Am achiziționat săptămâna trecută primul volum al seriei Dune distribuit de ziarul Adevărul (și totodată prima carte pe care am cumpărat-o din această colecție culturală ). Nu știu dacă voi mai avea vreodată timp să-l recitesc, dar dacă se va întâmpla vreodată, să nu mai fiu nevoit să alerg prin biblioteci sau să dau zeci de lei pentru cine știe ediție de librărie. Este un roman al lui Frank Herbert ce îmi trezește nostalgii. Una dintre puținele cărți care mi-a plăcut; de aceea, imediat ce am aflat că o pot obține la un preț decent m-am și pus pe așteptare .
Toată acea încrengătură de situații, atmosfera creată, structura personajelor și a acțiunii mi s-au părut super la vremea aceea (ehee, ani de liceu) și foarte probabil că mă va atrage și acum. Curiozitatea mea fusese stârnită mai cu întârziere față de valul societății; oricum, eu de obicei mă aflu cu câțiva kilometrii buni în urmă moda și cred că e mai bine așa . Și dacă tot au fost câteva elemente favorabile (aveam permis la o biblioteca, aveam și timp…), atunci am închiriat și eu primul volum. Bibliotecara mi-a arătat de fapt care este primul volum, că eu luasem altceva .

Iar într-o zi, pe când citeam un anumit pasaj, cineva pune un CD audio. Era albumul „El Condor Pasa”, muzica instrumentală, dat la volum liniștitor. Armonia creată în cameră și fragmentul pe care îl citeam se îmbinaseră atât de frumos, încât aveam o stare interioară foarte plăcută. Momentele acelea mi-au rămas zdravăn întipărite în cerebel. Iar acum, ori de câte ori ascult acea melodie, îmi reapare în minte peisajul în care mă afundam atunci. Interesante trăiri!
Personajul care îmi plăcuse foarte mult era Duncan Idaho, membru al Casei Ginaz. El își dedicase viața să slujească cu loialitate ca și maestru spadasin al Casei Atreides. Și chiar era unul din mai buni luptători din vremurile acelea. A contribuit mult în creșterea, dezvoltarea și transformarea lui Paul (fiul ducelui Leto Atreides) în mântuitorul și profetul Muad’Dib.
Asta fiind numai o mică parte din universul creat de Frank Herbert. Așa că mâine dimineață, când plec la servici, voi face un mic stop la chioșc, unde voi pune întrebarea: „Aveți cartea de astăzi de la Adevărul, Dune – volumul II ?”

Dune II The Battle for Arrakis

Publisher: Virgin Interactive

Developer: Westwood Studios

Genre: Strategy

                                                       Release date: 1992/1993

Plot: Arrakis, also known as Dune, is a planet rich in the valuable resource known as the spice melange, a rare resource that has caused 3 armies of the galaxy to battle for control over the planet. A challenge is set by the Emperor Frederick IV of the house Corrino to the other houses of Atreides, Harkonnen, and the Ordos to see who can harvest the most spice and therefore win control of the planet.

Review: Dune II: Battle for Arrakis is a far cry from its predecessor; its only comparison is that it is a game based on Dune. This sequel is a completely different type of game sharing; no storyline or game play, but is in fact an RTS game released in 1992 by the legendary Westwood Studios who also brought us Command and Conquer.

The player must select one of these 3 houses to begin playing. Each house is represented by a mentor who guides you through the basics of the game, structure building, placing, harvesting and building vehicles. Each mentor is characterised by its house, the creepy yet powerful Harkonnen, the noble and advanced Atreides, and, err, the Ordos (a race created for the game, the one no-one really likes to use).

The game starts off easy at level 1 (as you would expect) and your mentor takes you through the basics with a few minor attacks for you to defend against. The game then progresses each time you defeat the enemy (or in the earlier levels have harvested the required amount of spice). Credits are accumulated through harvesting the orange spice field on the map and returning the full harvester to the refinery, credits can then be exchanged in the usual manner for new buildings, defences and vehicles.

The game is played over 9 levels, perhaps it doesn’t sound like much but the later levels require skill and patience to beat. Your enemies appear in the form of the 2 remaining armies you didn’t select at the start, later levels sees you pitted against both armies as they team up against you, the final twist coming in the last level when the 2 remaining houses and the forces of the Emperor’s Sardaukar (an unplayable elite force whose heavy infantry are particularly powerful) must all be defeated in one last epic battle.

Even though the buildings style and appearance remain the same for each house (apart from the colour) they each have their own special units, such as the Harkonnen heavy-duty Devastator tank, and the powerful Sonic Tank of the Atreides. The Ordos use the Deviator, a rocket launcher like tank that can change the alliance of any unit it hits for a limited period of time. Like modern RTS games you can take over buildings and build units of other armies as well as defend with walls, turrets and rocket turrets. As the game moves up through the levels you gain more advanced technologies, the final super weapon becoming available in the final levels through building the Palace. This provides the Harkonnen with a “nuke” type weapon known as the Death Hand, the Atreides can call on the help of the native warriors of Dune known as the Fremen and the Ordos rely on the Saboteurs to achieve their goals.

Conclusion: Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis contains all those things we love in the modern RTS and can be seen as the father of all things war like and destructive. Take your combat tanks and siege tanks proudly into war (never mind how slow they’re moving) and watch out for sand worms (players claim the sand worms are not biased but I’ve lost more tanks to them in one level than the enemy). Dune II is one of Westwood’s greats and an inspiration for the beginning of the Command and Conquer series released by Westwood in 1995. Recent RTS games, (ignoring the heavy emphasis on graphics, movie style clips and network/internet gaming) still takes its basic style of game play of base and army building, unique super weapons and vehicles, and the collection of resources to fund this, from Westwood’s original classic.

VERDICT:
1/10 Translation Abominations

Man, I give myself a pat on the back for making it through this one. This must be what it feels like to be a film critic, forcing yourself to sit through movies that would otherwise make you want to drive your head through the TV screen. What the hell am I getting myself into?

Dune is about a teenager and his regal family that move from their sweet digs on their H2O-rich home world of Caladan to the hot, depressing, desert-covered planet of Arrakis (aka: Dune!). So they arrive, and, as expected, the planet sucks; but it turns out that the said teenager, Paul Atreides, might just be the savior of legend that is said to bring peace to their world, which is pretty nice. There’s a whole lot of political intrigue and double-crossing and whatnot going on at the same time, but without getting overly complicated, the Paul Atreides thing is the main gist of the story.

I figured I’d give this movie a watch after just finishing the book (which was pretty good), and, wow, it’s pretty amazing how much better the source material got after having to sit through over two hours of this shitty mess. I’d heard this was bad going into it, but no amount of self-delusion that Dune was merely a cult classic misunderstood could have prepared me for the reality of the situation.

