Dune

Talvez ficção científica não seja para mim.

I have read Dune multiple times over the years. This time through, I listened to a multi-cast audio version of Frank Herbert's classic. (by Macmillan Audio) It is very well done indeed. Recommended.
Now I think I am ready for the new movie (when they finally release it).

The book starts off slowly, setting things up and relaying the novel to you in an unconventional way that is tough to get past at first. But once you're past the first 50 or so pages, it all starts coming together and creates a gripping story that pays off for the rest of it. I had to knock off 1/2 a star for the rough start, but other than that it's easy to see why this is hailed as one of, if not the, most influential sci-fi novels of all time.

Also, I killed a book club I joined by recommending Dune even though everyone at the time seemed very excited to read it. All except one couldn't get past the rough period, and even she hasn't finished the last third of the book. I guess covid-19 played a part in most of them abandoning it, but I think the real takeaway is don't recommend meaty fiction to a book club.

A lot of people have an issues with the whole “white savior” trope that is apparent in this book, but if you learn a little about context in which Dune was conceived and what the future entries in the series do, it's all a set up for the ultimate downfall of Paul. It reminds me a lot of Ender's Game in this way, where the first book paves the way for the real story the author wants to tell.

I read Dune (and the rest of the series) a couple of times as a teenager and loved it then. I decided it was time to read Dune again to see what I think of it now.

First, it is much more of a boy-coming-of-age story than I remember. In the case of Paul Atreides, coming of age doesn't mean just becoming a man or stepping into his father's position, it means becoming a Messiah figure for the people of his adopted planet, Arrakis. The focus of the book is really on Paul. I thought I remembered Jessica, his mother, being more of a central figure, but she is central only to the extent that she is focused on him.

Second, the world of Dune is developed in such detail, with a history and political order, an ecology, philosophy and accompanying religions. It's really impressive. However, the character development is disappointing. Jessica, Paul's mother, has something like a personality which shows in the care she takes with bringing up her son, the love she has for Paul's father, Duke Leto, and her fidelity to her Bene Gesserit training (as well as in the instances when she is disobedient to her training). Paul himself, though, is curiously impersonal and cold as a character, even though we spend a lot of time hearing his thoughts. Other characters fare even worse, with the possible exception of Liet Kynes, a planetologist raised to his position on Arrakis by his planetologist father.

It was interesting for me to notice that the sexual politics in Dune were about what you'd expect from a novel written in 1965. This isn't something I would have noticed as a teenager. Men are the leaders and women are pretty much there to bear the children, look pretty, and serve their men. Among the Fremen there's more of an expectation that women will also have occasion to kill their enemies in battle, but they still have delightful customs like women being the prize for challenging a leader and killing him. The exception to all of this is the Bene Gesserit, a female organization somewhat like an order of priestesses, where girls are brought up to master physical and psychic power to be used in service of a secret agenda that involves combining bloodlines to produce a ... what? Kwisatz Haderach, whatever that is. Women who have been trained by the Bene Gesserit are both valued and feared for their skills. Men consistently refer to them as witches, and not in a good way.

The bottom line is, I enjoyed being immersed in the world of Dune again, but was disappointed to realize that the characters were not as rich and the universe not as welcoming to females as I remembered them.

What can I to say about this one? This was some formative sci-fi in my youth and while the details are murky the sentiment was clear - I loved this as a kid. It's been on the want to re-read shelf forever but you know how it is with things you loved as a child. I mean have you tried to watch Dukes of Hazzard as an adult? You wonder what kind of a moron you were in grade school.

The Atreides aren't just some good ole boys, never meaning no harm (my God, what sort of a hole have I dug myself here) and Dune did not disappoint. The first half had me hooked and I would have happily plodded along as House Atreides settled on Arrakis. I loved the political intrigues, the backroom dealings, and the strategies inside strategies. I gobbled up the pseudo-religious talk and the historical notes and read it again as an ecological warning.

I generally don't read these sort of sprawling epics and even now I'm hesitant to read any more of the series (though it looks like I'm in relatively good hands with the first trilogy) Even if my time with the Fremen ends here, this was just the sort of indulgent clunker of a classic that I needed right now and can only hope that Denis Villeneuve once again manages to film the unfilmable.

