2024-04-01
“The world is cold,” is something an ex of mine once told me. I think of this often as I read Frank Herbert’s Dune.
I don’t expect warmth from the books that I read. In fact, I expect the opposite. I expect the characters to face the harsh, cold realities of the world. Would there even be a story without that element? With that said, I'm never surprised when I encounter a cold book.
Dune is cold. But in a different way. It almost feels mechanical in it’s coldness. If I were to put a hand to a character’s cheek, I would be surprised to feel blood rushing underneath their skin. Which is odd. Their personalities feel realistic. Alive. But there seems to be something missing. The only thing that comes to mind is that Dune seems to be missing a soul.
It’s not a problem of prose or wit. Herbert seems to be a skilled author. He certainly isn’t like a WattPad fanfic writer. He is able to write beautiful sentences. He is able to craft complex strategies. He knows when to insert a bit of character here and there. Just… Something feels lacking.
I feel like it’s a me problem. There’s a bit of mismatch in expectations. I haven’t read science fiction in quite a while. Honestly, the only sci-fi that I’m able to tolerate are ones by Ursula K. Le Guin and John Wyndham. And lately I’ve been reading a lot of the literary fiction. Currently I’m reading Crime and Punishment and I have had just finished To The Lighthouse. To say the least, Woolf is very different from Herbert. Currently, it is hard for my mind to switch to sci-fi mode.
Now, I’m not saying Dune isn’t literary. I don't think that's for me to decide. Literary is a nebulous concept and at times, a useless label. Like, Dune isn’t free from broader concepts. From my uneducated eyes, Dune seems to be a critique of the oil empires in the Middle East. There can be analysis to be had there. And I'm sure there are other themes in the book that I haven't picked up on as well. But it doesn’t seem to say much about the human condition. Yes, there are quips about fear and other things throughout the novel, but they feel too opaque to count.
Is Dune bad? Not at all. Other than feeling rather disconnected from the characters, I am enjoying my read so far. My motivation for reading Dune is less about discovery about humanity, but a desire to advance through the plot. The world building in Dune is excellent. It’s just the right amount of exposition without feeling like I’m being inundated with made up proper nouns. I also envy Herbert’s skill in political scheming (I commend all the the feint within a feint within a feint strategies the characters can come up with). The lore is, *chef's kiss*. Impeccable.
So yes. Dune is an interesting, clever, and cool read. It just might be a little too cool for my tastes. I’d like to feel a little more warmth, but I will stay along for the ride.