Mostly riveting! In general, I think I loved it?

The worldbuilding is still legendary here, all these years later. I'm going to leave the issues alone (Obviously, there are issues. 1965 was a long time ago).

Mostly, I can see why this book is a beloved classic and why it's been so inspirational. It's a wild ride, interweaving a lot of cool threads, with so much to say about so many dimensions of human life in the possible future. Really cool overall. And the worms are awesome.

Like most of my five star books, I’ve read Dune multiple times. In fact, I’d say that what makes a book more than just enjoyable and instead truly amazing is that you want to read it more than once and are rewarded for doing so. I’ve probably read Dune six times, and I’ve never gotten tired of it but my understanding of the work has increased over time.

To begin with, the first time I read Dune, I got about three pages into it, realized I didn’t understand a thing and that I was hopelessly confused. I had to go back and reread what I had read, and then go back again and reread the whole chapter. I would excuse myself by saying that I was 10, but I’m sure I’m not the only one that has had that experience. Don’t be dismayed if it happens to you - whether 10, 18, or 45. If you are confused at first, consider that Paul is also confused and finds so much that happens strange and new. Understanding will come in its proper time.

At one time at least, there was a fairly famous website (at least among geeks) that humorously summarized books in thirty words or less. Maybe it still exists, but its name escapes me. The summary provided for Dune read something like this, “I’m Frank Herbert and I’m a lot smarter than you are.” When I was younger, this would have seemed a fair appraisal of the work. One of the most central aspects of ‘Dune’ is Herbert manages to write convincingly about people whose intelligence is supposed to vastly exceed that of the reader. More than anything, to create a believable Messianic story, the writer has to create a Messiah possessing believable Messianic wisdom and insight, and Herbert succeeds at this invention probably better than any other writer. We come to believe that the protagonists do have deep and profound insight into the question of ‘Life, the Universe, and Everything’ so that we do not immediately feel cheated and we are able to believe in the characters – even someone like Maud’Dib. As I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve come to see that Herbert is not in fact possessed of superhuman intelligence, but that he creates the illusion of superhuman intelligence by a variety of clever devices. The appearance of a superhuman intelligence and wisdom is really a sham and the pool is really pretty shallow, but even this revelation does not reduce the esteem in which I hold the work. It’s not Herbert’s real job to be a prophet: he’s an artist. Herbert succeeds brilliantly in what he should be judged on – the ability to paint the illusion deftly and convincingly. If we acquire the sophistication to see through it, it shouldn’t reduce our appreciation of the artistic mastery used in creating it. I think now I would amend the summary of the work to be, “I’m Frank Herbert, and I’m a lot better writer than you are.”

If all that could be said in Dune’s favor was that it had one of the most convincing invented prophets in literature, it would still be a worthwhile work. But Dune has abundant pleasures beyond the richly realized illusion of philosophical depth and even the deftly realized setting. Chief among these for me is the truly deep and intricate relationships Paul has with the other characters. There is a real depth of feeling here, and I love the way each of the complicated nuanced relationships is portrayed as we are introduced to the cast of Paul’s complicated life. Each character feels a deep mixture of feelings for Paul who is boy, man, friend, soldier, sovereign, and Messiah and much else. There is tenderness to this work. We sense that complexity and tenderness right from the start, when his mother allows him to be tortured and to face murder, and then immediately thereafter experiences profound hope and joy: “My son lives.” We feel Paul’s boyish love for his friends and companions, who are also his father’s henchmen and his teachers and who he is in turn their future Lord. We feel the more mature manly love that these companions have for their young charge and future ruler. Even Yueh loves the boy he must destroy. We feel the boyish admiration Paul has for his father as he strains to be worthy of him and to make his father proud, and we feel the returned pride and satisfaction that his father feels. We feel the aching love of a boy for this Mother when he has already lost everything else when Jessica is buried in sand, and we feel her returned love when she says, “I knew you would find me.”

