Dune (1965) Review

 Hey everyone! Did you all have a good weekend? I had a pretty great one. I saw two friends on Saturday, one in person and one virtually, so that was alot of fun. I also ended up finishing Dune by Frank Herbert over the weekend. Naturally that's what I'm here to talk about today. There will be spoilers, so if you haven't read this book yet, please don't read this review, unless you don't care about spoilers. So let's get right into it.

As I talked about in a post that I wrote on this very blog a month ago, I have a very storied history with Dune. I've only read it once all the way through prior to this read through and I attempted to read it once before that, which ended up being an unsuccessful venture. It's complicated without being sophisticated as it doesn't so much try to help the reader understand something about themselves, nor does it try to help the reader understand something about the society around us, as it does present events in a way that sets up future books. Don't get me wrong, alot happens in this book, and it's not actually boring, it's just nothing happens in this book that helps me to understand any of the characters, beyond turning Paul into the figure of an ancient prophecy. Not to mention that alot more happens "offscreen" than it does "onscreen". 

I am a very character oriented reader and all of my favourite books are my favourites because I was able to connect to at least one character in the story on some level. But with Dune there isn't a single character that I can connect to. Our lead character, Paul, is a blank slate at the beginning of the book, waiting to be molded by the Harkonnens, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen. Which makes him extremely difficult to connect to. And that, to me, is the very heart of a story. Without a character to connect to, it's more difficult to understand the world that he, she, or they, live in. Not impossible mind you, just difficult.

Honestly, the more sophisticated parts of this book actually happen in the first few chapters of the book, and by the time Dr. Yueh betrays Duke Leto to the Harkonnens and Paul and his mother, the Lady Jessica, are forced to flee to the Fremen, it's actually a pretty simple story. There's still wheels within wheels, within wheels, but not from the Harkonnens or the Emperor. Those wheels within wheels within wheels are more Lady Jessica's doings as a Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit than anything else. Herbert lays everything out for us, and while things are still mysteries wrapped in enigmas, the majority of the Harkonnens's plot is laid out for us, even if the main characters don't know about them exactly. I mean they kind of do, but only to the extent that the Harkonnens will attack them and that there is a traitor among them who helps the Harkonnens.

Speaking of the Harkonnens, they are the most cartoonish villains I've read in a novel that isn't a Bantam (1990s) era Star Wars novel. Vladimir Harkonnen is the most cartoonish of them all. It's refreshing to read, even though the book was originally published back in the '60s, because I am so tired of sympathetic villains and villains that people actually like. I've said this a million times on my older blogs that villains are supposed to represent an obstacle for the main character, a.k.a. the hero, to overcome. They aren't meant to be sympathetic or likeable and yet writers, no matter what medium they write for, end up writing them that way. I get that the world isn't black and white, but sometimes a villain has to just be a villain with no middle ground or redeeming qualities.

Dune is a good book. Frank Herbert did a really good job writing it. My biggest problems with it are the time jump that takes place out of nowhere, with so much happening offscreen and the ending. I get that the time jump was done because Paul was only 15 years old at the beginning of the book and wasn't old enough to be a Fremen leader. But it came out of nowhere without any indication that it had actually happened until a conversation between Baron Harkonnen and one of his henchmen. 

The ending is so open ended that it feels like not a whole lot happened in the entire book as a result. According to the afterword by Frank Herbert's son, Brian, which is in the back of my copy of the book, Frank Herbert did not have sequels planned when he wrote Dune. He simply left the story open ended so that people would finish the book, want more and want to reread it to follow another thread he left there. Which is genius to be honest, because many writers wrap their first story up so neatly that sequels end up not being necessary if sequels weren't thought up during the story's development in the first place.

Despite my problems with the book, I do like Dune. I'm just not in love with it. And, again, that's just because I don't have a connection to any of the characters, despite how well written most of them are, and the time jump, along with the ending. I still recommend it if you've never read it though, because it's really good even though I have my problems with it.

Alrighty that is going to be it for me for today. I'll be back later this week with a review of Super 8 (2011) but I'm not entirely sure when yet. So until then have a wonderful evening, morning, or afternoon, whenever you're reading this, and I will talk to you all later. Take care.