Whilst, needs must, not wrong
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:31 pm
So, with 3.5 hrs of commuting time every day to kill, I broke down and checked out A Dance with Dragons from the library. I tried to give it a fair shake, and while it wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be (though I'd say far from good), I did have some issues with it.
First, the thread title. Was this always present and I didn't notice it until just now? Every time I came across one of these, it jarred me right out of the text. If you're going to use these kinds of archaic connections, they need to be natural and seamless. I wasn't doing a line by line read, so if their use wasn't consistent, I couldn't say, but they did not fit with the rest of the narrative or even the dialogue. Instead, it felt like Martin did a search and replace for "while," "need to," and "correct." It felt like he was trying to cloak himself in Shakespearian associations without following through (though there were a few awkwardly worded sentences like "...and west they rode"), as if a previous link thematically was now out of reach due to the cumbersome dramatis personae. That, or he was just writing like a lazy rennie. But no, one of the Wall chapters had a decidedly Scottish Play-like feel to it, especially when the queen's fool was introduced shortly after.
I'll get to problems with plot later, but it certainly wasn't helped by Martin trying to write too many stories. I don't mean the numerous POVs (though a few really didn't work for me -- some that focused attention off-stage when it should've been on and vice versa, some that didn't seem to necessitate an entire chapter), but that no novel can be helped by making it part captivity narrative, part existential journey, part bildungsroman, part romance, part epic fantasy, etc. Some authors use this technique successfully, giving it extra flavor and depth, and though I know some people will like this, I felt like it muddled the story and gave it an extreme lack of focus.
The first half of the novel was kind of tight. A few small problems aside, I was digging it. Me, I blame AFFC, because right about where he starts to bring it back in, the book falls apart (and probably not coincidentally, I put down AFFC at about the same point). It gets boring. Nothing new is happening, and instead, it begins running in the tread of the last book as well as its own. I'm a big fan of refrains, but suddenly "words are wind" is on every other page, and I feel that way about the rest of book -- it's all just wind; nothing matters. I no longer care about Mereen, Stannis' march, Theon's self-loathing, Daenerys' lusts and polito-romantic dilemmas. What should've been a major event, mounting Drogon, becomes meaningless as she's gone for almost the rest of the book and when she does reappear... blah. I'm even tired of the Wall and the wildlings by the end of it. Worse, Martin (ostensibly) kills on the last major favorite characters, and I'm just thinking, "Yeah, he pretty much deserved it." Maybe he was trying to give the impression of some snapping point, but Jon's decision to go to Winterfell seems like a major break of character. Cersei... who cares (all that hand-wringing got old quick, and the walk was anticlimactic).
The book really sucked the life out of my last week's commute. I finish the book, and there's no moment. No catharsis, no cliffhanger. Just "that's it?"
First, the thread title. Was this always present and I didn't notice it until just now? Every time I came across one of these, it jarred me right out of the text. If you're going to use these kinds of archaic connections, they need to be natural and seamless. I wasn't doing a line by line read, so if their use wasn't consistent, I couldn't say, but they did not fit with the rest of the narrative or even the dialogue. Instead, it felt like Martin did a search and replace for "while," "need to," and "correct." It felt like he was trying to cloak himself in Shakespearian associations without following through (though there were a few awkwardly worded sentences like "...and west they rode"), as if a previous link thematically was now out of reach due to the cumbersome dramatis personae. That, or he was just writing like a lazy rennie. But no, one of the Wall chapters had a decidedly Scottish Play-like feel to it, especially when the queen's fool was introduced shortly after.
I'll get to problems with plot later, but it certainly wasn't helped by Martin trying to write too many stories. I don't mean the numerous POVs (though a few really didn't work for me -- some that focused attention off-stage when it should've been on and vice versa, some that didn't seem to necessitate an entire chapter), but that no novel can be helped by making it part captivity narrative, part existential journey, part bildungsroman, part romance, part epic fantasy, etc. Some authors use this technique successfully, giving it extra flavor and depth, and though I know some people will like this, I felt like it muddled the story and gave it an extreme lack of focus.
The first half of the novel was kind of tight. A few small problems aside, I was digging it. Me, I blame AFFC, because right about where he starts to bring it back in, the book falls apart (and probably not coincidentally, I put down AFFC at about the same point). It gets boring. Nothing new is happening, and instead, it begins running in the tread of the last book as well as its own. I'm a big fan of refrains, but suddenly "words are wind" is on every other page, and I feel that way about the rest of book -- it's all just wind; nothing matters. I no longer care about Mereen, Stannis' march, Theon's self-loathing, Daenerys' lusts and polito-romantic dilemmas. What should've been a major event, mounting Drogon, becomes meaningless as she's gone for almost the rest of the book and when she does reappear... blah. I'm even tired of the Wall and the wildlings by the end of it. Worse, Martin (ostensibly) kills on the last major favorite characters, and I'm just thinking, "Yeah, he pretty much deserved it." Maybe he was trying to give the impression of some snapping point, but Jon's decision to go to Winterfell seems like a major break of character. Cersei... who cares (all that hand-wringing got old quick, and the walk was anticlimactic).
The book really sucked the life out of my last week's commute. I finish the book, and there's no moment. No catharsis, no cliffhanger. Just "that's it?"