Much of the criticism GoT has received about gratuitous sex was specifically about how they depicted rate purely for shock value. Like Sansa‘s wedding - it was just handled lazily, like their goal was to shock and make headlines as opposed to showing character arc and major events in the characters formation. One very simple change was all that was needed to fix all of that valid criticism: move the scene with her in the bathtub with what’s her name skinny bitch (Miranda?) two after the rape scene. And show Sansa as deeply wounded and affected but tough, yeah not willing to give up. She says to Miranda in that bath scene as they showed it “ this is my home & you do not scare me” George is absolutely right when he says he only shows one actually happens IRL or what did happen in history. Anything humans show in fiction, mo matter how horrible, it’s nothing compared to what we’ve actually done to each other. Rape and torture and starvation and slavery. All that shit was VERY commonplace up until WW2. It didn’t stop after the war, but the percentage of ppl directly suffering it dropped to unprecedented levels and have stayed there ever since. Even with shit like the Rwandan genocide. Even with US forces killing a MILLION Vietnamese in 10 yrs, or 100’s of 1000’s of Iraqis. We owe ppl like GRRM our gratitude for reminding us what most of history has been like for most ppl. To me the main human theme of ASoIAF is that “the small folk pay the price” They fight and kill and die in the battles. They starve when their crops are destroyed. They’re raped and enslaved. Especially the Riverlands. For at least 300 yrs, the Riverlands of Westeros is just constantly getting razed. That’s where the wars are fought bc it’s the Middle Kingdom. It get so ravaged in the first few books, and that is JUST the beginning. I thought the show (usually) did a good job of showing how the small folk suffer when the Lords and Ladies play their Game of thrones
The one thing I love about his writing is he breaks it up into a way where 700- 800 pages seems doable he has a 10-page chapter from a new person's perspective and next thing you know you've read 52 chapters & you're halfway done with the book
That's probably because he writes all the chapters out of order. So, he could probably do stand-alone novels of each of his characters. That would be cool.
He writes a character’s chapters individually i.e. he’ll do a set of Arya chapters then Tyrion chapters, then Jon Snow chapters, then when he’s finished he’ll make sure they’re edited so intersecting plot points and character moments will hit properly and then he has a team of editors who reads his chapters for any inconsistencies like if he uses a minor character that already died or wrote about the wrong gender of a horse.
@@sheagaming that's genius! That way he can write about whatever he wants in a character's perspective without losing the flow, and if he wants something to happen in Westeros he'll just choose to show it from the most interesting POV. Also, if he doesn't feel like writing about a certain event that day, he can just keep writing about other stuff happening in another part of his world.
I love his writing style. I've taken one copy of the Game of Thrones novel that I've highlighted with various colours (dialogue, action, description, inner monologuue) to visualise the balance between him.
I'm a big fan of his writing style, too. My life as an avid reader can be separated by before GRRM and after GRRM. The first time I read A Game of Thrones (long before there was a show) was a revelation. I've reread the series multiple times, as well as his supplemental material, and the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. I love this world, I love how GRRM writes it, and I can't get enough.
"There's a difference between preponderance and resonance." Wow great quote from Marlon James. And he just thew it out there. You can tell he's a writer (talented with crafting words) but not a trained actor or public speaker (because he didn't slow it down or pause it to let the audience absorb his spoken words).
I cannot get enough of George R. R. Martin. I say this so many times, but Martin is such an inspiration to me as a writer. I agree with him, especially on writing stories on war and gritty events. I write about war and other series issues as well and I believe in portraying it honestly instead of mildly showing it to my readers. I find sugarcoating an otherwise series topic offensive and dishonest. Readers must not only read a book, they must also experience it. Killing off characters shouldn't be done so lightly. I don't like to kill characters just to be like "oohhh, murder! Death! I am so controversial." I like it when it affects the world, the characters and the story. George R. R. Martin is amazing at what at he does and I think other writers should lean in his direction. Also, I like the other guy here as well. He seems cool. I really want to pick up something he has written.
Marlon James is the other guy. I read half of the book of his which is displayed, Black Leopard Red Wolf, and it was really great, but I couldn't understand what was happening after that point, so I had to stop. Not that other people couldn't, I think I'm just dumb.
Well said, George. It's not about how many people die, but WHO dies, and whether you cared about that person. This is very well known practice TV News use to attract attention. I will give you two examples of TV news spots and tell me which one is more emotionally effective: 1) Last night, a hundred and twenty five people died when a volcano erupted in Italy. 2) Michael Smith, a fifty years old disabled man was murdered during a burglary while he was trying to defend his family.
Yeah, in the context of TV news, what you just highlighted is something SJW's never seem to understand. When Notre Dame burned, people were crying about racism because at the same time people were dying in Arabic countries. It's not about racism, it's about emotional impact.
