Reading Dune

[spinwardpirate]

Ok, this thread has convinced me to go back and try a third attempt.
Fwiw, I really enjoyed both the film and the miniseries, so I'm not sure what it is about the book that was so difficult for me. And I'm the sort that digs crazy religions and stuff like that, so you'd think I'd be all over this.
Wish me luck!

 

[Supplement Four]

I am totally with Supplement Four on this, hell, my fave is the Bene Gesserit (sp?) and mostly the Prana Bindu and the Voice.

The concept of making the human race better through breeding is not a new concept, but it sure is interesting in Herbert's books.

I, too, love the BGs.

Of course, I love the Ixains, too, and their forbidden technology. Gholas are freakin' amazing.

But, Herbert just doesn't stop there. The gholas need to be imprinted...

Dune, along with James Clavell's Shogun are a couple of the rare books tthat can fit 3 independent plots, a couple of interrelated plots, and half a dozen subplots on two pages.

Never read Clavell, but I'm intrigued by him. I want to read him. I've got Tai Pan on my list.

Ok, this thread has convinced me to go back and try a third attempt.

Go get 'em!

In the right frame of mind, you'll find them amazing.

If you're looking for Star Wars, look elsewhere. If you're looking for Star Trek, look elsewhere. If you're looking to lose youself in a universe that seems completely real but has typical story elements where you will feel like debating Plato on the nature of man, then Dune is your book.

I've read 2.5 of the prequels by Herbert Jr. and Anderson. The actual stories told in those books aren't bad. They're more straight forward, traditional science fiction action tales, but there's no hint of that special quality that Herbert Sr. puts in his books debating humanity's true state of being.

The problem with the prequels, though, is that they're so badly written that, literally, a talented high schooler could write them better.

They are so hard to get through, they're so bad.



Always remember, though: The spice must flow!

 

[Madarin Dude]

Tried reading it while in high school found too much fantasy in my sci fi so I put it down. Might try it again sometime.

 

[spinwardpirate]

Two thumbs up!

Thus far, I'm really liking it. I'm on page 40 or so, and I don't remember it being this good on the previous two attempts at reading it. Of course, my perspective has changed since the last time I picked it up (namely, I now have two young sons). So I think it has something to do with my change of attitude.

 

[Supplement Four]

Thus far, I'm really liking it. I'm on page 40 or so, and I don't remember it being this good on the previous two attempts at reading it. Of course, my perspective has changed since the last time I picked it up (namely, I now have two young sons). So I think it has something to do with my change of attitude.

Probably. That's the way it was for me. Our tastes mature as we age.

I see some problems with the Dune series (namely, that each book doesn't really have a third ACT...well, the first book does, the as for the others...), but that doesn't stop me from appreciating the unique place the work holds in scifidom.

It truly is a work of art.

 

[coliver988]

Now I may have to re-read the 1st trilogy, perhaps the rest. I really liked the first one, but the subsequent ones left me with the feeling he was getting paid by the word - they got longer but actually did less. But it has been 30 some years since I read it, so perhaps my tastes have changed (although not according to my wife. She feels I'm about on par with our 8 year old emotionally )

 

[Pagan priest]

All of the fen that I know feel that Dune is great, but each sequel is worse than the one before it. While the prequels are not anywhere near as good as Dune itself, they are good in their own way. It was nice to see the actual events of the Butlerian Jihad as they really happened, and to see how the fremen got started. Seeing the discovery of the properties of spice was also interesting. On the other hand, the depiction of the beginning of the feud between Antreaties and Harkonnan just didn't ring true.

In summary, by all means, go forth and read Dune. Read Dune Messiah, and maybe even Children of Dune, if you have time and the interest. Stop there. If you really want to see how history unfolded to create the Dune universe, go ahead and read the sequels.

 

[aramis]

Personally, and having reread the entire series in 2007, I woud say that Dune is indeed the best book of the whole lot. But I find the sequels worthy of reading. Even through Most of Sandworms of Dune. The final ending, however, was a let down.

I even enjoy the prequels. (I will admit that KSA & BH write in a somewhat different style than FH, but I still enjoyed all of them...)

It took 5 tries to make it through Dune for me, as a high schooler. On try 5, I used it to put myself to sleep. Then, about halfway through, I wound up NOT sleeping.

Now, I'd seen the Lynch/deLaurentis version movie... but to be honest, that was a hinderence in getting into the novel's 1st 3rd... but it was nice to have better mental imagery in the second 3rd of the novel.

And I rapciously read the sequels as soon as I got each of them.

Getting the Dune 7 project (Hunters and Sandworms), I read them late last year... and until the last 5th of the last book, was enjoying them immensely. That ending, tho' it made sense, was a let down par excellance...

Spoiler:

Duncan as the Kwizatz Haderach... yeah, I could see how it had been worked in since God Emperor... but DUNCAN?!?! Bleah.