And though there love is only briefly on stage, still I find the love between Paul and Chani among the sweetest and most charming in literature. Who cannot thrill when scarcely knowing each other, but seeing their lives together stretching out before them both good and terrible, the young becoming but not yet lovers promise with tender vows nonetheless to be forever each other's comfort and joy and they feel their hitherto unseen future becoming a real solid now. Isn’t that how it is in some way for all of us when we meet the one who will be the one and we suddenly realize we want to and we will spend the rest of our lives together regardless of what will happen? And how often have we felt the total unabashed joy as Paul does when we know our lover is now near?

“That could only mean Chani was near by—Chani, his soul, Chani his sihaya, sweet as the desert spring, Chani up from the palmaries of the deep south.”

All that and ‘Dune’ is a wonderful exciting action adventure story filled with thrills and chases, fights and battles, and supersized edge of our imagination wonders. Worms.

It’s no wonder that this is one of the best beloved books of all time. If you haven’t read it, you should. If you have read it, read it again.

I am so glad I finally fulfilled my half of the bet.

This book was so dumb it was a chore to get through it--and I haven’t pushed past the pain period in years. People riding worms, killing their grandpas, weird names for knives, bullets and don’t forget, everyone is addicted to Cinnamon. I thought it was lame. It felt really juvenile. The author seemed to be trying really hard to make everything really mysterious and mythical, and all I could think was how lame it was: all-blue eyes, a worms called a "makers," suits where you drink your own body moisture (disgusting).

I'm also annoyed that this book was read in exchange for Pride and Prejudice. Compared with a timeless classic the book seems like a 1st grade primer. Austen is a master of plot and suspense. You may not like the subject matter, admittedly it is a little girlie, but the woman can write. Herbert? Not even close.

No one should argue the importance Dune. It laid the foundations for a great deal of the themes and constructs in modern science fiction. Frank Herbert was as important to the genre as Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clarke. Unfortunately, just like them, he's quite dated, and his books can be a labor to read. One thing he maintained from old science fiction was prim and scientific dialogue that no one would ever actually speak. I've known many scientists, and they don't talk like this. You're not going to convince me a child does.

The stuffy dialogue is inserted into even stuffier narrative, until it feels like nothing is organic about Herbert's prose. This is a terrible tragedy when you've got a world that he put so much effort into building - and it is an amazing feat of world-building, technically interplanetary building. But unlike J.R.R. Tolkien, who he is so frequently compared to, Herbert didn't make sure to include a great story in his world. Instead he included a story that frequently illustrated how clunky an artificial world can be, even if it's lovingly crafted. I struggled to attach or find interest in anyone, yet they're more archetypes than human beings, whose logic races past modern skepticism and whose dialogue is cloyingly artificial, the way people cared for the Hobbits, Dwarves and Rangers. In his world-building, Tolkien at least saved himself from being dated by antedating himself, and even with his illuminated prose, wrought more characteristics in just one protagonist than all of Dune's cast.

Even the political intrigue Herbert tries to fall back on was overdone in the Spy genre decades before he started this book. All fans of the "Genre" genres should appreciate Herbert's massive contributions, but they shouldn't pretend to enjoy the books if they don't, and they should be wary of certain pitfalls typical of science fiction that survived into his landmark work.

‘Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.’

The sheer scope and magnitude of this 1965 sci-fi drama is staggering, populated with an extensive cast of characters and a rich universe full of well-rounded lore, intricate politics where every actions is revealed as ‘plans within plans within plans,’ and dynamic cultures all set on a collision course of plot that rightfully earned it a wide readership and canonization as a “Classic” work. I found it lived up to the hype and opened itself up more upon a reread, validating the fond memories I had of it from reading it first as a young teenager smitten with anything sci-fi. This book has zero chill and everything is to extreme and epic levels, including the size of worms. But come for the Bene Gesserits, best part. While there isn’t much to say that likely hasn’t already been said better, I still want to pause and reflect on some key elements in Dune. This is such a well-crafted book that addresses themes of power, religion, historical records as mythmaking and environmental concerns in a narrative about proxy wars and power struggles that speak just as loudly today as it did about 1960s foreign policy. If you are looking for a book of epic proportions, you can’t go wrong with Dune.

