Game of Thrones

About a year ago someone asked me what I rate GoT out of 10. I believe I said 6, to their shock. Later I was asked my favorite series before a group. I said The Office, to their shock. Yet GoT haunts me every fall and strikes me as obvious 10/10 TV in many places. The cause for this discrepancy should be tediously clear from my long series of GoT posts: the broad waste between Ned's fall and Jon's rise. But if I wrap it all up, how do I really evaluate GoT? What do I do with it now?

I'll start with how I'm feeling now. I watched the first few episodes a couple-few times years ago, then watched the entire series front-to-back with no spoilers a couple-few falls ago, then rewatched a bunch of key episodes somewhere around last year, and now have watched most of S1 again. I feel engrossed. I didn't have time to inject another something in my life; I have two months to read The Aeneid, Inferno, and a bunch of history, learn two languages, and watch a handful of movies; work and life feel like they're on full-court press; the last thing I need is bait that'll reel me into an ultramarathon of TV+books+extracurriculars that I can't stop thinking about. Now's the perfect time for that -- fall advances, I'm hot off S1, raring to go; a long winter lies ahead, and no glory to keep me warm save what I can scrounge in places like ASOIAF. I'd keep skipping about, through every season, watching key moments I know I love, and discovering new loves along the way. Then I'd crack open the first book, and who knows where that would lead. Probably down a path of many, many hours. Probably I'd read every book, and pretty thoroughly this time. That's how it goes; I often skim things first, then get interested (FOMO) in the things I missed, so I'll skim those; then that makes me want to go deeper. Each taste gives me a taste for more. I couldn't pick those books up now without reading them quite thoroughly. And I certainly want to. I don't want to read every chapter, but I want to dive deep into them.

So why don't I? Some folks lack the spirit to dive into any such thing, perhaps because they've already exhausted their tastes. If I have a spirit raring for such a pursuit, why would I chain it back up? Well, my spirit champs for many things. It bothers me I haven't seen another Fellini after La Strada so many years since, and why wouldn't I, with Italy on the horizon? But then there's the practical matter of knowing Italy's history so I can identify what I'm seeing and why. But wait, that's not practical, learning the contemporary nature of these cities is critical to comprehending my time there. So that's already three axes I'm compelled to attack just for Italy. Then there's all the other crap of life: exercise, music, loved ones, Packers, work, and things I won't mention. Yet I would enjoy this ASOIAF dive more than most of that, almost certainly more than anything Italy-related. It's absolutely mental I don't do such things as I enjoy.

The King in my brain urges my faculties to go check out book one from the library. The Hand says "this is an extravagance the realm cannot afford." The Hand's realm is a healthy one, but grim. The King, used to getting what he wants, will die early.

Thank goodness Ned died early, otherwise I might love this fantasy more than life itself.

What's crazy is I wouldn't really enjoy the books if I tried to read every word. People talk about books they can't put down, that cost them sleep; I only get that way when I'm skimming. I could even stay riveted to my Latin textbook for hours, if I'm skimming. But not even ASOIAF can keep me pinned without jump discontinuities / skimming. At least I don't think so -- I've never experienced that. But I bet I could skip around in ASOIAF for many hours, happily.