THE GREAT AMERICAN READ | George R. R. Martin Discusses "The Lord of the Rings" | PBS
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Official Website: to.pbs.org/2Gt... | #GreatReadPBS
George R. R. Martin discusses his admiration for “The Lord of the Rings” and how it impacted his own writing.
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THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, a new eight-part television competition and nationwide campaign, explores the power of books and the joy of reading through the lens of America’s 100 best-loved novels, as voted on by the public.
“A band of humans and elves”
Don’t you dare forget about Gimli
The Lord Of The Rings is untouchable in a league of its own.
The lord of the rings were the best books ever to be created
@@dexplays3298 no
@@cesarkarim3352 yes
@@dexplays3298 no
@@cesarkarim3352 yes
He could have easily promoted his books, but he went ahead and told everyone to read LoTR. What a guy!
It's the most popular books in the world he doesn't need to
You honestly think he needs to promote Game of Thrones books at this point?
@@mahasohona966 do you think Mc.donalds needs to run ads still? Itis the most popular restaurant on THE PLANET.Yet, ads are still required to keep them relevent. It has been studied ENDLESSLY. To keep something popular, you must keep promoting it in new and fun ways. One day, GoT will fall off the face of the earth, in great part from the disaster of the show and his lack of finishing the story.
THIS VERY VIDEO is an ad for LotR, even if its just from another fantasy author. Thus, it is an ad for GoT. It doesn't matter what you think; THIS IS A FACT.
It’s literally a PBS series in which this segment is about LOTR.
George Martin is an amazing guy. He is enormously famous and (now) wealthy. However, he never forgot where he came from. He has a blog for years where people could ask him questions or make comments. He has corresponded with me on a few occasions about football and paintings. We may not always agree on everything under the sun (including politics), but he is a good man who has enough respect and empathy for his fellow human beings to see them as worthwhile.
can give me the link of his blog plz ? I wanna talk to him so bad.
His old blog (for which he sometimes still makes comments): grrm.livejournal.com/
thnks bro.
@@ccchhhrrriiisss100 was curious and wanted to reas George's comments but commenting is disabled and none is shown
Chris M that's really nice! 🙂
George R R Martin, Andrzej sapkowski, tokien, kentaro Miura.
My all time favorite dark fantasy writers.
Rip Miura 😔💔
Same i also like miyazaki although not a writer a game designer rip miura
I was also 13 when I first read ‘The Lord of the Rings’. It was a little over my head at the time. But I circle back every couple years and discover something new each plunge.
I started reading it at 13 got through the two towers, but I put them down for some reason. I picked it up and started over again .
Its so cool that Martin respects the works of Tolkien who was a great inspiration to his works. Its nice to hear his analysis on lord of the rings. I feel they both have the same fantasy genre with influence of world history of course but two different styles of writing but still same structure format of literature.
Funny, what Gandalf did for him, Ned Stark did for me.
What's your point?
Okay, you're right. That has literally nothing to do with what I was talking about. In this video, he talks about how Gandalf's death completely rocked his world and changed his whole perspective on what storytelling could be. Reading Ned Stark's death for the first time did the exact same thing for me.
That was exactly the implied point. He learned that from Tolkien. It's not funny (coincidental) , its intended.
Exactly...nothing like a tough loss to forge the sweet desire for revenge!
& Jon Snow would be a closer mirror of Gandalf...the loss of both hurt deeply and both were brought back
@Dark Wizard ?
a band of humans and elves? what
Right!? That was one sloppy voiceover.
I guess the dwarf got the short stick again. No love for Gimli son of Gloin
yeah they basically did no research into lord of the rings, they looked at a movie poster and saw it was about humans and elves and had to gall to say that.
the producer is probably one of those six people
Gimli : IF I BE A JOKE TO YOU LET ME SHOW YOU MY AXE!
I can't stand people comparing GRRM's work to Tolkien so often in every review or dissection of aSoIaF. They are both so wildly different in almost every aspect and no need to compare. People have their favorites, and both are the pinnacle of the genre.
