Awww man!!! WTH!

Spoiler Alert

Finally, I completed the 5th book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series:  Dance of the Dragons just an hour ago and I am still wondering what the hell happened. Actually the problem is that too many things happened in this book and I am yet to come to terms and I am 😡

Why? Why does he have to do that to Jon Snow? While reading I did feel that it was getting too good to be true. It’s GRRM’s fault that I am becoming more cynical. I even asked my friend if Jon Snow is going to be alive till the end. The only answer I ever get from him was ‘Just read! Why do you even ask I don’t know!’ And today when I finished that chapter where at the end Jon lay down in the cold with multiple stab bleeding and calling Ghost,  this is what happened. 

And there was Dany whose fate was dangling but at least there was a closure to that. Poor Poor Quentyn and what the hell was he thinking… dragons are not dolls dear. And…..Reek oops Theon, that effing idiot. I don’t even know what to think. Did Bran forgive him when he saw him through that tree ? Is his penance done ? What is going to happen to Arya now ? Aegon again ! Whoa that was a BIG surprise actually. I hope he has some sense to follow Jon Connington. I should say I was a little happy when Cersei had to accept her sins and confess. But sad for losing Jaime. Finally , finally when I thought I would never hear about him, there comes Varys finally doing one thing I didn’t expect him to do. Man! too many plots, too many treacheries, too many surprises. My head is spinning.

Now I have to start watching the series.

 

Happy to see you back

As I had promised myself, I started my 5th book Dance of the Dragons on a lovely and rainy Sunday evening. I am a person who gets emotionally involved with the characters if the book is well written. Not all books, but definitely some good books sort of bring out the scenery of what I read in my mind. Its more or like watching a movie, but at a very slow pace. And this book definitely has captured my attention. And there is always one or two characters who sort of stick with me. I root for them. When they do something wrong I chide them, when something wrong happens to them I get upset. I want them to be safe, when compared to other characters who might deserve my attention or pity or emotions. What can I say, I am biased. ISFJ’s are known for that I guess 🙂

And no points for guessing who I was so relieved to see in this book. When I felt a small happiness on reading about Tyrion Lannister that is when I realized I missed him. I missed his humor, his sarcasm, his bluntness, his matter of fact approach and even his sadness. Am so glad to have him back in this book. And the other person I was happy to see was Bran. I will say this again and again, I stopped watching the series because Jaime pushed that kid from that wall and I cried that day. So you know how I feel about Bran right from the beginning. After all the kinds of movies I watch and books I read, I should not be feeling anything at all at the gruesomeness that happens in any story (not only the physical violence) but in-spite of it I still get emotional. I remember reading Kite Runner and feeling so upset and then even through the quarter of the movie, I stopped watching it. I just couldn’t go through it again. I am not sure if I will get over such things. But then that is why I love the books and the movies. They show me so many different worlds and tell me so many different stories and each of them touch me in a different way. Oh God! I got a little sidetracked here. Back to the Game of Thrones.  I am trying to take it a little slow this time for this book because the sleepless nights are giving me more trouble with my health. My eyes feel so strained and I feel so sleepy all the time. So I guess this book is going to take a while to complete (and I hope that it is true). Let me see what else is in store for me.

Ha!

Spoiler Alert

When I started the fourth book just after my Pune vacation, I was warned that I won’t have the stories of some of my favorite characters in it and I was OK with it initially. Well, we have so many characters, I don’t think I will miss them, I thought. Now that I have finished A Feast for Crows, I do miss not knowing anything about Tyrion Lannister 😦 Not even a clue about where he and Varys went and what happened. Among others, I liked following Arya Stark more than Sansa Stark, even though both of them had to become some one else to just live. And both make use of their own strength to survive. One person whom I have come to accept is Jaime Lannister, even though I still don’t feel comfortable forgiving him for pushing Bran (I just am not able to let that go, may be because that was one episode I saw and it just stuck with me) but I do feel sorry for him now. The one person I have always detested and probably will detest for ever is Cersei. Whenever I finish some chapter and I get emotional and rant to my friend, he would just say, wait till you complete the book and then let us see how you feel about her. you have to read her perspective to know her. You know what, after reading the whole book, I still hate her. I can accept no excuses on her behalf. She is such a hard core narcissistic person (I had to refrain from cursing at this juncture). Thankfully I didn’t feel emotionally very sad for any one in this book as I had for Robb and Catelyn during the Red Wedding. But if I had a Ha! moment, it was when Cersei’s plan backfires. Man, I was so happy 🙂 Couldn’t wipe off that grin from my face for quite some time. I really relished reading that chapter. And a double Ha! moment, when Jaime reads her letter and ask his squire to throw it in the flames. I could have given him a hug for that.

