How Vizslas and Game of Thrones are Related

ilian herzi
4 min readJan 26, 2019

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A humble attempt at why we should read more.

Everyone loves a captivating story. Whether it’s telling tales flowing from friends or unraveling mysteries from the backs of giants or discovering hidden tales wrapped in paper, the result is that same: visions only we can see unravel in our minds the longer we stare at the ink or the longer we listen to the sounds. Some argue that the final frontier is space, but that’s a fallacy. The final frontier is our imagination, and it’s only when we’re equipped with our minds that we become capable of making anything, even dragons, a reality.

Game of Thrones is, in my opinion, one of the greatest book series of the century. To dream and to create is one skill. Remembering history and its lessons is also great. But to blend the two takes mastery of both skills, and George R.R Martin is a champion in this regard.

As a college student, I can only afford nighttime hours to plunge into the world of Westeros. I read under the lamp of my elevated twinXL single bed with the smell of the SF bay under my nose, sometimes with parties and loud bass jarring the window of my bedroom. But when I pick up my book, a curious phenomenon always follows. My senses start to fade, and I myself become more and more ephemeral. As I read Game of Thrones, I am no longer ilian the college student, but I am ilian the three-eyed observer. I lose myself in Martin’s books and become someone else entirely.

HBO Game of Thrones

Sometimes I ask myself what I would do if I met Daenerys. I’d try to become a dragon rider but in reality I’d probably just become dragon food. Drogon has some huge fangs…and he breathes fire. I’d like to be thought of as a human and maybe not a meal.

Sometimes I think I would become a maester sailing for the Citadel, probably because I’ve been fascinated by magic ever since I read JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

Ideas like this are just extensions of human imagination. Yet, I find that in today’s world the power of imagination is waning. With the advances we’re making in technology and the tendency for some teachers to use a hammer when trying to fit the screw that is a student’s education, it seems like books for a large number of people is now a creative form of torment. Reading a book is now the difference between an A on a physics test instead of a story through the mystery of science; a grueling yet necessary 12 hours with our brains on the grindstone that is our textbooks. But books are not meant to be dull. A book left to grow in the soil of someone’s mind will blossom and release an aroma of infinite imagination, sometimes revealing a piece of that person, he or she didn’t know existed before: the part of him or her that merged with the book.

And yet, despite the potential a book can unlock, people find relief in the addictive news feeds and photos found in social media instead of stories. To be blunt, there are parts of history that seem repetitive, sure, but nothing is more repetitive than the themes behind the photos and news feeds on all social media platforms; the photos change yet the messages behind them never do. And to observe something without extracting some new idea or new thought is the silent death of a person’s creativity.

While some of us may have exchanged words in paper for smiles on screens, not all is lost. As the the title suggests stories, like Game of Thrones, are like companions. For me, one of my companions is my viszla, Rufus. This is him.

Rufus (my puppy)

Rufus has the unique ability to warm anyone’s heart and place a smile on a face that recently nestled a frown. Sometimes I work with him lying by my side, his head resting on my arm. Sometimes we go walking — actually it’s him walking me based on how hard he pulls the leash. Other times I just scratch his belly, and he makes a typical goofy face.

All in all, Rufus is a companion in the narrative of my life. Like all dogs he brings love, joy and laughs to moments that ordinarily would have been dull. And like dogs, books can sometimes fill the monotony of daily life. So I challenge you to unplug yourself from social media for a while and pick up a story that excites you: maybe nonfiction, maybe fantasy, perhaps even romance. In the end, you pick the story just as I picked Rufus from his litter. And I assure you, that if you pick right, it may very well change your life into the extraordinary.

Rufus and Me

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ilian herzi
ilian herzi

Written by ilian herzi

Apple ML Engineer, just taking life one idea at a time

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