What Dune means to me


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atreus4971
Posts: 12
Joined: 07 Apr 2012 20:08

What Dune means to me

Post by atreus4971 »

During the course of my fairly boring existence I have indulged in one pleasure, sex! No, I’m talking about reading. I have read more books and authors than I can begin to recall, from classics like Shakespeare and Wilde, to utter rubbish like the Red Dwarf novels. I will read just about anything.
In august 2012 I will be 44 (and if someone would like to work out the Dune date BG I would actually be interested to know) so I will be approaching ‘old’, and apparently that brings wisdom. I have read serious science fiction since I was nine years old. I started with Isaac Asimov, moved on to Philip K Dick, revelled in Douglas Adams and then in a moment of glory I discovered Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Dune.

The word is so powerful it deserves both its own paragraph and surrounding lacunae.
During my late teens and early twenties I had a brief period of confusion where I dallied with James Herbert and Terry Pratchett, but I soon came to realize that Frank’s work was unparalleled, and so I gave up all the minutiae and returned into the warm comforting joy of the Dune universe.
By the time I was thirty I had read all five books repeatedly. Ah, five you ask? Yes, I did have a problem with Chapterhouse. I could never get into it. I tried time after time but I wouldn’t finish it until I was 43, and nothing could have made me happier.
You see I fell so deeply in love with the Dune universe that I longed, and I really am talking about longing, for a continuation of this marvellous story. And then along came Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert. I was initially skeptical. I mean, how could anyone else write this story? Could Dean Koontz write a sequel to I, Robot or Bicentennial Man? I doubt it.
And so we come to the point.
When I was 23, in 1991, I was living on a fruit farm in the sheer beauty of the English countryside. I had nothing, just a tarpaulin tent, a kit bag and three books: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune. I was reading the latter at the time and what I would like to explain here is that this was one of the happiest times of my life, but the book was entirely integral to the memories I formed during that time. Now, I’m not saying that I lost touch with reality, but as much as I remember kinging apples and communal evenings with a weed and a jug of cider, I remember Siaynoq, and D-Wolves and Duncan being splattered by the Tyrant. The two sets of memories cannot be unwound. They form part of my life in wonderful tandem.
So now, when I read God Emperor, I can feel myself back there in front of that fire, or in that field, and it is a wonderful thing. This happens for one reason. Frank’s books were so good that they became part of my life.
And so here it is. I cannot remember the first book I read by the dastardly duo. Seriously, I have no idea which it was, where I was or what I was doing. How old I was or whatever the hell happened in that book.
I find that disturbing.

This is why I hate the McDune books. They had no impact on my life whatsoever.

And why was it that I was so happy that I could never get into Chapterhouse? Because after reading the utter rubbish from Anderson it was sheer joy to read Frank again.
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lotek
Posts: 5784
Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: What Dune means to me

Post by lotek »

Fruit picking huh ? I did that for a little while too, but I was living in my camper at the time.

I was also accused of cherry-picking on Dungnovels ages ago (did me a favour the place is riddled with sockpuppets anyway ^^), but I guess that doesn't really count.
Spice is the worm's gonads.
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bgscholar
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Joined: 14 Jun 2009 13:34
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

Re: What Dune means to me

Post by bgscholar »

Great story. There is something captivating about Dune, especially for me the first book, that is hard to describe.
"Even Dune's historians were shockingly slow to recognize that the real Dune story is Jessica's."
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lotek
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Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: What Dune means to me

Post by lotek »

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My self Samy Goel
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Spice is the worm's gonads.
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