I am going to take a break and start the 5th book from this Sunday. (That was mostly for my sake, so that I will not give in and start early).

Reacting to a particular Wedding

Note: This post is not intended for those who plan to read the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series. 

With respect to my ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ status update, I am already onto my fourth book ‘A Feast for Crows’.  Yes, that means I completed my third book ‘A Storm of Swords’ on Friday almost before the day we started back from my vacation. Just on time. And that was two weeks for the third book , just for the record. Thanks to my friend who loaned his Kindle with my book loaded so that I can keep on to my reading. At first I thought , wow is he chivalrous or what. (Spoiler Alert) And during one discussion over the lunch, he asked me which chapter I was and I told him that Robb was back and talks of wedding was going on. He was like, Edmure’s Wedding is it? I told him that, Edmure’s Wedding is being discussed but no, I was talking about Robb’s wedding. He was like, ok ok go ahead. And then we went to Alibagh and this wonderful resort had a room with the pool view and we had chairs besides the pool to lounge and relax. I was about to read the chapter of Edmure’s Wedding then and my friend told me that I should probably relax by the pool side and read and not get disturbed by the TV (they were watching Comedy Central…well that is what they watched all the time.. so). I was like , wow, he is being really really nice.

And there I went all happy that Robb is going to patch things up with the Frey’s and Edmure, even though I don’t like him much, was finally getting married and things will be rosy and stuff. Once I was done with the chapter, (sorry no spoiler alert here) I was wondering as if I was dreaming. I thought that may be I had really slept while reading because this cannot actually happen. WTF. I really made myself get up and sit straight so as to feel that I am really awake this time and re-read that chapter. And still it was the same scene. WTF again. There was this tightness in my chest that I couldn’t explain. I went to the room, looked in and said “WTF, What did happen just now ? Did I read it correctly ? or is it something else? ” He looked at me and said ‘Is that your reaction ? That is all ?” . “What do you mean ‘is that all’ ? “, I asked. “I don’t even know what I am feeling right now”, I said and then the tears started to come. A slow and late reaction but a reaction that was at last relaxing that tightness that was there in my chest. Because now I got the confirmation that I did read it correctly. I told them that I am going to stop reading for a few minutes and just relax and the tears wont stop.

My friend told me how he really had a panic attack on reading the chapter and was really really upset for a very long time. I wouldn’t peg him ever for getting panicked over anything at all. He is a ‘take it easy’ kind of person. And I was really surprised because even though I was emotionally blank for some time, I did not cry like I did for Dumbledore’s death. May be because with the way things were happening may be unconsciously I was not expecting their lives to be a bed of roses. Probably. I don’t know. I think I did make up some stuff to relax myself and to get going. They showed me a YouTube video of the reactions of various people who haven’t read the book and watched the series on TV. Wow.. I should say, some reactions were pretty strong, but very honest. I would have reacted by shouting, screaming, whatever. I am a very emotional person even though I am little private with it. If there are people around, I might control myself, but if I am alone and if you are living in the next or opposite flat, you will definitely hear my reactions.

And I should say that this book, as my friend said to me much before, was more interesting than the rest of it. Especially the way the last of the leech’s prediction coming true, I shouted a hallelujah and thanked all Gods. Pretty juvenile, I know. But I couldn’t help it. And the last Epilogue. Man, that was something. I was in the car coming on our way back to Pune from a local trip and I was so glad to read it. I jumped up and down in my seat. And why not, I was the only one in that seat and I might as well enjoy it. At this rate, I am sure to finish it soon I guess.

And no wonder, I ain’t that fond of weddings. Marriage, though, is another matter.