Uno de los padres de la ciencia ficción actual, y con mucha razón .
El libro es muy entretenido, el como esta escrito es muy rítmico, lo que lo hace fácil de leer. Las palabras “originales” son fáciles de aprender, por lo que no hay que estar consultando al apéndice a cada rato. La descripción del mundo, de los trajes y la maquinaria es una delicia.
El punto “negativo” es el ritmo de como transcurre la historia. Si bien la narrativa es muy buena en el como esta escrita y en el como suceden las cosas(la lógica de las situaciones), el ritmo es como bajar de una pendiente, se parte muy lento y termina demasiado rápido.

Promising at first, but the messianic nature of the protagonist leads to a curiously two dimensional story for all the talk of schemes within schemes and the mystical mumbo jumbo. Disappointed!

Re-read from the 80s and , for being a book written in the mid 60s it holds up very well. Yes, gender roles are probably not the most current but I will be delving into the sequels again.

I'M FREEEEEEE

When I first picked up Dune, I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I did. I don't have anything to say that hasn't been said hundred times in the thousands of previous reviews. Dune is truly magnificent. To me it sits as one of my favorite stories right beside [b:The Lord of the Rings 33 The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3) J.R.R. Tolkien https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33.SX50.jpg 3462456]. A masterpiece in more ways than one.

Undeniably influential. Dune blurs the lines between SF and Fantasy, in-turn making it everything I ever wanted out of a novel - there's personal family conflict, ecology and environmentalism, an enormous sense of scale between vehicles and planets, philosophy on leadership, ethics of biological science and a deep examination of religious and political individuals and power structures all centered around an expensive, time-melding drug. Once I had adjusted to it, I loved the writing style with Herbert giving the reader multiple perspectives and exploring different characters and places. Despite the sheer amount of stuff in this ~444 page book, the prose is succinct and purposeful which (thankfully for me) means you don't get pages of description, allowing you to fill the gaps yourself. Reading this in anticipation of the film was an awesome ride and now I can't wait to dive into the sequels, after a time gap to let me just absorb this masterpiece and let it have its own definition.

Now I know why I have been dragging my feet for 40 years to read this.

I love it. There are no words

Admito que me sentí un poco perdida al inicio. Me tomó casi 100 páginas para entender qué estaba pasando y familiarizarme con la geografía. Pero conforme avanzaba la historia, todo se volvió claro.

Leí que Frank Herbert había planeado este libro como autoconclusivo, pero la verdad que me pareció más una muy buena introducción. La historia tiene un final, pero los acontecimientos exigen una continuación.

En cuanto a los personajes, no tengo quejas. No me gustó mucho el romance, pero la escena final compensó todo. Ademas, cada uno de los personajes es tan complejo que siempre quieres saber más de sus motivaciones. Dicho sea de paso, me encantó el protagonismo que le dio el autor a las mujeres. Teniendo en cuenta el año de publicación, creo que fue un visionario para su tiempo y sigue siendo relevante en la actualidad.

En general, me encantó esta novela. Mi único pesar es que no lo leí antes; pero a la vez me alegra haber esperado porque esta edición es magnífica.

3,5 stars ultimately, and after debating with myself for a while I ended up giving it 3 stars.

I did not have high expectations. The only reason I wanted to read this is because I was curious, and with the movie coming out soon it gave me a deadline to finally get to it.

The world that is built here is impressive. There's a lot to learn at the start, but you'll grasp the concepts eventually. There's a history to everything, including the planet and its people. And of course, politics!

However, what usually attracts me the most to a book are its characters, and although there were a few nice moments here, I found most of them to be rather “matter of factual” instead of more on the emotional side, if that makes sense? I found most interactions to be rather cold and so I found it difficult to really get invested in the characters and their relationships. That's probably the only thing that stopped me from caring too much about what was happening sometimes.

It was nice to read an actual complete story for once, though. I mean, I know there are continuations, but they're mostly seen as optional. The ending here ties everything up nicely, and as someone who's more used to series, this was very refreshing.