Song of Ice and Fire belongs to a very modern genre. I hope it isn't the best of its genre.
It has too much of a soap opera vibe. The stories have so much backstabbing that someone not backstabbing someone feels like backstabbing. While this vibe is historically accurate, GRRM's way of presenting it is wrong. He should have presented it like history.
@@adorp I know what you are saying, on the other side it is meant to entice readers with drama.
@@hakdavid-s4e don't we have enough drama in life? Art is meant to take us away.
I understand what you are saying, but some people have different tastes. Someone likes drama, some about exploration and so on.
Lotr will be always number 1 :)
To me LOTR and ASOIAF are equal. Both are gargantuans that have a huge fanbase
No
@@martinlopez2816 LOTR is just better.
George rr martin honestly seems like the kinda person you could talk for hours about lord of the rings and the lore of it
“A band of humans and elves”
*Gimli* Am I a joke to you?
And the 4 Hobbits 😂
1:10 “The greatest-ᵇᵒᵒᵖ-that I’d ever read.”
Oh...so Gandalf is the reason for the misfortune of the Starks.... This series has definitely ingrained the effect that loss can have on a story...Lot's of loss
I love reading.. really.. in fact I've been waiting for a specific book to be released for a little while now..
Personal Favorite Writers CS Lewis JRR Tolken Philip Pullman Top 3 Favorite Fantasy Writers But Recently Started Getting Into The Fire & Ice Series.
Martin and Tolkien are probably the two greatest fantasy fiction writers of all time, and their stories are actually very very similar in many ways, but in most ways they are opposites. At the end of the Silmarillion, the Flight of Earendil and the War of Wrath is the largest battle that has ever been, and it takes forty whole years to defeat the forces of Morgoth, but that entire story is less than one page long. Martins story on Roberts Rebellion, to where he left off on his last book is about as long, but literally thousands of pages longer.
Yeah the mines of Moria is my favorite chapter as well
I like this guy.
It would be such a shame if he wasn't going to finish a song of ice and fire. I hope he gets it done before he isn't able to write anymore or dies, especially since sooo many people were disappointed with the ending of the tv show...
GRRM has said before that he thought Gandalf the White was a mistake and it would have been a better story if Tolkien had left Gandalf dead.
Guess he lied here.....
is george rr martin xD
+Steven Aarhus How did he lie ? He said he appreciated Gandalf's death. That's the truth. He just wishes it had been permanent.
Source?
I believe Jon Snow is Azor Ahai so bringing him back makes sense thematically. Lady Stoneheart is an actual example of bringing someone back in the finished books. GRRM often doesn't play by his own rules and that's totally fine as long as the story is still good.
Very interesting what would happen if there was a book convention with him and two of John Ronald reuel Tolkien grandsons with him they might argue back and forth on this.
loved every minute of this. Truly. But Tolkien wasn't American lol. It's, "The Great "Planet Earth" Read" lol
Awesome!
The first real novel I read was white fang in middle school.
Please finish winds of winter
I never died, I just went to a party for a few years!!!!
Unfortunately I suffer from a brain injury that doesn’t let me read or process words well. Comprehension and understanding of expression is largely gone.
A giant talking about a giant.
Not anything near as good as the last jedi! The depth of character in it was magnificent and continuity was so fluid, written by a great writer of so many wonderful stories, called ruin Johnson,
I remember Popeye bullying this guy for courting Olive Oyl when I was a kid.
Tolkien--> kills Gandalf
George RR Martin--> kills every character you cared about
Ah yes, when Gandlaf dies, it was great. Sad that he brought him back. He also changed as a character in the movies which I didn't like.
I have never hated an author like this he just spoils me that Gandalf dies well so as every father figures in books.
2:15 i was just watching this video before starting the book! wth!
i think a big reason why tolkiens books are so different in structure is cuz he didnt know anything about expectations and he just wantd to write a book
Wow Gandalfs death really made a impact on him. Wait until he reads The Two Towers.
2:15 then Ned Stark dies I can’t explain the impact that had on me too
I want to be his son...