Since most of this review is going to be me taking a big ol’ crap on this movie, let’s start with how it managed to even get that one measly point out of ten. There’s not much here to salvage, but if there’s any aspect worth noting it’s the scale of the movie. You can tell that some suits out there put a lot of money into this, because the set pieces are all very ornate, the sandworms are impressive to watch for the most part, and there’s something about it that just made believe director David Lynch was really trying to make this a good movie. But that’s about it.

So I don’t know how David Lynch got roped into directing this project, let alone having to write the entire script as well, but the poor guy was doomed from the start. It’s not that Dune is unfilmable, it’s just impossible to do the novel justice within a two-hour time frame. I was thanking my lucky stars that I had read the book beforehand, because I would have been beyond lost within the first ten minutes. The book is just so damn intricate and complex on so many levels that, in retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised in the least that so many characters and plot lines ended up being either completely butchered or left out entirely.

Nor does help that a lot of the acting here is nothing short of horrific. Kyle Maclachlan is totally miscast as Paul Atreides, for some reason Sting is in it as villain of sorts who strikes fear into the hearts of others by dressing as a Troll doll, and Patrick Stewart is cast as one of the better characters in the book, but that doesn’t matter either because his whole back story is more or less written out along with everyone else’s.

But the top contender here for worst acting of the ’80s goes to this guy, Kenneth McMillan, as the Atreides family arch-nemesis, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Not only does he look ten times more revolting than I envisioned him, but instead of being the calculating and devious villain he should have been, he’s degraded to one of the most annoying bastards in movie history that specializes in laughing and barking all the time (for reasons unexplained) and spitting on chicks’ faces. Big surprise I’ve never heard of Kenneth McMillan since. Talk about fuckin’ torture.

The special effects are also god awful, but all special effects during the ’80s were pretty awful. No points deducted there. Just more points deducted from the ’80s.

Geez. This movie sucked. I guess the only reason you might want to go seek this out is if you read the book, but trust me, it’s not worth it. I’m all for David Lynch, I think he’s awesome, and I don’t blame him for how this movie turned out. This isn’t a David Lynch movie, this is…I don’t know what this is, actually, and I really don’t care to spend any more time trying to figure it out. All I know is this is no representation of what he does best.

Just read the book and call it a day. Easy peasy Japanesy.

And can anyone tell me what the fuck this thing is? Don’t remember that in the book.

DUNE 2

When I was younger, I played the grand-daddy of all future ‘god-games’, RTS, or Real Time Strategy games, wherein you control an army from a top-down view. Things have gotten cleaner and crisper and a lot in gameplay has been enhanced, but the style is the same and in most of these games you can still ‘Tank Rush’ – build as many tanks or like units as possible, as quickly as you can, and bulldoze the opposing army.

Dune 2 started it all.

My brother and I and a ragtag group of friends were huge fans of this game, and I would still play it briefly today, just for nostalgia. Plus it had a great musical score that no subsequent incarnations of the game have been able to match.

We were biggest fans of House Harkonnen, made famous in the book by Frank Herbert for being ruthless, bloodthirsty, degenerate, calculating and slightly insane bastards, symbolised by their House colour – a rich, blood red.

In the later missions (there were only 9 for each of 3 Houses – the others being Atreides and Ordos), House Harkonnen received the ability to launch ‘Death Hand’ atomic warheads from their palaces. This would devastate a vast area, but always take out the building it hit directly. Of course, the missile itself had a dreadful aiming mechanism, which meant that you saved before you launched, and launched and reloaded the saved game as many times as necessary until you took that sucker’s Construction Yard out once and for all.

“Death Hand Missile – LAUNCHED!”

Now it seems, the Death Hand is real – in name if not in exactly the same context.

In the 1980s, the Soviets developed the ultimate Doomsday device that would monitor seismic waves and air pressure etc across the motherland, looking for signs of devastation from an American nuclear warhead, at which point it would remove layers of crucial red tape, and allow a 25 year old officer access and ability to launch his local neighbourhood’s nuclear toy.

You can read the full Wired article here.

It’s real. And what’s more, it’s still operational. This is a fascinating article that shows that behind how far we’ve come is the story of not only how close we’ve come, but how far, in actuality, we’ve yet to traverse.

DUNE

de Frank Herbert

Esta mañana el profesor James Watch tuvo uno de sus conocidos episodios de limpieza compulsiva, así que toda la tripulación nos tuvimos que poner a limpiar, y mientras escudriñaba por la bodega de carga del Hiper-Rocket hallé mi viejo ejemplar de Dune de Frank Herbert, y ya que ningún viajero interestelar puede ir por ahí sin su copia de Dune o por lo menos sin saber de que se trata. hoy me tomo a la noble tarea de traerles la reseña de Dune de Frank Herbert.

En la literatura y otras artes narrativas hay obras que marcan pauta. Obras que se vuelven arquetipos dentro de la subcultura que las dio a luz. Dune es un ejemplo de esto.

Pues aquel que no haya leído este libro dirá que me he pasado con los adjetivos halagadores, sin embargo, confío que esta breve reseña más que explicar porque Dune se los merece, le de la curiosidad por darle una leída a esta joya de la ciencia ficción literaria.

Sin más, vayamos al grano, mis hipernautas.  Ya le digamos Dune, Duna o Dune, eso es poco importante, hablemos del libro.

Dune es lo que muchos expertos llaman “romance planetario”, esto quiere decir que toda o gran parte de la acción se da en los confines de un solo planeta, o en pocos.  Realmente en el caso de Dune la acción nunca trasciende 3 planetas, y la gran mayoría se da en el planeta llamado Duna o Dune.

En Dune no hay batallas espaciales, ni siquiera se da una descripción razonable de alguna nave espacial, así la fuerza de la narración y de la obra en su conjunto va más allá de lucecitas y efectos especiales.

Corre el año 10 mil y pico, la humanidad ha colonizado las estrellas, el espacio denominado como Universo conocido es gobernado por un regente absoluto, el Padisha emperador, el poder recae en él y en su cámara de nobles, el Landsraad, estos nobles son gobernadores de casas feudales que rigen los mundos, hacen la guerra entre sí y transportan lo mejor y lo peor de la naturaleza humana a las profundidades del espacio.

Que la cosa ya va sonando interesante, ¿eh?

El argumento de Dune trata sobre los devenires de la casa feudal de los Atreides, duques del planeta Caladan, más precisamente de su heredero, el jovenazo Paul Atreides, todo dentro del contexto de una intriga cortesana urdida por la casa rival de estos. Los Harkonnen y su regente el Siridar Barón Vladimir.

Por orden directa de su señor Padisha Emperador Shaddam IV, el Duque Leto Atreides debe hacerse de la regencia del mundo de Arrakis, mejor conocido como Dune, Dune es una gran bola de arena, donde solo hay arena y dunas. que el mote del planeta ya va diciendo de que color va la cosa ¿eh?

Pues sí, Dune sería solo eso si no fuera por un pequeño detalle, es la única fuente del universo conocido de cierto menjurge que alarga la vida, expande la conciencia, da poderes mentales y permite plegar el espacio, y dicen que se hace excelente café con eso.

