Dune Review

Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. […] The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune%5F(novel)

Survival of the Fittest

This is not my first time trying to read this book. Over the years since I’ve bought it I’ve attempted to tackle Dune about 3 or 4 times. Every single time, I realized I was fifty pages in and had no idea what was going on.

Looking it up on the dune subreddit, I found out that this was actually a common thing - struggling to gain your bearings in this world that Frank Herbert throws you in. They even dubbed it a “rite of passage” for Dune lovers.

After finishing the book, and skimming through those first pages again, I realized I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. The amount of detail that Frank Herbert fills the pages only adds to how alive this world is. This is something that I found as I got deeper and deeper into the novel.

Battle of Minds

If you wanted a novel filled to the brim with action, laser pistols, and swashbuckling bravado this isn’t your book. Though it does have its fair share of enjoyable action, the main highlight of Dune are the mind games that the characters play with one another.

I found that the most shocking and exciting moments were the ones where the author let us peer into two different characters' thoughts and feelings as they opposed each other. It doesn’t sound that great when I say it out loud but believe me that it made for intense storytelling.

However, I will admit that at times I was craving a little bit of that action especially at the climax of the story and I would have definitely enjoyed a lengthier book if the author were able to fit both the clashing of ideas and swords.

Literary Themes

The themes inherent in the book like power and religious fanaticism flew over my head as I was reading. I was trying so hard to keep up with the details that I didn’t realize the lessons that Frank Herbert was trying to teach.

YouTube videos are your best friend for breaking these down post-read to enhance the Dune experience even more.

Personal Feelings

This section is totally subjective but I know what it feels like for a book to pull me in and make me want to take a day off just to read. The only time this book was able to achieve that was towards the end.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy Dune thoroughly but I wasn’t constantly awed such that I would rate this a 5/5.

People have said that subsequent reads are more enjoyable so that might change in the future.

References, references, references

What I really enjoy about consuming older media is seeing how much of its influence we see today. Star Wars is one that is mentioned a lot. Even subtle references like Legend of Korra’s sandshark being a direct reference to the sandworms was fun to see.

Overall

A bit of a difficult read at first but once you get over the hurdle, it is definitely a story to remember.

4.5/5

Thoughts on the upcoming movie

I don’t think Dune will ever translate into a proper movie. What makes Dune, Dune is the battle of the minds that take place and that only happens with an omniscient perspective.

This complexity will be a huge downfall as the book gets translated into film and a Hollywood film nonetheless. However, there are some things that Dune 2020 that excite me thoroughly:

#reading #review