@@xenondoro8573 Thanks for pointing this out. Notre Dame is a great example of this phenomenon. People were moved by this tragedy, because we felt that we know the building too good. It is one of the most famous buildings in the world. I bet many people care about Notre Dame more than their neighbour's house. This Notre Dame tragedy also reminds me a lot of the 9/11. Yes, of course it was a great tragedy, thousands of people died. Yet, It's so strange that even I, as a citizen of Czech republic, living tens of thousands of kilometers from the USA feel like 9/11 impacted my life. It actually did, a lot, I even feel weird talking about it. I feel like it's forbidden to even speak about it at all. That's how much media have changed my thinking.
I love when he calls out the 'fucking idiots', cause there is valid criticism and bullshit criticism and ain't written nowere you have to take the bullshit laying down
As a person who eats food, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a gratuitous feast. Er, actually, I guess every feast is kind of gratuitous, but that's sort of the point, innit?
Season 7 and 8 were basically the cliff notes. The reason the show became so huge is that there was so much fluff, stuff that had nothing to do with the overall plot, but which added the spice to the recipe. The banter between Tryrion and Bron, the Hound and Arya, Ramsey and Reek.
Those were not cliff notes, they weren’t even the story... they were entirely garbage. Tbh the show had seaso 1 which was an okay cliff notes like telling of the story of AGOG, but the rest lost the meaning and themes. The show glorified badassery, war, and shit that is antithetical to the books. Martin uses the story to show how HORRIBLE war is, and how corrupt and conflicting the motivations behind nobility are leaving the common man to be put through the slaughter... reread the chapter on broken men from Septon Meribald- the show even omitted that was an egregiously stupid Easter egg to it. Martin is not gratuitous in a way that he’s exploiting shock factor (though HBO did use it that way), he’s telling a REAL story in a FANTASY world. Every scene serves a literary purpose and is masterfully written in some of the best prose in modern literature.
Wow I love this one because he answered with so much passion. I love the points he makes about these things "illuminate the character" which is true, those things immerse you in their lives and world
"When Tom Cruise is in a movie, you know he's gonna make it to the end." Makes me think of the one tolerable Steven Segal movie I've seen: that air force one flick where he dies five minutes in or whatever it was.
Marlon studied under the tutelage of the same professors I did, just not the same years. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Very pleased for his success as my fellow alum!
I haven't read any of the works of Marlon James, yet, but what I do know about him is that he is the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the United Kingdom, the world renowned Booker Prize. So, it can be said he is a writer of tremendous talent.
@The Law the problem with the books now is, Dumb&Dumber have massacred the tv show....... and probably fucked Georges plans right outta the ballpark 🤷♂️
It's almost as if uploading preexisting five minute clips is easier than crafting the next gigantic chapter in one of the greatest fantasy stories ever written all while working on other projects and the inherent motivational issues entangled with working on the same story for so long.
I do fcking love the way that George talks. Including emotion and how is everyone affected by it in daily life, specially in a case of death, and avoid the fake emotionless scenes we are used to from movies. He is a freaking genius and one of the greatest authors of this century .
Nasser Feed to be fair to D&D, George thought he would have finished the books so they could simply just adapt the books. D&D did a great job when they were just adapting the books and you can’t deny that.
Excellent interview with George and Marlon. Marlon is injecting truth into the conversation. I’m enjoying George speaking his mind the way he sees fit. 6:20 Even when I notice the seeds being sown in one of George’s books it comes as a surprise and I want to see how it plays out.
When Martin talks about wanting us to grieve for his characters, I felt that. Not sure why, but when the Hound died in the TV show, I felt grief like a real person had died. Strange feeling
Interesting discussion, and I personally feel the same way. I like my books violent and raw, not namby-pamby. But that being said: I also believe there is room in fiction for unrealistic and subdued or sentimental works as well. To each their own.
This series which I am bingwatching now, has reminded me of what I don't want to believe about human nature but in reality part of our world. I hate this. I want our world to be better. The scene where the people where they are building a town around non-violence and then they are killed for not defending themselves...wow...that hit home. You can only take the pacifist so far until you become a martar or a victim. That is just reality. And he nails that for me and very personally.
A lesson that is constantly taught during human history is the fact that people who dont lift a finger to defend their lives and homes deserve to be subjegated.
Holy shit I was just watching this for Grrm and then suddenly I hear Marlon James’ voice? That’s like eating chocolate ice cream then discovering it has a delicious peanut butter swirl
Gratuitous basically means they're put off by it. Ive heard gratuitous for violence, sex and profanity, but i never hear the word for other cleaner things that also happen to be "filler" and dont move the plot along.
I don't know who the other author is, but I just wanted to point out that his point about medieval people not making it to 51 is a common misunderstanding caused by a quirk of cognition. You'll sometimes hear it said that people "only lived to be _35."_ This is because of statistical averages, and those can't give you the whole picture. The more infants die, for example, the farther down they drag the numbers, and they didn't exactly have modern medicine back then. Still doesn't make it more likely you'll die at 51 than at 50 except as a natural consequence of having not died yet.
