Copertina rigida, 517 pagine
lingua English
Pubblicato il 01 Ottobre 1999 da Ace.
"One of the monuments of modern science fiction."--Chicago Tribune
"A portrayal of an alien society more complete and deeply detailed that any other author in the field has managed...a story absorbing equally for its action and philosophical vistas."--The Washing Post Book World
DUNE
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism, and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed thebasis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert's death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary …
"One of the monuments of modern science fiction."--Chicago Tribune
"A portrayal of an alien society more complete and deeply detailed that any other author in the field has managed...a story absorbing equally for its action and philosophical vistas."--The Washing Post Book World
DUNE
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism, and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed thebasis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert's death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever.
You are really brough into the world of Dune the book sucks you in with intrigue as it reveals how the world works and how the people of Arrakis live, the book can drag on in some parts but it is well written and gives you a real feel for the world.
Since I watched the movies first, I was happy to have one of my main fears dissapear completely during the first couple chapters. Many of the plot twists present on both movies are actually things the reader just knows from the start. The betrayal and the plot against House Atreides, the people behind it and the reason for it can be inferred quickly enough.
Herbert’s confidence in the world he wrote can end up being too much to a lot of people. From the beginning of the novel, characters throw around a lot of made up terms that can be confusing, and in a setting where Dukes, Counts and Emperors, Great Houses and Cults are still a thing, alongside intergalactic travel and human calculators, the politics and relationships of it all are quite complex.
The book doesn’t hold your hand at all. There are references and intriguing events from long …
Since I watched the movies first, I was happy to have one of my main fears dissapear completely during the first couple chapters. Many of the plot twists present on both movies are actually things the reader just knows from the start. The betrayal and the plot against House Atreides, the people behind it and the reason for it can be inferred quickly enough.
Herbert’s confidence in the world he wrote can end up being too much to a lot of people. From the beginning of the novel, characters throw around a lot of made up terms that can be confusing, and in a setting where Dukes, Counts and Emperors, Great Houses and Cults are still a thing, alongside intergalactic travel and human calculators, the politics and relationships of it all are quite complex.
The book doesn’t hold your hand at all. There are references and intriguing events from long ago that came and went and help give you an idea of the state of affairs, such as the interesting computers, for example, but a lot is left for the reader to figure out and fill the gaps as they keep reading. I think the movies helped me get through this much quicker too.
The story begins after House Atreides is put in charge of Arrakis, a planet with the most valuable substance in the galaxy, the spice melange. A drug that is essential for space travel, can improve the user’s life-span, awareness and many other things.
The planet is a huge desert, making for a harsh environment nobody would bother to live on, where water is scarce and as valued as spice. Despite this, it is inhabited by the Fremen, people who have managed to tame the desert, and resist the heavy rule of the Harkonnens, who up until then had been the House harvesting the planet’s resources for the Empire.
Our protagonist, Paul Atreides is the son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica; and he'll finds himself entangled in the middle of prophecies, visions and politics in a path that would lead him to do what he thinks is right, but at what cost?
The novel deals with many different topics, such as the fight over natural resources, the dangers of organized religion, capitalism and freedom and things.
Some people might not like the politics at the start, others will not enjoy the spirituality later on, and a few will find everything weird and confusing and with cringy prose. I kind of loved it, I can see why this novel is among the greats, and how it has served as the inspiration of tons of different works over the decades, and it will keep on giving for years to come.
Every character has their motivations, their perspectives and interactions. There is conflict even between allies, family and friends, and it is simply so intriguing and it all feels like a big disaster and a terrible tragedy, but that is still the best possible outcome of it all.
It was a cool read, I am considering reading the next books by Frank, but we’ll see, I kind of want to read a ton of different authors, which I’ve been doing since the year begun, so maybe next year will be the year of reading full book series for a change.
Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife - chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: “Now, it’s complete because it’s ended here.” — from “Collected Sayings of Maud’Dib’’ by the Princess Irulan
The book is so packed of action, emotion, mysticism and lots of character development. Loved it. Coming from reading most of the Foundation series, I wasn’t sure if I me being a fanboy, Iwas going to like it another big Sci-Fi saga but I did. Can’t wait to read the next books!
Obviously I've only started the book because I was captivated by the eye candy of the movie, but surprisingly I ended up reading it in one sitting because it was very captivating. There's something for everybody.
«Water is the least favourable condition for life on Arrakis. And remember that growth itself can produce unfavourable conditions unless treated with extreme care.»
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring
it took me ages to get through this. not because it's bad, probably mostly because i repaired my computer and had.. other things on my mind. but also partly because herbert's style reminds me of tolkien. like, a lot. at least in the sense that herbert really wants you to read his mediocre poetry too.
this isn't bad by any means, and i will surely read on in the future. probably around the time the second movie hits. the characters are fleshed-out and there's surprisingly little overt misogyny for a science fiction book that is, at this point, positively ancient. it's just the constant internal monologuing and then rushing through the actual happenings that gets exhausting after a while.
