Dune Letter-Essay
April, 24 2010
Dear Everyone,
I recently read the book Dune by Frank Herbert. It is a book about a teenager named Paul who is the heir to the throne of the Atreides. The emperor ordered the Atreides and all of their kingdom to move to a planet called Arrakis. Arrakis is one giant desert and is the only known planet that contains a valuable spice called Melange. The Harkonnens (the 'bad' people) invaded the kingdom of the Atreides (the 'good' people) and Paul and his mom were forced to flee. The plot is around Paul's battle against the Harkonnens to get his kingdom back using his super-human ability to see the future.
This is a book set in the future but they use many of the same words used in medieval times such as castle. I am sure the castles are made out of something other than stone, probably some kind of high quality metal and the castles are shielded. It is in the future though because they can travel through space to other planets and do other things you would see in a story like Star Wars.
This book is a mix of science fiction and fantasy. It is science fiction because it is in the future using technology such as force fields, traveling through space, laser guns, and advanced machinery. It is fantasy because of unbelievable things like the fact that Paul has superhuman mind reading skills. I think it might be possible to have superhuman mind reading skills in the future but not to the extent they are used in the book. Later on in the book Paul is able to see into the future which is obviously not possible.
The author has a very complex twist on seeing the future. Paul can see the future but it's not like the straight-forward future. If Paul makes different choices then different events will happen in the future, but he can't see the choices that will lead to the events. He only sees the events themselves. If he's in a situation where small changes would lead to a completely different outcome, he can't see past that point in time. I liked the way the author presents this ability of Paul's because at the beginning when Paul is figuring it out, the reader discovers it at the same time with him.
There are some random quotes in the book that I didn't really like. For instance Paul says random things about the future without explanation as to why this is meaningful in the story. At one point it mentions that he and his sister, who is yet to be born, will have a great battle - which never happens. So the reader may remember Paul's random predictions as they read until they get to the last page and realize the prediction had no meaning in the plot.
It makes the story very interesting the way the author just makes up words. For instance he could have just said “2 liters” but he says “2 literjons”. I thought a literjon was some really huge amount of water. As it turns out, water is very scarce and valuable so it is a huge amount. Here's a hint that I didn't know until I was done - If you are reading this book and don't know what he's talking about, there is a Dune dictionary in the back of the book.
Here is a quote from the book:
She compressed ultimate scorn into her voice and manner and said “Well-l-l, now ---how does it feel to be a killer?” Paul stiffened as though he had been struck. He met his mother's cold glare and his face darkened with a rush of blood. Involuntarily he glanced toward the place on the cavern floor where Jamis had lain.
I chose this quote because it shows Paul is realizing what happens when you kill a person. He's starting to learn his role may be greater than he imagined and have more responsibility and consequences. Leading up to this paragraph he was challenged by a man named Jamis. Jamis wanted to test Paul and see if he is the “Maud Dib”, the savior from the legends. Paul had to defend himself and if he was not the Maud Dib, he may have been killed.
I rate this book a 9 out of 10 for many reasons. This book has a very complex plot and I am sure that if I read this book again I will understand even more of the story. This would make it a good book to double or triple read. The environment Frank Herbert creates is easily believable. Much of the technology they talk about could exist many years from now. This book has a new set of ideas different from any other book I've read. What other books have this kind of futuristic sight like Paul's, are set in the future, yet have many medieval themes? This book also has something that will captivate almost anyone - war, politics, religion, futuristic technology, complexity, surprises, good, evil, and people that can't decide whether they're good or evil. I can see why they say this is a classic.
Sincerely,
Logan k
