An interview with George R.R. Martin

‘Some wars are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.’ Tywin Lannister

 

Travelling Song

J.R.R. Tolkien

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower, leaf and grass,
Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky,
Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,
Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell,
Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We’ll wander back to home and bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
Fire and lamp and meat and bread,
And then to bed! And then to bed!

 

I Sang Of Leaves

J.R.R. Tolkien – Sung by Galadriel

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold,
and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came
and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon,
the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin
there grew a golden Tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve
in Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar beside the walls
of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown
upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas
now fall the Elven-tears.

 

O Lorien! The Winter comes,
the bare and leafless Day;
The leaves are falling in the stream,
the River flows away.
O Lorien! Too long I have dwelt
upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown have twined
the golden elanor.
But if of ships I now should sing,
what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back
across so wide a Sea?

 

‘Heartstone’ by C. J. Sansom

This is the 5th and the latest of Brother  Shardlake’s Tales and by saying that I almost imply that it is good and enjoyable reading  – something you read to take those bleak winter thoughts out of your mind and it definitely works. However, this one leaves you with a sort of  bitter aftertaste – something a bit uncomfortable lingering on.

It does not have much of the religious and political intricacies that make Dissolution great, nor the compulsive frenetic rhythm of  Revelations that would make for a fantastic Hollywood thriller. What it does do, however, is to allow for subtle layers of psychological reading. There are more complicated relationships among characters here and Shardlake reveals himself as a more reflective and self-questioning individual.

There are serious philosophical and ethical questions behind the murder stories – something that leaves Shardlake and you, as a reader, questioning where should we draw the line between justice and compromise, between righteousness and compassion. Above all, it makes you think of the consequences of your acts and how sometimes it is plain obvious that indeed ‘the road to hell is full of good intentions.’

Sansom, C.J (2010) Heartstone. London: Mantle.

 

‘The British Museum in Falling Down’ by David Lodge

Lodge seems to agree with Wilde, who he even quotes, that ‘Life imitates art’ and this is the background of this short, highly entertaining but also melancholic book. However, the case here is also of art imitating art since the whole plot is woven in a pastiche of ten passages in other books. I have to admit that the ones on Graham Greene, Fr. Rolfe and C.P. Snow fell flat on me – I still have to identify them – because I lack knowledge of the references. On the other hand, the ones on Conrad, Hemingway, Joyce and Woolf scream on the page and are just a delight – a sort of bonus tracks on the book.

Reading it now after so many years makes it particularly interesting because of the historical perspective on the main topic and also because, even with the Reading Room still standing  at the British Museum, the whole collection has since then moved to the ‘new’ British Library at King’s Cross. I wonder if there is a novel set on there…

Thanks Ed for the Xmas gift

 

‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel

I’m under a spell. I cannot let it go, at the same time that I don’t want to finish it because, obviously, we all know the end.

First and foremost, there is Cromwell himself. This is not a character; it  is a fully rounded individual that subtly enters your life and charms you beyond reason. Then there is the writing. This is also a novel that has a language of its own – this is perhaps the most overtly Bakhtinian novel ever written. It is not only the multiplicity of characters with their own voices, but also how these voices echo each other and echo the history/stories we have all read. It is also the seamless way the author shifts from the first person to third  person narrators who are sometimes omnipresent and sometimes as constraint in their knowledge as we readers are. It is the way in which the first person narrator sometimes presents his own thoughts and actions and sometimes slips on his guard and gives us ‘direct’ access to his thoughts.

It is a book that grows on you at each page, each paragraph, each sentence, each word…I’m starting to think this is one of the best books I have ever read.

Thanks for the gift Eddy

Mantel, H. (2009) Wolf Hall. London: Fourth State.

 

‘Lord of the Rings’ by J.R.R Tolkien

I usually post here brief comments about the last books I read. Not this time, though.

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is my most beloved book – it has been my enjoyment and inspiration for years and it will never cease to be. What prompts me write about it now is that the last time I went to visit Eddy, his friends decided to have a LOTR marathon and we watched the extended edition of Peter Jackson’s films – hours and hours of which, in my opinion, is the most fantastic book adaptation ever made.

Anyway, watching it over again inspired me to create my own video clip for the Fellowship

Click here for the LOTR Official Website

Click here for  the Blue-Ray video