How about that post last week, huh? Drew’s comparison of Paul’s upbringing with the molding of details into poured concrete was a very evocative and, I think, apt one.
his week we wrapped up the first part of Dune. There was quite a bit of action, and it was certainly thrilling. In classic unfolding drama fashion, get had a lot of questions answered and a lot of new questions come up.
We finally saw:
- Yueh’s betrayal
- The Duke’s death
- Paul and Jessica’s escape
- The Harkonnen plan
- Jessica’s parentage
But we were presented all kinds of questions:
- Who of the Duke’s men made it out?
- Where will Jessica and Paul go?
- Who will win the battle?
- What is the true nature of Paul’s new found powers?
- Jihad?
The question about Paul’s powers is definitely, for me, the biggest one. It seems like he is looking into the future, but not just one, predetermined future, but all possible futures, based on his choices. He can also sense the past, and read more into people than we’ve previously been informed was possible. (He determines his grandfather is Baron Harkonnen just by looking at her face–and analyzing all the facts at hand!)
I’m interested to see what you, dear readers, think about his decision with the two paths laid out for him: He mentions one involves greeting the Baron by calling him “grandfather” and the other he sees a shrine of his father’s skull and “jihad.” I have an idea of what these mean (I’ve read this before, relatively recently) but I’d really love to hear what you think.
This week, the reading schedule doubles! We’re reading about 75 pages this week–half of book 2. Reading ends with the chapter beginning “This Fremen religious adaptation…” and ending with “Even the hawks could appreciate these facts.”
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me: i was thinking in the car today….why must we live in a place that is not our home? It’s like we are on Arrakis…
Drew: it is like that
very true
me: we get sucked in
Drew: i was thinking how reading Dune is like reading Genesis, in some ways
me: become addicted to it before we even realize it
i keep seeing the addictions in the book
obviously to the spice and sumata, but also to power
anyways, yes it is a little like Genesis.
like how the spice poisoned their souls, so they must rely on it until death…ewww
rather, it will taint them until death
Drew: yeah
when you enjoy a paradise you get soft and weak, when you endure a wasteland you become hard and sharp
I found the end of Book I to be a little unsettling. Lady Jessica hoped for her son to become the great Kwisatz Haderach. Here she gets a glimpse of the rather quick transformation, yet appears dissatisfied with his lack of emotion and sharp manner in which he processes their circumstances. I too found it disheartening to see Paul default to hard Mentat logic. Especially after the loss of a loved one, incapable of processing with emotion…just seems unnatural.
As for your question Ryan, I am unsure of the two paths laid before our new Duke. Granted I have never seen the future or flashes of events, possibilities pouring in my head in the blink of an eye…maybe the future I want, but not the reality. Somehow I have the feeling that we will end up reading something to the effect of ‘cuhhsh, cuhhsh…Baron, I am your grandson’. Or…maybe not. But I am going to wager that yes while this young boy is turning into the man his mother and father raised, logic will not always prevail. He will become hard and sharp as Dune has forced him to. However Caladan, that lost paradise, will remain apart of him, maintaining a balance of emotion and logic. Sober decisions not solely based on logic and sound mind, but with feeling and passion.