The best part about this book, to me, is the way it is constantly expanding. There is great world-building and a rich lore that recalls my glee first exploring The Lord of the Rings, but what really excites me is the way Herbert reveals it all. The book starts so small—a visit to a cottage from an old woman that seems like such a small scale fairy tale on page one—and swiftly becomes gargantuan and never stops growing. It leaves you constantly feeling yourself shrink beside a universe always revealing itself as more complex than you had realized. I enjoy the way Herbert only gives you the minimum of what you need to understand and lets it all slowly unfold when necessary.

‘They've a legend here, a prophecy, that a leader will come to them, child of a Bene Gesserit, to lead them to true freedom. It follows the familiar messiah pattern.’

For newcomers, the basis of the book is that Paul has been quite literally bred to be a messiah and is engulfed in a difficult power struggle over a planet that essentially upholds the interplanetary economy through mining an addictive substance called “spice”. You might quickly find yourself thinking of spice as oil and the planet Arrakis as Middle East and Northern Africa (Tor put out a really great essay on the way Herbert engages with Muslim culture and traditions), you know, since there was a whole Cold War going on at the time and giving the villain Baron Harkonnen a first name like Vladimir might make you wonder if this is all an elaborate metaphor. The Baron saying ‘in politics, the tripod is the most unstable of all structures,’ might make you think of the three branches of US government. You get the idea. There are also WWII holdovers present, such as the Sardaukar as an elite fighting force trained on Salusa Secundus to make sure you catch the S.S. reference. That’s all very much there, but this book is so much more than a simple sci fi rendition of the Cold War and Herbert definitely wants you to apply these themes to our larger political and religious global interactions.

‘Fear is the mind-killer.’

Another aspect I find fascinating in Dune is the depiction of Paul Atreides in the ‘chosen one’ trope. Paul has reservations, though not due to thinking he doesn’t deserve it (dude is royalty anyways, essentially) but because he fears what it will bring. Paul’s powers are enhanced through spice and he is able to perceive the future, and in almost every possible scenario he sees nothing but mass war in his name:

’They were all caught up in the need of their race to renew its scattered inheritance, to cross and mingle and infuse their bloodlines in a great new pooling of genes. And the race knew only one sure way for this—the ancient way, the tried and certain way that rolled over everything in its path: jihad.’

The notion of precognition brings free will into question, particularly when a certain individual appears in visions of the future but dies before it happens. It becomes a universe where individual free wills are all acting upon one another in an attempt to control the narrative of time.

’And what [Paul] saw was a time nexus within this cave, a boiling of possibilities focused here, wherein the most minute action—a wink of an eye, a careless word, a misplaced grain of sand—moved a gigantic lever across the known universe. He saw violence with the outcome subject to so many variables that his slightest movement created vast shiftings in the pattern.’

History is written by the winners, or so the saying goes, and much of this novel focuses on the way the narrative of time is constructed through the mythologizing of people and events. ‘History will call us wives,’ Jessica says to Chani, assuring her that her role as the lover to Paul will not be usurped by the princess he marries for the throne. Much of the book shows the dynamics between Paul as the Man and Paul as the myth, with characters like Stilgar recognizing that by being in service to the myth they too will be immortalized in the stories. Narratives become a form or power, and, as I’ll discuss soon, can be a form of control.

Perhaps it is because power and control are so central to this novel that it feels so very timeless and just as applicable to 2021 as it did to 1965. In regards to power, leadership also becomes another key theme. ‘Power and fear,’ House Atreides Duke Leto says, ‘The tools of statecraft, ’ a sentiment later echoed with all the same key terms by Baron Harkonnen. The two leaders are set up at the start as foils to each other, each trying to have their grip on Arrakis (there are some strong colonialism themes in this book and it delves into how troubling it is and how even those we might view as the savior turn out to be just another oppressor and colonizer) but their leaderships are defined by Leto’s rule through caring for his people while Harkonnen sees everyone as a useful pawn.

’A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few individuals, and a people reverts to a mob.’

