# Finally got around to reading Dune
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 24, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688 "2015-05-24T01:24:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/1 "2015-05-24T01:24:55Z")
I tried reading Dune about a million years ago, but couldn’t get into it. I’d since seen the movie and mini series, but I’m finding they come nowhere near the character of the books.
A lot of the characters in \*Dune \*engage in internal dialogue that would be difficult to express in visual media. Baron Harkonnen for example, is portrayed as a loud disfigured blowhard in the movie, but more elegant and flamboyant in the mini. I didn’t get either personality aspect while reading about him. He’s constantly evaluating everyone he talks to, observing their reactions, thinking about their wants and desires and how he can use that information against them. He’s also not the type to act out in public or put on airs, because that’s a weakness that can be exploited. In addition, he has an entitled aristocratic attitude, and dismisses the Fremen as any kind of threat, because they’re peasants.
Paul Atreides is too unique a character to have somebody not in a similar mold convincingly portray, especially an actor in his mid-teens. He’s like a child genius, not only in facts and calculations, but in military tactics and politics, skills that are earned by experience. His sister Alia is the same way, but it’s because her mother inherited the memories and experiences of the previous Reverend Mother and transmitted them in the womb. I don’t know (yet) if Paul had similar genetic programming, but he is the product of Bene Jesseret planning after all.
Anyhoo, I’m almost finished with the first trilogy, and I’m eventually going to grab the rest of the books. I understand they’re not as popular as the first series, because the hero Paul Atreides isn’t so lovable any more. I think that’s awesome, because it shows that messiah figures don’t always act in everybody’s interest.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/2 "2015-05-24T01:36:48Z")
You also have to keep in mind the novel was published in 1965. At the time, Arabic culture and ecology were largely unexplored ideas in science fiction.
One unfortunate aspect of the book was that Herbert didn’t like homosexuals (he was born in 1920; he grew up in a different time). So he used hints of homosexuality as a means of identifying the Harkonnens as the villains.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/3 "2015-05-24T03:19:09Z")
Back in the day, I followed the rule that, once started, you must finish a book. I had to force myself to finish \*Dune, \*in spite of falling asleep every now and then. If you remained conscious while finishing the book, I salute you.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/4 "2015-05-24T03:39:10Z")
You might be tempted to give up after the third book, but as I remember “God-Emperor” is a heck of a read.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/5 "2015-05-24T03:42:33Z")
The first one is rightfully considered one of the masterpieces of science fiction, but I just couldn’t get through the second.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/6 "2015-05-24T04:31:44Z")
Yeah, stop now and save your time and sanity.
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### Author:  [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/7 "2015-05-24T04:35:15Z")
How many pages was it? And was it the kind of book one just gets into and cannot put down?
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/8 "2015-05-24T05:03:47Z")
I read them back in 1977 when the first Star Wars movie came out and a reviewer mentioned the books as possible similar sources. I liked the first one very much but the rest not so much. When the movie came out it ruined the visuals in my head. I tried to reread them again about ten years ago but they are now a tough read for me.
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/9 "2015-05-24T05:28:45Z")
It took me the 3rd or 4th start before I could actually read _Dune_ all the way through, and that was the only book that ever worked like that on me. And after _God, Emperor of Dune_, my interest sort of faded out. Though I found Brian’s prequels readable.
Go figure, huh?
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/10 "2015-05-24T10:51:09Z")
I was a Dune guy. Read it in my early teens and it just _worked_ for me. It wore its internal dialogue and Big Questions more on its sleeve within an epic narrative vs. Tolkien’s allegory, or Azimov’s fables. Like Philip K. Dick meets Tolstoy.
I agree that Herbert’s universe feels more shaded vs. melodramatic.
Glad you’re enjoying it, **Knowed Out** - I have read everything and would say the trilogy stands alone as “Dune” in my mind, and the rest I can take or leave.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/11 "2015-05-24T12:12:43Z")
I read the series when I was in high school. At the time only the first three books were published: _Dune_, _Dune Messiah_, and _Children of Dune_. At the time, readers thought the series was complete. I liked the first two books but wasn’t as happy with the third one.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/12 "2015-05-24T15:12:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> I read the series when I was in high school. At the time only the first three books were published: _Dune_, _Dune Messiah_, and _Children of Dune_. At the time, readers thought the series was complete. I liked the first two books but wasn’t as happy with the third one.
It **is** complete. The crap written by Brian has no place in _any_ universe, much less Frank’s.
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### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/13 "2015-05-24T17:30:41Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> It **is** complete. The crap written by Brian has no place in _any_ universe, much less Frank’s.
Frank wrote 6 dune books.
Personally I love them all.
His sons hi-jacking of the series on the other hand. ug
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### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/14 "2015-05-24T17:39:59Z")
I tried reading the official fan-fic, but I gave up when I read about an Atreides munching something. An Atreides does not munch; the style was all wrong.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/15 "2015-05-24T19:21:58Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#):
>
> Anyhoo, I’m almost finished with the first trilogy…
Kudos to you for making it that far. The first book was genius. The rest of them were dreck.
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### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/16 "2015-05-24T19:25:07Z")
I finished the first series. I felt like the grand finale was a bit rushed, but I am interested in reading about the fallout that’s going to ensue from Emperor Atreides’s rule. The movie actually showed more of the physical effects of spice dependence, showing how the desire for visions for use in space navigation and religious mysticism takes its toll on the body.
In reading Brian’s afterword, I learned that Frank Herbert wanted the books to appeal to different layers of perception, or maybe that was just his excuse for being obtuse.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/17 "2015-05-24T20:24:49Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> It **is** complete. The crap written by Brian has no place in _any_ universe, much less Frank’s.
As Critical said, Frank Herbert wrote more than three books. Frank Herbert wrote the first six books and the outline for a seventh book. His son Brian and co-author Kevin Anderson finished the outline and turned it into two books. They then wrote ten more books and are supposedly going to write an eleventh.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/18 "2015-05-24T21:43:59Z")
Anything past the first three are crap, no matter who wrote them. 😉
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### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/19 "2015-05-24T23:34:14Z")
What didn’t you like about the later books, silenus?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-got-around-to-reading-dune/720688/20 "2015-05-25T00:53:52Z")
> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> Kudos to you for making it that far. The first book was genius. The rest of them were dreck.
Nah, Children of Dune is awesome. Dune Messiah is pretty bad, but necessary.
I attempted God Emperor of Dune, but quit.
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