I spent the second half of my 2013 reading life immersed in the worlds of Wodehouse and Game of Thrones. It was a strange juxtaposition. On the one hand, Wodehouse presents an idealized world where fortune and personal happiness might be in the balance, but never one’s life. I have yet to meet a body count in Plum’s oeuvre. On the other hand, we have Westeros. The body count there has surpassed mere calculations and just about everyone is too occupied in a life-or-death struggle to pause and consider if they are happy with their situation. Even when the characters indulge in a tea, these occasions are generally laced with intrigue and political malice.
One thing that Wodehouse and Martin are both able to do is
provide the reader with engaging stories and characters. Both can plot a twist in a story like no one’s
business. Admittedly, Martin takes his
twists to the extremes with beheadings and whatnot, but it is important to
acknowledge that both authors have the ability to surprise the reader. Interrupting the reader’s expectations goes a
long way in my definition of a successful book.
It is good to have your worldview refreshed every now and again, and
much less devastating if it can happen within the confines of two covers.
The best part about catching up with my husband in the Song
of Ice and Fire is that he is no longer at the point of implosions when we
discuss plot developments. I also miss
some of the characters and I keep hoping for some sort of an update on how they’re
getting on. Conversely, it be a long
time before I run out of books that keep me abreast on the doings of Bertie and
his lot, although when it happens, I know that will be the final word (although
goodness knows when Martin will get around to publishing his fifth book).* Although I’ll miss them for now, one nice
thing about waiting for Book Six is that I am now free to read other
things. For now, this means that I am
able to indulge my taste for non-fiction and leaving the shocking turns to
Plum. Unless Bertie Wooster becomes a
paid assassin, I think that my literary shocks for the future will be of the
tame variety.
*As the reader might have surmised, I persist in my refusal
to acknowledge any book involving a Wodehouse character not written by Plum to
be canon.