That's Marlon James. And yes, you are right. Sure, not a lot of people got to 80+ years old, simply because your first heart attack was also your last. But the average largely comes from the high rates of infant death - and from women dying in child birth. That was the most common killer amongst females since the bronze age (and likely even further into the past). If you give birth 10+ times, chances are high that you will experience fatal complications. A lot of women died in their fertile years, dragging the average further down.
Steffi S - Well, Eleanor of Aquitaine had twelve children, and only two died before five years old, whereas her youngest daughter Joan ex-Queen of Sicily and Countess of Toulouse, had five miscarriages, which probably killed her, trying to have them to close together, before she could recover. Likewise, late fifties was old, but William Marshal led the cavalry charge which defeated the rebel barons who had invited the French King to replace John (because John was his vassal, he sent his son, instead) in his seventies so that Henry III could keep the throne (and William could be head of the Regency Council). More of a long tail situation than today, that’s all.
I agree with him buuuut if you're (for whatever reason) writing about a war story and your audience are children then obviously you have to make it clean but I totally agree if you're going to write about something do it properly or at least as well as you can. You connect with your readers through the mundane or very human things rather than killing zombies and riding dragons. Very inspiring writer.
I'm writing a book that I think George might like. I was 13 when I had the idea, and then I found out there are similar books to my idea so I had to read them so I could avoid copy writing without knowing. I'm writing about an immortal person, 100% immortal plot armor. And I want to start it off tribal, and as my character travels he will come to realize a hundred years have passed and the people he knew are all dead, but he's not aged. More time will pass as he wanders into cities that keep changing when he comes back to them. Slowly realizing that he would never die and never gain the human to human connections he had at the beginning. Really leaning into the plot armor being more of a curse, and still is powerless to stop evil kings to petty murders all the time, trying to be "the hero" but keeps losing himself, memories being cut randomly. Wishing to die but it will never happen no matter what he does, just comes right back. Really looking into "purpose" philosophically vs. "just living" There will be "magic" but I'm working on how to make it into science, I want there to be an advanced world before the start of the story, that collapses and the left over tech is what's magical, something like genetic manipulations fulfilling our fantasy itch for real life dragons and unicorns, or nano machines that give the appearance that people can manipulate fire and water, and levitate, to them its just "magic" but they have no idea its nano machines.... my problem is it seems too easy of an explanation/ not real enough.
Perhaps the newer civilizations that exist in the beginning of the story, the ones who are dealing with the left over technology, explain these techs through their own myths/religions, much like modern folk do to any invention of the past that they cannot readily understand.
When is this from? I’ve never heard George speak like this in any other interview which means I feel like he bullshits through other ones because this is him being unfiltered. I’d love to hear a fan who knows his shit question him on shit with this attitude maybe we’d figure out why he can’t finish the series. Maybe he’ll admit the TV show changed how he felt about characters because it’s obvious. He can write Arianne Martell and Young Griff so easily because they’ve never been in the show, but he prob hasn’t written a Jon or a Bran chapter in years.
Well they're having a conversation. It's annoying from the outside, but I can tell you from experience that when people don't respond it feels like your words are just falling into empty space.
simple fact: if you don't describe these things, then you missconvey the motivations of the character. if Tyrion didn't have a gratuitous relationship with Shae, then why would he be emotionally affected for a whore just being a whore and whoreing around. no, tyrion desires her. covets her. he killed for her. then when she betrayed him, he killed her. the whole of kings landing shouted for his head to come off, but it was HER voice that had to be punished for betrayal.
I love him mostly for this specific topic... He is the Niccolo Machiavelli of modern fantasy literature. He reminds us that humans are violent and cruel creatures. Look how the interviewers always try to isolate Martin's world or exclude that kind of cruelty into medieval. Nope my friend; humans are a violent and cruel species of animals. Especially when power play is concerned. IMHO this is the most crutial wisdom; not succumbing to the idea that we are somehow elevated over our nature. We need to leave our bodies for that. This body is an animal's body. And if we seek to be more than an animal in the least bit; we need to remind this fact to ourselves daily. That every morning we see the face of an animal in the mirror. This is what Martin reminds us.
It's so nice to listen to an intelligent well spoken person like George RR Martin, why did that jabroni feel the need to interrupt Martin to add his two cents? The guy clearly was far less well spoken and didn't know what he was talking about / clearly didn't know the meaning of the word gratuitous yet attempted to use it in a sentence... 🤦🏽♂️ Nobody was tuning in to listen to this dude describe war or attempt a joke about sex, they were tuning into listen to a genius talk about the book he wrote.
I disagree with him on the sex in his books. So much of it isn’t interesting to read and doesn’t change the characters or story in a significant way. And unlike most of the rest of his writing, it’s not written well. So many awkward and awful metaphors are used that it comes off as amateurish. Having said that, I enjoy the rest of his writing most of the time.
He literally talked about inmersion, why details are neccesary to put you on the character shoes. Also depending of the POV, metaphors and style changes. wich makes it way more interesting.