Pues muchos creerán que se trata del elixir de Fierabrás  del Quijote o del LSD, pero, errados todos, esta peculiar sustancia se trata de la especie melange, y como dije, Arrakis es la única fuente de la misma en todo, pero, que en todo el universo conocido.

El detallazo es que Arrakis era feudo de la casa Harconen, y si ud. estimado lector ya va viendo rara la cosa, pues que el Duque Atreides olía la trampa a años luz de distancia, y acá es donde toda la trama se va desenvolviendo, puesto que a parte del poder político de las casas nobles. en la ensalada también tienen metidas las manos el gremio de navegantes espaciales, la cofradía, únicos poseedor del secreto para plegar el espacio, y por consiguiente monopolizadores del transporte entre los mundos; junto a estos están las hermanas Bene Gesserit, que nada tienen que ver con monjas, son una hermandad de mujeres que se han dado a la tarea de dominar las artes de la mente y el cuerpo.  Con sus recursos y habilidades han influenciado múltiples mundos a través de la manipulación social/religiosa, e igualmente, se han dado a la tarea de velar por la evolución del genoma humano a lo largo de los siglos.

Compartiendo lugar en la foto grupal están los Fremen o freemen, habitantes ancestrales del planeta Araquis, gente dura y guerrera que ha desarrollado toda su cultura y sociedad en torno al valor del agua como bien precioso y la supervivencia.  Y pues, para aderezar la cosa esperan a un mesías que los guiará para hacer de su mundo un lugar menos hostil.

Todos estos factores convergen en la vida de Paul. hijo del Duque Leto, regente de la casa Atreides,  y de Jessica, esta última miembro de la hermandad de las Bene Gesserit.

Todo sería de lo más normal y típico, traiciones e intrigas entre casas feudales decadentes, un Padishah emperador temiendo perder su influencia política ante un noble de mayor carisma y quien se gana el respeto de sus aliados, etc.

Como les digo, pan de cada día entre nobles y regentes.

Pero, y es que siempre hay un pero.  Paul Atreides es el objeto, no, más bien el resultado de una manipulación secreta.

Las hermanas Bene Gesserit, buscan por medio de la selección eugenética producir un super-hombre, pero, más ke poder volar, ver a las muchachas con visión de rayos X, o ser guapo, este super-hombre sería un puente entre la conciencia humana, el tiempo y el espacio, sin embargo, como pasa muchas veces, por más que se planea algo, siempre ocurre una variación puntual,, la aleatoriedad asoma su rostro, un elemento fuera de control marca el resultado de las cosas.

El personaje de Paul en muchos sentidos es visto como un mesías, los habitantes ancestrales del mundo de Arrakis lo ven como tal, las hermanas Bene Gesserit lo consideran como el resultado de sus manipulaciones del genoma, y a medida que vayan leyendo la obra podrán determinar objetivamente si es o no es un mesías.

Mas, uno de los puntos más relevantes de esta novela es precisamente este concepto del mesías, como un mesías puede adueñarse de la conciencia de los pueblos y dichos pueblos rendir su autoconciencia a los dictámenes de quien a sus ojos es su mesías.

Sería difícil decir si en Dune hay héroes, el mismo autor, Frank Herbert en un ensayo posterior acuña una frase emblemática.

“Los héroes son un dolor, los superhéroes son una catástrofe.”

Como obra de ciencia ficción Dune posee una belleza que va más allá de la especulación científica, como dije más arriba, ni siquiera nos describen las naves interestelares, no hay inversión de texto para explicar como funcionan los escudos personales.

Dune es un viaje que nos muestra la conciencia de los individuos y los pueblos, todos insertos en un universo de ficción donde sí existen maravillas propias de la ciencia ficción, pero, estos pueblos e individuos mantienen la misma naturaleza humana que reconoceríamos en la casa del vecino, en las montañas del Chiringuito o en un mundo lejano poblado por humanos.

Hago la advertencia, Dune es un libro largo, dependiendo de la edición puede tener más de las mil páginas, esto se dio a causa que la obra fue una recopilación de publicaciones periódicas hechas por Frank Herbert en la revista Astounding.

A pesar de el volumen de la novela, Dune es fácil de leer, el estilo y la narración van envolviendo poco a poco en un universo complejo y amplio, y al final uno sencillamente quiere saber más, y no se puede parar de leer.

Con gran placer informo que Dune, por lo menos en su primer libro puede ser adquirido aquí en Panamá, en castellano, leerlo les aseguro será una aventura sin par, espero que estas líneas les hayan provocado saber un poco más, busquen información en la web, lean Wikipedia, sin embargo, nada se comparará con leer la obra, les invito a que compartan la fuerza de una historia y una narración que ha marcado pauta en la ciencia ficción del mundo entero por muchas décadas.

por: Curtix Newton

Otra vez, es la leyenda.

Recordad que un comienzo, es un momento muy delicado:

Visible tambien aqui: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2Nfvc8WMw&feature=related 

 Ese planeta es Arrakis, tambien conocido como DUNE.

Aún me sigue emocionando y todo.

La peli era genial (prefiero olvidar la miniserie), la novela sencillamente se sale de escala (y me las he leido todas, precuelas incluidas).

Desde que vi la peli a los 12 años me fascino enormemente, cuando a los 15 lei el libro se convirtió en una de mis referencias de cabecera, para mi, la mejor, mas inteligente, sabia, intrigante y gloriosa saga de ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos.

Otra escena, de las mas emocionantes que hay: Conquistando a Shai Hulud:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld2DMsyy0go

Pero no supera este:

Mi hermano esta llegando con muchos guerreros fremen, te lo dije, YA ESTA AQUI!!!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVn6JxXhobg&feature=related

¿Podria ser mas soberbio?

Parte del merito de la adaptación de David Lynch, que si bien se aparta en muchos puntos de la historia original, capta como nadie el ambiente y la esencia del libro, reside en su banda sonora, aqui como muestra os dejo el tema principal de la pelicula (The Profhecy) de Totó.

Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYa0jDIO0hc

“Nada he de temer, el miedo mata a la mente, el miedo es la pequeña muerte que nos lleva a la extinción total, haré frente a mi temor, dejare que pase sobre mi y a traves de mi, y cuando haya pasado, solo estare yo”.

Title:  Dune

Author:  Frank Herbert

Date Published:  January 1977

Publisher:  Berkley Medallion Books

Miscellaneous:  1966 winner of the Hugo Award and was the inagural winner of the Nebula Award in 1965.

His mother was beside him, holding his hands, her face a gray blob peering at him.  “Paul, what’s wrong?”

….”What have you done to me?”  he demanded.

In a burst of clarity, she sensed some of the roots in the question, said:  “I gave birth to you.”

…”Did you know what you were doing when you tranined me?”  he asked.

There’s no more childhood in his voice, she thought.  And she said:  “I hoped the thing any parent hopes – that you’d be … superior, different.”