This book is labeled as one of science fiction's greatest masterpieces - it is a label well deserved. Frank Herbert's tale of revenge, politics, culture, ecology and religion is of a caliber that hasn't been seen in a long time.

The most notable evidence for this book's classic nature is how it reads - though it was published many decades ago, the language and settings read as though they were invented just last week. The characters are powerful and moving while still maintaining a healthy sense of reality; the locales are presented in a manner that easily depicts them in the mind's eye; and though the story can be a tad confusing at times, the overall theme of love, revenge, and fulfilled prophecy is staggeringly good.

A MUST read for science fiction lovers.

I read Dune for three main reasons:
1) It's seen as a pillar of sci-fi and one of the most influential
2) I like the director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049) and am looking forward to his movie adaptation in December
3) I'd heard it had thoughtful things to say about ecology

I'm glad to say that each of these was fulfilled! I'm glad I read it, and it was thought-provoking. I think more than anything, Dune reminds me of watching the original Mission Impossible for the first time in high school and feeling like it was a little underwhelming and cliche. It was only later that I realized that Mission Impossible is the reason that those things became cliche; it's the origin. Dune is a bit similar. A dry, desert planet with a lonely boy who's the chosen one, fighting against an emperor? Dune did it before Star Wars. Beautiful landscapes of a desert that's as dangerous as the other people? Dune did it before Mad Max: Fury Road. Scheming house politics as members fight each other and try to get ahead and seize power? Dune did it before Game of Thrones. Dune didn't necessarily invent all of these ideas, and of course Dune has its own influences (Lawrence of Arabia comes to mind, and Islam in general). I wouldn't even say Dune is better at any of these things than the other works I mentioned. But lots of cultural works touching on any of these items owe Dune a great debt for putting these pieces together in a pretty compelling piece.

I'd also like to give great credit to Herbert for introducing thoughtful, deep engagement with both religion and ecology, not often found in sci-fi. There are plenty of interviews of him talking about environmental issues, and his language fits right in to today's world. He was an advocate for renewable energy back in the 1960s, and he spoke out about the ways that we extract resources from our environment, and how we can't keep that up indefinitely. The book dives into conversations about how people can and should interact with nature in a harsh environment. All of the considerations about the biology felt clever and thoughtful: how the Fremen adapted to preserve moisture, how their blood coagulates quickly, how tears/spitting are monumental occasions, the value of blood, etc. Similarly, the worms are pretty cool and make sense in the environment. It also takes the long view, a blessed thing in today's distracted culture. And although he mostly just pulled from Islamic ideas of a heroic, messianic “Mahdi” figure, Herbert was also really well-read and fairly thoughtful in his use of religious tropes. The world is set far in the future after humans have colonized space, so Earth's current religious systems have spread and morphed over time. He pulls from loads of current earth languages as well, so it doesn't feel too focused/targeted.


A few cons:

Dune is SUPER weird. Unlike most sci-fi, this future world is deliberately not very tech-heavy. It leaves room for a variety of human groups/cults/organizations that are enhanced/trained in ways that fill some of that missing space. Mentats are ration-worshipping human computers; the Bene Gesserit are witches/concubines who are kind of magical and have secretly been pulling the strings on a millennia-long breeding program; and a certain mineral called Spice gives people special reflexes. And that's not even the really weird parts, which I won't touch on for spoilers' sake. My friend Charlie called it “LSD sci-fi,” and that feels about right. Even the names are either basic Anglo names (Paul, Jessica, Duncan) or kind of out there (Thufir, Feyd-Rautha, Mohiam,

A few others: like lots of literature in the time period, women really get sidelined (ending scene?!?). There was plenty of raw material for him to work with (Jessica being Paul's main teacher and possibly teaching the Fremen after she wins her duel; Jessica v. her order; Chani's possible character arc after what happens to her father; the princess Irulan). I hope Villeneuve does a better job in the movie of developing the women, and I was glad to see Jessica's actress indicate she's optimistic. Herbert also goes waaaay overboard in coding fatness as evil. His descriptions of the Baron Harkonnen's weight are borderline comical. I understand the contrast with living on a harsh desert planet that sucks out your waterweight, but still.

