George R. R. Martin Quotes About Philosophy
-
Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it's not that simple... Real-life kings had real-life problems to deal with... My people who are trying to rule don't have an easy time of it. Just having good intentions doesn't make you a wise king.
→ -
I'm not a writer who's preaching some particular philosophy or something but the big questions do concern me and I like to make my readers think and debate and argue with each other and look at some aspect of the world or some act of governance or war or power and have an angle they haven't considered before, and that's something I strive for and hopefully have accomplished.
→ -
And if I'm guilty of having gratuitous sex, then I'm also guilty of having gratuitous violence, and gratuitous feasting, and gratuitous description of clothes, and gratuitous heraldry, because very little of this is necessary to advance the plot. But my philosophy is that plot advancement is not what the experience of reading fiction is about. If all we care about is advancing the plot, why read novels? We can just read Cliffs Notes.
→ -
'Dreamsongs' allows me to show the scope of my writing - with personal commentary that puts the works in context and includes some autobiographical details intended to reveal how each piece came to be, what it represents, and how it has formed, or been informed by, my philosophy of writing.
→ -
But my philosophy is that plot advancement is not what the experience of reading fiction is about. If all we care about is advancing the plot, why read novels? We can just read Cliffs Notes.
→
Related Authors
-
Emilia Clarke Actress -
Brandon Sanderson Writer -
David Benioff Novelist -
Kit Harington Actor -
J. R. R. Tolkien Writer -
Robin Hobb Novelist -
Jack Gleeson Actor -
J. K. Rowling Novelist -
Stephenie Meyer Writer -
Patrick Rothfuss Writer -
Sophie Turner Film actress -
Neil Gaiman Author -
Maisie Williams Actress -
Lena Headey Actress -
Robert Jordan Author -
Steven Erikson Novelist -
Stephen King Author -
Suzanne Collins Writer -
D. B. Weiss Author -
Peter Dinklage Actor