Reading Dance & Feast together... this really bothered me

[A Crow Come Over]

Why on earth did GRRM have the same scene from the POV of both Sam and Jon? I don't know why, but this REALLY bothered me on my re-read. No other scenes are like that and it could have easily been written to not read the exact same dialogue twice. Anybody else find it irritating?

aside from the fact that it was a really cool idea, it helps tie the chronology of the two books, remember they came out 5 yrs apart.

[Newstar]

Actually, I really liked it. Both men are keeping secrets from the other, despite being friends and Brothers, and there's lots of little touches that make me believe it's the same event totally viewed from two perspectives. Then again, Rashomon is one of my favourite movies.

I like it, too. Funny we don't get more "Rashomon" moments in the books--the same conversation viewed from two POV perspectives--and the fact that we don't leads me to think GRRM included this particular conversation twice as a way of highlighting its significance. Sam's POV also ends with Jon's parting words.

[SeanF]

I liked it. As some said, it shows the perspective problem.

From Sam's POV, we see how hardened Jon Snow has become, so coldly decisive like the Starks of old - a commander first and a friend second (or not at all). But Sam's POV also shows us what Jon also does not understand about him. One important thing being that Sam can keep a secret - namely that of Bran heading North - even though this might soften up Jon a bit, Sam in a also chooses keeping his word over being a friend.

From Jon's POV, we see him trying so hard to do the right thing. We see what he knows about the two babies, and the rest of what is going on with Stannis and Melisandre, and the wildlings. Jon is pulled in many directions at once, and not as confident as the image he projects. Jon makes a decision to do a small cruelty to avoid a larger kindness, but this is also a brutal decision because he has to send a child away from its mother's arms, and that is (unwittingly) the parallel with Eddard and himself.

Ultimately, the sad thing is we see that the world around Jon reacted to Jon's actions much the same as Sam did - not understanding them. This leads to Jon being backstabbed by his own comrades, because as a commander he is alienated from them.

I liked it too. From Sam's point of view, Jon comes over as hard and cold. From Jon's point of view, we see he still cares and worries about his friend.