What he says about "gratuitous" scenes, I wholeheartedly agree with him. To be fair, I haven't read any of his books but I absolutely loved the ridiculous amount of detail that went into the character and world building. Without those very abundant details that painted the world, I wouldn't have enjoyed Game of Thrones anywhere near ad much
George RR Martin should watch if game of thrones was realistic Bran: (Accidentally shoots someone) Everyone: laughs Ned: And which one of you were a marksman at ten? Jon: pretty sure that guy bran just shot was 🤣🤣
Weird that they're complaining about his books being gratuitously violent. (He's talking like it's the Manga Vinland Saga.) I thought the writing complaint would be medieval period charter's tossing offensive dialogue left and right!
@@grant4594 Yep. The most disappointing thing for me about Game of Throne's is mostly how slow and mudane/not gory it feels. Fire& Blood however just went full out on the Shock Value and I read that before the main books so I might be desensitized. It mostly comes off as edgy dribble for me with some awesome moments there and there. If you want an controversial book with no controversy I'd say read Wings of Fire! It's like a more brutal better written reverse Game of Thrones. (It's kinda cheesy though) It's 1st book prologue alone is far more shocking than the GOT Opening Prologue and it's for kids! I think somebody did complain about it's violent content though since the newer books I read 7-9 weren't that scary. Could be wrong though.
"I want to affect the reader emotionally." If ever there was an understatement
Much of the criticism GoT has received about gratuitous sex was specifically about how they depicted rate purely for shock value. Like Sansa‘s wedding - it was just handled lazily, like their goal was to shock and make headlines as opposed to showing character arc and major events in the characters formation. One very simple change was all that was needed to fix all of that valid criticism: move the scene with her in the bathtub with what’s her name skinny bitch (Miranda?) two after the rape scene. And show Sansa as deeply wounded and affected but tough, yeah not willing to give up. She says to Miranda in that bath scene as they showed it “ this is my home & you do not scare me”
George is absolutely right when he says he only shows one actually happens IRL or what did happen in history. Anything humans show in fiction, mo matter how horrible, it’s nothing compared to what we’ve actually done to each other. Rape and torture and starvation and slavery. All that shit was VERY commonplace up until WW2. It didn’t stop after the war, but the percentage of ppl directly suffering it dropped to unprecedented levels and have stayed there ever since. Even with shit like the Rwandan genocide. Even with US forces killing a MILLION Vietnamese in 10 yrs, or 100’s of 1000’s of Iraqis.
We owe ppl like GRRM our gratitude for reminding us what most of history has been like for most ppl.
To me the main human theme of ASoIAF is that “the small folk pay the price”
They fight and kill and die in the battles. They starve when their crops are destroyed. They’re raped and enslaved. Especially the Riverlands. For at least 300 yrs, the Riverlands of Westeros is just constantly getting razed. That’s where the wars are fought bc it’s the Middle Kingdom. It get so ravaged in the first few books, and that is JUST the beginning.
I thought the show (usually) did a good job of showing how the small folk suffer when the Lords and Ladies play their Game of thrones
He scarred the readers emotionally
He sent readers to psych wards
It’s kinda weird to hear George swearing. Considering the contents of his books, it should be weird NOT to hear him swear
He’s a fat old man
@@fatfrankthepeteacher4237 Make that talented fat old man.
George grew up in the projects. Don't let the media fool you. He's what we call a smart thug.
right!
@@chadthunderkawk1650 Oh, please explain.
The one thing I love about his writing is he breaks it up into a way where 700- 800 pages seems doable he has a 10-page chapter from a new person's perspective and next thing you know you've read 52 chapters & you're halfway done with the book
How does he keep up with the characters
That's probably because he writes all the chapters out of order. So, he could probably do stand-alone novels of each of his characters. That would be cool.
He writes a character’s chapters individually i.e. he’ll do a set of Arya chapters then Tyrion chapters, then Jon Snow chapters, then when he’s finished he’ll make sure they’re edited so intersecting plot points and character moments will hit properly and then he has a team of editors who reads his chapters for any inconsistencies like if he uses a minor character that already died or wrote about the wrong gender of a horse.
@@sheagaming Gender of horse XD
@@sheagaming that's genius! That way he can write about whatever he wants in a character's perspective without losing the flow, and if he wants something to happen in Westeros he'll just choose to show it from the most interesting POV. Also, if he doesn't feel like writing about a certain event that day, he can just keep writing about other stuff happening in another part of his world.
I love his writing style. I've taken one copy of the Game of Thrones novel that I've highlighted with various colours (dialogue, action, description, inner monologuue) to visualise the balance between him.
just don't do that with the tyrion chapters of Danse my man
H H why what’s wrong with them?
@@HH-cm5rp Now I want to know, too.
@@gaozhi2007 I honestly kinda like his prose, though
I'm a big fan of his writing style, too. My life as an avid reader can be separated by before GRRM and after GRRM. The first time I read A Game of Thrones (long before there was a show) was a revelation. I've reread the series multiple times, as well as his supplemental material, and the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. I love this world, I love how GRRM writes it, and I can't get enough.
