Salutations


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lukecash12
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Salutations

Post by lukecash12 »

My name is Luke Cash, and I am the pastor of a church, studied at UOP (the University of the Pacific) and Simpson University as a music major, and have the lifestyle of an independent academic. As for my interest in Dune, I have keen interests in every academic subject addressed by the series, and find Frank Herbert to be a writer of nigh unsurpassed sophistry and reciprocity of the inner thought process. Concerning Frank Herbert's son and devotee who took up the torch: Can I say that their writing styles, their dialectical engineering, and their study of Herbert senior's notes stand up to a relative comparison to Herbert's masterworks? No, they must know that they just can't do it. But they did do some very good writing, and gave us the plot line we all needed in order to round out to some degree what it was that Herbert wanted to illustrate to us.

So, what did Herbert want to illustrate to us, that can appropriately be condensed and can be considered the overriding themes of the Dune series?

1. Manifest destiny.
2. The enigmatic and self contradictory nature of philosophy, when it stands up to pragmatism and the implications of Platonism.
3. His own anthropomorphized appreciation for ecology.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Freakzilla »

:text-welcomeconfetti: :text-welcomeconfetti:
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Re: Salutations

Post by Freakzilla »

lukecash12 wrote:...But they did do some very good writing, and gave us the plot line we all needed in order to round out to some degree what it was that Herbert wanted to illustrate to us.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of arguments against that point of view here. :wink:
So, what did Herbert want to illustrate to us, that can appropriately be condensed and can be considered the overriding themes of the Dune series?

1. Manifest destiny.
2. The enigmatic and self contradictory nature of philosophy, when it stands up to pragmatism and the implications of Platonism.
3. His own anthropomorphized appreciation for ecology.
You ought to start a new topic for each of those in "Dune Discussion"!
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Re: Salutations

Post by Serkanner »

Welcome. I disagree that the to hacks did ANY good writing. On this site you will find numerous topics that explain why these books are a blatant insult to Frank Herbert's work. I am looking forward to your essays in which you come with sufficient reasoning to explain these statements: "But they did do some very good writing, and gave us the plot line we all needed in order to round out to some degree what it was that Herbert wanted to illustrate to us.

To me you couldn't have been wrong more. It also makes me doubt very much you are an academic. ANY person with the tiniest bit of intelligence should immediatley see the many many flaws in these Atrocities ( = prequels, sequels and inbetween books by BoBo and TehKJA ). I am not an academic but can recognize bad writing, inconcitencies, flat characterisation and bad grammer in a language which I am not native to.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Nekhrun »

lukecash12 wrote:But they did do some very good writing, and gave us the plot line we all needed in order to round out to some degree what it was that Herbert wanted to illustrate to us.

So, what did Herbert want to illustrate to us, that can appropriately be condensed and can be considered the overriding themes of the Dune series?

1. Manifest destiny.
2. The enigmatic and self contradictory nature of philosophy, when it stands up to pragmatism and the implications of Platonism.
3. His own anthropomorphized appreciation for ecology.
First of all, welcome.

Second, who cares about they "plot line" they gave us? It was in no way what "we all needed in order to round out to some degree what it was that Herbert wanted to illustrate to us". I can determine what those things are quite well with what Frank has provided.

I find your three points suspect if you are drawing those conclusions based on McDune. Frank has stated on several occasions what his purposes were:

To entertain;
To warn us about putting our hopes into heroes (messiahs);
The danger of mixing religion and politics;
Manipulation via the control of finite resources that are depended upon;

There were others he discussed at various times, but I think all of these are more prominent through an initial reading of the texts.

I am curious about your views of the texts related to your profession. I remember in high school being edified in my own fundamentalist (Christian) beliefs and closely identifying with the Fremen before I realized a few years later that I was exactly the kind of person of which Frank was probably terrified. Somehow I'd taken the exact opposite message than that which was intended. (Now, of course, I know better :D )
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Re: Salutations

Post by Ampoliros »

Welcome Welcome

We've been waiting for a while for someone to take a stab at making an intelligent defense of nuDune. Perhaps you would like to take that challenge? All the others revert to rabid fanboy defenses and preek arguments too quickly. Personally I don't think it is possible.

Though it might be wise to stick to discussing Real Dune.


