The Orange Catholic Bible from Amazon.com


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Diego
Posts: 53
Joined: 16 Jul 2016 10:46

The Orange Catholic Bible from Amazon.com

Post by Diego »

Greeting:

I thought I would start a new topic. I have ordered a volume, 576 pp. in length, app. 3.7 lbs in weight, entitled the Orange Catholic Bible. It suggests from the blurb that in the future, it could be a Scripture.

Obviously, I have NO idea if this book has ANYTHING to do with Dune or not, beyond the name. The cover is decorated with what appears to be, well, a sand dune. The one customer review indicates that the material in it is mostly in the public domain. I have no idea what it will contain.

I am just getting into Dune myself, reading the first of the Frank's six, and I have all eight, although I have been told that the two by Brian and the other Dude aren't worth reading. But I was able to download them all from Internet Archive for free, so...

Anyway, the Orange Catholic Bible is due to arrive on Monday. I shall let you all know what I think of it when it gets here. Come back to this thread for updates. For your reference, the link at Amazon is:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15085 ... dp_summary" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have a look, see what you think. No, I did not pay $599 for it, but only $19.99.
Diego
Posts: 53
Joined: 16 Jul 2016 10:46

Re: The Orange Catholic Bible from Amazon.com

Post by Diego »

Well, The Orange Catholic Bible came today. Its actually 593 pages long. And its 8.5 inches by 11 inches in size. So its definitely a monster. It does incorporate quotes from OC Bible as in the Dune Series and in the Dune Encyclopedia, but it doesn't claim to be anything licensed, by any means, by anyone or anything in the Official Dune Universe. It also states at the beginning:
Please bear in mind that in this prescient edition of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Commentary is interspersed with the actual text of the OCB.
Now, I don't have a formal opinion on the thing, as I have barely looked at it. But it is CLEARLY related to Dune in the sense that the author(s) had that in mind when they drew up the book. I am going to continue to read "Dune" first. I have read the Encyclopedia entry on the Orange Catholic Bible, which was quite informative. Once I have read through the first book, I might take some time to review a little of the OC Bible at greater length, although I will overlook the text bit by bit each evening. It appears to b e a collection of established Scriptures. Granted, that is more or less what the OC Bible in "Dune" was, although it did incorporate other commandments, which this book ALSO does (such quotes as "Thou shalt not disfigure the soul", and others).

I think the book is interesting just by virtue of its existence. The fact that Someone, or a group of Someones, had the audacity to put the thing together boggles the mind. That in itself is impressive. I thinks it worth having just for the connection. I shall keep you all updated as I read a little each day as to whether it is even worthy of the name it bears.

Diego.
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Re: The Orange Catholic Bible from Amazon.com

Post by ᴶᵛᵀᴬ »

Diego wrote:I think the book is interesting just by virtue of its existence.

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    "I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities that I have visited, all my ancestors." -- Borges
    Diego
    Posts: 53
    Joined: 16 Jul 2016 10:46

    Re: The Orange Catholic Bible from Amazon.com

    Post by Diego »

    Based on a more thorough review of the text, it isn't as interesting as a REAL Orange Catholic Bible would be, at least, not IMHO. But, then again, MHO only counts for so much. It is still quite interesting. It still contains a great deal of fascinating material. And again, I have NOT reviewed the material thoroughly. Furthermore, there is neither a Table of Contents nor an Index as such.

    They do have, on p. 595, what they call a Listing, whatever the Hell that means.

    Upanishads p. 4
    Gods of the Brythons p. 47
    Babylonian Deities p. 62
    Ancient Myths Biblical and Many Others p. 152
    Nonresistance "Kingdom of God is Within You" p. 312
    Theologico-Political and the Light of Reason p. 416
    Osiris p.463
    Aquarian Gospel p. 511
    Islam p. 594

    Now these terms can be defined as follows (this is my understanding of things, of course, not the book's);

    Upanishads are Hindu Scriptures.
    Gods of the Brythons refer to Welsh Deities
    Ancient Myths Biblical and many Others is a compendium of exactly that.
    Nonresistance "Kingdom of God is Within You" appears to be some Tolstoi.
    Theologico-Political and the Light of Reson is, if I am is Spinzoza, I believe.
    Osiris is obviously from an Egyptian provenance.
    the Aquarian Gospel is precisely that, although I don't know how much of that document is included therein.
    Islam appears to be an odd rejection of Sura 109 in the Qur'an.

    But there is A LOT more in there than just those things. I mean, there is a SHIT-ton of commentary, and I don't know what is considered Scripture and what is considered commentary. This book is no doubt very complex. I can't judge it in one day.

    But I do so wish I could return to California to show the old Librarian when I was a boy that that the book finally exists! I did not understand at age eight or nine the concept of fictional books that don't exist in real-world. I went to the library looking for the Orange Catholic Bible and insisted that the Librarian join me in a search through the arcane sections of the the library and the entire County system of San Diego trying to find a book that did not exist! I wish could show her that it does now exist, poor lady!
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