Dune Read-along

[Jaryd Kosari]

We're into the second, which means we can discuss the first!

I don't want to just willy-nilly take over running the thing, but I can put a schedule together if no one else wants to.

 

[Hal Bahalla]

Willy Nilly away I say

And since can discuss the first (I’m still reading through it), I kinda like how it dives right into politica and intrigue with just a bit of info at a time. I’ve never read before or seen the movies so it is mostly all new to me.

I’m interested to learn more about what Paul could have been other than “human”. And assuming his parents are human, how he could be something else…

Back into it!

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

I'm sort of assuming there's some sort of biotech or difficult-to-detect parasite thing going on, to be honest.

(I also haven't read it or seen any prior adaptations, so my theories are bound to be wild and weird to people who have. )

The "fear is the mindkiller" speech reminds me so strongly of my ex that I couldn't even read it, unfortunately. He used to recite it when he got stressed.

 

[Aintza Bisera]

Yes please schedule. Lol.

I love the scene in the book with Gurney so much better than the movie.

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

Tentative schedule.

All quoted lines are the first lines of the Princess Irulan blockquotes that head each chapter (truncated to be identifiable while also hopefully avoid spoilers), so they shouldn't be difficult to find, even if you're using an e-reader of some sort!

9/8 - read up to the Yueh Wellington quote (p 48 in my book)
9/15 - read up to "It is said Duke Leto blinded himself..." (page 99 in my book)
9/22 - read up to "Greatness is a transitory experience..." (page 161 in my book)
9/29 - read up to "There should be a science of discontent..." (page 206 in my book)
10/6 - finish book 1
10/13 - read up to "At the age of fifteen..." (page 306 in my book)
10/20 - read up to "Prophecy and prescience-How can they be..." (page 353 in my book)
10/27 - read up to "The concept of progress acts..." (page 408 in my book)
11/3 - finish book 2
11/10 - read up to "You cannot avoid the interplay of politics..." (page 507 in my book)
11/17 - read up to "And it came to pass in the third year of the Desert War..." (page 552 in my book)
11/24 - we could either read up to "He was a warrior and a mystic" which is page 588 of my book, or we could simply read to the end, which is page 617. I suspect at that point we may just want to finish, but maybe we can decide when we get there.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Thanks for the schedule Jaryd!

I've read this book multiple times but not in at least 15 years, maybe more. I don't love the writing style all that much but I do truly love how quickly we get into the story.

For those who are first time readers, do the Proncess Irulan quotes make any sense to you? I think the first time I read this I found them incredibly confusing but now I know exactly what she's talking about each time.

What do you all think of Dr. Yueh at this point?

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

I've read enough Wheel of Time (and Sanderson) to understand that they interweave with and provide insight on the given chapter, and probably foreshadow the story to come, so the Princess Irulan quotes are less confusing and more a point of curiosity for me, to come back and contemplate on once I've finished each chapter.

 

[Arella Mathara]

I have finally started. I don't have much to say other than that Melange is a brand of margarine here and it's cracking me up

I think I'm a bit ahead, I'll work out a way to know when to stop to keep pace

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

Plot aside: I am having a TIME getting used to the omniscient perspective. It feels aggressively weird to have one paragraph be from Paul's perspective and the next from (for example) Yueh Wellington's and I'm not sure I like it.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Plot aside: I am having a TIME getting used to the omniscient perspective. It feels aggressively weird to have one paragraph be from Paul's perspective and the next from (for example) Yueh Wellington's and I'm not sure I like it.

Yeah, it IS weird. That's one of the things I was referring to when I mentioned earlier that I don't love the writing style. It feels very odd to me, and I remember having a difficult time with it the first time I read the book. Now, after all these years, I'm reading for the love of the story and sort of reading past the style if that makes sense.

 

[Hal Bahalla]

Yeah, that's taking some getting used to. I'm also trying to get use to reading things that we dont' fully get the background and info on.