Having recently finished The Dispossessed, I could have preferred some more voices in this book looking for better forms of ruling that don’t involve exploitation, but that’s not what this book is about so I’ll move on. What this book really focuses on is the ways power can be maintained, which crops up most in this novel through use of religion. ‘But it's well known that repression makes a religion flourish,’ we read, and the harsh life on Arrakis makes it the perfect setting where indoctrination of religion for the purpose of power can shape a community and unite them. Religion is a form of storytelling, having the people all believe in one shared story with all its myths and promises. ‘You deliberately cultivated this air, this bravura,’ Jessica instructs Paul, ‘you never cease indoctrinating.’ The stronger the shared faith, the more easily a leader can make them do what they need. It also helps that everyone is high as shit all the time. ‘Religion and law among our masses must be one and the same,’ Kynes's father says:

‘An act of disobedience must be a sin and require religious penalties. This will have the dual benefit of bringing both greater obedience and greater bravery. We must depend not so much on the bravery of individuals, you see, as upon the bravery of a whole population.’

Religion is being used constantly to shape the people for the purpose of their leaders, even in what seems an admirable purpose of turning desert Arrakis into a green paradise (and without a religious idea of paradise, how can a people who only know dry dirt and hardship even imagine a paradise?).

‘The real wealth of a planet is in its landscape, how we take part in that basic source of civilization—agriculture.’

This latter bit is also extremely key to Dune. The planet itself is practically a character in the novel, much in the ways the landscape is like a character in Westerns. The landscape of Arrakis truly shapes the people there, and we see a contrast between Arrakis and Caladan and how water as a precious resource on Arrakis changes many customs. Such as how spitting at a person is a sign of respect on Arrakis. Changing the environment on Arrakis is an interesting concept because, in order to make it thrive, what would the cost be? Would it disrupt spice, thereby collapsing the galaxy’s economy? Can these people ever be free, because doing so would require the complete dismantling of the governmental systems currently ruling? Can I try this spice? I would like to try the spice.

There is also something to be said about the harshness of an environment being an ideal place for strenght in unity around a cause to crop up. Le Guin explores this in The Dispossessed as well, with the anarchist planet having a similar dry desert vibe as Arrakis and scarcity being a major player in what keeps the people bonded and working together. The Fremen are tough because of their environment, similiarly the Sardaukar are trained in extremely harsh environments as well. Dune plays a lot with ideas on how fascism and strongmen can quickly rise to power in times of economic instability—or the threat of it—and here the difficult planets tend to produce the most deadly fighters. Mix religion in and you have an instant army if you can convince everyone you are the chosen one.

There is so much more to discuss in this book, particularly the Bene Gesserits and the Guild who are pulling a lot of strings, or just how friggen awesome the worms are. This is a big book with a lot of big ideas, and also a lot of ambiguity to them that I really appreciate. It is certainly a precursor for a lot of popular epics to follow. George Lucas certainly took notes and I imagine George R.R. Martin read this and said “wait, you can just kill beloved characters that easily!?” before rewriting Duke Leto as Ned Stark. While I can concede to those who find it boring and dry, I rather enjoyed all the history and lore and found this to be incredibly fun.

4.5/5

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Dune is one of those reads that just feels so, so iconic when you read it. There is a certain gravitas to the writing that makes you feel like you are about experience a truly unique reading journey.

My brother very kindly gifted me with a special edition of Dune, so I was very lucky to be accompanied by some absolutely fantastic illustrations as I read this.

“There is no escape—we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”

Dune is a book that after reading and thinking on it a while I admire so much. It has had such a huge role on science fiction since its release, and is a truly epic tale that encapsulates so much life and vividness in the pages. Whilst I did not adore the read, it is one that I still thoroughly enjoyed, and would most definitely read again in the future.

The world is of course one of the strong points. We are taken to a place that has living, thriving politics, with a rich history that makes the story feel very real. I thoroughly enjoyed how Frank Herbert included the reader in the mechanisms that would run a planet such as this, and shows how every decision influences the future of our characters.