A inizio 2020 ho letto e apprezzato [b:Lord of Light|8493781|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465576796l/8493781.SY75.jpg|1011388] di [a:Roger Zelazny|3619|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207671346p2/3619.jpg] e ho scoperto dalla prefazione che, a suo modo, è il romanzo "rivale e complementare" del più famoso Dune; in seguito ho saputo che Dune stava per essere adattato in un kolossal hollywoodiano, e io amo i kolossal hollywoodiani (tanto quanto odio la Hollywood di serie B e C). Morale, ho violato la mia regola "niente mattoni, niente saghe di mattoni" e ho voluto leggermi il famigerato romanzo "che George Lucas copiò in Star Wars". Responso finale: maestoso.
Sì, in superficie è la storia di un adolescente di sangue blu che viene usurpato da dei malvagi cattivissimi, si rifugia presso un popolo "moralmente superiore", sviluppa le sue facoltà ereditarie sovraumane e si riscatta – l'esecuzione "monarchista" del monomito campbelliano che da Herbert è filtrata, appunto, a George Lucas e …
A inizio 2020 ho letto e apprezzato [b:Lord of Light|8493781|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465576796l/8493781.SY75.jpg|1011388] di [a:Roger Zelazny|3619|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207671346p2/3619.jpg] e ho scoperto dalla prefazione che, a suo modo, è il romanzo "rivale e complementare" del più famoso Dune; in seguito ho saputo che Dune stava per essere adattato in un kolossal hollywoodiano, e io amo i kolossal hollywoodiani (tanto quanto odio la Hollywood di serie B e C). Morale, ho violato la mia regola "niente mattoni, niente saghe di mattoni" e ho voluto leggermi il famigerato romanzo "che George Lucas copiò in Star Wars". Responso finale: maestoso.
Sì, in superficie è la storia di un adolescente di sangue blu che viene usurpato da dei malvagi cattivissimi, si rifugia presso un popolo "moralmente superiore", sviluppa le sue facoltà ereditarie sovraumane e si riscatta – l'esecuzione "monarchista" del monomito campbelliano che da Herbert è filtrata, appunto, a George Lucas e probabilmente a Terry Brooks, producendo tanta narrativa speculativa banale. Ma basta leggere davvero il testo (e non il proprio preconcetto del testo) per constatare che sul monomito si stratificano temi intrecciati, trame parallele e quel worldbuilding sovrabbondante che è la cifra della narrativa speculativa migliore: Paul non è il messia puro, ingenuo e figura Christi che piace ai conservatori cristiani, è una figura cinica e machiavellica che decostruisce il concetto stesso di figura Christi; Lady Jessica è sostanzialmente la co-protagonista e il suo sguardo è sempre un contrappunto appassionante a quello di suo figlio; la cultura dei Fremen è sì arabeggiante, ma scientemente costruita come tale (non sono dei "Beduini spaziali perché sì") e descritta nella sua materialità, evitando l'estetica del buon selvaggio ignudo; l'Imperium è sociopoliticamente complesso e ogni personaggio minore appartenente a una specifica casta sociale potrebbe essere protagonista di un romanzo sulla propria vita professionale, dai navigatori della Gilda agli assassini Mentat sino ai cicisbei del Pascià Imperatore; la trama non si fossilizza sulla resa minuta del Bildungsroman di Paul, ma lo inquadra in un intreccio di più ampio respiro che va dalla storia ecologica di Arrakis ai rapporti di forza entro l'Imperium, e io adoro quel tipo di narrazioni.
È un romanzo perfetto? Non mi azzardo a dir tanto: la terza e ultima parte liquida con riassunti ed ellissi alcuni eventi cui la prima e seconda parte ci avevano preparato con dovizia di dettagli, e questo toglie un po' di corposità al finale. Ciò nonostante, la qualità resta alta.
Tirando le somme, Dune entra a mani basse nel mio Olimpo di romanzi mondo dotati di profondità dell'ambientazione e spessore filosofico-morale, assieme a [b:The Lord of the Rings|11047557|The Lord of the Rings|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592758189l/11047557.SY75.jpg|3462456] e a [b:The Books of Earthsea|40189386|The Books of Earthsea|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527344422l/40189386.SY75.jpg|64676657] esperito come narrazione coesa. E il mio strappo alla regola "niente mattoni, niente saghe di mattoni" dovrà essere esteso, perché intendo leggermi anche [b:Dune Messiah|44492285|Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, #2)|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577043824l/44492285.SY75.jpg|3634570] e [b:Children of Dune|44492286|Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #3)|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564783201l/44492286.SY75.jpg|3634573] e completare la trilogia di Paul Atreides.
