Dune read along, part two

Posted by: Redhead on: July 16, 2011

• In: Dune | Frank Herbert | read along
• 16 Comments

Hi everyone, welcome to part two of our Dune read along.  Part one is here, and checkout Stainless Steel Droppings for links to everyone else’s discussion.

This week, it was my turn to provide questions, and I came up with a whole bunch, but suggested that people choose whichever ones they felt like discussing. This way, everyone’s posts will be a little different.

If you have never read Frank Herbert’s classic epic scifi novel DUNE, or you haven’t finished reading the middle portion of the book, be warned, here be spoilers!

our story so far:

The Harkonnens have retaken Arrakis with the help of the Emperor’s Sardaukar shock-troops.   the few surviving members of the Atreides household have gone to ground, and after being rescued by the imperial planetologist Kynes, Jessica and Paul escape in an ornithopter. Believed dead by the Harkonnens, Paul and Jessica take advantage of the mythos planted on Arrakis by earlier Bene Gesserit sisters.  But maybe Paul is the child of the prophecy? His Mentat and Bene Gesserit trainings combined with intense quantities of Spice awaken his prescience ability. The futures that Paul sees are either brutal and bloody, or steeped in stagnation. Is there no middle ground?

Meanwhile, Baron Harkonnen is grooming one awful nephew after another to inherit control of Arrakis.

Taken in by a Fremen tribe, Paul and Jessica are tested, and then accepted into the tribe so quickly they can barely think about it before it happens.   Plans within plans, and circles within circles, this is only the beginning for those destined to live our their days on the desert planet Arrakis, known as Dune.

Of the handful of questions I put forth, here are the ones I’ll be discussing after the jump:

Was Liet’s identity a surprise?  who do you think he really works for?
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What do you think of Count Fenring’s unusual verbal mannerisms? 
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The center portion of the book is still pretty dialog heavy, but what I’ve noticed is the subtlety of the dialog. Things left unsaid are often more important than things that are said.  What do you think of that as a stylistic choice? does it make the dialog more interesting? less interesting?
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Dune was written in the 60’s. Does it feel dated to you? How does it compare, writing style-wise, to more contemporary science fiction you’ve read?

Was Liet’s identity a surprise?  who do you think he really works for?

hmmm, not so much a surprise, but I do have to wonder who he’s really working for.  Himself?  the Fremen? the Emperor, in a round about way? The Emperor must know it’s the spice that allows the Space Guild and the Bene Gesserit to have so much power – take the spice out of the equation, and the Emperor (who isn’t quite as dependent on it) gains power. Change the face of Arrakis, and you change the face of the Empire. Who would have thought such a shitkicker little planet could ever be so important?

What do you think of Count Fenring’s unusual verbal mannerisms? 

I never really noticed it before, but he talks completely normally when it’s just him and his wife.  And there is one super quick reference to him “humming” something to her. It’s got to be some kind of secret language between the two of them.  And it also serves as a way to unnerve the person he’s talking to.  His conversation partner is so distracted by his bizarre and almost offensive verbal mannerisms, that it’s almost impossible to focus on the details of the conversation. damn, talk about static!

The center portion of the book is still pretty dialog heavy, but what I’ve noticed is the subtlety of the dialog. Things left unsaid are often more important than things that are said.  What do you think of that as a stylistic choice? does it make the dialog more interesting? less interesting?

in a similar vein to Fenring’s odd verbal mannerisms, there is so much political intrigue and near banter, Herbert almost forces the reader to read the dialog at least twice to figure out the depths of what’s going on. I’m sure when I was a teenager reading this, I only picked up the top most layer, but the whole thing is put together like an onion! I feel like I’m finally mature enough to really appreciate the layers of what’s going on, and Herbert’s choice to not come right out and say anything.  Stylistic choice- wise, this had to be annoying to a lot of readers, who don’t want to have to analyze every single word, and just want to enjoy a good book.  for me, and possibly only because Ive read the book a bunch of times, it made the dialog more interesting.   it gives a what’s really going on here? feeling to the whole thing, and I like it!

Dune was written in the 60’s. Does it feel dated to you? How does it compare, writing style-wise, to more contemporary science fiction you’ve read?

it’s certainly different, but it doesn’t feel dated to me. lol, I guess that’s the definition of “timeless!”  More contemporary space opera typically has a lot more action (where Dune, actually, has hardly any action!), and usually more tech.  so sure, the style and choices of SF “stuff” are different, but it doesn’t feel dated.

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and some additional thoughts –

I get the impression that Duke Leto and Jessica were very close, possibly closer than many married couples. I wonder if she ever shared with him her hopes and suspicions that perhaps Paul could be the Kwisatz Haderach?  If Leto knew her suspicions, maybe that was another unspoken reason he was so happy to get “trapped” on Arrakis.  For Paul’s possible destiny to occur, he had to be on Arrakis and exposed to the spice.  Leto knew it was a trap, but perhaps he also knew it was his son’s only chance.

And that conversation Kynes has with the ghost of his father as he’s dying, a word that came up over and over again was consequences. Ecological consequences, political consequences, personal consequences, the idea that an ecological system doesn’t care if you want it to change right now, or be something else, or work faster.  Dune is one giant meditation / metaphor of consequences.

Tags: classic, Dune, epic, melange, science fiction