For me the characters were a mixed bag. Those such as Duncan Idaho were compelling, with fleshed out motivations and some truly epic moments. The villains were similarly fantastic. The Baron was terrifying, and Frank Herbert did a great job making sure he did not full into the archetype, and in doing so crafted such an entertaining character.

“The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”

Sadly, I did not click as much with Paul and Jessica, two of the main characters. They were solid, but as leading roles I felt they did lack something for me. It was by no means a negative to the story, but for me it really held it back from reaching those higher levels, despite the success of everything across the other spheres.

Dune is most certainly a unique and extraordinary book in many ways, and I can see how this has shaped an entire genre and dictated how it has evolved in so many ways. Not many books can claim to have had such an impact. And I think Dune deserves that. Whilst everything did not click with me, most of it did, and there were so many awesome ideas and concepts that Frank Herbert explored so well. A great mix of characters, with a certainly epic story, and an engaging plot that rides on the revenge story that we love so much.

4.25/5 STARS

1ra parte leída hace muchos años. Vuelto a leer hace algunos meses. Me bastó solo con el primer libro. No fue nunca del tipo de ciencia ficción que me ha gustado. Esta vez se me haya hecho algo más lenta y obsoleta su narrativa( mi opinión).
Es verdad que toda la info. intrínseca en sus historias y diálogos hacen de esta obra una muy completa. Una novela y seguramente saga ( al que se la lea completa) que perdurará, y de las que se continuarán sirviendo muchos escritores de ciencia ficción como parte de luz inspiracional para crear sus propios mundos. Como lo ha sido tb de alguna manera en mi caso. No obstante, para mi gusto actual demasiado muy épica y obsoleta para con el sentido de la ciencia ficción y su tecnología de nuestros tiempos.
La ciencia ficción no son solo naves voladoras, mundos conquistados o gusanos gigantes, tambien lo son sus diálogos y los conocimientos tecnológicos actuales que en ellos se describan. Ojo, una muy buena obra!!! Es solo que no me entretuvo tanto en su reelectura años después.Pero es solo mi opinión!

For me, Dune worked excellent. It has striking multi-pov and I have to admit it was hard to get used to that, and half the readers who will hate it, they will do so because of it extremely weird multipov where often several characters' first-person thoughts were laid out in italics. Yeah, the author did that. Yet, I have to say, it had one of the best world building that I have ever seen in a sci-fi. I have seen world building in Harry Potter, in Hobbit, in Song of Ice and Fire, in Name of the Wind, Mistborn and many other high fantasies. But never have I ever saw such rich world building with so many weird names in a science fiction world. This is truly epic. I love sci fi. If you ever find an epic sci fi that has as detailed and well planned world as this, never hesitate to recommend me.

n  Update March 2024:n Just bumping this mini-review to say I'm pleased with Villeneuve's adaptation for how he handled my Dune favourites. Feyd-Rautha has been done justice at long last, the trauma from the cringe yellow-pants Sting is over, the honour of House Harkonnen has been restored.

_______________________________

The start is one of the slowest beginnings I've found, and the writing could be much better than the rather basic prose Herbert exhibits, but the storyline and the setting are quite good once one gets past the first "book" in the this first installment of the Dune saga. I enjoyed the plot and the worldbuilding a bit more than the characters, though I did like the villains more too, and am left interested enough to want to eventually continue with the rest to see how the story of the Atreides family will pan out.

بعد از هشت ماه بالاخره تموم شد. اول از شادی تشکر کنم که گفت بیا بخونیم
گرچه خودش نتونست در این جهاد همراه بمونه ولی در هر صورت ازش ممنونم. اگه شروع نمی‌کردیم ممکنه بود خوندنشو خیلی عقب بندازم. شاید تا فیلم و سریال‌های آینده رو کامل ببینم، سراغش نمیومدم

