When it's done well, it can be a clever device (John Irving is a master of a variation of this, and it works really well in his books). But I agree it's very gratuitous in most cases with GRRM, and irritating. And I thought of the same comparison as you when I reread ASOIAF last spring.

What I really disliked about Graendal isn't exactly the same, though. I am just convinced this episode would have been far more exciting and far more effective dramatically if it switched back and forth between Rand and Graendal. The way Brandon wrote it, it leaves you with the impression Rand was right or had achieved something. It's really obvious RJ meant this moment to show that Rand was losing his mind, using the CK as a weapon and balefiring away to boot. Graendal's reaction scenes, and her escape, complemented this and drove the point home. They came too late for that in TOM and became all about Graendal's escape as a result. It was too late for most readers to reflect on Rand, as they already knew about his breaking point and his epiphany and didn't care anymore to be shown he had been losing it back then. Brandon traded good dramatic construction for losing half a chapter in TGS and getting a useless cliffhanger (but I suspect his real reason is that he had not figured out back then how he'd use Graendal after her escape, and so decided to tell her fate only in her re introduction scene)