Does anyone like Dune?

[ElizabethinherGermanGarden]

Made a flippant comment on Facebook about Dune, which is my least favourite book of all time, and was immediately set upon by a bunch of Dune-loving keyboard warriors who come across as a bunch of misogynistic twats, playing to all my easy stereotypes of people who like Dune - I don't like realizing I'm so prejudiced so I'm prepared to be educated.

I would really like to hear from anyone who actually loves it and doesn't want to call me names or suggest I'm the world's worst moron for not liking it.

Please, what am I missing? Does it get good after about a third of the way through? That's where I've always given up.

Gosh, this takes me back!

I definitely waded through at least two or three volumes of the original novels as an undergraduate. (Leisure not learning.) So I must have found them at least moderately readable, until I didn’t. IIRC the time : satisfaction ratio just wasn’t working for me.

They were better in the imagination than on screen - but, as a lockdown convert to Game of Thrones, I couldn’t help thinking of the sandworms whenever Daenerys’s dragons swooped over a desert landscape.

I've read all of them. Twice.
If you don't enjoy the first third of the first book, then you won't enjoy the rest.
I don't think you are a because you don't enjoy something I do. (I once got flamed online for the crime of giving a CD by The National only 4 stars (because it didn't come with a print-out of the lyrics)).

Paul is such a hero. I'm assuming he is named for St Paul, both see through to the truth and speak out about what they see.

I love the world creation and the attention to detail. I've always been a sci fi reader and drawn to heroes who are changed by their circumstances (see also Robin Hobbs Farseer books).

The women are so strong too and I love the concept of the Bene Gesserit.

But if you got a third through and weren't getting on with it then fair enough- it is a very consistent book throughout.

For those thinking of reading on I personally would just read Dune and Dune Messiah and then stop!

Ha! That's the difference between Mumsnet and the wilder fields of the internet!

Seriously, did you love it? Twice at that length suggests you really liked it. There must be something I'm missing. I like reading. I like loads of different kinds of books. I don't like being defeated!

Hello @DuneFan! Clearly, if you call them, they will come... so far I've only read you username and can see you are the one I need. Going back to read the post now.

You see, I'm all on board with Robin Hobbs, so I don't know what the barrier is for Dune. I kind of want to try again, but I also don't want to be goaded into it by internet twatboys. Oh, the cognitive dissonance! 😖

Ooh weird timing! I’ve literally just (yesterday) got my copy back from my brother who borrowed it two years ago and has only just read (and enjoyed) it.

I’ve brought it with me to reread on our weekend away. DH has read it more then once too.

I think you either love the detailed world/religion building or find it a drag.

I've only read the first book so far and really enjoyed it, right up until the last couple of pages were it just seemed to fizzle out.

I didn't find the main character, Paul, interesting at all. His mother though was an excellent character, and I would have liked more about the father as he seemed complex and interesting (unlike the flat and fairly trope-y soon). The supporting characters were what made it for me.

I'm planning on reading the next book at some point, but lost momentum after how the first book ended. Which is a shame because up until then I was utterly engrossed.

Audio book time maybe? (I don't know whether there is one!)

It isn't at all an easy read (unlike Hobbs), the language can be quite stilted. It's all about the storyline. Like a lot of pre-90s sci fi I suppose.

I loved all of the books! Some of the best sci-fi/science fantasy I have ever read! I loved the whole imaginary universe!

I didn’t see the other screen version(s), as the reviews put me off - I don’t want a poor film ruining my mental pictures of it. I will go and see the new film, when it comes out.

I read all six books though I admit to skimming some of the finer details - a bit like in the Aubrey/Maturin books where often a few paragraphs feature in my mind as they pulled the ropes and the sails moved, then they had a fight (anyone remember the bit in Coupling where Patrick just hears "sausages"?)

I felt the actual story took a while to get going, so it might improve for you in the second half.

Mind you, it took me three attempts to get into book 4, not sure why, and the last book felt a bit bolt-on.

I just downloaded the kindle sample. It feels very much 'of its time' (except I'm not knowledgeable and am assuming that it must have been written in the early 80s). It is such a slog to get through! The first couple of pages might be read as detailed world building, I guess, but the density of the language and the clunkiness of the sentence structure is so off-putting. I might struggle on for a bit. I want to hate it with knowledge, rather than hating it without being sure I'd hate it all the way through. Maybe it will win me over...