چیز زیادی برای گفتن نیست که بقیه نگفته باشن
اول اینکه این توییت رو دیدم و گفتم شما هم ببینید :))

n  n

دوم هم اینکه یکی از دوستان توی این ریویوی خیلی خوبش نوشته بود از اینکه نویسنده خودش داستانشو اسپویل می‌کنه بدش میاد
خواستم بگم این برای من یه نقطه‌ی قوت بزرگ بود :)) از اینکه می‌گفت این اتفاق‌ها میفته لذت می‌بردم و انگیزه بیشتری برای خوندن پیدا می‌کردم
حقیقتش من دیگه واقعا خسته شدم از بس توی هر کتاب فانتزی یا علمی‌تخیلی جدیدتر نویسنده‌ها به هر قیمتی شده دنبال گذاشتن یه پیچش داستانی‌ان و کل تمرکزشونو می‌ذارن روی اینکه خواننده رو به اون سمت بکشونن و بعضاً خیلی زوری به نظر میاد
حس می‌کنم از بس تو همه‌ی کتابا خوندم دیگه اشباع شدم. وقتی همیشه انتظار توییست داشته باشی، دیگه بی معنی می‌شه. البته اگه خوب و زوری نباشه لذت می‌برم ولی خیلی وقته که یه توییست خوب نخوندم. (طبیعتاً این موضوع شامل ژانر معمایی نمی‌شه چون اساسش همون معما و حلشه)
من بیشتر از شخصیت‌پردازی، جهان سازی، نوع روایت داستان و.. لذت می‌برم تا شوکه شدن و این کتاب همه‌ی این‌ها رو در اختیارم گذاشت و به یکی از کتاب‌های مورد علاقه‌م تبدیل شد
ترجمه هم طبق انتظار عالی بود

Just as good as the first time I experienced this novel. I definitely picked up on things that I didn't in my first read and all of the major plot points and events were equally fantastic this time around. This book is simply incredible and I'm excited to continue the series this time around.

The book is brilliant. Delightfully difficult in every sense: from the thoughtful to the smallest details of the Arrakis world order, sophisticated political intrigues, complex interpersonal relationships, to the delightful message with spice.

Melange, which has such a diverse spectrum of action (a vital component of interstellar travel, a stimulant that allows you to drive ships through collapsed space), greatly slows down aging, a light drug without abstinence is finally the only place in the universe where they are mined, and there is no way to synthesize, even with the highest level of technology there, which means a monopoly. And whoever owns the Dune owns the world.At least she can dictate terms to him. At the same time, to call this planet the ass of the world would be to flatter her greatly.

It's just a scorched desert with nothing but sand, birds like crows, and jumping muaddib mice. Oh, and the worms that started it all. Creatures the size of a car or a house, which live under the sand, but react sensitively to any rhythmic movement on its surface, and when surfaced, they are able to swallow a destroyer in one fell swoop. And the fremen. I listened to the book and all the time I perceived the self-designation of these people as "freemen", free, but Vika says that it is necessary to use the "e", even so, although they are, in fact, free and quite wild. Like the Tuareg of Earth.

Everything in the book is cool. A teenager who is destined to survive in difficult trials and become a ruler. But without the usual fabulous "honest feast, yes for the wedding," "they lived happily ever after," "I was there, I drank honey and beer, but I only wet my mustache." A prisoner of prophetic visions provoked by spice (such
a specific influence), he knows from the very beginning that his purpose is not to rule the world or, there, to establish an empire, but to stop jihad. And you will have to put your life on it.

That his fate will be inextricably linked with the fate of his mother, whose filial devotion comes into the most severe contradiction with the rebellion of a strong freedom-loving nature against literally cutting according to the patterns prescribed by the Gesserit Order, to which Lady Jessica belongs from infancy. The novel, which was published in the sixty-fifth year of the last century, is an unthinkable Klondike of foresight and insights. Not in terms of fantastic technology, but in political technologies, social trends (what is an order if not the quintessence of feminist ideas?)

