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A review by owenwilsonbaby
Dune by Frank Herbert
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really liked this book! It's the first book I've read for fun in almost two years and I think it may have reset something inside my brain. It is very long and the pacing drags at times but the plotting and narration more than make up for it.
I would definitely say I found the first two sections of the book - Dune and Muad'Dib - much more interesting. I think that might just be my personal preference fortragedies and survival narratives but the last part felt comparatively weaker, mainly owing to strange pacing, as information was released very slowly and then very quickly. I LOVED the themes of self-loathing and foreboding around an individual's own capabilities. In particular, the dark prescience and subsequent self-loathing Paul experiences. The burdened with 'a great and terrible purpose' line feels like it was specifically written in for my angsty tastes!
I did struggle with the scope of the world building. Often, in order to motivate myself to keep reading, I would just have to accept that I didn't really grasp all of the wider political and social contexts for the events of a scene. I also had to make peace with the fact that it's a book from the 1960s, so sometimes it's tricky to tell if it's pro or anti capitalist, and also that sometimes its Islamic influences can read a bit islamophobically. Also the blatant homophobia of having the villainbe the only camp and queer coded character but also a paedophile!
Overall it's definitely a good book and a well-deserved classic - I'm more excited for the movie now I kind of understand the plot and world! It is going to be interesting to see how Villeneuve cuts the book in half. I definitely think the first two sections are stronger and will make an excellent film, but I'm not sure the final third will work as a standalone.
I would definitely say I found the first two sections of the book - Dune and Muad'Dib - much more interesting. I think that might just be my personal preference for
I did struggle with the scope of the world building. Often, in order to motivate myself to keep reading, I would just have to accept that I didn't really grasp all of the wider political and social contexts for the events of a scene. I also had to make peace with the fact that it's a book from the 1960s, so sometimes it's tricky to tell if it's pro or anti capitalist, and also that sometimes its Islamic influences can read a bit islamophobically. Also the blatant homophobia of having the villain
Overall it's definitely a good book and a well-deserved classic - I'm more excited for the movie now I kind of understand the plot and world! It is going to be interesting to see how Villeneuve cuts the book in half. I definitely think the first two sections are stronger and will make an excellent film, but I'm not sure the final third will work as a standalone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Pedophilia, Torture, Medical content, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia and Islamophobia