@merryhouse

I read all six books though I admit to skimming some of the finer details - a bit like in the Aubrey/Maturin books where often a few paragraphs feature in my mind as they pulled the ropes and the sails moved, then they had a fight (anyone remember the bit in Coupling where Patrick just hears "sausages"?)

I felt the actual story took a while to get going, so it might improve for you in the second half.

Mind you, it took me three attempts to get into book 4, not sure why, and the last book felt a bit bolt-on.

Yes! I do remember the 'sausages' bit in Coupling. I loved that programme.

Dune is one of my favorite books of all time. I was a librarian when it was written and at first I thought it was non fiction. I started reading it in my break and couldnt put it down. Im sorry to say that I took the library copy home for the weekend (without checking it out) and spent the entire weekend reading it. I literally could not put it down and imediately began as soon as finished.

I agree with the poster who said that Dune and Dune Messiah should just be regarded as one book and read together. The following are something of a let down.

Unlike others I love dense prose and description and I had no problem with the language. However it is not an easy read.

There are novels written by Frank Herbert's son which fill in some of the background about the father and Paul's childhood but they are not so well written.

I started it once, or maybe twice, and gave up after a what was probably 100-200 pages. I don't recall much of it, but the word "turgid" comes to mind.

I suspect that people who like it admire the wholly-crated world, which is often fun in science fiction.

Apparently the new movie may be decent, though.

I read the first three novels in my late teens. I quite liked the first one, but they got gradually weirder.

There are some great quotes. Not just the "I must not fear" mantra, but also "Here lies a toppled God, his fall was not a small one: we did but build his pedestal a narrow and a tall one"

Like others, I quite enjoyed the first 1 or 2 books but became increasingly less interested in the wider story with later books. Don't know how many I read, but author tried to milk the premise too much.

I've tried so hard to get into Dune, as DH is obsessed with it. It just doesn't grip me.

I can't take seriously a fantasy epic whose main characters are named Paul and Jessica. It's not Coronation Street!

@EishetChayil

I've tried so hard to get into Dune, as DH is obsessed with it. It just doesn't grip me.

I can't take seriously a fantasy epic whose main characters are named Paul and Jessica. It's not Coronation Street!

I only have to read a phrase like ‘the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Whateverth’ or Kwisatz Haderach, or the Bene Gesserit ‘weirding way’ to start rolling my eyes. Plus I found Paul so irritating I wanted him savaged by the gom jabar or a giant sand worm.

I love the first one. Could not get into the second one. Haven't even attempted the rest of the series and the Kevin Herbert continuation books.

The new film is getting some total and utterly ridiculous fanboy activity online and it's off-putting.

I did enjoy the first one and couldn’t really get it or what others.

That said, the overall tone is a bit zealous for me. There are definitely facist and fanatic vibes to it that make me a bit uncomfortable.

Absolutely not for me at all, and apparently the series gets worse as it goes on - I’m sure it will have lots of new fans now the film is coming out with Timothee Chalamet in the lead role though.

People tend to get quite het up, as if you’re saying ‘I didn’t like this and therefore it’s bad.’ When realistically nobody likes all stuff all the time.

@EishetChayil

I've tried so hard to get into Dune, as DH is obsessed with it. It just doesn't grip me.

I can't take seriously a fantasy epic whose main characters are named Paul and Jessica. It's not Coronation Street!

Now this illustrates one of the reasons why I find the book so compelling!

For me, the names throughout the book are representative of the consistent research and attention to detail throughout. "Paul" means small, humble - exactly what Paul Atredies represents. Jessica means "God sees" or "foresight" - she is a seer.

Not just the names but nearly all the terms, cultures, etc through the series are rooted consistently in what you might call "Old Earth". The attention to detail absolutely grips me.

Agree 're the zealot and fanatic vibes - for me that is kind of the point- how far can a group be led (in a right or wrong direction) by one individual and a belief system?

Definitely not for everyone and I absolutely respect anyone else's right not to enjoy it!