…”You didn’t want a son!”  he said.  “You wanted a Kwisatz Haderach!  You wanted a male Bene Gesserit!  … Did you ever consult my father in this?”

She spoke gently out of the freshness of her grief:  “Whatever you are, Paul, the heredity is as much your father as me.”

“But not the training,” he said.  “Not the things that awakened… the sleeper…. You wanted the Reverend Mother to hear about my dreams:  You listen in her place now.  I’ve just had a waking dream.  Do you know why?”

“You must calm yourself,” she said.  “If there’s -”

“The spice,” he said.  “It’s in everything here – the air, the soi, the food, the geriatric spice.  It’s like the Truthsayer drug.  It’s a poison!”

She stiffened.

His voice lowered and he repeated:  “A poison – so subtle, so insidious … so irreversible.  It won’t even kill you unless you stop taking it.  We can’t leave Arrakis unless we take part of Arrakis with us.”

The terrifying presence of his voice brooked no dispute.

“You and the spice,” Paul said.  “The spice changes anyone who gets this much of it, but thanks to you, I could bring the change to consciousness.  I don’t get to leave it in the unconscious where its distrubance can be blanked out.  I can see it.”

… She heard madness in his voice, didn’t know what to do…. We’re trapped here, she agreed.

-Dune by Frank Herbert, pages 195-196

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I could seriously cry. I just wrote the full review, clicked “publish” and WordPress ATE IT! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

short version.

Dune is really cool. read it.

I give it 5 out of 5.

Boo! WordPress!

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OKay, trying this again. *deep cleansing breath*

Dune by Frank Herbert is the science fiction/fantasy book of all time, with the exception of Tolkien’s work. It enfolds ecology, feudal lords, space travel, mysticism, and combat and creates an amazing world that is both an advancement of humanity, while at the same time the regression of it. I found the place water plays in the everyday life of the Fremen of the desert planet of Arrakis completely fascinating, it is the beginning and the ending of their existance, as well as the very essence and the centerpiece of their dream: Arrakis as an Eden.

Paul Muad’Dib has been trained in the Bene Gesserit ways by his mother, who disobeyed the command to give birth to a daughter, which has given him a hyper-awareness of the world and those around him. When his family is sent to Arrakis as his father, Duke Leto’s new fiefdom, the sudden supersaturation of melange, a cinnomon-y spice that extends life and allows the user to become more spiritually aware, and the shock of the attack from a rival Great House (“noble” family) forces a change in Paul. He is suddenly able to see all time, past present and future, and all their possibilities, and is troubled by the visions of jihad being mounted across the galaxy in his name and under his banner. He is determined to prevent this, while avenging his father’s death and leading the Fremen (native… sort of.. people of Arrakis) to autonomy and control of their planet and the spice found only on Arrakis.

I found Herbert’s imagination amazing. In Dune, Herbert created a future that was virtually unimaginable at the time. He gave the world its own rules and specific history. And he gave them a religion that has a sense of being the eventual mingling of the major religions. The Orange Catholic Bible is a sacred text, many of the names and terms have a Muslim feel, and the Litany Against Fear is positively Zen-like:

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.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Dune Messiah

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A distanza di vent’anni ho deciso di rileggere la saga di Dune di Frank Herbert. Nella mia memoria di oggi, il mio io quindicenne era rimasto molto colpito da due saghe lette a breve distanza nei pigri soggiorni a Vittorio Veneto, dai nonni paterni, dove tutto era prevedibile e dunque nulla mai accadeva veramente. La biblioteca di mio zio Roberto fu la mia salvezza: collezioni intere di Cosmo Oro e Argento, con tutti i classici della fantascienza.

Per darmi qualcosa di diverso, mio zio mi prestò lo Hobbit e la trilogia dell’Unico Anello di Tolkien, corredato di un libriccino inglese che mostrava tutte le tappe del lungo viaggio della Conpagnia. Quell’estate fui folgorato, e per anni mi diedi al gioco di ruolo AD&D per vivere le mie avventure, naturalmente come master. Non riuscivo infatti a lasciar ardere il fuoco prometeico della scrittura e osare scrivere una narrazione completamente mia. Pensai erroneamente – spinto fai miei interessi letterari del tempo – che il bandolo risiedesse nella matassa linguistica che aveva forgiato la mia mente. Si trattava di un rilfesso fedele del reale, ma non della realtà. La realtà mi si dispiegò con forza di osso vent’anni dopo, quando ho fatto il salto dalla lettura della psocogenealogia alla pratica della stessa. Perché la magia esiste, è una forza interiore che guida il nostro cervello anceatrale, rettiliano. Ignorarla non è saggio. Il primo passo è stato scrivere il mio Quaderno dei Sogni, e intraprendere con coscienza la Via dell’onironautica.

Il secondo lo sto intraprendendo ora, è la pulizia dell’albero genealogico: il prossimo finesettimana sarà il terzo e ultimo incontro con Cristóbal Jodorowsky. E non è un caso che abbia ripreso la lettura della saga che tanto sconvolse il mio me quindicenne, Dune, che rimossi soppiantandola nel mio cuore-mente con quella tolkeniana.

Era troppo allora. Ma non oggi. Non tutti sanno che la regia del film era stata affidata inizialmente a Alejandro Jodorowsky, scenografie e costumi di Moebius, che rimasero. Il film previsto era fantasmagorico e delirante: l’imperatore doveva essere un vecchio Salvador Dalí, tanto per dirne una.

Leggere oggi la saga avendo mosso i primi passi nell’autoconsapevolezza psicogenealogica mi permette di capire come Herbert sia stato una sicura fonte nel percorso di ricerca di Alejandro, ci sono perfino i Tarocchi di Dune! Ciò che mi ha colpito così vividamente è una citazione dal Testamento di Arrakis ne I Figli di Dune con il quale chiudo questo post:

Questo il successo ottenuto da Muad’Dib. Egli vide il serbatoio subliminale di ciascun individuo come una banca di ricordi inconsci che risalivano fino alla singola cellula primordiale da cui tutti discendiamo. Ciascuno di noi, egli disse, può misurare la sua distanza da questa comune origine. Quand’ebbe accertato questo oltre ogni dubbio e l’ ebbe dibattuto dentro di sé, egli passò, audacemente, all’azione. Muad’Dib si attribuì il compito di integrare la memoria genetica con il bagaglio dell’esperienza attuale. Così, egli spezzò i veli del tempo, facendo una sola cosa del futuro e del passato. Quella fu la creazione di Muad’Dib incarnata in suo figlio e sua figlia.

Kaum einer hätte es erwartet.

13 Punkte

mündlich in Mathe! Meine Bestleistung seit der Oberstufe!

Ich bin so erstaunt über meine eigenen Fähigkeiten…

Wie sagen alle doch immer: Yes, we can!

Es gibt Schultage, da läuft irgendwie alles perfekt. Zugegeben, sie sind sehr selten, aber wenn sie da sind, dann so richtig intensiv! So wie heute!

