 I think I can say on and I'm here today to talk about doom. I reviewed it once before and fled from those who disparaged me. Yet my attackers, it is by what they despise that they are truly known. This time I will not be afraid. Fear is the mind killer. This was my second time reading it and I chose to read it at precisely this time for obvious reasons. I wanted to refresh myself on the source material before seeing the film. They will sense my fear if I allow it to rule me. I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once. Did I like it better the second time? No, not really. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. When I first read it I felt and I continue to feel now after my reread that doom is a classic for a reason. It deserves its status as one and it should be read to this day and for many years to come. A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. But a classic is not exempt from scrutiny. Just because it's written at a different time that is not an excuse and it does not justify or explain the more problematic aspects of the book. To begin your study of the work of Frank Herbert then take care that you first place him in his time, born in the 20th year of the 20th century and take the most special care that you locate Herbert in his place, the fictional Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was employed in journalism and spent many years so. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place. Take for example the choice that Frank Herbert made to use the word jihad. Now this is a work of far future fiction for which he invented many new words and names. But when it came to naming a holy war he chose an existing word, a word that comes preloaded with history and cultural significance. That is no accident. So it begs the question, why? I must fight the temptation to choose a clear, safe course. That path leads ever down into stagnation. Then let's examine Baron Harkinen. Here we have not only an offensive vilification of queerness, we also have an utterly uninteresting villain. His motives, his behavior, his schemes, and his existence in the story, they do not further complicate a reader's understanding of the ideas that are being presented in the novel. He does not represent an interesting equal and opposite counterpoint to the protagonist. He does not show us a troubling dark mirror that might cause a reader to reflect on the evils of themselves or the evils of the world or the evils of mankind itself. Baron Harkinen is more cartoonish than many Disney villains. So for a book that purports to be about grand themes, philosophical questions, and thought-provoking ideas, the Baron offers no food for thought. But for this reason, he is also not a figure that inspires trepidation or fear or terror in the raider. It's easier to be terrified by an enemy you admire. The portrayal of women in Frank Herbert's Dune is a mixed bag. I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. The Bene Gesserit, who you come to understand through the novel, are a powerful sisterhood that has been playing a long game. They've been manipulating people and events to suit their own purposes for a very long time. They teach their sisterhood how to alter their minds so that they can exert control over their bodies. So in this sense, in this portrayal in the way I've just described, I mean they are powerful. There's no doubt about that. It's not a question of women being portrayed as damsels that can't do anything. That's not the problem. But so this mind over body control, it extends far beyond an ability to regulate your heart rate or to overcome your animal instincts, knee-jerk responses to outside stimuli. It's not just, you know, controlling your fear responses or things like that. A Bene Gesserit woman can decide when her body will conceive a child. So not earth control, she can control when she will get pregnant. And not only is she able to control when she will conceive a child, she can choose what sex she wants that child to have. Just through being Bene Gesserit. And this is not explained as something that is achieved through, for example, the spice. So the spice, melange, and dune is this natural resource that is occurring on Arrakis. And it is much fought over and that's kind of a big deal in dune. The spice is the thing. So what spice can do, I mean, it's made up. So it can do whatever the author says that it can do. So if Frank Herbert says that spice, using it, being around it, being near it, whatever the case may be, enables you now to do x, y, and z. Okay, spice doesn't exist. We don't know what spice can do. So I guess if spice does that, then spice does that. But this ability to control the body that the Bene Gesserit have, it's not something that comes from the spice or from something else that is sort of a made up resource that could, you know, control things in ways that we cannot conceive of because it doesn't exist. It's just depicted as like meditation and mind exercises and just like, just training. Just training. So this sense of this ability to control the gender of the child, or apologies, the sex of the child that a woman has chosen to conceive, this is not achieved through the spice. Again, it's just training that allows them to exert this kind of control over their bodies. And why is that problematic? Well, for centuries, men who wanted to have sons instead of daughters blamed women for the fact that a daughter was born, saying it was her fault that she had not born a son. When in fact, science later revealed that it is the male. It is the father. It is the donor of the sperm that is the determiner of the sex of the child. So Herbert wrote a far future where women can do something that is impossible, and that for centuries they've been blamed for failing to do. So again, it begs the question, why? Science is made up of so many things that appear obvious after they are explained. So aside from problematic things, the narrative structure of Dune, there are many times throughout the book where a moment that ought to be rich with tension is instead deflated by the choice to give the reader an overabundance of information leaving no question to ask, no motive to ponder. Not only are the deeds of characters known to you, but the thoughts as well. Why create a compelling and suspenseful mystery when you can hand readers the answers before they've even thought to ask a question? I mean purely from a reading enjoyment standpoint, I have to ask the question. Why? The proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulgence. On that path lies danger. A plan depends as much upon execution as it does upon concept. All of that being said, I acknowledge that Dune is a classic and rightly so. The world of Dune is complex and intricately built. Herbert's attention to the minutiae of survival and existence on an alien planet, coupled with the detailed exploration of a post-computer world in which space travel remains possible, it creates a rich backdrop for an epic story with fate and destiny. There's so much to love about Dune. The names alone are worthy of remembrance. I mean who doesn't look for an excuse to say Moadib or Quisa Tadarak? I mean when it was first published, Dune was something new, something that no one else had done before. Like the spice itself, Dune quickly altered the minds of those who read it and awakened them to the possibilities of what science fiction could do. But being the first does not equate to being the greatest. Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The author who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the Sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The Sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy an author. So, in summation, as a piece of genre history, Dune is fascinating. As an example of intricate world-building, Dune is exemplary. But as a novel, it is lacking. And as a depiction of real-world identities, it is concerning. It is a classic because it was the first. And because parts of it remain to this day among the best. But it is not perfect. Part of being a classic is being examined, scrutinized, and viewed through new and different lenses. It is a book that begs discussion. And so I sincerely hope that it will be read and discussed for many years to come. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is a 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 has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its pen. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.