One thing I want to talk about, that you guys have already been discussing is the children (think of the children!)
I know some 12 year old kids who are, sadly, very much adults. They work to help their parents, or to support their younger siblings. Many don't go to school, either because they can't afford it or because they see it as a waste of time. Never really kids and yet kids all the more, with the same desires, dreams and needs as all kids, yet in very difficult circumstances.Crystalline wrote: As I'm reading this book, I find it hard to escape from reality into this world and the characters who live there. What is often brought up is the age of the characters: 7, 8, 12, etc. As I'm reading this, I compare my 12 year old grandson to some of these youngsters/characters and their actions, and, in my mind, this becomes totally unreal...
As for climbing and running and whatnot... well I know children who've been surfing and climbing and running around since they were 7 years old. I was something of an expert tree climber at about 9... so I don't think it's impossible that Bran, who has nothing to do all day, might have explored every nook and cranny in Winterfell and learned to climb rather well in the process.
That being said, I do think you hit on a problem Crystalline. I think GRRM isn't very good at "changing voices", so that when he writes as Arya, Bran, Daenarys or Jon, the way they think seems grown up and rational beyond what might be believable. Same goes for many of the adult characters, who all appear to think alike at first glance.
I say at first glance because, while all the characters seem to share the same kind of thought process and inner voice, what they think about, what they pay attention to and the decisions they finally make, depend a lot on the nature of their character.
Let's look at the ages of the characters:
Rickon - 3
Tommen - 7
Bran - 7
Myrcella - 8
Arya - 9
Sansa - 11
Joffrey - 12
Daenarys - 13
Robert - 14
Jon - 14
Theon - 18
A comparison of the Baratheon (Myrcella and Tommen) kids to the Starks is interesting. Generally the Starks seem to be more independent and more capable... and they also have a lot more freedom. An unbelievable amount of freedom actually, from our modern perspective. Arya and Bran seem to run around all day with no adult supervision whatsoever. I find it sort of weird that Sansa is so... tame... compared to her siblings. She is something of an airhead, obsessing over the chivalry and pageantry of the royal family (and her betrothed in particular), to the point where she isn't really thinking about who these people actually are...
At age 12, 13 and 14 Joffrey, Jon, Robb and Dany are practically adults... although they aren't really. We get the feeling Joffrey is a bit of an ass, Robb is brimming with good intentions, courage and honor but little sense, and Jon is possibly the more thoughtful and mature, though angsty and filled with teenage dreams of validation through honor..."Bastards grow faster than other children" they say. His tendency toward thoughtfulness, his romantic dreams of being a Watchman and his angstiness may be explainable through his status as "the bastard" and his relationship with Catlyn, who wants nothing to do with him. That has to be a stressful situation for a kid.
Dany's situation is... interesting. She's been abused and belittled by her big brother throughout her life and, being the perceptive child that she is, she's learned to keep her thoughts to her self while accepting abuse as a normal part of their relationship. Then she's repeatedly raped by her new husband... until she learns to like it. When she finally "takes control", it's in the bedroom. She takes Drogo out beneath the stars and, for the first time since their nuptials, they have sex in a way that isn't cold, brutal and utilitarian. She learns to be a Dothraki Khaleesi and finally finds some degree of freedom and power, after an entire lifetime of being little more than a prisoner. Her adaptability and inner strength are admirable...
It does, however, makes me uncomfortable that sex is so... brutal. This isn't the last time in the series that we'll see sex as this misogynist act that women either suffer through or learn to like... What's GRRM's intent in transmitting this sentiment? Is it just his own repressed fetish? Is it meant to shape his characters in someway? Is it meaningful?
Is it excuse enough that the book models 15th century Europe, and "sex was different back then"? That seems wrong... This is fiction after all, and it would be laughable to call this "realistic" when there's whitewalkers and direwolves running around in a fantasy kingdom, on a world that doesn't exist.. GRRM has created this world, these situations to his own specification. And the world he creates is undeniably a man's world... Even if it is true that there are strong women characters, the men go whoring, bastards abound and women are intermittently used for sex.
I like your view of Eddard Stark Crystalline.. because until now I'd never questioned his honor. I do feel he's meant to be an honorable character, and when he chooses to leave for King's Landing, he's doing it for the good of the realm, in the hopes of protecting Robert from a Lannister conspiracy and to investigate the death of Jon Arryn. But it's also undeniable that he has a duty as Bran and Rickon's father that he's relegating. I wonder if that says something of GRRM's view on fatherhood.