"There's a difference between preponderance and resonance." Wow great quote from Marlon James. And he just thew it out there. You can tell he's a writer (talented with crafting words) but not a trained actor or public speaker (because he didn't slow it down or pause it to let the audience absorb his spoken words).
First time I have been introduced to this author and he stands up and is impressive even right next to Martin
I cannot get enough of George R. R. Martin. I say this so many times, but Martin is such an inspiration to me as a writer. I agree with him, especially on writing stories on war and gritty events.
I write about war and other series issues as well and I believe in portraying it honestly instead of mildly showing it to my readers. I find sugarcoating an otherwise series topic offensive and dishonest. Readers must not only read a book, they must also experience it. Killing off characters shouldn't be done so lightly. I don't like to kill characters just to be like "oohhh, murder! Death! I am so controversial." I like it when it affects the world, the characters and the story. George R. R. Martin is amazing at what at he does and I think other writers should lean in his direction.
Also, I like the other guy here as well. He seems cool. I really want to pick up something he has written.
A Brief History of Seven Killings. Take it on vacation with you and you'll felt like you went two places instead of one. It's superb.
SAME HERE!!!!!!
You write of war? I hope you arent a feminist
@@Mik3xcellence George rr martin is?
Marlon James is the other guy. I read half of the book of his which is displayed, Black Leopard Red Wolf, and it was really great, but I couldn't understand what was happening after that point, so I had to stop. Not that other people couldn't, I think I'm just dumb.
Well said, George. It's not about how many people die, but WHO dies, and whether you cared about that person.
This is very well known practice TV News use to attract attention. I will give you two examples of TV news spots and tell me which one is more emotionally effective:
1) Last night, a hundred and twenty five people died when a volcano erupted in Italy.
2) Michael Smith, a fifty years old disabled man was murdered during a burglary while he was trying to defend his family.
Yeah, in the context of TV news, what you just highlighted is something SJW's never seem to understand. When Notre Dame burned, people were crying about racism because at the same time people were dying in Arabic countries. It's not about racism, it's about emotional impact.
@@xenondoro8573 Thanks for pointing this out. Notre Dame is a great example of this phenomenon. People were moved by this tragedy, because we felt that we know the building too good. It is one of the most famous buildings in the world. I bet many people care about Notre Dame more than their neighbour's house.
This Notre Dame tragedy also reminds me a lot of the 9/11. Yes, of course it was a great tragedy, thousands of people died. Yet, It's so strange that even I, as a citizen of Czech republic, living tens of thousands of kilometers from the USA feel like 9/11 impacted my life. It actually did, a lot, I even feel weird talking about it. I feel like it's forbidden to even speak about it at all. That's how much media have changed my thinking.
This is the best GRRM interview I've seen on RUclips. Shows why his books are so affecting.
He loves writing! It’s obvious
I love when he calls out the 'fucking idiots', cause there is valid criticism and bullshit criticism and ain't written nowere you have to take the bullshit laying down
As a person who eats food, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a gratuitous feast. Er, actually, I guess every feast is kind of gratuitous, but that's sort of the point, innit?
Season 7 and 8 were basically the cliff notes. The reason the show became so huge is that there was so much fluff, stuff that had nothing to do with the overall plot, but which added the spice to the recipe. The banter between Tryrion and Bron, the Hound and Arya, Ramsey and Reek.
Those were not cliff notes, they weren’t even the story... they were entirely garbage. Tbh the show had seaso 1 which was an okay cliff notes like telling of the story of AGOG, but the rest lost the meaning and themes.
The show glorified badassery, war, and shit that is antithetical to the books. Martin uses the story to show how HORRIBLE war is, and how corrupt and conflicting the motivations behind nobility are leaving the common man to be put through the slaughter... reread the chapter on broken men from Septon Meribald- the show even omitted that was an egregiously stupid Easter egg to it.
Martin is not gratuitous in a way that he’s exploiting shock factor (though HBO did use it that way), he’s telling a REAL story in a FANTASY world. Every scene serves a literary purpose and is masterfully written in some of the best prose in modern literature.
@@factbeaglesarebest Wah wah.
What fluff? You mean that season 7 and 8 were fluff? Cause those def were. Idk what show you watched 😅
Wow I love this one because he answered with so much passion. I love the points he makes about these things "illuminate the character" which is true, those things immerse you in their lives and world
God I love George
I'm so inspired by him as a writer. I aspire to be as great.
Yeah me too. Good Luck.
One of the finest in our generation
Me too. Currently I am writing a grimdark epic fantasy novel too and I'm following all of his advice
@@xtian_perez Nearly a year later, how’s that book going?
@@xtian_perez I might be interested.😀
"If you're not having gratuitous sex, what are you having ?" Truer words have never been spoken. Respekt.
"When Tom Cruise is in a movie, you know he's gonna make it to the end."
Makes me think of the one tolerable Steven Segal movie I've seen: that air force one flick where he dies five minutes in or whatever it was.
Executive Decision... Kurt Russel, playing a military consultant, ended up being the main character. I really liked that movie as a kid.