=, (
He's so cool
So what he’s saying is that if Gandalf didn’t fight the balrog to get all of the xp for himself, Ned Stark wouldn’t have gotten his head cut off?
I feel sorry for GOT Tv show. Martin spent over 20 years on ASOIAF but D&D ruined it in 2 years.
Kushal Rijal Lol he says they have done great. But you must be right.
Jeff Bachman he did liked the show till season 4. But DD refused to bring Lady Stoneheart. Apparently Stoneheart was the inseperable factor for later books and seasons. DD removed stoneheart and things went downhill from there. We can see how absurd season 7 was. and 5 & 6 were nowhere close to earlier seasons.
Kushal Rijal as a reader of the books spoiler
Stone heart so far hasn’t done jack shit except kill a couple of Frey’s and force Brienne to get Jaime
She’s just another pointless character in a very convoluted story that in no way can wrap up in 2 books
devonte jefferson publisher confirmed that she is the heart and soul for next books. Why would have Martin begged show runners to include stoneheart? He was okay with chopping Dorne as well as Iron island. But he wanted Stoneheart. Do some research. Publisher has said she will play very major role in WOW. Martin himself has showed displeasure in not including her. Do some research man...
I also have read books. She is gonna turn on Jaime, Brieanne and brotherhood storyline by involvement of freys. Doesnt that sound a big plot direction to you??
Kushal Rijal in the grand scheme of things not really Stoneheart is just a rage filled zombie that can’t even speak right the farthest I see Stoneheart story going is and I hope mass murder of the Frey’s finding Sansa and killing Littlefinger pretty much Arya’s show plot I can sort of understand chopping Dorne even though it one of the best new characters Arianna Martell. But you still have to add that stupid Jon cliffhanger from the last book(yes it was stupid shock value) and what happens there,Aryas story which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere,the Northern conspiracy story,Stannis(who’s arguably one of the best characters)Sams arc,Cersei arc,Sansa who’s still in the Vale about to be married off again and she’s still stuck with little finger,Theon, Blue haired Aegon, and of course the Others assuming they’re gonna play a big part( which I doubt because we’ve seen so so little of them in the books) and of course EVERYTHINGELSE in Essos. I know isn’t perfect but I can’t blame D&D for its collapse mostly because they were given an unfinished plot and there’s so going on to wrap up in 2 books he would be rushing and I don’t want that Feast of crows was terrible setting up plots that had nothing to do with main storyline or it’s characters Dance of dragons was meh you can see he’s starting to not care I’ll still read them of course but I can see of these will lead to nowhere he’ll we don’t even if he’s halfway finished or not with WOW and we still have his final one Dream of spring the finale
I wonder what Tolkien would have made of this man's work and the 'truth' he puts in it.
I wonder if Martin thinks he can reconcile the 'truth' in his work with the truth in Tolkien's, and how.
Tolkien is the greatest
Was game of thrones ever finished?
Wait why would george critize on lotr but apreciates it anyways???
Is lotr worth reading if u watched the movies a hundred times?
Its better then the movies and I enjoyed the movies give the books a go
Am i the one who has to tell him about gandalf
Sub español 🙇🙇🙇
Killing a main character is heartbreaking. Killing every single character 1 by 1 isn't.
No wonder it was like history, Tolkien wrote the hole world in its previous books
1:11 pause there and read “the lord of the rings” or should I say “story of biddy and pipe
awww look at lil baby georgie. even then, he was plotting to kill rob stark and his mother. that bastard
I agree LOR's, GT, great, but I liked 1st & 2and Samuel, witch of Endo, Uriah murdered by deceit. Tealbaby
Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire are two sides of the same coin.
"The Lord of the Rings describes the epic struggle of a band of Humans and Elves."
What?
2:25 funny because you killed Jon Snow off then brought him back 😂
Got is a trash compared to Lord of the rings
GOT is Nothing like lord of the rings
Don't listen to a word butter ball says until he can finish his own story.....come on George buck up buddy.