Freitag ist ja sowieso ein beliebter Tag (wir erinnern uns: kurz vorm Wochenende), außerdem hat er für mich nir 6 Stunden (nicht so wie die Hure von Montag mit satten 10 Stunden). Die ersten beiden Französisch Stunden sind meistens immer der Horror (nunja, zumindest dann, wenn ich mal anwesend bin), aber heut lief es verdammt gut.

12 Punkte mündlich! Hallo?

Hrm, ich schätze mal, dass ich 10 Punkte auf Anwesenheit bekommen habe und2 Punkte auf tatsächlich Mitarbeit.

Anyway, beschweren tue ich mich nicht…ich sollte eigentlich enttäuscht sein…immerhin sind es ja keine 13 Punkte (HAHA!)

Was die Mathestunde betrifft: Heute habe ich wieder erfolgreich bewiesen, dass ichs doch drauf habe und zwar so richtig! YEEEEEHA!

Joa, und Geschichte war recht witzig…ich glaube, der Begriff “Frikadellenbordell” wird mich von nun an immer verfolgen.

Achja, ich bin aber doch recht froh, dass jetzt Wochenende ist. Ich muss zwar für Informatik lernen (-.-), aber  das geht noch einigermaßen. Informatik ist eigentlich recht cool, nur irgendwie…joa, es fehlt einfach das gewisse Etwas in diesem Unterricht.

Ich hätt irgendwie Lust am Wochenende so richtig Disco zu machen…

]]> http://sffandom.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/scientists-prove-anastasia-romanov-died-with-family/ Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:00:58 +0000 Michael Martinez http://sffandom.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/scientists-prove-anastasia-romanov-died-with-family/ http://cierraelmaletero.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/dune-de-fran-herbert/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:10:00 +0000 xil0 http://cierraelmaletero.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/dune-de-fran-herbert/ http://seasvcvacant.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/dune-1965-1984-2000-2010/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:57:55 +0000 seasvcvacant http://seasvcvacant.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/dune-1965-1984-2000-2010/

It was 1997 when I first made it through the David Lynch version of Dune. From that moment I was hooked on the mythology, but until just recently I never actually read the book. Now that I’m finally finished reading it, rather than write up a review of the book (which, remarkably, was better than the films,) I would like to compare the book to the two filmed versions and give my opinions on each.

Dune (1984) Written and Directed by David Lynch:

For all it’s flaws, this is where my love of the franchise began so it will always stand on it’s own. As I saw it without knowing the book I was able to enjoy it without being dragged down by the baggage of how I thought it should be. I was simply enjoying a masterful science fiction epic.

There are many things I love about this film. Kyle Maclaughlin plays the character of Paul, along with the mental and emotion journey he goes through, with just the right amount of subtlety. The film has a very striking visual style which is sometimes grand, sometimes meditative, sometimes disturbing, but always interesting. And, oh, holy shit, sand worms. I know I said that I saw the movie in ‘97 but I remember as a kid watching scenes of these enormous fuckers and having nightmares. Just cool as hell. And while I’m not a huge listener of the band, Toto, they really put together a kick ass epic score for this movie. Sure, it’s a little simplistic, but the sound is note perfect.

Over time, however, more and more of the flaws become apparent to me. First of all it really bothers me that David Lynch just glossed over the last half of the film. Now that I’ve read the book I sort of understand that the bulk of the story doesn’t lie there but I think an extra half hour would have done the trick. There are lines and images that exist that make absolutely no sense whatsoever unless you hit the book up for a little (or a lot) of context. Also, why the hell does the VERY FIRST SCENE have to unveil the conspiracy and that it’s the emperor behind it. Sure, we find this out but in the book it unfolds, like a mystery. Also, while there are plenty of places where David Lynch took a left instead of a right that I really don’t mind, but his entire portrayal of House Harkonnen was just far too over the top. Sure, they’re bad guys, but the whole S&M feel to them (and their entire homeworld at that) was just. . . a bit much. And what the hell is with the thopters?

Dune (2000) Written and Directed by John Harrison:

So by this point in time I had learned all about the troubles that the original film had. Many things were missing and the artistic content suffered from Lynch having to clash egos with the producers. A few attempts were made to make an extended version for television. . . I’ve tried watching them, I gave up after a few minutes. They’re THAT bad. So come 2000 we have an all new version of Dune to look forward to.

I was very leery about the project as, up until this point, the Sci-Fi Channel hadn’t exactly wowed me with their original movies. Don’t get me wrong, there were things that I liked, but Dune is an epic story and, damnit, I want it done right. Well, I thought they did a pretty good job.

While the beginning was a little weak, the characters a little wooden and the effects a little obvious I had a very hard time getting into the story. Already many of the sets were created in digital environments (and not very convincingly either) where in the 1984 version it felt very tangible. However once the story actually winds up on the desert planet of Arrakis things really start to pick up. The Palace sets were amazing, I would almost say better than in Lynch’s version. I actually prefer many of the actors in this film (William Hurt as Leto, P.H. Moriarity as Gurney Halleck, and a handful of others). Also present in this film where the other film was very much lacking was the tension between Paul, his Mother, and the Fremen. Everyone, while on the same side, had an angle and I very much liked that they showed it. The composer, Graeme Revell, created a score that, while not as epic as I would have preferred, had a very textural quality that suited the more domestic style of storytelling. Oh, and the worms were awesome.

Now, what did I hate? Well now, because they filmed this in the Czech Republic, they couldn’t very well shoot at any desert locations. . . what a dilemma. Today this would not be a problem, films like 300 show very well how you can just put people on a blue stage and build an environment around them. Back then the solution was to build a giant backdrop of a desert and have a single hill of sand in a soundstage. Now, if this were a stage play it would seem very ambitious and kinda cool. . . but it’s not. It’s horrible. And even worse is that they use it for night scenes too. . . but it’s the exact same color as when it’s daytime. A lot of John Harrison’s dialogue felt like filler. I imagine he read the book and felt the need to humanize the characters a little bit more. A lot of the book is description that’s not spoken, and he didn’t want to use voice over in the way Lynch did (even though he ended up having a voice over at the end, but I digress,) so most of the dialogue in the film just reeks of exposition.

Dune (2010):

Well, I don’t really have much to say because this film is yet to be made. As with the version they made in 2000 I’m going to be a little bit leery about it until I know more. The two things I do know don’t fill me with confidence.

The film is set to be directed by Peter Berg from a screenplay by Joshua Zetumer. The only Peter Berg film I saw from beginning to end was The Rundown. Other films to his credit are Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, and Hancock. The assumption I suppose I’d make is that the guy has a lot of energy and can handle the level of special effects, but can he handle the story? So far none of his films seems to have a tone that comes close to what I would expect from a Dune movie so we’ll see. As far as Josh Zetumer, no films to his credit that I can see.