If you are interested, try looking up some of the ATTN: Redbugpest threads and responding to those.
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A Thing of Eternity
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Re: Salutations

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

Welcome! Dissagree entirely that they did any good writing (seriously, I challenge you to find a published author who's writing style is weaker than theirs) and that they let us know anything about where FH was going with the story (their ending was obviously nothing like what he intended, undermined everything he wrote about philosophically actually), but welcome none the less!
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lukecash12
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Re: Salutations

Post by lukecash12 »

To me you couldn't have been wrong more. It also makes me doubt very much you are an academic. ANY person with the tiniest bit of intelligence should immediatley see the many many flaws in these Atrocities ( = prequels, sequels and inbetween books by BoBo and TehKJA ). I am not an academic but can recognize bad writing, inconcitencies, flat characterisation and bad grammer in a language which I am not native to.
I find it humorous that you display a tendency towards ad hominem in the very first instance of your text that I see. Not to mention that you misspell "inconsistency", "characterization", "grammar", "in-between"- of which concept the proper word is "betwixt", if you don't want to use a hyphenated word- and "immediately". Not to make it look like ad hominem on my own part, but your display and concession that English isn't your native language has to do with your own qualification (and not your personal character), as far as your ability to criticize an English piece of prose.

Now that we've exchanged the inevitable pleasantries that occur when you open up with ad hominem, I'd like to show you my cordially impersonal side by requesting that you directly support these claims:

1. That they were inconsistent.
2. That they used flat characterization.
3. That bad grammar was used.

Mind you, I am willing to grant all three because I've seen instances of them; However, a vast majority of modern authors use "bad grammar", and that is simply a reflection of modern prose. You see, they may not use the "proper grammar" of a textbook, but they manage to write with a cogent thought process all the same.
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A Thing of Eternity
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Re: Salutations

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

lukecash12 wrote: 1. That they were inconsistent.
2. That they used flat characterization.
3. That bad grammar was used.
Examples? Open any page and quote it and you'll have examples. Also, their bad grammar is not a case of "modern" or "conversational" grammar.

For more examples simply search around the Prequels subforum on this site, there are nearly endless examples dissected. I myself have written what practically amount to entire essays detailing just how weak their writing is.

Even if you discount all the near-constant contradictions between their books and FH's books (and their lame attempt to rectify this by saying that FH's books were meant to be "in universe" and as such, whenever there's a dissagreement, their books are what really happened, his are incorrect), the magnitude of just how terrible their writing is is plain to see. Even if we weren't comparing them to FH's work, they would still be junk pulp-writing. You could pick modern SF authors at random at a rate of 10 per minute and take months before coming up with a name of someone who's a weaker writer.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Ampoliros »

Inconsistent

1) Paul was born on Caladan. They have him born on Kaitain.
2) Everything they wrote about Paul as a child. There is no argument to defend this breech of continuity.
3) Pretty much everything they wrote about him after as well.
4) Alia. (this should go under characterizations as well.)

5) The Bene Gesserit. Its amazing how badly KJA writes the BG. It is understandable, since the BG are probably one of the most complex organizations ever created in literature. KJA is not qualified to write about the Jedi Order let alone the BG.

6) Priests of Dur.
7) Amal.
8 ) Waterworms. By Extension, Woodworms. Cheap Thematic prostitution. This is a direct result of KJA's writing style: bigger and badder = better.

Y'know, to scratch the surface n' all.

Flat characterization. Rather than start a list, its better to issue a challenge for KJA's defenders to point out a character from his books that can't be fully described in 1-2 sentences. No projection, the character must be defended from the text.


Bad Grammer. Ha! There is a reason why most writing teachers won't let their students emulate an E.E. Cummings style. Calling yourself a Poet "because you write poetry" is the same as calling yourself a Doctor because you can apply a Band-aid. As a result, you can't use the "Bad Grammar is just modern prose" argument when the Bad Grammar was never meant to operate in that fashion. I.e. A 5th grader's book report is not the same as something written by a professional author, even if they use identical language.

And a Hack pasting "Spice", "Paul", and "Wormsign!" into a rejected Star Wars novel is not Dune.
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Re: Salutations

Post by merkin muffley »

lukecash12 wrote:My name is Luke Cash, and I am the pastor of a church, studied at UOP (the University of the Pacific) and Simpson University as a music major, and have the lifestyle of an independent academic.
Father Cash, I presume? I do believe that I have been sharply aware of you since I viewed your piece in the August 2003 edition of "Lifestyles of the Independent Academic." It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, good sir!
lukecash12 wrote:I... find Frank Herbert to be a writer of nigh unsurpassed sophistry and reciprocity of the inner thought process.
I am saddened and disappointed at this ad hominem attack on one of my most favoritest of utilizers of the English language in a science fictional format, if you will - Frank Herbert. To accuse such a fine and excellent exemplar of sound and beauteous arguments of philosophical refinement and sound logic of "sophistry" does not become a man who hath studied at such a prestigious institution of learning and learned men as is represented by the University of the Pacific. My gorge riseth at the idea, and it has left me in a state of abject depression.

However, I did peruse your post further to learn that you have also studied music at an elite institutional organization such as Simpson University, which is of great import and renown! I am overjoyed to be in the presence of a Simpsonian, and would like to relate to you a recent experience of pure exasperation which I have had in my purview. Musical studies in this great nation of ours are not what they once were when I was a young tike studying in my years of extreme learning.