For example, the whole interaction between Jessica and her "maid" the ranking Fremen woman feels like there is so much more to the story that wasn't relayed in that scene that I'd like to better understand. For those who have read it before, I don't want any spoilers, but are these gaps eventually fleshed out and filled in?

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Yeah, that's taking some getting used to. I'm also trying to get use to reading things that we dont' fully get the background and info on.

For example, the whole interaction between Jessica and her "maid" the ranking Fremen woman feels like there is so much more to the story that wasn't relayed in that scene that I'd like to better understand. For those who have read it before, I don't want any spoilers, but are these gaps eventually fleshed out and filled in?

The quotes at the start of each section DO make more sense later but that's all I'll say about that right now as more could be considered a spoiler. I'm looking forward to discussing stuff related to the quotes once we finish reading.

IRRC things do begin to make more sense the more you read and the more you get to know the various characters and cultures, but it HAS been a long time and I have read the book many times (plus the subsequent books) so I could be wrong there ...

 

[Hal Bahalla]

Got it, thanks very much @Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak Sedai.

And appreciate the active avoidance of spoilers. I see them like the prophecies in WoT. By the end of the series most of them make sense. And a re-read is that much more enjoyable for the knowledge.

 

[Megana Vallentin]

I finally started reading!

Plot aside: I am having a TIME getting used to the omniscient perspective. It feels aggressively weird to have one paragraph be from Paul's perspective and the next from (for example) Yueh Wellington's and I'm not sure I like it.

This was one of the first sci-fi/adult books I read, I think in junior high, so at the time I just assumed that was what adult fiction was like. Similarly, I remember not being too bothered by all of the vocabulary that I didn't know, because there were a lot of new sci-fi words to learn too, and generally I could get the gist of things.

Re-reading now, the perspective bothers me waaaay more. :rofl And if I picked up this book today for the first time, I'm not sure I'd be able to stick with it due to all the new characters and places and politics and terms being introduced all at once.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

What do you all think about Dr. Yueh and what we've been told about him so far?

What about Kynes, the planetologist?

Also, any thoughts on the greenhouse room or the message Jessica found there?

 

[Aintza Bisera]

I finally started reading!



This was one of the first sci-fi/adult books I read, I think in junior high, so at the time I just assumed that was what adult fiction was like. Similarly, I remember not being too bothered by all of the vocabulary that I didn't know, because there were a lot of new sci-fi words to learn too, and generally I could get the gist of things.

Re-reading now, the perspective bothers me waaaay more. :rofl And if I picked up this book today for the first time, I'm not sure I'd be able to stick with it due to all the new characters and places and politics and terms being introduced all at once.

Lol. Same when I was younger I just went with all the words. I tried to look one up using my Kindle dictionary and it was just a straight up made up Dune word. I was internally embarrassed.

I need to catch up.

I've always felt for Yeuh, though. I'm interested to see if that changes since the last time I read.

Side note: in honor of my Dad's birthday last week I watched the movie. So bad and good all at once.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Lol. Same when I was younger I just went with all the words. I tried to look one up using my Kindle dictionary and it was just a straight up made up Dune word. I was internally embarrassed.

Yup, me too. Including the looking up a word on the Kindle and realizing it was a DUNE-specefic word.

I've always felt for Yeuh, though. I'm interested to see if that changes since the last time I read.

Side note: in honor of my Dad's birthday last week I watched the movie. So bad and good all at once.

Part of me understands Yueh's situation and why he's doing what he's doing but still ...

Also, I don't think I can rewatch the old movie again ... I think I'll just keep what fond memories I have and let it fade into appropriate obscurity.

 

[Aintza Bisera]

I was looking for a good gif to refute that statement and this grabbed me instead...

 

[Jaryd Kosari]

I cannot get into this segment... I think I may need to ditch the sectioned reading and just divebomb the whole thing, then go back and reread slowly... *scratches head*

 

[Megana Vallentin]

In my head I thought the beginning of the book was much faster...all of the things that happened so far are just a tiny blip in my memory. So I'm also having a little trouble not reading ahead more quickly.