What Do You Believe?

I mentioned a few days ago that I'd recently finished A Game of Thrones and came away disappointed. I've never watched the show but I was aware that it was a global phenomenon and that it was based on a book, which I think was the first installment of a longer series.

The reason I didn't like the book was because it felt much like a soap opera set in a less-interesting version of Middle Earth, sort of a store-brand fantasy realm. There were a few different belief systems (people worshiping different gods) and dragons were a real thing that used to exist and might again do so in a future book. Whatever. But there was no good vs. evil, no right vs. wrong. It was all status quo. Everybody either wanted to control the kingdom or wanted to support someone who wanted to control the kingdom. The entire conflict was less like an actual story with a moral or even a point, and more like watching a football game where the fans start rioting. Instead of making a point about the selling of a teenager's virginity, or slavery, or indentured servitude, the author just asks the reader to accept it and partake in the spectacle.

Essentially, the whole book revolves around collectivism. Nobody's life has value beyond whatever they can provide to their side of the conflict and so they can be disposed of by those in power, or at least by whoever the person has pledged themselves to. This isn't the problem, because this happens in real life all the time. The problem is that this story is very flat. Nobody wants to change the system, nobody rebels against the killing and the destruction. It's got the depth of an amusement park ride, and the reader is supposed to be so captivated by the death and the incest and the intrigue that they don't say anything and just ask for more.

I'm not saying the author, George R. R. Martin, is a bad writer. If success is measured in dollars, certainly he's one of the best. But maybe I'm spoiled. I've read some excellent literature, such as 1984, East of Eden, The Fountainhead, and so many others. Maybe my standards are too high and I should just shut up and enjoy the show. The same could be said about the Twilight series, or Fifth Shades of Gray, or the Hawk Tuah girl's podcast.

I'm posting this on Ayn Rand's birthday. Here's a quote:

"The end does not justify the means. No one's rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others."

In other news, I just finished Watership Down, which was EXCELLENT. Maybe I'll post about it soon.

Go out and read something.

-Ellis Novak

2025-04-02