mary Sue without being an authorial insert.  

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11 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Really? I'm not really sure the Elder Brother had any character. I only remember him as some sort of monastic guy who doesn't like warfare all that much since the Trident.

That's pretty much the definition of an author insert: creating a "character" who gets to give a long speech which you totally agree with.

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22 minutes ago, FuzzyJAM said:

That's pretty much the definition of an author insert: creating a "character" who gets to give a long speech which you totally agree with.

Well, but wasn't the guy with the great speech Septon Meribald, not the Elder Brother?

There are many such inserts in the books, though. For instance, George has also revealed that he pretty much agrees with Varys' concept of power as a shadow on the wall.

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41 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

Well, but wasn't the guy with the great speech Septon Meribald, not the Elder Brother?

There are many such inserts in the books, though. For instance, George has also revealed that he pretty much agrees with Varys' concept of power as a shadow on the wall.

Oh, my bad, I was thinking of Meribald.

That Varys point did sound a little like the author's voice too.  IDK if they're all that frequent though - characters don't often pontificate in lengthy elegant speeches on enlightened critiques of their culture.

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9 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Well, but wasn't the guy with the great speech Septon Meribald, not the Elder Brother?

There are many such inserts in the books, though. For instance, George has also revealed that he pretty much agrees with Varys' concept of power as a shadow on the wall.

Yes, I think I confused the two initially. My bad.

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