The fact that Tolkien write it like history is what makes it so special
The fact that George wrote it like an actual story, with the characters’ actual emotions pouring onto the page, is what makes it so special. Even Fire & Blood, which is his history book, is so much more fascinating and fun to read.
@@markymarkzero
two words: The Silmarillion
if you’re reading LOTR like a modern fantasy novel and expecting the same things, you’re doing it wrong. i thought it was pretty clear LOTR should be treated similarly to something like Homer’s Odyssey.
as one of my friends puts it: middle-earth is the main character of sorts. LOTR is but one of many tales of the long and tumultuous history of middle-earth itself.
@@dunadan7136
It's the same thing with the world of ice and fire . Westeros , Essos, Sothoryos and that's just the world the maesters know of. If you look at the geography we truly only have the northern hemisphere . As far as that goes the history that happens before the first book even begins is what drives the story .
They are similar in the fact that the world they inhabit is arguably the most important thing. I think that his world containing multiple characters being so realistic , grounded and multi facted with human emotion and flaws only make the world they inhabit feel that much more real and lived in .
Tolkien and Martin's work really only share the big world and medieval setting. Other than that I find it quite odd they always get compared honestly. They're not much alike other than in their large scale .
I love both surely but for me I always connected more with the characters in ASOIAF and in turn that made me care more about the world . I understand a story having the opposite effect though where the world takes the precedent .
I truly admire and appreciate both styles and both worlds in their own way .
@@travisrose9716 No, Dunadan is right, you cant say that Martins history book is lie Homers odyssey, Tolkiens silmarillion dives deep into biblical and ancient European folklore and mythology. Martins history book is closer to that of modern normal history school books and contain a few stories, yet they dont have the same "personality" then Tolkiens work. Tolkiens world was meant to be a place for his languages, a English epos written by a man that put in so much effort for a world that is even filled with more beauty then ours. Read Tolkien again, not in the sense as a modern fantasy, but a FANTASY. for it is the truest and the first to the actual genre.
@@langskeppet9887 it doesn't matter which came first . I've read both and the unreleased tales of middle earth . I personally enjoy the world and characters of A Song of Ice and Fire much more .
I enjoy The Lord of the Rings Trilogy , The Hobbit,The Fall of Numenor and The Fall of Gondolin .
But I simply enjoy the A Song of Ice and Fire books more and really don't get why they get compared so much.
Is it the "R.R"?
Or is it just because they're both large scale and medieval?
Tolkien is the best...
tolkien is considered by most to be THE defining author in the fantasy genre
"Band of humans and elves"
DWARF RACISTS
Hobbit racist
Maiar racist
Sure you could argue hobbits are a type of human, but there's only one Elf in this party.
Such a humble person! Expression on his face when he was talking about LOTR is just priceless.
My sister lost it when he said “AND THEN GANDALF DIES!!!!” She could not stop laughing. The genuine feeling in it, its so sweet and you can tell how much he loves it and how much it means to him. And it was just so unexpected from someone that we both admire so much as grr martin. It really does show that in a way he is as big of a dork and a nerd as all of us, albeit a much better writer than most lol
Bro Gandalf dying was traumatic
He did not read lord of the rings 2 the two towers
It's funny cuz to many Ned's death was so traumatic, and yet it was even more traumatic for GRRM when Gandalf fell in the Mines of Moria. Lol
What am I waiting for? To finish a dance with dragons. Lotr is waiting for me on my shelf mate
mmarlaire Start with The Hobbit.
Khalil Fakhri oh that's actually a great idea. Thanks man. I'll do that
have you read it?
mmarlaire So, have you read them both yet?
LOTR is waiting on your shelf? What are you waiting for?!?! All of modern fantasy is a desperate attempt to capture the magic of LOTR. Come on!
I admire George RR Martin so much! He is so humble and honest, and his love for books is notorious.
LOTR will forever be my favorite fantasy series but Game of Thrones is a close second!
