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Dune
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April 2021--Dune Re-Read
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Re-reading this for the first time in 40+ years. It's good and I can remember and visualize some stuff but the only thing that annoys me about the book is the name "Duncan Idaho". It's just jarring to see that name in print. I can accept the concept of giant worms etc. but I find it hard to believe that even in the future that anyone would have such a dumb name.
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Jim wrote: "... the only thing that annoys me about the book is the name "Duncan Idaho". It's just jarring..."Makes me think of "Reno Dakota". He's the director of a film "American Fabulous". His name was so interesting, that Magnetic Fields turned it into a song.
I read Dune in 1983. Not sure I'll re-read it. Maybe I could handle the graphic novel adaptation.
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I just checked in to see how the discussion was going. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much in the way of in-depth thoughts on the book. It has many themes and since it is 56 years old it would be interesting to see how people look at those themes. Themes such as violence, power, environment, free will vs fate, religion, culture, neo-feudalism and new and strange cognitive powers. I read the first 3 books of the series many years ago and remembering that I liked "Dune" very much but each book after that was less and less interesting. I still remember the general plot and characters which was reinforced by the first movie version although there were a lot of differences. I also am eagerly awaiting the new movie but I am trying to not expect too much so I won't be too disappointed. I just added the book to my PC library and decide if I want to download it to my kindle and reread it in the next couple of days.
I'm gonna read the new graphic novel version because it takes less time to read. I'm lazy, and I don't have as much love for Dune as some people do, though I only read it as a teen long, long ago.It isn't complete yet. Not sure how many volumes are planned, but I'll read volume 1 at least.
I started rereading Dune. I was worried that there would be a lack of suspense because I was familiar with the story from reading the book many years ago and seeing the movie. It doesn’t have the same impact as it did the first time but it’s still an enjoyable read. One thing that is bothering me is the big use of inner first person dialogue as shown in italics instead of just rephrasing these thoughts. It may be a hangover from how awkward it seemed when Lynch tending to use these inner dialogues as voice-overs in the movie. Another thing that jumped out at me was the use of feudalism and absolute monarchy as a model for a interstellar empire. I remember seeing an argument supporting this idea many years ago. I found this although it may not be the same explanation. “Remember, feudalism and absolute monarchy thrived in a time of limited communication speed and limited travel and before computers. If you have a nation spanning millions of planets, each planet having a population of billions, then on election night you’ll need to receive and count quadrillions of votes. Some settings have communication networks and computers that can handle that load. But many don’t. And as for feudalism, again it’s easier to let a local governor deal w/ most problems than to send a message all the way up to the correct agency, then all the way back down, much less send people.” Herbert uses the backlash against technology, computers and AI’s sometime in the past to give further support to the idea of empire.
I am enjoying the introduction of the characters and the problems they will be placing taking “control” of Arrakis. I had forgotten that Paul is only 15 at the beginning of the novel. While I didn’t realize it when I read it the first time in the late 70’s that this was a classic mature expansion of the Space Opera genre. I was born in 1947 and a big SF fan all my life. Right after Star Wars came out in 1977 a friend mentioned that Tatooine reminded him of Arrakis in Dune and recommended I read it and I did and was glad he brought it to my attention.
and can you believe that now I cant find single copy amongst my while book hoard? Those little sneaks must have stole it! I a, ordering it on my nook so I have immediate access anyway! Enjoy!