The question then becomes what would I like to see from a new Dune film? Each film so far has had it’s own unique emphasis. Lynch seemed mostly interested in the consciousness expansion and John Harrison seemed interested in the politics and religion. The one major thing that leaves, in my mind, is the idea of ecological impact. I mean, yes, it’s touched on in both films (rain on Arrakis and what not,) but the issue of being dependant on a valuable commodity and having to choose between that and a healthy ecosystem is something that’s extremely topical today.

Here’s a random thought for ya, I kinda think that Dune should be filmed almost like it were a graphic novel, much like 300 or Sin City. It would certainly be a different way of representing the story visually and allow for some very subtle tricks that might be unattainable in an average live action film. I’m just saying.

And now after obsessing over Dune for an entire summer, I finally get to take a vacation. Yay for me.

-Z

Howdy there, folks, and welcome once again to the Book Club Discussion. 

Today, we look at Dune by Frank Herbert.  As always, this will be a SPOILERIFIC look at the novel, so if you don’t want to know what happens, don’t read this!!!  If you have read the novel, feel free to add your thoughts by commenting at the bottom.  Now, prepare yourselves…

SYNOPSIS:
In the far distant future, humanity has spread throughout the universe. Planets are ruled by various Houses, held together under the ruler of an Emperor. 

Among the Houses are the Harkonnens (a despicable group that rule by deception, oppression, and force) under Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and the Atreides (a group of true nobility and just ways) led by Duke Leto. As you might guess, there is no love lost between the two Houses.

Unfortunately for Leto and his people, the Emperor sees Leto as a threat to his power, and he hatches a plan with the Harkonnens. 

Leto is instructed by the Emperor to leave his planet and take control of Arrakis, a desert planet that is nearly unlivable. Arrakis has one resource, though, that is precious – Spice Melange. The Spice is mined in the sands of the desert. Ingesting the spice allows one the ability to see possible paths into the future. And, it is very addictive. As such, it is highly valuable and much sought after. 

By taking Leto from his home planet and moving him to the unfamiliar and inhospitable wasteland that is Arrakis, his enemies hope to make an opportunity to destroy him and his house. The Emperor eliminates a threat to his power, and the Harkonnens eliminate a rival House.

Though Leto senses the trap, he is obligated to follow through. Along with his military force, he is joined by his concubine, Jessica, a Bene Gesserit (an religious order of women who serve as advisers, being somewhat prescient and able to control the actions of others verbally), and their son, Paul.

Unbeknownst to anyone save the Bene Gesserit, breeding has been manipulated to bring forth a prophesied leader, the Kwisatz Haderach, a male trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit. Jessica believes that Paul is that leader.

The Atreides move to Arrakis and take control of the planet. On arriving, Leto is introduced to the “natives” of the planet, a group called the Fremen. Through constant exposure to the Spice, the Fremen’s eyes are blue on blue, with no whites. While the Harkonnens saw the Fremen as merely uncivilized desert dwellers, Leto sees them as the key to Arrakis – a force of people that have learned the ways of the desert planet and adapted.

Before long, the House of Atreides is attacked from within. The action ignites accusations of betrayal, causing an atmosphere of mistrust to form. Unknown to any is that the betrayer is actually Dr. Yueh, a trusted confidant to the family. His betrayal, though, is not so simple – he loves the Atreides and hates the Harkonnen. As we learn later, his reasoning for the betrayal is actually an attempt to destroy the Baron Vladimir.

Essentially, Yueh delivers the Duke into the hands of the Baron, while the forces of the Harkonnen (along with the disguised forces of the Emperor, the Sardaukar) attack and scatter the Atreides forces.

Paul and his mother manage to escape, thanks to Dr. Yueh, and eventually take refuge with the Fremen, thanks in no small part to their fighting abilities, which the Fremen refer to as the “weirding”.

Paul thrives in the new environment, to the point that the Fremen begin to wonder if he is actually the Lisan al-Gaib (or Voice from the Outer World), the Mahdi (Messiah) that will transform Arrakis into a paradise. Paul takes on his Fremen name of Paul Muad’Dib (a mouse native to Arrakis) and quickly is seen as a great leader. His mother, Jessica, takes on the role of the Reverend Mother to the Fremen.

Years pass and under the leadership of Paul Muad’Dib, the Fremen grow stronger, until the moment comes when Paul Muad’Dib decides the time has come to retake his rightful position of Duke of the House of Atriedes, ruler of the planet of Arrakis.

An all encompassing, well planned out attack is made and Paul Muad’Dib and the Fremen are victorious. In a final blow to the Emperor, Paul threatens to destroy all of the Spice on the planet, a move that not only secures his position as Duke and ruler, but also leads to a marriage to the Emporer’s daughter, making him next in line to ascend to the throne.

DISCUSSION:

OG: Well, this one’s a whopper; and, not just because it’s a big book with lots of them pesky words to read, but more so because of all of the even peskier ideas Herbert packs into it. Huge, important ideas and themes piled on top of the already massive amounts of plot, intrigue, character development and world, nay, universe building he shoves between the covers.

EG:  It is quite the layered novel.

OG:  Indeed.  So, where to begin discussing this thing? I had a lot of trouble deciding until I remembered reading this 1979 quote by Frank Herbert in which he said:

“The bottom line of the Dune trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better rely on your own judgment, and your own mistakes.”

I read this quote directly after finishing the book and it really opened up my understanding of what I had just been through. After some more digging around, I then located where Herbert expanded on this thought in his essay “Dune Genesis” (found here: http://www.dunenovels.com/news/genesis.html) in which he basically lays out the short story of how and why he came to write this series in the first place. Here’s a couple more choice quotes from there that give you the flavor, but I’d recommend anyone who read this book to read the whole essay when they have the time…

“…superheroes are disastrous for humankind. Even if we find a real hero (whatever-or whoever-that may be), eventually fallible mortals take over the power structure that always comes into being around such a leader.” 

And…

“Don’t give over all of your critical faculties to people in power, no matter how admirable those people may appear to be. Beneath the hero’s facade you will find a human being who makes human mistakes. Enormous problems arise when human mistakes are made on the grand scale available to a superhero.”

I think the reason I want to start off here and why this idea resonates with me so much is that as I read “Dune” I read it under the penumbra of all the other stories out there about heroes rising to their rightful place as savior of their people/land/world/universe. I mean, you can’t get through this book without thinking that Herbert is riffing on the thousands year old tradition of the “heroes journey.” Even if one hasn’t read any Joseph Campbell, they’ve at least seen “Star Wars” and can probably fill in the major beats the story hits along the way. (Heck, EG, didn’t you, like me, think at many point, “Man, George Lucas totally read Dune before he wrote a word of Star Wars and just ripped it off all over the place!” I can just hear his thoughts, “Hmm, two moons, huh? I’ll just make it two suns and nobody’ll notice.”)

EG:  Um… actually, Star Wars didn’t come to MY mind… but the different view of the heroic journey did.  But, please, go on.