Got is far more complex tho, thats why i like it better
@Jared Dowty agreed
@Dark Lord Sauron hehe, i Love sauron probably My third best villain, not the hobbit One tho, but sauron really wouldnt stand a chance against the Night king, the Night king would annahilate saurons army with farily ease
You don't have physical form of enough power. Frodo has the ring is taking it to mount doom.
*or
But does he read LoTR every year like Christopher Lee used to do?
2:30 when his voice breaks i think he remembers how he felt when he first read about gandalfs death
I like him more for that.
Respect and love for George, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis.❤️
Don't you dare forget about JK Rowling! The greatest fantasy writers ever. There will be no one else! 😎👊
@@martinlopez2816 as much as I love HP, like one of my all time favourites, idk how many people will respect Rowling these days... the books are amazing but with the controversy... let's see how things are like a decade or two...
@@Bobby14 art should never be judged by the artist personality/opinions. If that was the case we couldn't read anything.
@martinlopez2816
If you believe it impossible for someone else to come along and write an equally compelling story as them then I would have to disagree - everything is an inspiration from something before it. Narnia inspired Harry Potter. LoTR inspired Narnia. Without works before them we wouldn't have the works we have today. It is only a matter of time for someone else to come along and write a new story from another view point that was inspired by these works and captivate future generations in ways that haven't been captured yet.
Creativity is not dead, you just have to tune into it.
Tolkien: gandalf dies
GRRM: and i took that personally
"The Lord Of The Rings describes the journey of a band of Humans and Elves"
Forgetting someone aren't we?
Enormous Gimli disrespect
George r r Martin thinks the best ending is everybody dies
Dude is nerding out big time. I love him.
Finally a new George RR Martin video.
He looks older than I expected for some reason. I'm really worried now :(
Elwin I think he looks good, not older than the last time he was in an interview.
Marat yeah. Seeing him like this is kinda hard for me. I don't even care about the books anymore. I just want him to live longer and be happy
Bruh, I was just thinking the same thing lol.
2:16 whoaaaa dude spoiler alert maan
Fukk. I haven't read the books or watched the movies. Really looking forward to it. And then I got spoilers... think I'm going to watch the movies after at least 5 years haha
Daniel Huang same here man... till then I'm gonna read Assassin's Apprentice
Bruh the novel is like 70 years old and the movies are like 15 years old. The plot point "spoilers" are fair game now
@@Ola-ws4jg Just because its been out for a while doesn't mean everyone has seen it
@@suspicioususer It is the 3rd most read novel in the English-speaking world. It's fair game lol
My friend told me to read the book when I was in middle school and high school. But I wasn't into fantasy stuff. Years later as an adult when the first movie came out. He had to drag me to go see it. I was completely amazed. And I was amazed at each of the following films as well. I still have not read the book. But I will indeed one day. In fact no greater time to start than tomorrow. I'll order the books
Give us updates.
@@Thelaretus still haven't read or ordered. Lol.
@LH 🥵 nice...
@@theunknown4570 I recommend reading a song of ice and fire over the LOTR especially if you're not in tune with older styles of writing . Tolkien takes a while to get used to. It is very artfully done but I feel it takes a while before you start truly enjoying it in a way. ASOIAF is more modern in its storytelling while still harkening back to some of the older forms .
You cant go wrong with either one . But for me it is always easier to reread ASOIAF than to reread LOTR
I very much enjoy both though .
You will not be disappointed, the books transform but don't be too disappointed in the movies afterwards. They are close but still different from the books
I listen to this then I realize oh yeah this guy is the American Tolkien. Absolute legend.
The narrator “led by a wizard name Gandalf and a hobbit named Frodo”.. immediate give-away that whoever produced this hasn’t bothered to read the lord of the rings
They also didn’t mention a dwarf
When he mentioned about the struggle with the ring I just realized that I have that is my parallel with excessive book buying rather than work through my emotional problems. maybe the book can help me with those temptations by connecting to the characters as they struggle with it. excited to finally start reading it.
Fond memories of reading The Hobbit when I was eight and Lord of the Rings when I was ten. Truly mind-expanding and mind-blowing.
