I believe that George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the greatest written work of modern literature. I believe this because I (along with other readers online) have reads hundreds of thousands of books, and the vast majority of us agree that no other series rivals the amount of detail and world development in this series, the realism and authenticity of its characters, or its weaving of a gigantic story line.
A lot of the fans of the series share views similar to mine, though most people are hesitant to outright state that it's THE greatest work, since they worry about ridicule for claiming something other than a Shakespearean work or classic can be considered extraordinary literature. However, a few people have built entire websites and encyclopedias dedicated to understanding Martin's universe, and a few people have written essays analyzing his techniques. For example, a famous example is written by a dwarf who described the shock he felt at reading Martin's unbelievably accurate characterization of a dwarf character in his series, and his thought processes, emotional reactions, treatment by others, and daily life. (Linked here)
There are obviously a multitude of people who disagree. Literary professionals, critics, scholars, etc. have all created several lists and essays over the years on the finest works of literature, and works like George Orwell's 1984, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and countless other works by authors like Kurt Vonnegut, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, etc. are all lauded for various literary achievements. (For example, like in this Time list) It seems like there is very little respect for Martin's work in the more distinguished reading circles, which could be due to factors like it's genre, relative modernity, or even it's popularity amongst more casual readers. I consider it a shame, since Martin's work is ridiculously meticulous and has literally thousands of metaphors and discussions of various themes like race, sexuality, power, etc.
While I'm now slightly less inclined about claiming that Martin's work is objectively the best work of literature ever written due to having read various arguments against that belief, I still believe it is highly under-appreciated and that Martin is a genius whose works will be spoken about and widely analyzed in the future. I'm currently on my second reread of the whole series and am still being left dumbfounded at some of the details and foreshadowing I'm noticing. I can't wait until this series catches on with a mainstream audience!
A lot of the fans of the series share views similar to mine, though most people are hesitant to outright state that it's THE greatest work, since they worry about ridicule for claiming something other than a Shakespearean work or classic can be considered extraordinary literature. However, a few people have built entire websites and encyclopedias dedicated to understanding Martin's universe, and a few people have written essays analyzing his techniques. For example, a famous example is written by a dwarf who described the shock he felt at reading Martin's unbelievably accurate characterization of a dwarf character in his series, and his thought processes, emotional reactions, treatment by others, and daily life. (Linked here)
There are obviously a multitude of people who disagree. Literary professionals, critics, scholars, etc. have all created several lists and essays over the years on the finest works of literature, and works like George Orwell's 1984, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and countless other works by authors like Kurt Vonnegut, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, etc. are all lauded for various literary achievements. (For example, like in this Time list) It seems like there is very little respect for Martin's work in the more distinguished reading circles, which could be due to factors like it's genre, relative modernity, or even it's popularity amongst more casual readers. I consider it a shame, since Martin's work is ridiculously meticulous and has literally thousands of metaphors and discussions of various themes like race, sexuality, power, etc.
While I'm now slightly less inclined about claiming that Martin's work is objectively the best work of literature ever written due to having read various arguments against that belief, I still believe it is highly under-appreciated and that Martin is a genius whose works will be spoken about and widely analyzed in the future. I'm currently on my second reread of the whole series and am still being left dumbfounded at some of the details and foreshadowing I'm noticing. I can't wait until this series catches on with a mainstream audience!
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