Recently, regarding an example of first-species counterpoint at a recent lecture with a professor of music theory at a very well-known US music school:
Me: "What about that quinta battuta? Don't you think that's a problem?"
Professor: "What the hell's a quinta battuta?"

*SIGH!* :doh: Fux is rolling in his grave! Do you not concur!? Can you wrap your considerably well-endowed mind around such a thing occurring, and permitted by the professor, in FIRST SPECIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


EDIT: Surely, you do not actually enjoy the Betwixt Books (as they are so widely known in academe)?
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Re: Salutations

Post by D Pope »

Good Day!
I'm looking forward to lotsa good stuff from you, please don't let me down.
lukecash12 wrote:Now that we've exchanged the inevitable pleasantries that occur when you open up with ad hominem, I'd like to show you my cordially impersonal side by requesting that you directly support these claims:...
Your request has been fulfilled and you can debate the responses but at some point you should get around to defending your own claims. It's only fair.
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Re: Salutations

Post by SadisticCynic »

lukecash12 wrote:
I find it humorous that you display a tendency towards ad hominem in the very first instance of your text that I see. Not to mention that you misspell "inconsistency", "characterization", "grammar", "in-between"- of which concept the proper word is "betwixt", if you don't want to use a hyphenated word- and "immediately". Not to make it look like ad hominem on my own part, but your display and concession that English isn't your native language has to do with your own qualification (and not your personal character), as far as your ability to criticize an English piece of prose.
Isn't this a longer version of Preek argument #13a?
13.a. “Only a writer can criticize the work of other writers!”

Roger Ebert doesn’t direct movies. Howard Bloom doesn’t write literature. Most critics don’t actually do the thing they’re criticizing, but they do know about it, which makes their critical remarks valid.

“I’m not a professional chef, so in a resturaunt, can I complain if my food tastes bad?”
http://chiggerblog.hairyticksofdune.net/blog/?page_id=8

Also criticising a non-native English speaker on spelling is a little low...

That said, I'm curious as to your thoughts on "The enigmatic and self contradictory nature of philosophy, when it stands up to pragmatism and the implications of Platonism".
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Re: Salutations

Post by Mandy »

I'm curious as to his thoughts on bacon.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Nekhrun »

Mandy wrote:I'm curious as to his thoughts on bacon.
I'm curious why he didn't look here:
viewtopic.php?p=53685#p53685" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
instead of acting like an ass. Actually, I'm not all that curious.
Have fun reading that thread you damn dirty preeq.
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Re: Salutations

Post by lukecash12 »

@Nekhrun:

That's the kind of reference I was looking for. And I agree that the new books were cheap hamburger when compared to Herbert senior's lobster and steak. But I'm glad to see some of the pictures that I wanted from the original author:

Idaho becomes Kwisatz Haderach.
Erasmus returns with an ultimatum.
The Tleilaxu religion falls to entropy.

Stuff like that gives me a few ideas to chew on while reading the originals, because these basic and pivotal plot lines must be Herbert senior's work, right?
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Re: Salutations

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

lukecash12 wrote: Idaho becomes Kwisatz Haderach.
Erasmus returns with an ultimatum.
The Tleilaxu religion falls to entropy.

Stuff like that gives me a few ideas to chew on while reading the originals, because these basic and pivotal plot lines must be Herbert senior's work, right?
Erm, nope. The Tleilaxu religion doesn't fall into entropy, they get blown up, to start with. Erasmus is a creation of the new authors, nothing at all to do with FH, and Idaho being a KH is basically pointless (and the idea of an ultimate KH is just silly childish KJA style oneupmanship, FH had KH? Well KJA has to have ultra-KH, just like when he wrote for starwars and invented super-Jedi... that's the limit of his creativity) - in a universe where basically everyone is invisible to prescience a KH is nothing more than a person who has access to both male and female genetic memory, which is useful, but not to a point where it's even worth mentioning. Something more like Teg, a new kind of super-human who has nothing really to do with a KH is much more FH's style.

EDIT: the point of my post is that basically everything KJA and BH ever added to the series actually takes away from the original works, rather than adds to them.
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Re: Salutations

Post by lukecash12 »

I find your three points suspect if you are drawing those conclusions based on McDune. Frank has stated on several occasions what his purposes were:

To entertain;
To warn us about putting our hopes into heroes (messiahs);
The danger of mixing religion and politics;
Manipulation via the control of finite resources that are depended upon;
No, I didn't read any press statements or anything. I just read the indexes and other extra bits that Herbert gave us along with his Dune series. Those make perfect sense as well.

