How close is Game of Thrones the show to Game of Thrones the book?

It has been a while since I read that scene, but when I watched the televised version, I was very disappointed, and kind of surprised that people who hadn’t read the books found it to be so shocking – the written version was much bloodier. GRR Martin did a lot of work to build up the sense of dread approaching the wedding… you knew some shit was going to go down, but not quite what, and you couldn’t predict it would be as awful as it turned out to be. He had The Rains of Castermere played repeatedly, which from reading the books, you knew was a dire warning (songs are more important in the books). Responding to this, Catelyn Stark shared the reader’s sense of foreboding throughout the scene.

Much (and) more was made of the Freys breaking their “salt and bread” contract in the books. A lot of the small details of the fight are very different, particularly the way Catelyn dies – and Grey Wind did fight, instead of being shot while confined.

And they also changed the bit with Arya and the Hound. The Hound knocked her out before she could see any of the horror of it, so she spends a good deal of time later not quite believing it really happened (even though she did know), and wanting to go back.

And… there’s more to this event that hasn’t been presented yet. I thought it would be shown in the last season, but I guess they’re saving it for later. That’s all I’m saying.

If you’re at all interested in reading the books, do it. There’s a lot more story and character development in there than is shown in the series – and the order of events is presented differently, so you get a different perspective in some ways.

@glacial Thank you. You had me at – the written version was much bloodier. Lol

Red Wedding was nothing but a great shock for those who haven’t read the book and wasn’t told beforehand. Sadly, I wasn’t one of those since I don’t have cable. Had to wait for the Blu-ray release which took almost a year-?

The only foreboding I got was reading FB posts and internet headlines mentioning Red Wedding. Spent months wondering. Lol

Thanks again. Downloading the books on my iPad now. : )

You won’t be disappointed. :)

I just hope he finishes the books… I liked the Wheel of Time but the author died before he could complete the series. I know another author did but I haven’t ever read the last ones.

My daughter has read the books, and she says the series is very true to the books. She did say in one, someone gets cut across the face, while in the other his nose is cut off.

I have all the books and plan on reading them, but I just can’t bring myself to do it until the show is over. While I know the books are leaps and bounds betters, it’s not often I find a good TV show. I don’t want to spoil anything.

@glacial, I haven’t read the books, and I didn’t think it was very shocking. I was pretty mad that [SPOILER ALLERT] Rob died, but other than that I didn’t really care that much…