I think this is tempered a bit by how much Paul buys into the Fremen way of life, and how they have a quite active role in their fate, but it still feels a bit white savior-ey.

On a more literary level, I was frustrated by his plotting a bit. The pacing was mostly okay (a little slow at the first third, then somewhat abrupt at the end), but throughout the book the audience doesn't have much information about what's going on. At best it makes you curious about what's happening (towards the beginning, when they're warned about going to Arrakis). But at worst it makes you lose all sense of the stakes of a situation (even with the glossary/appendices, I have no idea how the spice/worm/water overlap works). And the lack of a window into the proper politicking behind the scenes means that some major plot points feel a bit arbitrary (more late GoT than early GoT).

I'm glad I read it. I hope someone writes something about it in conversation with our climate crisis. And I think the movie's going to be great.

Dap, tot o copodopera si la a doua citire :)

I can't argue that Dune is a major foundation for Sci-fi and that a big part of my critic is based on things that didn't used to be done at the time. In the overall I liked the book but I will talk about what was lacking.

The book is interesting and the universe is full potential! Potential that sometimes I found unexplored. The spice for instance, or the sandworms. We know they are the most important parts of the story but were rarely used for the development of the story. For example, Paul riding a sandworm had no impact on the main story whatsoever.. Which leads me to my next point ;

Paul Atreids. Paul is the definition of the Chosen One trope on steroids making him way too over powered and therefore making the audience easily detached from the character. The event I mentioned earlier, riding the sandworm, even if it was Paul's ultimate test to be seen as a Fremen, was done with no struggle whatsoever.
I loved Paul at the start of the book but the more the story developed the more I found myself hating Paul. I was wishing he'd get killed at the end by Feyd-Rautha which would've given the story a kind of interesting/unpredictable ending.

But in the end I'd say that my major disappointment with this book is how predictable everything is. The more the book progresses the less you'd feel tension for the characters as you realize that events never deviate from the predictable path.

Many events were also pointless or had no impact on the story, for instance, again the sandstorm riding, Gurney believing Jessica was the traitor..

Desde hace algunos meses Dune estaba en mis metas de lectura de este año. Hace muchos años que la había puesto en mi lista de libros que nunca iba a leer ¿Por qué? Bueno, el libro lo intente leer hace unos 17 años. A mi familia le gusta mucho la ciencia ficción y este libro estaba en la biblioteca del único lugar de donde sacaba mis lecturas en esa época. Época en que leía mucho más Ciencia Ficción que ahora.

Y si hablamos de series de ciencia ficción, éste era casi que obligatorio. Empecé a leerlo y no me acuerdo en que parte lo dejé, intente ver la película y las miniseries que siguieron (Aquí hay que hacer un apartado, porque si he visto que las adaptaciones no son muy buenas). Pero lo intenté. Y con el paso del tiempo me dí por vencido y dije que nada me haría volver a intentar entrar en esta historia. Tenía este recuerdo de que todos los personajes me caían mal.

Cuando empecé a usar Goodreads leía más fantasía que ciencia ficción, pero por mi tipo de lecturas Dune siempre salía en recomendaciones, hasta que lo agregue para que me dejará de aparecer y molestar. Justo cuando empecé a ver noticias de una nueva adaptación vi a mi madre volviéndolo a leer y me decía que a ella si le gustaba y le estaba descubriendo muchas cosas nuevas. Le comenté de la nueva adaptación, pero realmente no me interesaba mucho.

Ahora, soy muy fan de Denis Villeneuve y cuando ví que él sería el director, las cosas empezaron a cambiar. Creo que la adaptación se ve muy interesante y seguro la veré y con el paso del tiempo me puse de reto que tendría que darle otra oportunidad a Dune (así que cualquier libro abandonado ahora ya puede tener una segunda oportunidad).

Y después de tanto rollo ¿Qué pasó con este segundo intento? Pues, es un poco complicado y a la vez no. La lectura no se me hizo pesada, la primera parte realmente no podía entender mucho el por qué lo había dejado, realmente no me acordaba de mucho. Al llegar a la segunda parte, creo que empecé a acordarme que los personajes no me agradaban tanto, y lo que empecé a ver es que Dune era más una idea. Tengo una imagen de todos los personajes, pero creo que en el libro no se muestran tanto, solo Paul.