OG:  I suppose my hatred of the prequels (and Indy IV, to boot) have got me looking for other things to accuse George Lucas of.  Maybe plagiarism isn’t one of them.  Anyway, that said, reading the above quotes and getting into Herbert’s motivations here, made me realize that though he was using the basic skeleton or formula of the heroes journey, unlike Star Wars, he was using it as a means of, if not tearing it down (at least not in the first book), then definitely scrutinizing it and calling it into question.

On the one hand, you read about the horrors of the Harkonnen rule over Arakkis and the scheming of the Emperor within that, and you recognize that the Fremen and the rest of the universe absolutely need a savior to come. A Kwisatz Haderach or Lisan al-Gaib has to rise to stop this great evil and bring peace and tranquility to the world. But, while that’s true, rarely in these types of stories do we reckon with the flip side of that. And, Dune magnificently explores that side of things. This person is a human being. This man (well, child really), Paul Muad’Dib has loves and hates and flaws and all those things that great power and authority can only eventually tarnish and inflate.

And, as he journey’s along to find his place of power, the inner struggle that he goes through, the conflict with his mother over her place in that journey, and the feeling of inescapable doom and anxiety that outlines his prescience is what separates this story from the rest.

So, I’ve just kicked us off with a big, fat mouthful. What do you think about this EG? Did you finish this book thinking that the day had been saved and all was right with the world, which is how I initially put it down before more thought and more insight from the author. Or, did you, ever wiser than I, flip the last page and say, “Yeah, things are okay now, but there’s a dark moon on the rise?”

EG:  Actually, the flashing visions of the future that Paul could see did clue me in.  You said the word “inescapable.”  That is what really turns the heroic journey on its ear.  Paul, through his own prescience, quite literally “sees” the problems with him assuming the role of the Kwisatz Haderach and the Lisan al-Gaib, and yet, despite that knowledge, he finds himself locked into that path.  He was bred for it, he was trained for it, and even with his own misgivings, at each turn he finds himself falling into or even embracing those positions.  His reluctance in thought helps give us a nice reminder that despite outward appearances, things are probably not going to be coming up roses later on down the path.  It is really quite a contradiction, because through Paul’s eyes, we see that what he’s doing is leading up to, among other things, a holy war, and Paul, in thought, is desperate to prevent that, yet instead of avoiding the decisions that will lead to that, he runs toward them.  In theory, Paul could have joined the Fremen and then merely lived out his life among them, with his wife, Chani, and their children.  In actuality, though, the person we come to know as Paul really would not, possibly could not, take that passive route. 

OG: Okay, so putting all that high-falutin‘ talk about heroes journeys and the greater themes of Dune aside, what did you think of the book just as a reader? Were you entertained? Did it make you want to read more?

EG: I enjoyed the book, overall.  It was very slow going at first, but after a time, I was able to really get into the story.  Knowing that the book was set up from the outset to be a trilogy, I knew that there was going to be a lot of groundwork laid that would only really come into play in later books… which is something I found that I had to remind myself of on several occasions.  What I mean is, toward the end of the book, I’d think, “Nothing was done with _____?  Why did they bring it in at all?  Oh.  Yeah.  Trilogy.”

OG: Well, as you already know, I already read the second book, “Dune Messiah” immediately after finishing this one. So, I guess that’s as good an indication as any about how much I enjoyed “Dune” purely as a reader. And, I must say, it’s quite a contrast to how I was feeling early in the book. I am often quite disoriented when thrown head-first into a universe with no warning. I appreciate the author’s intention in doing that and admire it from a storytelling standpoint, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I often want to be talked down to at the start of a book. It’s sad, but true. I’m often too lazy to do the work that’s required for keeping up with this kind of writing. The text from Princess Irulan’s writings and the usage of words, alien languages, and concepts that aren’t immediately explained made me a bit foggy in the first chapters and I struggled to find my footing.

EG:  Oh, let me interject here!  I ABSOLUTELY understand what you are saying!  The start of this book reminded me a lot of something my father said after he read Frank E. Peretti’s This Present Darkness.  I had read and enjoyed the book, so I loaned it to him, lo those many years ago.  After he read it, I asked what he thought, and he said, “Well, it was okay.  I don’t know why the angels had to have bizarre names, though.  Tal?  Guilo?  Armoth?  Why couldn’t they just have normal names?  In the Bible, the angels had names like Michael and Gabrielle.”  I don’t think I fully appreciated that statement until Dune.  Slogging through those first pages… my mind kept searching for anything familiar, which was a bit of a distraction.  It was a huge relief once I got to “Paul” and “Jessica.”

OG:  Amen to that, brother.  So, once I did find that footing and had a sense of this universe and it’s history, then I was off to the races and ripping the pages aside as fast as I could. Though it was definitely a challenging read and one where I wasn’t always clear on what was happening, I still would call this book a page-turner.

EG: I don’t know that I’d go quite that far.  I probably didn’t get that feeling until maybe the last 100 pages of the book or so – once Paul was prepping to ride the maker.  At that point, the action seemed to shift gears for me.  You asked, earlier, if I would be interested in reading more of the Dune novels in the future, and, yeah, I will, but not right away.  Some time away will do me good.

I did find what I consider to be two glaring shortcomings in the book, aspects that I don’t see being resolved to my satisfaction in future books.  You, having read the second book though, can correct me if I’m wrong.

First, the death of Paul’s son, Leto.  For me, it registered almost zero impact.  Leto was an entirely off camera character – we, as readers, never met him, never saw any interaction between him and his father, and then his death was something we only heard about.  Mind you, not that I wanted a gripping tale of how the Harkonnens came in and killed a child, but I did need something to give the character a little substance.  Especially since Paul is so in control of his emotions, saving his grief for another time on repeated occasions.  The whole thing was dealt with in a way that completely disconnected me, and so I didn’t “feel” the death.

OG:  I’m with you there.  Come to think of it, I can’t imagine what kept Herbert from including more of Paul’s family life.  It’s not like he was afraid of making the book too long.  It’s down right strange, now that you mention it.  The final showdown is what so much of the book builds towards and since nothing short of the fate of the universe is hanging in the balance, the added weight that that death brought to it and Paul’s decisions couldn’t have been overdone.  Definitely a missed opportunity.

EG:  The second shortcoming I’d note is the upstaging of Thufir Hawat.  Baron Vladimir Harkonnen came up with the plan to enlist Thufir Hawat as his own Mentat, despite the fact that Thufir was loyal to the House of Atreides.  The Baron cultivated the deception in Thufir’s mind that the betrayer of the House of Atreides was none other than Jessica, Concubine to Leto, Mother to Paul, and Bene Gesserit witch.  Thufir accepts the position of Mentat for Vladimir, with the idea that one day he could finally gain his vengeance on her.  For what seemed like hundreds of pages, I waited, wondering, is he going to kill her, forcing Paul to kill him?  Is he going to find out too late that it was all a Harkonnen trick and be driven mad by his actions?  I waited and waited, anticipating this moment…

…and when the moment came, Thufir Hawat wasn’t even in the room.  Come to think of it, I’m not sure he was even on the planet, yet.  What happens instead of the confrontation I was looking forward to is the reintroduction of Gurney Halleck, who has taken a position aboard a smuggler’s ship, and felt the same way about Jessica that Thufir Hawat did.  The scene comes where Gurney takes Jessica and threatens her life in front of Paul, who explains the truth to him, and Gurney is so grieved at his own actions that he offers his life to both of them.  They forgive him, and the story moves forward.  At that point, I thought, “That whole scene should have been with Thufir Hawat instead.”  At the very least, I thought that having that scene occur really took the wind out of the sails of a forthcoming scene of confrontation that did include Thufir Hawat.  But, then, it didn’t matter, because at the end of the book, again, off screen, someone had explained the truth to Thufir Hawat and that was that.  It was very anticlimactic to me.

