Dune

"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."

Dune may be one of my favorite books of all time.  It is, of course, one of the most classic sci-fi novels of all time, up there with Asimov's Foundation trilogy and Scott Card's Ender's Game.  In fact, I believe Dune was published before Ender's Game, so Herbert would likely precede Scott Card in the sci-fi canon.  Nevertheless: it is one of my favorites, one of my classics.

There are lots of different covers for this book, but this is the one I will always favorite, the one that best signifies the essence of this book -- just those two lone figures, walking away on the sand.  

I've written about Dune before (when I read it during my 2011-2012 book adventure), so I don't want to rehash all those thoughts.  But I continue to love the development of the characters, the depth of the story embedded into the culture that Herbert created with this book.

Reading this book for the second time in roughly two years, I have come to connect deeply with the quote that started this post.  I spend too much of my life operating through fear -- and even though I don't think fear enters too often into my daily life, I don't like the idea of fear being present at all.  This quote, coming from the mind and teachings of Paul Muad-dib, is perfect for the place where I am in my life right now.  I need this idea: it reminds me that I am not defined by my fear.

Another major aspect of this book that I absolutely love is its play with the archetypal Christ (or savior) figure.  Traditionally, the Christ figure, as it is known thanks to the overwhelming influence of Christianity in the Western world, is a character who sacrifices him/herself in some way as to save the others around them. Common modern examples could include Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring or Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows.  Of course, these are both examples where the Christ figure doesn't directly intertwine with ideas of religion, a concept that plays out in a central way in Dune.  Much of the primary action is Dune is deeply connected with a planted idea about a savior  This savior will lead the Fremen people in rising up to recreate the surface of their desert planet into a lush paradise, a very literal embodiment of the religious idea of a savior propagated by Christianity.  However, this savior becomes a messiah, a savior of his people but in the military connotation that the word originally carries.  The Fremen rally around this savior, to their success and the destruction of their enemies.  The mythology that is built around this savior -- for some of it is true within the book and some is rumor -- creates a beautiful dialogue about what religion really is and what purpose it serves for its believers; the Fremen believe in him so blindly that they will do whatever is deemed necessary, and yet without him, the people are doomed to nothing.  This so closely links with my own ideas about religion, about its absolutely necessity that is coupled alongside its incredible danger.  And of course the most complicated element tied into the religion of the book is that the Fremen blur the physiological line between humanity and Other.

There is so much else that I could discuss about this book, but I also don't want to spoil it for others who will read it someday, hopefully soon.  Rest assured that the story is worth its 800+ page blossoming.

Finally: I just have to say this.  I have never seen the movie made in the 80s of Dune, nor do I plan to.  I've seen the images of how the director brought the Fremen with their stillsuits and the sandworms to life, and they are so far beyond what I've pictures in my mind that I just can't handle that image being destroyed. This is a risk that I run whenever I read a novel that is good enough to warrant movie attention -- my attachment to my own imagination of this world is too strong to let it be influenced by someone else's vision.  Even though the pull of Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck is pretty strong too.