Post by sillierthings on Apr 14, 2015 15:16:57 GMT
I've been reading GRRM's vampire novel, Fevre Dream, and while it's no ASOIAF, it's well written and I've enjoyed it so far. Most interesting to me is seeing Martin's favorite themes pop up. For example, the following conversation occurs between the two main vampires:
Compare that to this familiar conversation:
I liked Eyesofmist's comment in a previous thread about how Martin is able to use these secondary characters like the Hound to explore themes that might be harder to do with the "main" characters whose actions must drive the plot. It doesn't mean these secondary character's are not important, but they serve a different purpose.
Btw, there is a vampire in this novel whose last name is Merseult, like the main character in Camus's The Stranger. That little detail made me feel even more certain of the references to these existentialist texts in The Hound's narrative--riding a horse named Stranger, with an older brother named Gregor and in love with a girl named Sansa (I feel it MUST be a reference to Kafka's The Metamorphosis whose main character is named Gregor Samsa).
Evil, you talk about. Where did you learn that concept? From them of course, from the cattle. Good and evil, those are cattle words, empty, intended only to preserve their worthless lives. They live and die in mortal dread of us, their natural superiors. We haunt even their dreams, so they seek solace in lies, and invent gods who have power over us, wanting to believe that somehow crosses and holy water can master us.
You must understand, dear Joshua, that there is no good or evil, only strength and weakness, masters and slaves. you are feverish with their morality, with guilt and shame. How foolish that is. These are their words, not ours. You preach of new beginnings, but what shall we begin? To be as cattle? To burn beneath their sun, work when we might take, bow to cattle gods? No. They are animals, our natural inferiors, our great and beautiful prey. That is the way of things."
You must understand, dear Joshua, that there is no good or evil, only strength and weakness, masters and slaves. you are feverish with their morality, with guilt and shame. How foolish that is. These are their words, not ours. You preach of new beginnings, but what shall we begin? To be as cattle? To burn beneath their sun, work when we might take, bow to cattle gods? No. They are animals, our natural inferiors, our great and beautiful prey. That is the way of things."
Compare that to this familiar conversation:
"I killed my first man at twelve. I've lost count of how many I've killed since then. High lords with old names, fat rich men dressed in velvet, knights puffed up like bladders with their honors, yes, and women and children too - they're all meat, and I'm the butcher. Let them have their lands and their gods and their gold. Let them have their sers."
"Aren't you afraid? The gods might send you down to some terrible hell for all the evil you've done."
"What evil?" He laughed. "What gods?"
"The gods who made us all."
"All?" he mocked. "Tell me, little bird, what kind of god makes a monster like the Imp, or a halfwit like Lady Tanda's daughter? If there are gods, they made sheep so wolves could eat mutton, and they made the weak for the strong to play with."
"True knights protect the weak."
He snorted. "There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different."
"What evil?" He laughed. "What gods?"
"The gods who made us all."
"All?" he mocked. "Tell me, little bird, what kind of god makes a monster like the Imp, or a halfwit like Lady Tanda's daughter? If there are gods, they made sheep so wolves could eat mutton, and they made the weak for the strong to play with."
"True knights protect the weak."
He snorted. "There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different."
I liked Eyesofmist's comment in a previous thread about how Martin is able to use these secondary characters like the Hound to explore themes that might be harder to do with the "main" characters whose actions must drive the plot. It doesn't mean these secondary character's are not important, but they serve a different purpose.
Btw, there is a vampire in this novel whose last name is Merseult, like the main character in Camus's The Stranger. That little detail made me feel even more certain of the references to these existentialist texts in The Hound's narrative--riding a horse named Stranger, with an older brother named Gregor and in love with a girl named Sansa (I feel it MUST be a reference to Kafka's The Metamorphosis whose main character is named Gregor Samsa).
! Sigh! I have not finished Fevre Dream, but I suspect love, in this case the platonic love, friendship love between two men will be very important in establishing a "happy end." I hope I'm right! I know I'm probably not saying anything new, but I really do delight in how Martin takes common works and themes and reweaves them into stories that are familiar, but still so fresh at the same time. It's not so much that he's being subversive (and we've discussed that before), but he's mixing genres. Who would have thought that a popular fantasy novel would have such depth of theme and meaning? And yet, what is simpler than Love? What is more complex? 