December 02

You sense from this novella that Nathanael West really hated pretension. This is an over-the-top mockery of pomposity, self-importance and just about anyone who takes themselves too seriously on any ‘important’ subject; like, say: religion, death, lo You sense from this novella that Nathanael West really hated pretension. This is an over-the-top mockery of pomposity, self-importance and just about anyone who takes themselves too seriously on any ‘important’ subject; like, say: religion, death, love, god, beauty, art or sex. West adopts an ironically purple style, out purpling the purple, presenting them as ridiculous. He counsels instead: “Take your eyes off your navel. Take your head from under your armpit. Stop sniffing mortality. Play games. Don’t read so many books.” The pitfall here is that to mock erudition requires erudition, which West wields like a ninja. And a couple of times he does acknowledge a value in ‘discovering the real,’ which (I’m surmising) he believes pretension obscures. ...more

November 26

An interesting study of the balance between free will and predetermination. Because of his talents, the protagonist Paul Atreides is aware of and can watch the interplay between his will and his destiny. When he is making decisions, he knows beforeha An interesting study of the balance between free will and predetermination. Because of his talents, the protagonist Paul Atreides is aware of and can watch the interplay between his will and his destiny. When he is making decisions, he knows beforehand how it will affect what comes next. Giving his protagonist this talent, makes it possible for Herbert to explore questions of determination through a narrative. This is a highly philosophical book, subtle and complex as it treats our responsibility for our own fate, and the relationship of our fate to others and society. One conclusion drawn from Herbert without too much investigating is that straying from our destiny brings us unhappiness, even violence. This might be instructive if any of us non-fiction humans had any idea what our destiny was.

Also this talent in his character gives Herbert a really interesting point of view to work with in terms of storytelling. Because this character knows the end of the story, he can create tension and momentum by holding what he knows back from the reader. Usually the narrator is the one doing this.

The Dune universe seems like a thought experiment that tries to synthesize the human personality – both its conscious and unconscious sides, and all its different philosophical and cultural variations – into a single story. I read the first book more than 25 years ago. Coming back to this world after so long was really fun because I remembered enough to follow the culture, but that extra distance of time gave the culture a foreignness that made it feel somehow more real. ...more