7 or more ways to look at the Bibliophibians Reading Group selection for August: Dune
The Bibliophibians Reading Group discussion and coffee (And melange, maybe) will be held on 1 September 2018, Saturday, at Tin-Aw Art Gallery in Somerset Olympia on Makati Avenue, beside the Manila Peninsula (Old Swiss Inn is in the same building). Everyone is welcome, provided you’ve read Dune by Frank Herbert, OR have designed and are wearing your own stillsuit for surviving Arrakis. Drop us a line in Comments or send a message to @jessicazafrascats on Instagram to reserve a seat. Thanks to Dawn of Tin-Aw for hosting us.
You can read Frank Herbert’s Dune as
1. The coming of age story of a young man who may be the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about one who can be many places at once (the Kwisatz Haderach), who can remember the entire past and see the future.
2. A political saga of noble houses fighting for control of the spice melange, which makes interstellar travel possible, promotes heightened awareness and prescience, and increases lifespan. The spice can be found only on the desert planet Arrakis, aka Dune.
3. A technological thriller set in a society where AI and computers have been banned and replaced by humans with heightened cognitive abilities (mentats, BG reverend mothers).
4. An ecological drama about the plan to transform Arrakis into a green planet by terraforming. This aspect of Dune is especially riveting in this era of climate change, global warming and desertification.
5. A treatise on the uses of religion, rife with references to Middle Eastern religions.
6. A novel on the decline and fall of empires.
7. An anthropological study of the Fremen, a human culture that has existed for thousands of years on “uninhabitable” Arrakis, and a zoological study of the giant sandworms on the planet.
Add to this list. Post a comment.
8. (from Edrie) An allegory about the Middle East and Western Civilization’s dependence on petroleum to keep the industrial machine running and how we will never have true lasting peace when resources are scarce.
9. (from Edrie) A meta-story about patriarchal white people’s obsession with “leaving a legacy” and how these can be warped by their own progeny (Leto, Paul, Leto II). Works even better when juxtaposed with Frank Herbert’s works and the mediocrity of the ones written by his son.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 6th, 2018 at 15:50
An allegory about the Middle East and Western Civilization’s dependence on petroleum to keep the industrial machine running and how we will never have true lasting peace when resources are scarce.
August 8th, 2018 at 10:40
A meta-story about patriarchal white people’s obsession with “leaving a legacy” and how these can be warped by our own progeny (Leto, Paul, Leto II). Works even better when juxtaposed with Frank Herbert’s works and the mediocrity of the ones written by his son (at least by certain toxic members of the fandom).
August 8th, 2018 at 14:02
Edrie: That’s harsh, and I totally agree. Creative ability is not an inherited characteristic. Painful when you consider that one of the hero’s gifts is genetic memory.
August 8th, 2018 at 17:52
I have this theory that most of the world’s problems can be traced to a few white people intent on “leaving a mark” or some such boon for their children and they didn’t consider the long-term consequences that created the system(s) we have today. This continues with Dune and the themes of prophecy and foresight and “The Golden Path.” Leto II didn’t leave children due to physical constraints (for how does one mate with a sandworm) but possibly also because he knew his children would alter his vision for humanity.
August 8th, 2018 at 19:58
You’re showing up at the discussion in Tin-Aw, right?
August 8th, 2018 at 22:09
All right. I hope my sched is free on that day. I can discuss fanaticism and how certain current personalities are precursors of the Honored Matres. Also: need to schmooze to promote my (self-published) novel.