Which is better, Books or Show?

[JoanDrake]

I come down on the side of the show. ASoIaF is a well-written and interesting story but it is NOT as original as Dune nor as artistically significant as LotR. As writers, we find it very interesting because it's a virtuoso performance by a superior technician who substantially invented the form, but I see Martin as a Salieri, not Mozart. I think it will be a case of "Game of What?" in a decade, maybe two at the outside.


This is reflected best in the binge watching phenomena, where people Tivo (or torrent) it until they have the whole season, and then get some popcorn and a free Saturday. It's a good story but it just doesn't have enough drama and (once you figure out he's going to kill anyone who's even slightly nice, along with everyone else) unpredictability to hold out your interest for 3 months, let alone enough to sustain 7 books and 14 years.


Yes, no, maybe?

 

[nixie]

For me its the books, I like the TV series but books win hands down.

I also think the books will still be popular in a couple of decades. They aren't that original but are well written and do capture the imagination.

 

[Judderman]

It's a good story but it just doesn't have enough drama and (once you figure out he's going to kill anyone who's even slightly nice, along with everyone else) unpredictability to hold out your interest for 3 months, let alone enough to sustain 7 books and 14 years.

But it has held people's interest for that long as you can see from this forum and those who have been around on it a long time..
The tv series may be forgotten by all but its biggest fans in 10 years but the books will be remembered for decades as with many other classics. Though sales will of course be limited in a couple of decades.
The unpredictability of books 1-3 (part 1 and 2) along with tv series 1-4 was excellent, in fact it seems crazy to say otherwise considering some of the shocks. Admittedly much less riveting in the last couple of books but just because it isn't Dune or LOTR doesn't mean it isn't a classic.

 

[jonath]

I'm sorry but the books were popular with a cult following before the tv show was even a twinkle in hollywoods eye. I am an avid reader and I have found the books very interesting. Yes it may seem moderately predictable based on him killing off a lot of the characters but at the same time there is so much more going aside from that. For example is Jon Snow really Ned Starks ******* or is he the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna? I do believe that it will be put on the same shelf as LOTR.

 

[Deɑth.]

The books are superior in many aspects.

However, we can no longer judge the TV series as a adaption of the novels since its story had derived far too much from the original source.

 

[Groot]

The books for the detail.


But the show also gives you some great scenes, not in the book.


Cersei and Robert discussing their marriage.
Bronn and the Hound before blackwater.


and some bad ones in season 4.

 

[Anushka Mokosh]

IMO, the show and book can no longer be compared. The TV Show deviated far too much without a proper reason lately so it no longer stands as a proper adaptation.

I always preferred the books for their details and elaboration and I valued TV Show for offering me some great enactments from the books (e.g. Battle of Blackwater), but overall, I found the books and interactions in them far more powerful than those in the show so books take the win for me hands down.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I can take or leave either but I did get to the end of the books whereas I've barely watched the second series yet (sorry, lovely Alc who lent me the box-set, I will). I dislike the upping of the already distasteful sex and what not. I do like spotting the locations though and love what it's doing for the Northern Ireland tourism industry.

 

[Boaz]

The books for the detail.

And not just details... relevant details.

Viewers have never heard the words, "promise me, Ned."

A viewer could never even imagine R+L=J.

Have the words "a song of ice and fire" even been mentioned in the show?

And the not so relevant details...

The old tomcat chased by Arya was probably Rhaenys' kitten, Balerion.

Jaime dreamed of Brienne under Casterly Rock.

Davos had seven sons.

I'll take the books over any TV or movie productions. It is hard for me to imagine anyone thinking otherwise in a literature forum. But even so, Charles Dance's version of Tywin Lannister is so great that I now believe that GRRM got the physical description of Tywin wrong!

Joan, now as to the question of whether ASOIAF will stand the test of time... I dunno. I know The Lord of the Rings movies were wildly popular, but I think they only stimulated a handful of people to actually read the books. The Chronicles of Narnia did even less well. And the success of the Harry Potter movies have mostly stopped kids from reading the books.

I think that while the number of books being written is at an all time high, I think that hobby/habit/past time of reading is rapidly approaching pre-industrial levels.

The recent classics of Tolkien, Lewis, Kafka, Rand, Orwell, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Salinger, and Solzhenitsyn will all be forgotten in a hundred years. And I don't think it is because the authors don't stand up favorably with Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Homer, Twain, and Dickens ( I can't stand Dickens). I think they won't stand the test of time because people don't read anymore.

Even though GRRM towers over Robert Jordan, like Mt. Everest over a sandcastle, both will be forgotten completely by 2050.

But if there somehow were to be a significant resurgence in reading over the next hundred years, I think readers would look upon Martin's magnum opus as we view Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan stories.

"How quaint!"

"I cannot believe what our great grandfathers found fascinating."

"He wrote about hardship, but ultimately Martin shied away from trying to answer the great questions."

Ad if that is what I think of the written word, what will TV viewers think of the show in a hundred years?

We're not even into a hundred years of TV. What seems to have strode the test of time for it's brief history? Anything? I Love Lucy?

