Dune Library, Dune khabars ? Truths of Dune (audiobook,1979)
Posted: 11 Sep 2011 07:10
THE TRUTHS OF DUNE "FEAR IS THE MIND KILLER"
read by the author Frank Herbert 1979, Caedmon. [partial transcript]
read by the author Frank Herbert 1979, Caedmon. [partial transcript]
In-Universe or In-Real World POV ?
The Books of Dune, vast libraries of them indicated in the quotations which precede the chapters
and in the Appendix fulfill many purposes. Libraries represent human endurance, our most
profound, time-spanning dream. They are our immortality made symbol. There is also the fact that
the Princess Irulan dominates the writing of the Books of Dune. This emphasizes her role in the
Imperium, just as a similar function is preserved for Harq Al-Ada in the Children of Dune. The
wealth of literature indicates a rich history surrounded by tradition, and myth, by academic
fascination, and increasing analysis, for which I give you an old Fremen saying quoted in Dune
Messiah:
"Truth suffers from too much analysis."
But you can follow the developments through the books of the Dune trilogy and, I hope, gain
insights which would not be available to you without these works. There is no doubt that they are
numerous; more than 75 titles are listed. And the most prominent is the Manual of Maud'Dib, from
which we take this, our starting point:
"A beginning is a time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct;
this every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin you study of the life of Maud'Dib,
then, take care that you first place him in his time; born in the 57th year of the Padishah
Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Maud'Dib in his
place, the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan,
and lived his first 15 years there; Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his
place."
With that warning in mind, we will begin with three items. First, a riddle of Arrakis:
"Challenge: Have you seen the Preacher?
Response: I have seen a sandworm.
Challenge: What about that sandworm?
Response: It gives us the air we breathe.
Challenge: Then why do we destroy its' land?
Response: Because Shai-Hulud, the sandworm deified, commands it."
Second, a quotation from the Tleilaxu God Book:
....
And thirdly, this from the Mentat Handbook:
....
Maud'Dib says:
....
About Arrakis, he says:
....
And he adds:
....
Of his change from Caladan to Arrakis, Maud'Dib says:
....
Irulan writes of this young Paul Maud'Dib:
....
And Irulan describes him:
....
In the Commentaries, you find this:
....
Of his role as prophet, Irulan writes:
....
But Harq Al-Ada had these comments:
....
In the Mentat, Duncan Idaho said:
....
When came this ruler of men? Of his parentage? There is this from The Family Commentaries:
....
In A Child's History of Maud'Dib you find:
....
And, an anonymous chronicler penned these lines at the Dukes' shrine:
....
Irulan writes of Maud'Dibs' mother:
....
The Lady Jessica was a Bene Gesserit sister and her daughter had this to say about the Bene
Gesserit:
....
This is how Irulan reports on Alia, Maud'Dibs' sister:
....
Like father, like son, then; so it is with Leto II, son of Paul Maud'Dib. It is for Leto II to live all the
lives within him, all the lives of his ancestors. And he says:
....
Of Leto II's holy metamorphosis it is written:
....
And this is Leto's vow:
....
Thus, it can be written in The Proverbs of Maud'Dib:
....
When Maud'Dib won his victory and his Fremen raged through the Empire, the character of that
Empire changed. You see this when a poor historian, condemned to death, is interviewed by a
priest-follower of Maud'Dib. These are excerpts from the death-cell interview with Brunso of Ix:
....
Maud'Dib says of this:
....
It is a paradox, as Maud'Dib notes. Deep in the human consciousness is a pervasive need for a
logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic. He adds:
....
Judging this limit is the true artistry of government; misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law
cannot be a tool of vengeance, never a hostage nor a fortification against the martyrs it has
created; you cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences. Good government
never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of
government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most
important tool of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders. Harq Al-Ada's
comment on the Butljerian Jihad is pertinent here:
....
And the Instruction Manual of the Missionaria Protectiva adds another pertinent note:
....
And even are the words from the Workbook of Liet Kynes, first planetologist of Arrakis:
....
Although he uses laws and legal orders to rule, Maud'Dib sees this in terms of energy. He says:
....
And he says:
....
Maud'Dib says:
....
The roots of such ideas are to be found in the Bene Gesserit teachings. As witness, these
quotations:
....
Or this:
....
And the Bene Gesserit Panoplia Prophetica says:
....
Maud'Dib says:
....
He adds:
....
Maud'Dib often appears both cynical and wise. He says:
....
Sometimes Maud'Dib rages.
....
Sometimes he quotes the Bene Gesserit Litany against Fear:
....
Maud'Dib writes to the Landsraad Ruling Council:
....
And to CHOAM, the interplanetary corporation which is the economic arm of the Empire, he writes:
....
He asks:
....
And in the next breath, he says:
....
In despair, Maud'Dib cries out:
....
Now what brought the Atreides family to Dune? The Fremen, and the spice melange - the
exhalation of the sandworm, both geriatric, and an igniter of prophecy. Here is what is written
about melange in the Pendant Heresy:
....
It is no wonder that is called the Pendant Heresy.
Of the Fremen, Maud'Dib says:
....
Maud'Dibs' son is speaking of the Fremen when he says:
....
A Bene Gesserit report says:
....
Liet Kynes is quoted by Harq Al-Ada:
....
Harq Al-Ada writes:
....
And Stilgar, the Fremen Naib says:
....
Even the Preacher speaks to the Fremen tragedy:
....
There are clues to the mysteries of the Fremen and Maud'Dib in the Songs of Dune. Listen to their
words:
....
And:
....
Or this:
....
And this, from The Moon Falls Down:
....
There is the dirge for Jamis:
....
And these four lines:
....
Or these:
....
And a children's ditty:
....
Or a love song:
....
Or a Fremen hearth song:
....
I should add a Tlielaxu epigram:
....
Maud'Dib recognized that atrocities had been committed in his name, and that more would come.
In this is an echo in these words from the Apocrypha:
....
On all these matters, the Commission of Ecumenical Translators comments:
....
Maud'Dib appears to be saying something similar when he speaks to his Fedaykin:
....
As we began with three items, we should conclude with three items. First, the Gholas' Hymn:
....
Second, Stilgars' comment on the travail of Maud'Dib:
....
And finally, from the Kizarite Creed:
"We say of Maud'Dib that he has gone on a journey into that land where we walk without
footprints."