Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #24: Dune

Dune
Dune, Book 1

Author: Frank Herbert
Pages: 794
Publisher: Ace
Read: July 14-23, 2013
Source: Library
Recommended by: Rollie of Blotted Pages

Description from Goodreads:
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what it undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.

First Sentence: "In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul."

Review:
Woo, I conquered the Dunes, crossed the sands without being eaten by a worm, and inhaled the aromatic spices of Arrakis. This is a victory, even if Dune turned out not to be my sort of science fiction. I know, I know, it's a classic and I'm meant to love it, and I'm an utter disappointment to my parents, who dearly love the early Dune books. Oh well, such is life, no? I can see why Dune is so popular, but, largely, it's just not the sort of book I can love, though I'm very glad to have read it, so thank you to Robbie for getting me to do so!

Time and again, I've said that I am a character reader, and I'm sure I'll set many more times. Dune has many charms, but they are not of characterization. Most of the cast is just so focused on one thing at all times, on ruling or backstabbing or mothering or being a wife or whatever. They're largely not people of interests outside of what they need to survive. Everything is about the world building and the political landscape. This isn't a book of banter and bonding. If world building delights you even without strong characterization, by all means, come explore these sand dunes.

At times, though, Dune did flirt with being a book I could like overall. The story of Paul Atreides doing a sort of Monte Cristo and rising up for vengeance with a whole bunch of power at his back is pretty awesome. The powers exhibited by Paul and the Bene Gesserit, women trained to have crazy fighting skills and more, are fascinating. I'm also curious about Arrakis and how this planet exists. How can a planet with so little water sustain life (by drinking their bodily fluids and those of others for one thing O_O)? What precisely is the spice and how does it relate to the worms?

These elements that I liked, though, were bogged down in the political back and forth, the perspective hopping between those of the Atreides group and the antagonists. I just had no fucks to give about what the Harkonnens or the Emperor were doing. Paul so obviously has all the power in the world and has been fulfilling all of these prophecies to be the Kwisatz Haderach, whatever that really means, so it's not like he's going to be defeated. It's sort of like how Harry Potter obviously wasn't going to die in Rowling's series. It's hard to care about Paul when I know he won't be killed.

Oh, though I'm not generally a big fan of characters being that powerful and perfect, I do like the way Herbert showed the difficulties of being Paul. He clearly struggles with the apartness of being so much more than everyone around him. The fact that he receives reverence rather than friendship further alienates him from the rest of humanity. This in turn makes it more likely that he will turn corrupt or unfeeling, as was oft hinted.

What really held me back in Dune more than anything else was the writing. It's not a style I found pleasing. Herbert uses a close third person, which jumps about from character to character. On top of that, character's thoughts are in italics. For the most part, that's alright, but sometimes there were long paragraphs of fragmented thoughts separated by ellipses. Between each chapter, unmarked stretches of time pass, leaving me constantly disoriented when I pick the book back up. Little details are dealt with endlessly but the climax skips most of the fighting for more talking. So many people die in Dune, and yet there's so little actual action.

Also worthy of note is that the treatment of women in the novel made me uncomfortable, as well as the treatment of the Fremen. Women can obviously be quite strong, stronger than the men, as the Bene Gesserit show. However, that's not a feminist move if these powerful women are essentially slaved, sold out as concubines to wealthy men. Plus, there's a weird message that being a concubine is actually better than a wife that I find really puzzling.

The Fremen are the desert people of Arrakis, who know much better how to survive there, and rule the planet no matter what Duke claims to be the leader. They're way better fighters than anyone else, and they do get respect for that. Still, I find the fact that they need Paul, from outside their culture, to come in and rule them disgusting. It's like this is pro-colonization, and I am not a fan.

That all came out quite ranty, but I really don't think Dune is a terrible book. It's not a great book for me, since I'm not all that interested in political intrigue or world building for its own sake. Dune's also very much a product of it's time. Glad to have read it so I know what the fuss is about, but I shan't be continuing on, which is probably for the best since I heard the series goes bad places.

Rating: 2/5

Favorite Quote:

"There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man—with human flesh."

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Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Covet by Tracey Garvis Graves, which my dear friend Blythe of Finding Bliss in Books told me to read. ARCs I have put in the list jump to the top, because it would be silly to review them post-publication just because I was waiting for random.org, no? Check back next week to see what I think of Covet!

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.