Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Dune

Originally posted to Goodreads:

It is impossible to separate the fibers of sexism and racism that run through the very fabric of this book. Even within Herbert's criticisms of imperial/colonial systems, his own -isms make their mark. The Bene Gesserit in particular call to mind the great Ursula K. Le Guin's perspective on mystifying the feminine:

"But I didn’t and still don’t like making a cult of women’s knowledge, preening ourselves on knowing things men don’t know, women’s deep irrational wisdom, women’s instinctive knowledge of Nature, and so on. All that all too often merely reinforces the masculinist idea of women as primitive and inferior – women’s knowledge as elementary, primitive, always down below at the dark roots, while men get to cultivate and own the flowers and crops that come up into the light. But why should women keep talking baby talk while men get to grow up? Why should women feel blindly while men get to think?"
[See the cottage core, crunchy, trad wife content that is so popular currently]
[Le Guin's argument can also be applied to the mystifying of indigenous people and knowledge (see: calling indigenous people 'primitive')]

Dune falls victim to that which Le Guin avoids. The Bene Gesserit, and more broadly the very conceptualization of gender with the world of Dune mythicizes women's knowledge and by extension their power. It places women as the religious arbiters and power brokers of the universe. The Bene Gesserit are the "man behind the curtain". Herbert criticizes the religious establishment and strict gender roles while still mystifying the feminine.

Despite, or possibly in large part due to, Herbert's own prejudices Paul Muad'Dib, and Dune presents us with a complex cautionary tale that refuses to give an easy answer to any of the topics broached. Herbert positions Paul Muad'Dib at the crux of each topic. Paul finds himself at the fulcrum of the masculine and feminine, as a colonizer amongst the colonized, an anarchist imperialist. Paul comes of age as a product of these dichotomies.

Paul's ascension to Messiah was not linear nor was it inevitable. More often than not, historical and political events are seen as an inevitability, the culmination of some grand domino chain. There may be some critical mass beyond which there is no return, but more often than not, events are an amalgamation of millions of different paths converging for a split second only to break away again. Paul can see this web, but he is blinded by his own goals. His own motives. That which he has been bred and raised for. This is where Dune shines. As a tale of the hubris and complexity of saviors.

Anyway, I liked it, Paul is nonbinary, I don't feel like writing a conclusion.

XOXO,
CoronaKirby

Content Warnings

katie0528's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A sci-fi classic. I've blown this off for years thinking I knew enough by how elements have trickled down into pop culture. However after watching the two new movies, I decided to give the book a chance. I see now why it is a classic that so many other sci-fi franchises draw from. It largely holds up. Of course as a book from the 60s, there are elements that are a little cringe to a modern reader and there are elements and small plot lines that could have been cut for the sake of brevity, but over all I was impressed with the book. I think it helped that the audiobook had a full cast to help me keep track of who was who. I suspect some of the minor characters may have blended together otherwise.

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yzvt's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

jester_k's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

2.5

I wanted to like this mainly because my Dad loved it when he read it as a teen. But the story was so slow-moving that it didn't grip me and I didn't find the glossary til right at the end so a lot of things went way over my head. The Harkonnens are depicted as disgustingly evil but the fact they have slaves and enjoy murder and rape is put on a level with the fact that the Baron is... just fat. It's constantly focused on to show how gross he is and I struggled to enjoy the rest of the book with this deep-seated fatphobia.

Also, Paul starts the book being kind and compassionate and ends up becoming an awful tyrant so I stopped being able to root for him at all. I'm sure that's part of the point but it didn't leave me with any characters to enjoy the perspective of. Then he won and it was mostly just depressing.

Content Warnings

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense

3.0

The worldbuilding was decent, I can say that much. Otherwise, I felt this was far longer than necessary with too many characters to keep track of. I also found it strange that the author did not explain any backstory for the reader; rather, the story appears to start in the middle.

I would have preferred more information about the technology and engineering of these future civilizations. How did Earthlings go from landing on the moon to

intergalactic eugenics and war

? Where was the science in this science fiction?

A lot of heavy themes in this book club pick:

religion, addiction, cults, war, politics, misogyny, eugenics, sexual harassment

.

Relevant quote:

“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's too late.”

Frank Herbert, Dune (Dune, #1), 1965

Content Warnings

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Well, if that isn't the spiciest book I've ever read.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

All jokes aside, I wasn't expecting to cry while reading this book but dang, it got me in my feels. I was familiar enough with the plot due to seeing so many versions of it, including the most recent adaption, and while the adaptions are quite faithful, there was nuance that was omitted and I appreciated the journey of reading this to find those little bits.

Content Warnings

viktoriann's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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