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A review by ste3ve_b1rd
Dune by Frank Herbert
3.0
It took me over a year to finish this. At about page 400, I couldn't go any further; I was going through a heavy time in my life and this was the wrong book to be reading at that time. So I took a break and read the entire Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy, which was a breeze by comparison. Eventually I returned to Dune and slowly made my way through the rest of it [including the afterward this book has 883 pages]. *****
There's a lot to respect in this book but I just don't love it. The visuals remind me of "2001: A Space Odyssey". The descriptions of the desert planet Arrakis are magnificent. The author's imagining of the backstory is impressive; even when I couldn't keep track of what was going on, between the various environments and the respective histories of the myriad tribes and intergalactic empires -- The level of detail is compelling in itself.
I've given "Dune" 3 stars because I liked it. The characters were well-crafted and their use of inner monologue, as a counterpoint within the dialogue, adds a great psychic / telekinetic element to the overall atmosphere. Ultimately, I found the universe of "Dune" to be a cold, scary and dark; there was little comfort to be derived from this book. I'd call it the first steampunk novel, perhaps because I kept picturing the characters, at least those I could recall -- From David Lynch's 1984 film version of "Dune". If this had been a page turner, or I'd found it to be absorbing in some other way -- I would have given it 4 stars. But since I won't be continuing with the series, and I had a lot of trouble staying with this work -- 3 stars will have to suffice.
***** This edition of Dune is incorrectly listed on Goodreads as having 535 pages.
There's a lot to respect in this book but I just don't love it. The visuals remind me of "2001: A Space Odyssey". The descriptions of the desert planet Arrakis are magnificent. The author's imagining of the backstory is impressive; even when I couldn't keep track of what was going on, between the various environments and the respective histories of the myriad tribes and intergalactic empires -- The level of detail is compelling in itself.
I've given "Dune" 3 stars because I liked it. The characters were well-crafted and their use of inner monologue, as a counterpoint within the dialogue, adds a great psychic / telekinetic element to the overall atmosphere. Ultimately, I found the universe of "Dune" to be a cold, scary and dark; there was little comfort to be derived from this book. I'd call it the first steampunk novel, perhaps because I kept picturing the characters, at least those I could recall -- From David Lynch's 1984 film version of "Dune". If this had been a page turner, or I'd found it to be absorbing in some other way -- I would have given it 4 stars. But since I won't be continuing with the series, and I had a lot of trouble staying with this work -- 3 stars will have to suffice.
***** This edition of Dune is incorrectly listed on Goodreads as having 535 pages.