“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”

– Frank Herbert, Dune

🏜 Review

Dune was one of those books that once I started, I couldn’t stop myself from reading more. I’m currently through the third book in this science fiction saga and, at this point, Arrakis is as real in my mind as it was in Herbert’s.

We follow the story of the young Paul Atreides, his father a Duke who was given the desert planet Arrakis, informally “Dune”, to rule by Imperial decree. Arrakis is a key planet to control because of its monopoly on the naturally occurring, geriatric drug: spice. Spice gives individuals a heightened awareness, and it is this hyper-awareness that makes many things like space travel possible. Arrakis is home to a native desert people known as the Fremen. Little is really known about them, except they are highly regarded for having found ways to survive in the desert.

Once you get far enough into the story you start to develop an understanding of the politics governing the Imperium and Spice’s role in it. After that point, you start to infer things about what’s really going on on Arrakis. You also start to learn more about Fremen culture and their religion. Herbert does such a masterful job of deconstructing the delicate roles religion and power hold in governance.

Herbert’s style is poetic and philosophical. I especially appreciate his philosophy of Time and how the nuances of our actions affect the complex web of all future possibilities; the present is but a drop in an infinite ocean of Time.

🌟 Quotes I Like

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the 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 path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

the mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience

The mind can go either direction under stress—toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training.

The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

The eye that looks ahead to the safe course is closed forever

Use the first moments in study. You may miss many an opportunity for quick victory this way, but the moments of study are insurance of success. Take your time and be sure.

Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans in the finite space of a planetary ecosystem as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.

Much that was called religion has carried an unconscious attitude of hostility toward life. True religion must teach that life is filled with joys pleasing to the eye of God, that knowledge without action is empty. All men must see that the teaching of religion by rules and rote is largely a hoax. The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you’ve always known.