 

[Boaz]

Actually, in a hundred years... parents will demand their children read the classics...

Garfield at Large by Jim Davis

The Sins of the Mother by Danielle Steel

Twilight: The Third Generation by Stephanie Meyers

Betty and Veronica: Summer Special

My World, So $@&# You: A Memoir by Justin Bieber

I am a Role Model by Megan Fox

The Transformers Huge Pop Up Book

Hogwarts' Scratch & Sniff Potion Primer by The J.K. Rowling Estate

How to Have Original Ideas edited by Joseph Biden with chapters by George Lucas, Suzanne Collins, Alex Haley, and Dan Brown. Forward by Ward Churchill. Published by Putin Publishing.

The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Demonslayer by Mark Twain and KaeiLyn Smith-Smith

Wal-mart Shrugged by Ayn Walton

The Wheel Turns Yet Again by Brandon Sanderson III

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

We're not even into a hundred years of TV. What seems to have strode the test of time for it's brief history? Anything? I Love Lucy?

what about the Thunder Cats?

Books win hands down, without question. The show is good, but each subsequent season gets a little worse and, incidentally, a little further from the source material. I watched all of season 1 at least 4 times, where as this last season didn't even warrant a second viewing. granted, there are some great scenes, mostly featuring the Hound (what the F--- is a Lommy?), but there have also been some godaweful scenes, like the ones featuring these 80's movie/army of darkness throwback skeletons.

You could argue that the later books (feast and Dance) were also not as good as the first 3, but that is only because the story line slowed down a bit. At least the writing was still solid. and didn't have this ridiculous garbage!

Seriously! was I the only one that was super disappointed that Leaf was throwing blue fireballs?

 

[Anushka Mokosh]

Boaz, you and I freaking agree on that... IRL, I don't think I know 10 people who like to read books and, those that I do know, are usually the older folks.

 

[Deɑth.]

Even though GRRM towers over Robert Jordan, like Mt. Everest over a sandcastle, both will be forgotten completely by 2050.

I would not let this happen, even if I need to use drastic measures such as raising an Empire.

The Universal Empire of Literature.

Unite under my banners, fellow readers, and I shall not let you lose one single battle on the field.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

I would not let this happen, even if I need to use drastic measures such as raising an Empire.

The Universal Empire of Literature.

Unite under my banners, fellow readers, and I shall not let you lose one single battle on the field.

You have my sword

 

[Anushka Mokosh]

I would not let this happen, even if I need to use drastic measures such as raising an Empire.

The Universal Empire of Literature.

Unite under my banners, fellow readers, and I shall not let you lose one single battle on the field.

You have my sword

And my axe.

huehuehue

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

As someone who started reading the books after seeing the first season of the TV show, I find the books far superior in detail, storytelling and imagination than the show. The producers just don't have the budget to equal the image Martin places in your mind of grand cities, majestic kingdoms and bad ass dragons.

I do enjoy the show, and they do have their moments where they have enhanced the experience of certain scenes (the Mountain and the Viper, or Ned's fate), but with others like the Red Wedding, I didn't feel the same imminent terror or brutal shock afterwards as when I read it in the book.

 

[Boaz]

Agreed, YS. And in case you've missed the multiple posted links all over the Chrons.... Rage of Thrones... just get past the F-bombs.

Remember to tip your Moderators.

I'll be here all week.

 

[Anushka Mokosh]

I'm just going to say that one of my friends started the show before the books and was defending show whenever there was a discussion about some change gone bad, he was like "it's not that bad". Then he read the books. Now he rages more than the rest of us combined. ahaha

 

[Gry Wnd]

JoanDrake " As writers, we find it very interesting because it's a virtuoso performance by a superior technician who substantially invented the form, but I see Martin as a Salieri, not Mozart. I think it will be a case of "Game of What?" in a decade, maybe two at the outside."


Couldn't Disagree more. How many Popular works of fantasy kill off the protagonist half way through the first book? He has changed the game (fantasy books) forever. And if you notice TV shows are now killing off main characters waaaaaay more often. I would also point to his range in the characters he writes- humor to dry personalities to different sexes etc.

This series will last forever. It is the next LoTR except it's more popular in a time when everyone can have access to it. People will forget about LoTR before they forget about A Song of Ice and Fire.

 

[Gry Wnd]

As far as which is better..

They are both so great at what they are that it depends on what you would rather enjoy. I great Book or a great Show. Pick that one.

I like both, so I'm going to watch new content as it comes, I'd rather read it first but we may not have a choice.

That said, unless people are avid readers and feel strongly about it I usually tell them to watch the show first. Because you can watch the show and then still read the books and get so much more from them (thanks for pointing some out Boaz). You will understand them more and things do change so it's not like you already know what will happen all the time. If you try to do the opposite, there are rarely times when the show surprises book readers (at least the first 4 seasons). Additionally, usually it is done better in the books (ie, the whole reason Tyrion even went up the ladder the confront Tywin and the last words he says, plus the Sh!t gold line) So you will still get all of that instead of the flip side which is disappointment in how they did it in the show (which admittedly is much less often then most book to film converts).