Эпическая сила
- И как там?
- Жарко. А воздух наполнен специями.
Джейн Остен "Разум и чувства"
"Дюна" была моей страшилкой последние семь лет. С того времени, как поняла, что обидно, думая о прочитанных книгах "в себя", терять со временем львиную долю мыслей, впечатлений, воспоминаний. Завела аккаунты на Либе и в ЖЖ, понемногу стала обрастать знакомствами среди неравнодушных к чтению, и сильно удивилась, когда в одном обсуждении прозвучало spice, на которое не отреагировала узнаванием, что дало собеседнику повод отметить: "Фантастики вы не любите и не знаете, надо полагать?"

- Как это? - возмутилась, - Да фантастика мое все с семи лет.
- Но "Дюну" не читали.
- Это где червяки ползали? ("Они называли тебя червяком, Каа, Большим земляным червяком") И не собираюсь, мерзость какая. - Так сказала, а читательская гордость осталась ущемленной, какой ты, на фиг, танкист, если не можешь одолеть идиосинкразии, да и прочесть уже. Неважно, что фильм, где из песка выныривали эти громадные твари, не могла досмотреть ни одного разу из тех, что натыкалась на него по ТВ. Соберись уже, тряпка, и сделай это! - каждый раз приказывала себе, вспоминая роман Фрэнка Герберта. Благо, случалось нечасто. До последнего времени.

Но в ожидании экранизации от Дени Вильнёва, упоминания о романе скоро станут звучать из каждого утюга, а значит, пришло время. Не надо ждать,не надо звать, а нужно взять, и прочитать. И таки да, книга гениальна. Восхитительно непростая во всех смыслах: от продуманного до мельчайших деталей мироустройства Арракиса, изощренных политических интриг, сложных межличностных отношений, до восхитительного посыла со спайсом.

Меланж обладающий таким многообразным спектром действия (жизненно необходимый компонент межзвездных путешествий, стимулятор, позволяющий вести корабли сквозь свернутое пространство), сильно замедляет старение, легкий наркотик без абстиненции - наконец Единственное место во Вселенной, где добывают, и никакой возможности синтезировать, даже при высочайшем уровне тамошних технологий, а значит, монополия. И владеющий Дюной, владеет миром.По крайней мере, может диктовать ему условия. Вместе с тем, назвать эту планету жопой мира, значило бы сильно польстить ей.

Просто выж��енная пустыня, в которой ничего, кроме песка, птиц вроде ворон, да прыгающих мышей муаддибов. Ах,ну еще черви, с которых все начиналось. Твари, размером когда с легковой автомобиль, когда с дом, которые живут под песком,но чутко реагируют на любое ритмическое движение на его поверхности, а вынырнув, способны одним махом проглотить эсминец. И еще фремены. Книгу слушала и все время воспринимала самоназвание этого народа, как "freemen", свободные, но Вика говорит, что надо через "е",пусть так, хотя они, в самом деле, свободные и довольно дикие. Как земные туареги.

В книге классно все. Подросток, которому судьба выжить в непростых испытаниях и стать повелителем. Но без привычного сказочного "честным пирком, да за свадебку", "жили они долго и счастливо", "я там был, мед-пиво пил, да усы лишь обмочил". Пленник пророческих видений, которые провоцирует специя (такое
специфическое влияние), он с самого начала знает, что его предназначение не править миром или, там, основать империю, но остановить джихад. И на это придется положить жизнь.

Что судьба его будет неразрывно связана с судьбой матери, сыновняя преданность которой вступает в жесточайшее противоречие с бунтом сильной свободолюбивой натуры против буквально обтесывания по лекалам, предписанным орденом Гессерит, которому с младенчества принадлежит леди Джессика. Роман, увидевший свет в шестьдесят пятом году прошлого века, немыслимый Клондайк предвидений и озарений. Не в части фантастической техники, но в политтехнологиях, социальных тенденциях (что есть орден, как не квинтэссенция феминистических идей?)

Да, эта книга очень на котурнах, эпос, хотя ни разу ни пеплум. Совершенно продуманная, точная, четкая модель мироустройства и совсем живые герои, вызывающие искренний отклик. "Дюна" не мой роман, импринтинга, как с симмонсовым "Гиперионом" с ней не случилось. Но вещь гениальная, таки да.