Dune – Frank Herbert
- Posted by Shaun on March 9th, 2009 filed in Books
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I had a number of false starts, but last October I finally made a successful foray into the world of Dune, by Frank Herbert. I read a number of comments in Amazon about the book and I have to admit that one of them made an impression on me. I took it with a grain of salt when I read that Dune was the only good book in the Dune series that Herbert wrote. Immediately after finishing Dune I went right into Dune Messiah. I just couldn’t get into it. Usually when I finish a book I can jump into the sequel and rely on momentum to get me through anything boring. Not this time. Dune Messiah was a let down. The commenter was right.
Back to Dune. It is indeed a good book. The glossary in the back of the book came in handy while trying to learn the new terminology, learn about the blood lines and history of the people. Without it you’re left wondering what it all means until nearly the end of the story. I haven’t seen the movie so I cannot compare the novel to the movie, but I can say that Dune is worth a read for any sci-fi fan. You’ll either love it or simple enjoy it. The story line is interesting enough to keep most sci-fi fans reading. I won’t rehash the plot, there are plenty of places to read it on the web.
Having given up on Dune Messiah I’ve been back to reading through my Chinese language books; however, a book I requested through the library came in so I’m dropping everything for now. I’m starting to read Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. It’s a book about the lives of young girls that live at and work in big factories in China. I’m only two pages into the book and it’s better than the first 30 pages of Dune Messiah.