@@cruddddddddddddddd THAT'S what it was! Thanks
Who's the other author? He seems interesting, I wanna check out his books. Edit: found him, his name is Marlon James
Did you deduce that from the book sitting on the table or the Marlon James in the interview?
I came to the comments to see if anyone had posted his name. Thanking you good sir 😊
Marlon studied under the tutelage of the same professors I did, just not the same years. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Very pleased for his success as my fellow alum!
I haven't read any of the works of Marlon James, yet, but what I do know about him is that he is the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the United Kingdom, the world renowned Booker Prize. So, it can be said he is a writer of tremendous talent.
Thank you.
7:30 so you wouldn't kill Cersei and Jaime with a ceiling?
Love how everyone online is a mindreader
Your uploads are more consistent than Georgy boi
Aren’t you just so clever
@The Law the problem with the books now is, Dumb&Dumber have massacred the tv show....... and probably fucked Georges plans right outta the ballpark 🤷♂️
It's almost as if uploading preexisting five minute clips is easier than crafting the next gigantic chapter in one of the greatest fantasy stories ever written all while working on other projects and the inherent motivational issues entangled with working on the same story for so long.
@@BionicleSaurus yeah his point still stands
@@raben7049 no it doesn't. It's a stupid point and you're a stupid person.
George RR Martin and Marlon James on Criticism of Their Writing Style
Im fine with this.
"Violence should be violent, sex should be sexy, and death should have the impact of death."
Basically the entire video in one sentence.
George R. R. Martin on his writing style: amateur authors only dream of being the ones who wrote my books.
Amateur author critics: *crying inside*
Shion Kreth I don't wish I was the one who wrote his books, I wish I could write that well.
Definitly true, although I am pleased With what I write as well, even if it isnt nearly as good
I do fcking love the way that George talks. Including emotion and how is everyone affected by it in daily life, specially in a case of death, and avoid the fake emotionless scenes we are used to from movies.
He is a freaking genius and one of the greatest authors of this century .
My only criticism for George is that he didn't see through D&D's bullshit when they first met with him
Can't blame George for that though
@@valerieprindle8097According to him, he trusted them simply because they knew who's Jon's mother was. So...
Luciano Fernandez His mother is Wylla. So they’re wrong.
@@PwnZombie I'm affraid we'll never find out.
Nasser Feed to be fair to D&D, George thought he would have finished the books so they could simply just adapt the books. D&D did a great job when they were just adapting the books and you can’t deny that.
Excellent interview with George and Marlon. Marlon is injecting truth into the conversation. I’m enjoying George speaking his mind the way he sees fit. 6:20 Even when I notice the seeds being sown in one of George’s books it comes as a surprise and I want to see how it plays out.
When Martin talks about wanting us to grieve for his characters, I felt that. Not sure why, but when the Hound died in the TV show, I felt grief like a real person had died. Strange feeling
I love hearing George swear. I'm literally laughing out loud about how effective his use of 'fuck' is.
One of the best answers I ever seen, George R.R. Martin is the GREATEST!
This is a great talk. I'm not sure if I've ever heard George so animated. And it really has me stoked to pick up Black Leopard
I’ve never heard of people complaining about gratuitous sex and violence in the books. Most of that criticism came from and after the HBO show.
Marlon James is a very talented writer by the way guys! Check him out
Yep. I want to check him out. My next read may be him.
I take inspiration from his style too, I'm never gonna finish my book.
Interesting discussion, and I personally feel the same way. I like my books violent and raw, not namby-pamby. But that being said: I also believe there is room in fiction for unrealistic and subdued or sentimental works as well. To each their own.
This series which I am bingwatching now, has reminded me of what I don't want to believe about human nature but in reality part of our world. I hate this. I want our world to be better. The scene where the people where they are building a town around non-violence and then they are killed for not defending themselves...wow...that hit home. You can only take the pacifist so far until you become a martar or a victim. That is just reality. And he nails that for me and very personally.
@sl5311 What's the show?
A lesson that is constantly taught during human history is the fact that people who dont lift a finger to defend their lives and homes deserve to be subjegated.
Gratuitous use of the word "had."
Dan and Dave could have definitely used that advice at 1:12.
my grandmother was 1 of 13, only 7 of them made it past 5yrs
Holy shit I was just watching this for Grrm and then suddenly I hear Marlon James’ voice? That’s like eating chocolate ice cream then discovering it has a delicious peanut butter swirl
Gratuitous basically means they're put off by it. Ive heard gratuitous for violence, sex and profanity, but i never hear the word for other cleaner things that also happen to be "filler" and dont move the plot along.
Where can I find this full interview?
Here you go friend
m.ruclips.net/video/S9AxEjlj1Q8/видео.html
“There’s something offensive about clean violence” looking at you Wolverine pre-Logan lmao
Well you can’t please everyone
He has also written some extraordinary short stories.
I'm pleased that he brought up the gunsmoke analogy haha, very true indeed.
That point Marlon James made about Jane Eyre made me crack up
This is the first I've heard of Marlon James, but I think I'm going to have to pick up some of his books.