However, I'd prefer discussion of the implications of the book over woolgathering in a discussion of Herbert's motivations.
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Re: Salutations

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

And to add to my last post, Daniel and Marty are a good example. Read around here, especially the "dune conclusion" subforum - it's 100% clear that FH had written D&M as some kind of advanced Face Dancers (a much more interesting idea than the returning terminator robots KJA and BH came up with).
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Re: Salutations

Post by merkin muffley »

Well, to be fair, quinta battuta is a rather old and unfashionable term. Yet the sense of it -- "beaten fifth" -- is completely apt, and even Bach has at least one in WTC.

But it was FIRST SPECIES, for the love of God! Counterpoint exercises are meant to be abstractions of music, not actual music. The rules are stricter. Species counterpoint is where you're supposed to learn how to handle fifths with care. But now it's all hip-hop and rock-and-roll.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Nekhrun »

lukecash12 wrote:However, I'd prefer discussion of the implications of the book over woolgathering in a discussion of Herbert's motivations.
That's just it, if you take into account anything that the hacks have tried to change/add to Dune then you lose something of Frank's original text and intent.

There is a fundamental diference to relying on self/humanity/community to relying on a god to come in and save the day.
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Re: Salutations

Post by SandChigger »

Shaziya sikkinak wa-kassara.

May your knife chip and shatter.
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lukecash12
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Re: Salutations

Post by lukecash12 »

A Thing of Eternity wrote:
lukecash12 wrote: Idaho becomes Kwisatz Haderach.
Erasmus returns with an ultimatum.
The Tleilaxu religion falls to entropy.

Stuff like that gives me a few ideas to chew on while reading the originals, because these basic and pivotal plot lines must be Herbert senior's work, right?
Erm, nope. The Tleilaxu religion doesn't fall into entropy, they get blown up, to start with. Erasmus is a creation of the new authors, nothing at all to do with FH, and Idaho being a KH is basically pointless (and the idea of an ultimate KH is just silly childish KJA style oneupmanship, FH had KH? Well KJA has to have ultra-KH, just like when he wrote for starwars and invented super-Jedi... that's the limit of his creativity) - in a universe where basically everyone is invisible to prescience a KH is nothing more than a person who has access to both male and female genetic memory, which is useful, but not to a point where it's even worth mentioning. Something more like Teg, a new kind of super-human who has nothing really to do with a KH is much more FH's style.

EDIT: the point of my post is that basically everything KJA and BH ever added to the series actually takes away from the original works, rather than adds to them.
Then what is there that was actually based on Herbert senior's notes?

Also, it seemed perfectly fine to me for Idaho to be a KH. It just wasn't treated right, because they played with the idea of KH like a toy. Plus, I wouldn't play down a KH too much; Paul (the grandmaster's creation) was able to operate without eyesight by abandoning everything else in favor of the prescience trap. Leto II, by way of both paternal and maternal ancestral memory, was of an intellectual pluck that set him on a pedestal above everyone else for thousands of years. Teg was a perfect realization of the mentat, able to detach himself enough to throw his own metabolism into hyperdrive.

So, since when did they one-up Herbert senior? I mean, you can say that they were crap writers, but Idaho was bound to be a KH anyway, right?
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Re: Salutations

Post by D Pope »

How do you arrive at such conclusions? Untill you explain where such toughts are coming from, your comments seem empty and inflamatory.
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
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Re: Salutations

Post by Serkanner »

lukecash12 wrote:
To me you couldn't have been wrong more. It also makes me doubt very much you are an academic. ANY person with the tiniest bit of intelligence should immediatley see the many many flaws in these Atrocities ( = prequels, sequels and inbetween books by BoBo and TehKJA ). I am not an academic but can recognize bad writing, inconcitencies, flat characterisation and bad grammer in a language which I am not native to.
I find it humorous that you display a tendency towards ad hominem in the very first instance of your text that I see. Not to mention that you misspell "inconsistency", "characterization", "grammar", "in-between"- of which concept the proper word is "betwixt", if you don't want to use a hyphenated word- and "immediately". Not to make it look like ad hominem on my own part, but your display and concession that English isn't your native language has to do with your own qualification (and not your personal character), as far as your ability to criticize an English piece of prose.

Now that we've exchanged the inevitable pleasantries that occur when you open up with ad hominem, I'd like to show you my cordially impersonal side by requesting that you directly support these claims:

1. That they were inconsistent.
2. That they used flat characterization.
3. That bad grammar was used.

Mind you, I am willing to grant all three because I've seen instances of them; However, a vast majority of modern authors use "bad grammar", and that is simply a reflection of modern prose. You see, they may not use the "proper grammar" of a textbook, but they manage to write with a cogent thought process all the same.
And fuck you too. My next post will be in Dutch and I expect your essays to be in Dutch as well. Moron.
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and wrote a Dune Novel."
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