A Game of Thrones

[Clodfobble]

I always figured it was a shortening of "Brandon." Would you say that one rhyming with farm, or tan?

[wolf]

The NYT Reviewer is clearly stuck in the box of trying to force A Game of Thrones into the same model as most cable dramas, which does the depth of the story a disservice, although I wonder what he might have said if he knew that at the end of the run, the story will remain unfinished. Barely started, really.

[jimhelm]

right! dude clearly did not read the books.

and it is most definitely Bran like tan or man or Stan or can.

Listening to these books on audio book forces your pronunciations. The 1st three of these books are narrated by Roy Dotrice
Roy is also playing Grand Maester Pycelle in the series. and that's how he says it. BEST NARRATOR EVAR.

Here is a sample of him doing the voices of Tyrion and Braun as he narrates from Tyrion's perspective... as Tyrion tells his hired Sell Sword/Steward, Braun of the way he met his first wife. This is one guy doing the narrating and all of the characters in these books, mind. He's so effortless as he slips from one voice to the other, and then to the 'narrator' voice that you forget all about him as a narrator. You're seeing the character in your mind. He acts the dialogue, too. If you have 6 minutes, listen to this. Now in these books, he does use the same gruff voice he uses for Braun when he's doing Sandor Clegane and several other tough guys. But then, Tyrion and Varys and Sam Tarley and Doloros Ed, and I don't know how many other distinct voices are unique and quite complete.



The 4th book is done by one John Lee. (click that link and hit the little green arrow under the picture of the book to hear him) Not a bad narrator... a bit slow and quite smitten with his own voice... it's a good one, I suppose, but not so great following Roy.

[Sundae]

Just FTR, Stephen Fry mispronounces Hagrid's first name in the Harry Potter audio books.
It should be Roo-BEY-us, not Roo-bee-US.

Also note the shift in Star Wars from HARN-solo, to HAN-solo after the first film.

I'm not going anywhere with this of course. Just that one of my favourite children's books has a character called Bran (Braan) who is named after a raven - being the same word in Welsh, and I have encountered others the same.

Again, when creating a whole world, you are entitled your own history and pronunciation.

[jimhelm]

so, who watched it? I liked it, but I wonder about how it would seem to those who had not read the book?

[kerosene]

Still no access. But hoping I can somehow watch in on Netflix someday or dvd or something.

[wolf]

I was wondering that as well. I don't regret reading the books at your suggestion, but I don't know if I would have taken to the series quite so well if I hadn't known what was coming ... and even knowing, I gasped out loud at the concluding scene. I also think they're being far more heavy-handed in revealing the "big secret," using it more to push the plot in obvious ways, rather than with the subtlety of the book.

[jimhelm]

yeah... Jamie and Circe doing it doggy style on the floor of a ruined castle room was much more direct than what my imagination had concocted.

[wolf]

Um ... I was talking about what Jamie did afterwards ...

I figured the abundance of doggie-stylin' was just the director's way of saying, "We're on mutherfuckin' HBO!"

[jimhelm]

oh!

well, the part you're talking about went just about how it did in my mind, fwiw.


The areas I thought it went a little quickly were when Robert asked Ned to be his Hand, and the interactions between Jon Snow and Tyrion and Uncle Benjin. Also, when they found the wolves....

[Happy Monkey]

I loved it, but I do wonder whether it's moving too quick over important plot points, which may be bad for viewers who haven't read the books.

Or, more precisely, whether it's possible to render these plot points on film at the right pace, as I supect that lingering over them may be as bad or worse than passing them too quickly. Of course, The Wire never waited for its audience to catch up, and there wasn't even a book to make up for it, and I loved that.

So far, the casting has been amazing, and the scenery is gorgeous. I'm excited.

As for the white walker, I paused on it, and it definitely was a very dark color, but it also looked very carved. Maybe it was a helmet.

[skysidhe]

Too busy here so I missed it. I have not read the books yet either. I am thinking about seeing the series first, otherwise when I read a good book and the movie leaves out details, my brain is always noting the gaps or inconsistencies.

[Pico and ME]

I just recently cancelled my HBO...the free offer just ended. I'm not really willing to pay an extra $24 dollars a month on top of what is already highway robbery.

You guys have me sooooo interested, however.

So, would it be better to read the series, or listen to it on cd?

[jimhelm]

listen to it

[Griff]

Imma wait for Netflix in 3 years.