 OG:  Well, just as I’m starting to think of this book as this perfect, smooth block of marbled cheese, aged to perfection, you blast a couple significant holes through it and suddenly I’m dealing with plain ole’ Swiss!   Well, I shouldn’t overdo it.  I still adore Dune, but this second shortcoming you’ve noted is a pretty big stumble plot-wise.  I think I did have the thought in the back of my head that Hawat would be a bigger player at the end.  I think that’s a seed that Herbert planted early on and sort of lost track of as he lost the plot.  Then, when it became more expedient to bring Gurney back into things in the last act, I think he transferred that motivation to him.  Ultimately, while a misstep, I think it doesn’t undo the drama completely.  I mean, what that plot development led to, for me, was the most emotionally satisfying moment in the book – where Jessica fully realizes the damage that the Bene Gesserit meddling has done to Paulas and her part in it.  It was the closest that Jessica and Paul came to healing between them and I really felt the impact of that, despite the fact that it should have been Hawat holding a knife to her throat.  

Regardless, I’m quite willing to forgive those two incidents of narrative sloppiness.  Dune has greatness to burn in it’s pages which, for me, cover a multitude of sins.  So, I’m gonna do it.  I’m giving this book a full 5 Running Steves, EG.  How about you?

EG:  Wow, you sure do like to throw around those Running Steves, don’t ya?  

OG:  Sure do!  As long as Steve Austin has nothing to do with the book, that is.

EG:  Well, for me, Dune really does land somewhere between 3 1/2 Running Steves and 4 Running Steves.  The two major shortcomings are gonna cost this one.  I’m giving it 3 1/2 Running Steves.

OG:  Well, that’s just something you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life!!!!  Well, I guess that about does it.  Honestly, there’s a lot more I thought I’d get to in this discussion, but it being mid-July already and my fingers being tired, I think we should cut this puppy down.  If I get the energy up, I might bring up a couple more points in the comments section.  That is, unless that section is so flooded by our many readers that I can’t get a word in edge-wise.  Tee-hee.

Oh, and speaking of July, we’ve made no announcement of the book of the month because there isn’t one.  This is turning out to be a pretty busy Summer in anticipation of EG and OG’s great hajj to the San Diego International Comic Con!  

So, look forward to the next book in August.  Max Brooks’ “WORLD WAR Z.”

Me envía yo misma, un meme sobre el libro que estoy leyendo, y por cortesía, se lo contesto. Yo misma, me has pillado. No estoy leyendo nada ahora mismo. Pero eso no es excusa para hablar de un buen libro.

El caso, es que yo no suelo leer libros de los antiguos, de esos de hoja y papel, por falta de tiempo, y lo poco que agarro suele ser en PDF’s. Es incomodo de leer. pero cuando una lectura te atrapa, da igual que lo leas en una hoja de papel, en la pantalla de un pc, o en el rollo de papel higienico del water. Las horas pasan y no te das cuenta.

El último libro que estaba leyendo, era, Casa Capitular Dune, y sinceramente, era superior a mí, demasiado pesado y lento para lo que me suele gustar, además de que los personajes sobre los cuales estaba escrita la obra, no son mis favoritos dentro del universo de Dune, precisamente.

El caso es que, el libro original, Dune, escrito por Frank Herbert en 1966, me pareció genial, y es por ello por lo que voy a hablar de ese.

Dune, habla de una historia de ciencia ficción, entre buenos y malos, ambientada en un planeta muy muy lejano. Habla de traiciones, de ecología, de política, de mesianismo y religiones, de humanidad, de la controversia en la selección genética… De muchísimos temas que hoy día siguen vigentes

El argumento, trata de un planeta desierto, Arrakis, en el cual, unos gusanos de arena gigantes (Shai-hulud)*, crean la sustancia más valiosa del universo, la especia. (también llamada melange). Y de dos bandos, dos casas reales enfrentados para dominar ese mundo, con el permiso del emperador (aquel que domina todo el universo). Estos son los Atreides y los Harkonnen.

“Aquel que domine la especia, dominará el universo“

Pero Dune no es un planeta despoblado… En Dune vive gente: Por una parte, aquellos que sirven al emperador y a las casas reales, cerca de las ciudades. Son gente humilde, muy pobre, con muchísimas dificultades para vivir dado que el agua es el bien más preciado en ese desértico y desolado mundo, y no tienen.
Y adentrados en el desierto, aunque nadie sabe exactamente cuantos son y hasta donde se les puede encontrar, los Fremen, una raza de hombres tan acostumbrados a la vida austera del desierto, que parecen de otro mundo. Estos han desarrollado una tolerancia innata al ambiente, sus ojos se han vuelto azules debido a los efectos de la melange, y son sigilosos y misteriosos, pues de otro modo no sobrevivirían.

En fin, no quiero contaros de que va el libro. Solo deciros, que me pareció una de las mejores novelas de Ciencia Ficción que he leído, siendo una verdadera lástima que el resto de libros de esta historia no estuviesen, bajo mi punto de vista, a la altura. A lo único que podría comprarse Dune, es a la historia de la Guerra de las galaxias, (tiene muchísimo en común, más allá de lo obvio, las similitudes entre Paul (Moab’dib) y Luke, o la analogía del sable jedi con el Crys fremen) siendo esta, la saga de Star Wars, un mero subproducto del mismo,(pues Dune transmite mucho más que Star Wars, y tiene muchísima más profundidad a nivel de reflexiones e historia)

Sobre las películas: La película que hizo David Linch no le llega a la altura del betún. Las secuelas, más recientes no están mal del todo, terminan lo que la película dejó a medias, a mi me gustaron bastante

Si queréis bajaros las película, podéis hacerlo desde aquí. Si lo que queréis son las secuelas, aquí y aquí.
Y si preferís sumergiros en la lectura de esta magnifica novela, de aquí la podéis coger. Os comento, que si no estáis acostumbrados a leer ciencia ficción, esta es una novela ejemplar para comenzar.

Ah! Le paso el meme a Akane, a Mai, a Yeyo, y a Toronaga.

*Soy el Shai-Hulud. Yo creo la especia
(¿Veis porque es mejor leer el libro?)