Así que en esta parte la nota era un poco más de 3 estrellas. Pero al llegar a la última parte, creo que me empezó a gustar más. No sé muy bien todavía que nota ponerle. Lo dejaré entre 3.5 y 4. Y puede ser que el haber leído tantas series haga que sienta que esta historia ya la sabía, cuando algunas de estas series se pudieron ver muy influidas por Dune.

Solo puedo concluir que a pesar de la importancia de Dune, no estaría entre mis libros favoritos o que recomendaría. Menos a gente que no esta tan metida en el género. Pero tuvimos un reto exitoso, por lo menos.

Do you like sci-fi?
Do you like great histories?
Read this, read Dune, it is simple marvelous.

An entertaining story that just begins to touch on a seemingly boundless universe.

I really enjoyed Dune. The story was paced well and the underlying themes were woven into the fabric of the tale seamlessly. I feel like I'll need to read this again at some point to fully understand what's going on, and for that reason I can't give it 5 stars.

“Non devo avere paura. La paura uccide la mente. La paura è la piccola morte che porta con sé l'annullamento totale. Guarderò in faccia la mia paura. Permetterò che mi calpesti e mi attraversi. E quando sarà passata, aprirò il mio occhio interiore e ne scruterò il percorso. Là dove andrà la paura non ci sarà più nulla. Soltanto io ci sarò.”
-Litania Bene Gesserit: La paura uccide la mente.

[NO SPOILER]
Dune è un romanzo che si apre come una partita di poker a carte scoperte, ma riesce lo stesso alla fine a sorprenderti, per la potenza delle sue intense scene. Mi ha affascinato la capacità dell'autore di scrivere così poco di tanti personaggi ma allo stesso tempo permettere al lettore di capirli in profondità. Oltre a disegnare un mondo particolarmente suggestivo come Arrakis, è riuscito a creare in maniera coerente un popolo con relative culture e usanze. Senza parlare della profonda filosofia che permea il romanzo, infatti non è una semplice storia di intrighi e tradimenti, ma seguiamo un protagonista che cresce grazie a saggi insegnamenti, fino a diventare lui stesso una fonte filosofica impressionante (notare gli estratti a inizio capitolo).
Infatti, il romanzo mi ha stupito perché non era assolutamente quello che mi aspettavo. Oltre al fatto che si legge benissimo nonostante sia del 1965 , non è un romanzo di avventura o d'azione, non ci sono combattimenti spaziali alla Star Wars, o meglio, c'è una componente d'azione ma la vera ricchezza sta nel resto, infatti è un romanzo molto introspettivo, contiene molte scene oniriche e discussioni sulla moralità e filosofia. Affronta temi ambientalisti, riguardo alla politica, i legami umani, religiosi e altro ancora.

E' una storia di formazione e filosofia, di intrighi politici e militari, di sopravvivenza e lotta, di tradimento e vendetta, di amore e di odio, di passato e futuro... cosa aggiungere? E' stata veramente una bella lettura, ora capisco perché viene definito come un capolavoro della fantascienza. Se non l'avete ancora fatto, fatevi un favore e leggete Dune.

Legendarno delo v odličnem prevodu. Hitro v knjigarno! Najbolje kar po obe knjigi, maja pa menda izzide še tretja.

I can't believe I waited almost 20 years to read this book! This book blew my mind and I can see why it's been called the best science fiction novel in history.

The world Herbert has created is immensely rich in detail. He has put an immense amount of thought into the planet Arrakis, its landscape and ecosystem, the political and religious setting of the world around it. By the end of the book I feel like Arrakis is a real place I have seen.

Dune has it all: fighting and laser guns, politics and conspiracy, superhuman mental abilities and witches, a likeable protagonist-a hero, a barren planet with a rough climate where only the toughest and the strongest survive and huge worms. And spice.

I can't wait to see the movie that's supposed to come out this year and I hope it does the book justice.