No one:
GRRM: I want you to feel death, I want you to feel as if a loved one died
I mean he was specifically asked
He was specifically asked, so bad meme.
I could listen to GRRM all day he’s a fantastic public speaker
The details are what made me loved GRRM's writing. He's too elaborate and graphic, and I like it.
3:42 “But if you’re not having gratuitous sex, what are you having?” 😂Great point
Where's the full interview? I wanna see the whole thing.
I think I found it nvm
@@FR_N-do4xi drop the link doe
So interesting to hear GRRM reference Frank Herbert's Dune and its characters.
george is right..today i just read the part where ygritte dies. and even if i knew it is going to happen, it still got me...
Hope to enjoy Marlon James. Have his book haven't started.
i totally agree with the offensive clean violence.
Good video to watch while breaking my fast
To be sure
I see what u did there
He is genius, fucking genius, he is underrated.
Lol he is not underrated
I fucking love this guy. A man after my own heart, and think many others would say the same.
I take inspiration from his writing style, it’s gripping
I don't know who the other author is, but I just wanted to point out that his point about medieval people not making it to 51 is a common misunderstanding caused by a quirk of cognition. You'll sometimes hear it said that people "only lived to be _35."_ This is because of statistical averages, and those can't give you the whole picture. The more infants die, for example, the farther down they drag the numbers, and they didn't exactly have modern medicine back then. Still doesn't make it more likely you'll die at 51 than at 50 except as a natural consequence of having not died yet.
That's Marlon James. And yes, you are right. Sure, not a lot of people got to 80+ years old, simply because your first heart attack was also your last. But the average largely comes from the high rates of infant death - and from women dying in child birth. That was the most common killer amongst females since the bronze age (and likely even further into the past). If you give birth 10+ times, chances are high that you will experience fatal complications. A lot of women died in their fertile years, dragging the average further down.
Steffi S - Well, Eleanor of Aquitaine had twelve children, and only two died before five years old, whereas her youngest daughter Joan ex-Queen of Sicily and Countess of Toulouse, had five miscarriages, which probably killed her, trying to have them to close together, before she could recover.
Likewise, late fifties was old, but William Marshal led the cavalry charge which defeated the rebel barons who had invited the French King to replace John (because John was his vassal, he sent his son, instead) in his seventies so that Henry III could keep the throne (and William could be head of the Regency Council).
More of a long tail situation than today, that’s all.
Truly are one of the worlds greatest writers and thinkers
I agree with him buuuut if you're (for whatever reason) writing about a war story and your audience are children then obviously you have to make it clean but I totally agree if you're going to write about something do it properly or at least as well as you can. You connect with your readers through the mundane or very human things rather than killing zombies and riding dragons. Very inspiring writer.
I'm writing a book that I think George might like. I was 13 when I had the idea, and then I found out there are similar books to my idea so I had to read them so I could avoid copy writing without knowing.
I'm writing about an immortal person, 100% immortal plot armor. And I want to start it off tribal, and as my character travels he will come to realize a hundred years have passed and the people he knew are all dead, but he's not aged. More time will pass as he wanders into cities that keep changing when he comes back to them. Slowly realizing that he would never die and never gain the human to human connections he had at the beginning. Really leaning into the plot armor being more of a curse, and still is powerless to stop evil kings to petty murders all the time, trying to be "the hero" but keeps losing himself, memories being cut randomly. Wishing to die but it will never happen no matter what he does, just comes right back. Really looking into "purpose" philosophically vs. "just living"
There will be "magic" but I'm working on how to make it into science, I want there to be an advanced world before the start of the story, that collapses and the left over tech is what's magical, something like genetic manipulations fulfilling our fantasy itch for real life dragons and unicorns, or nano machines that give the appearance that people can manipulate fire and water, and levitate, to them its just "magic" but they have no idea its nano machines.... my problem is it seems too easy of an explanation/ not real enough.
Sounds really good. I would love to read that
Perhaps the newer civilizations that exist in the beginning of the story, the ones who are dealing with the left over technology, explain these techs through their own myths/religions, much like modern folk do to any invention of the past that they cannot readily understand.
George RR Martin swearing is insanely entertaining
Never heard him say ''fuck'' before, let alone twice. Damn.
I like to hear him talk about death because I really cried hard with the red wedding 😭
George is going off rn
Amazing video🎥👍🔥🎥👍🔥
He's spot on about his food writing making you hungry, never thought I'd want to eat Heron until I read ASOIAF
I learned a new word watching this: compunction. 4:09 I always though the phrase is "without compulsion." Go figure.
George, you forgot...
gratuitous missed deadines
gratuitous sailor-hats
gratuitous santa-claus-beards
gratuitous plaid shirts
gratuitous suspenders
gratuitous jersey-accent
When is this from? I’ve never heard George speak like this in any other interview which means I feel like he bullshits through other ones because this is him being unfiltered. I’d love to hear a fan who knows his shit question him on shit with this attitude maybe we’d figure out why he can’t finish the series. Maybe he’ll admit the TV show changed how he felt about characters because it’s obvious. He can write Arianne Martell and Young Griff so easily because they’ve never been in the show, but he prob hasn’t written a Jon or a Bran chapter in years.