Mr. Tolkien's books were written more for children and young adults than for adults. I've re-read and enjoyed his books as an adult, don't get me wrong. As much as I like Mr. Martin's ASOI&F series, I'd never recommend it to any child. If I'd voted, I'd've probably voted for Lord of the Rings, or maybe The Grapes of Wrath.
So in short, had Tolkien not impress GRRM in his youth with Gandalf's fall, the Starks would probably all had survived and Ned Stark would had end up as John Snow's Hand.
But that would be a differrent story alltogether and a much differrent world. Without gandalf the white and the infamous you shall not pass
He has only killed 2 Starks so far. And Jon Snow is not a Targaryen on the books. You didn't read them, did you?
@@notjohncena6492You "cannot' pass.
@@stigkenobi7525I've read the books. I don't think you understood what I commented though.
LotR is decidedly NOT an exploration of “..absolute power corrupts absolutely” bc Absolute Power is synonymous with Eru Ilúvitar who is irreducible and incorruptible. I wish GRRM could have penned the narrator’s synopses: these are wholly glib and worse than useless.
within the context of LotR Eru Iluvitar is irrelevant and it is very clear using the ring equals becoming an unstoppable force. It says "one ring to rule them all" for a reason.
@@Apfelmelonenmann The only one who would become an unstoppable force if he had the ring was Sauron. The story makes it clear that the ring gives power according to the existing power of its wearer. Sauron or Galdalf would be terrible with the one ring. Aragorn with the ring would be a force who could, perhaps, defeat a depowered Sauron. Regular men? Hobbits? They become invisible and nothing else. Frodo certainly wasn't an unstoppable force with the ring on -- it made him more vulnerable to the wraiths, not less.
The descriptions of the geography of Middle Earth transport you there with ease and everywhere has a history. LOTR is remarkable achievement.
HOW COULD THEY FORGET ABOUT THE DWARF???? NEVER TOSS A DWARF!!!!!
Imagine that. He read one of the greatest classics of all time, then went on to write a modern day masterpiece.
Lol seasons 7 & 8 would like to have a word with you
That's not his fault you got hater😂.
@@soldierfuckinboy Correctly reading comments is not your strong suit is it? 🤣
"Led by the Wizard Gandalf and the Hobbit Frodo."
Aragorn, you mean Aragorn
I love how george still acknowledges lord of the rings as one of the greats and is so happy when he talks about the series. ima definitley gonna give lord of the rings a try in the future rn i’m invested in the story of ice and fire.
You definitely should! I’ve fallen in love with the depth of the stories Tolkien mansged to tell. If you’re finished you might also want to read the later publishings by his son christopher.
@@definitelynotteun update: i watched all three movies and loved it. definitley a trilogy is wanna watch over and over and read the books aswell. but this is my opinion but i prefer a song of ice and fire cause i just find it more complex and shocking and great.
@@juun9401 Great that you enjoyed it! I grew up with the movies, so they hold a special place in my heart. The books are also really great.
Tolkien, Martin and King are my favorite book writers of all time💖.
King? lol. Hope you're not comparing him to Tolkien.
@@aaaaaa8656 I never compared any of the three, I just consider these 3 my favorite. Tolkien was, is and will be the GOAT of fantasy writing. King, Lewis and Martin themselves agree with this too.
LOTR is the king. Martin was on track to write a story almost on par, but something got in the way. Did Tolkien garner fame as he wrote his books or did fame come after the fact? I don't think Martin can salvage what has already been done via the HBO series.
At least Tolkien actually finished his story.
And then Gandalf dies!
Woaaaahhhh! Spoiler alert I just started reading LOTR bro cmon!
I don't know who's the owner of this channel, but I assure you that one day, one day I'm gonna write something big and better than these giants.........just to compensate what I missed....I was not born with books but I had too much time with movies...and that's my inspiration...
Although it is fiction. The Lord of the Rings should be a standard to read in high school. North america or Europe.
Sean bean dies in both of them ಥ╭╮ಥ
This channel is very different from my own channel but it's nice.
Poor Gimly
he should learn from lotr how to finish a saga and make audience happy