Dune - Entry #1

I am already on page 107 of the classic first Dune novel by Frank Herbert and I have already dog-eared eight pages!

The first had to be our first encounter in Dune with the Litany Against Fear.  I can recall that during my first reading of Dune so many years ago, how this quote had struck me.  I have recorded in prior posts little tidbits about its history such as the first time that the words similar but not exactly the same as the Litany were spoken, back in time nearly ten thousand years from when Dune is set and when it was first intoned in the prequel trilogy.  Because it is such an important continuous thread throughout this story, I will include it again here.  This time it is recited by young Paul Atreides.

"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 as 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, 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 8)

He felt the need to recite this in preparation for the test Mohiam was about to give him to determine if he was human.  Afterward, he asked her why they test for humans. Her response was:

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.  But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." (Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 11)

Especially as someone who works with and teaches technology, I certainly see signs of people doing this now.  It worries me.

"If there were a thing to be done for him, we'd have done it." (Dune 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 26)

These words were spoken to Paul and Jessica by Mohiam.  Something quite obvious occurred to me as I read this part that had never really occurred to me before.  I had always considered the whole betrayal of the Atreides on Arrakis as a Harkonnen scheme that was supported by the Emperor Shaddam Corrino.  However, with the prequel books so fresh in my mind, I realize that Shaddam had been looking for a way and a time to exact revenge on Duke Leto since the whole Amal debacle.  At that time, Leto had done a pretty resounding job of not only embarrassing Shaddam, but also severly limiting his powers in the Empire.  Dune: House Corrino even ends with talk of revenge.  Now some of you reading this might have understood this from the start, but it was an eye opening revelation for me to consider this as a Corrino plot that was obviously going to be supported by the Baron Harkonnen.  Really, why would the Emperor have gone along with the plot if the Baron had proposed it?  What would he get out of it?  There is really nothing for him to get out of it but to get rid of Duke Leto Atreides and have his long awaited revenge.

"You fight when the necessity arises - no matter the mood.  Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset.  It's not for fighting." (Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 33)

Great lines by Gurney Halleck to Paul!!!  Can so picture the tough Gurney chastising Paul for not being in the mood to practice his fighting skills.  I have to try to find a time to use the line, perhaps in class when a student is not in the mood to participate in class.  The students might think I am nuts but it would be fun to try the line out in that setting!

I know that part of my writing in the blog will now be preoccupied with observations of how well Brian Herbert tied information from Frank Herbert's Dune books to his books.  For example, on page 36 I found the inner thoughts of Gurney Halleck about his dead sister and his mother recall quite well the story told in the prequel book Dune: House Harkonnen.  I loved that the quote he recalls from his mother, "If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets" (Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 36) was also in Brian Herbert's book.

However, in other cases, the stories don't align and I just don't understand why.  For example, on page 58 when Jessica is talking with Dr. Yueh, she says that she has known him for six years.  But it is more like sixteen years since he was the doctor who rebuilt Prince Rhombur, work that was done at the Atreides home in Caladan for at least some time while Jessica was there too.  Although they might not have conversed at that time, she most definitely knew him.  And then another discrepancy between stories on page 99.  Duke Leto states that Jessica has been with him for sixteen years.  But it was at least a few years longer than that.  Jessica lived at Castle Caladan for at least three years before becoming pregnant with Paul.  During that time she fell in love which is why she bore him a son instead of the Bene Gesserit prescribed daughter.  It seems odd that Brian Herbert would get some small details about Gurney's past right and then mess up on this.  I will certainly be recording these discrepancies although I am pretty sure that there are many more situations where Brian Herbert reinforces the story told by his father rather than contradicts it.

I'll wrap up this entry with a portion of a chapter starter quote.  The quote is cited to be from "The Humanity of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan.

"It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult."  (Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition, p. 65)