Gratuitous food scenes are why I read asoiaf.
Who are the other people talking? They’re interesting
Who is the other writer?
These interviewers seem more open and intelligent than the ones in the sexism/racism interview
Can you please tag other authors in these interviews
did that guy really have to "hm" 75 times? jesus. put your microphone down.
Hm.
same.
Well they're having a conversation. It's annoying from the outside, but I can tell you from experience that when people don't respond it feels like your words are just falling into empty space.
I love his style and I love his stories
I think people try to make war "clean" is because they love avatar, but forget about the part with genocide.
Who is the other author speaking here?
Who was the male interviewer?? He is phenomenal!
wait who’s the dude talking about his work like we know what it is
Who is the other writer (?) on stage?
*Insert original comment about how I love George but hated the show's ending.
Does anyone know who the other author is? I love what he has to say!
1:53 same
90% of the comments here ask who the other author is 😂
But it’s a nice video
Whats the name of the gentleman opposite of george?
simple fact: if you don't describe these things, then you missconvey the motivations of the character. if Tyrion didn't have a gratuitous relationship with Shae, then why would he be emotionally affected for a whore just being a whore and whoreing around. no, tyrion desires her. covets her. he killed for her. then when she betrayed him, he killed her. the whole of kings landing shouted for his head to come off, but it was HER voice that had to be punished for betrayal.
I appreciate his style because he goes so far into the "gratuitous" details.
"Who the fuck knows" lost it
The only part of his style I don't really like is the written out sound effects. "AAAAAAAAooo. EEEEEEEeeeee" And so forth. The rest of it's great.
I love him mostly for this specific topic... He is the Niccolo Machiavelli of modern fantasy literature. He reminds us that humans are violent and cruel creatures. Look how the interviewers always try to isolate Martin's world or exclude that kind of cruelty into medieval. Nope my friend; humans are a violent and cruel species of animals. Especially when power play is concerned. IMHO this is the most crutial wisdom; not succumbing to the idea that we are somehow elevated over our nature. We need to leave our bodies for that. This body is an animal's body. And if we seek to be more than an animal in the least bit; we need to remind this fact to ourselves daily. That every morning we see the face of an animal in the mirror. This is what Martin reminds us.
It's so nice to listen to an intelligent well spoken person like George RR Martin, why did that jabroni feel the need to interrupt Martin to add his two cents? The guy clearly was far less well spoken and didn't know what he was talking about / clearly didn't know the meaning of the word gratuitous yet attempted to use it in a sentence... 🤦🏽♂️ Nobody was tuning in to listen to this dude describe war or attempt a joke about sex, they were tuning into listen to a genius talk about the book he wrote.
He spoke because he was also invited to speak, you fucking idiot.
@@Bessux shut up you troll
I just can't get over the fact that this generation raised by super graphic porn claims to be surprised by ASOIAF sex scenes and violence.
Space break-sex is mostly relevant for age-restrictions, isn't it?
I disagree with him on the sex in his books. So much of it isn’t interesting to read and doesn’t change the characters or story in a significant way. And unlike most of the rest of his writing, it’s not written well. So many awkward and awful metaphors are used that it comes off as amateurish. Having said that, I enjoy the rest of his writing most of the time.
He literally talked about inmersion, why details are neccesary to put you on the character shoes. Also depending of the POV, metaphors and style changes. wich makes it way more interesting.
People who make this criticism haven't read the books and are basing it on the show, which absolutely is guilty of.
What he says about "gratuitous" scenes, I wholeheartedly agree with him. To be fair, I haven't read any of his books but I absolutely loved the ridiculous amount of detail that went into the character and world building. Without those very abundant details that painted the world, I wouldn't have enjoyed Game of Thrones anywhere near ad much
George RR Martin should watch if game of thrones was realistic
Bran: (Accidentally shoots someone)
Everyone: laughs
Ned: And which one of you were a marksman at ten?
Jon: pretty sure that guy bran just shot was
🤣🤣
Weird that they're complaining about his books being gratuitously violent. (He's talking like it's the Manga Vinland Saga.)
I thought the writing complaint would be medieval period charter's tossing offensive dialogue left and right!
@@grant4594 Yep. The most
disappointing thing for
me about Game of Throne's
is mostly how slow and
mudane/not gory it
feels. Fire& Blood
however just went full
out on the Shock Value
and I read that before
the main books so
I might be desensitized.
It mostly comes off
as edgy dribble for
me with some
awesome moments
there and there.
If you want an controversial
book with no controversy
I'd say read Wings of Fire!
It's like a more brutal
better written reverse
Game of Thrones.
(It's kinda cheesy
though)
It's 1st book prologue
alone is far more
shocking than the
GOT Opening
Prologue and it's
for kids!
I think somebody
did complain about
it's violent content
though since the
newer books
I read 7-9
weren't that scary.
Could be
wrong though.