Assignment 3 "Dune" by Frank Herbert

So this week my English professor assigned the class to discuss why their respective winter books are the best out of the three selections. I was assigned to read the science fiction book known as Dune and its sequel Dune Messiah.  The other titles were Foundation and Ender’s Game, both also science fiction novels. Dune attracted me more though because I read some reviews about it and it didn’t sound as abstract as the others. I will have to admit that science fiction is not my personal favorite genre but I did put the effort to grasp Dune at its fullest.

I haven’t read the other two novels so it’s difficult to make a fair comparison but I can, however, discuss how great Dune is compared to other novels I read. To start, I looked at the history behind the book and made a couple of connections. Frank Herbert, the writer of Dune, became well known during the mid-sixties. This means that when he was growing up he was witness to the many scientific achievements the world was going through at the time. This includes the development of the space program and the moment when humanity first set a foot in the moon. It was also a very political time where many different forms of government were in a quarrel. All these ingredients surely inspired Mr. Herbert and his imagination to create the Dune saga. The imagination and the politics are very clear in the book and they are something that makes the book timeless. I say this because there will always be politics and the imagination gives readers something to always look forward to in the future.  The younger readers who don’t completely understand politics can surely enjoy a good story.

Another thing that makes this book so great is the fact that Frank Herbert made it so fascinating. The story takes place in a different planet and it involves colossal space ships and enormous sand worms. It’s very difficult to make a reader picture something that s/he has never seen before and this book allows readers to not just picture that abstract object or person, but also its unnatural size. The detail, the suspense, and the emotions Frank Herbert emphasized in the book make the reader feel as if s/he is really there. The book has drama, comedy, and all kinds of suspense that makes the reader feel like they are in a rollercoaster ride. Time feels like it becomes something both physical and moldable because it of the foreshadowing and the different histories collapsing in the present.  As a reader, one understands what is going to happen but goes along with the story anyway and when that event does happen, the reader is still surprised.  One hour of reading feels like a year in the world of dune and the book just grabs you and it becomes really hard to let go until you find yourself near the end. To fully understand I would strongly recommend this book for any reader.