“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.”
― Frank Herbert
Why I’m Reading this Book?
As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I’m working my way through https://www.listchallenges.com/bbcs-top-100-books-you-need-to-read-before-you-die list. And this is one of books mentioned there. Even though I had it from library for a while, I was overwhelmed by the size of it. But in new year, I finally decided to finish this book. With more than 500 pages, it took me about 1 month to finish it. Initially I found it boring, but later it kind of interested me.
By the way, I’ve read 51 books from that list. So yayyy for me.
Synopsis
Story about a young boy name Paul Atreides, who comes to planet Arrakis reluctantly and slowly finds his destiny there which is much more bigger than anyone could have imagined. As he braves through the obstacles Arrakis has thrown in his way, he evolves into a mysterious man Muad’dib, who will show the men the way to their higher destiny for which they were waiting for generations.
My Review…
This is a Science fiction. Story is set in year 10191 and life is quite different. Humans are spread out and colonized different planets throughout the universe. But as is inevitable with Humans, there is hunger of power, money and control.
Story is about a desert planet Arrakis, an inhospitable place, where water is precious than anything and native people live by recycling their bodily fluid through a body suit (Gross!!). There is one more thing which is precious to entire universe, Melange, a spice only found in Arrakis. This drug is capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness and is prized across the Universe. Whoever controls Melange, controls the world.
Paul Atreides, heir of house Atreides, comes to this planet with his parents. Soon house is betrayed and Paul finds himself in an extremely dangerous situation. Natives of Arrakis who are called Fremen helps Paul and his mother. Fremen have a prophecy where a prophet will come and bring them the light. And as story goes, it seems more and more that Paul is that prophet. What is the fate of Paul, who is Muad’dib, what happens to Arrakis and will house Atreides be avenged, these are few questions, whose answers are explored in this story.
At the core of it, this story is age old revenge saga, but it has been set at such a grand scale, where author has established a new world, new customs, new tribes, new rules , new language, in other words, a whole new universe, that it’s commendable. And this is just first book, there are 7 more in the series. No wonder , it’s a classic.
My Rating — 3
On the scale of: (1- Hate , 2- Neither like nor dislike, 3- Like, 4- Love, 5- Gaga)
Although an interesting read, this was too time consuming for me, and I’ve decided not to go through other 7 books. Let’s see if this changes in future.
Why anyone else should read this Book?
If you want to read classic books like me, you should read it. It’s a big investment with respect to time, but once you get used to this new world, it’s easy to go on. It’s like lord of the rings but set in future and impressive technologies.
There is also a movie directed by talented David Lynch, which I think did full justice to the book. There were some story arcs I couldn’t understand in the book but the movie made them clear. I would also recommend watching The Dune by David Lynch which will solidify the understanding of this story.
When I was doing Inktober in 2020, one sketch was inspired by this story, which in turn inspired me to read this novel. Below is my sketch, I colored his eyes green which I realized should have been blue because that’s the side effect of consuming Melange. If nothing else, this odd weird story will inspire you to read it? 😀
Stay home, Stay Safe!!!
What are your views of this book? How did you like it? Or are you planning to read it? Share them here. Till next time, Happy Reading Folks!!!
Love, Richa
Musings of a Book Savant 