Game Of Thrones: George RR Martin On Nazis, Borrowing Shakespeare And His Moral Code
Author George R.R. Martin appears at a book signing for “A Dance with Dragons” at Barnes & Noble in New York, Thursday, July 14, 2011. HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” based on RR Martin’s epic fantasy novels, was nominated for an Emmy for best drama series on Thursday. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
GAME of Thrones author George RR Martin has been talking to Rolling Stone:
“Ideas are cheap. I have more ideas now than I could ever write up. To my mind it’s the execution that is all-important. I’m proud of my work, but I don’t know if I’d ever claim it’s enormously original. You look at Shakespeare, who borrowed all of his plots. In A Song of Ice and Fire I take stuff from the Wars of the Roses and other fantasy things, and all these things work around in my head and somehow gel into what I hope is uniquely my own. I don’t know where it comes from, yet it comes — it’s always come.
“If I was a religious guy I’d say it’s a gift from God, but I’m not, so I can’t say that.”
Is there a moral message?
“One of the things I wanted to explore with Jaime, and with so many of the characters, is the whole issue of redemption. When can we be redeemed? Is redemption even possible? I don’t have an answer. But when do we forgive people? You see it all around in our society, in constant debates.
“Is Woody Allen someone that we should laud or someone that we should despise? Or Roman Polanski? Our society is full of people who have fallen, in one way or another, and what do we do with these people? How many good acts make up for a bad act?
“If you’re a Nazi war criminal and then spend the next 40 years doing good deeds and feeding the hungry, does that make up for being a concentration camp guard? I don’t know the answer, but these are questions worth thinking about.
“I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there is no possibility of redemption, what’s the answer then?”
Posted: 4th, May 2014 | In: Books Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
