Watched and enjoyed it last night with my Bride and our son. It only goes up to the fall of House Atreides on Arrakis and Paul Atreides joining the Fremen. It is a leisurely retelling, but it has almost no exposition to tell a viewer unfamiliar with the story what the heck they are watching. This was a problem in the 1984 film, and it will be more of a problem with this version. Rather a minimalist take, leaving out a lot of stuff that the 1984 version had: no Emperor, no Princess Irulan, no mentat Piter de Vries, no Feyd Rautha. Good performances all around and the visual effects, as always in this digital age, were good. I recommend seeing it, but reading the book first. Exposition from the 1984 film:
There are works which are so… OF their medium, that to change the medium fundamentally alters the work in a way that’s unsalvageable. Thus they gain the label of “unadaptable.” Most consider Watchmen to be such for comic books. Dune definitely seems to be this for novels, and I’d say Lord of the Rings as well.
(Now is an audio book an alteration of the medium of a novel? Discuss)
Now is an audio book an alteration of the medium of a novel?
Yes. Compare reading Shakespeare to hearing a Shakespeare play performed. I imagine the same would be said with the Iliad and the Odyssey.
I have noticed the same sort of thing with public readings of the Declaration:
Nate- “Now is an audio book an alteration of the medium of a novel? Discuss)”
I would say yes, only because the audio represents the speaker’s interpretation to some degree, and must, or else the recording will sound like a zombie speaking and no one will buy it. So the medium has shifted from the page, which is interpreted directly by the reader, to the mind of the audio reader, and his or her filtering of the words.
Great question!
The first time I read Dune, I couldn’t finish it. But after a second crack, I liked it a lot.
Not enough to devote myself to the increasingly-lengthy sequels, but well enough.
I thought Villeneuve did a superb job with Blade Runner 2049. Not remotely as iconic as the original, but a very worthy sequel which treated the source material respectfully while branching off in directions which were still connected to it. Not an easy balance, but he nailed it. So he seems ideal to direct “Dune.”
Glad to hear he seems to be doing the same thing with it.
Other than Dune Messiah and Children of Dune you didn’t miss anything Dale. Frank Herbert thought of himself as something of a philosopher and that tainted the later volumes that grew increasingly baroque.
The film focuses almost exclusively on Paul. If Paul isn’t present it either isn’t shown in the movie, or it is dealt with perfunctorily. It works, but I think newcomers to Dune will be confused.
Thank you for both heads’ up. As to the books, a good rule of thumb is that when you think You Are Writing Something Which Is Very Important…you almost certainly are not.
With the film, I know Dune well enough, but My Child Bride does not. So it does not seem to be the ideal movie part of a dinner and a movie for this weekend.
“a problem in the 1984 film”
You’ve changed, man. It’s like I don’t even recognize you anymore.
I will heartily agree with Don. Though it’s been awhile and I’m due for a reread, the original 3 books are worthwhile. Book 2 (Dune Messiah – also the shortest) I recall as being my favorite actually. Heck one could argue it’s less a book and more of an extended coda to the first one. Book 3 deals with Paul’s children and is worth a read.
Book 4 on the flaws of Herbert as a writer become more and more apparent as he dives off into the preaching zone. God-Emperor of Dune is just one long political treatise after another. Worse, the story sets it up in such a way that these political words are delivered as RIGHT and INARGUABLE and WISE which as a rule – every author should avoid completely (alas, they never do).
God Emperor of Dune at least serves as a nice cap on the whole “dark/false messiah” motif that the series started with Paul and greatly expanded with Leto II, even if the quality is much less than the previous ones (though there are some cool over the top ideas in it.)
Heretics of Dune is where the series goes firmly into the “guess we need another Dune book” territory, though not as much as Brian Herbert’s endless additions.
I don’t remember which later book it was in, but I have always, more or less accurately, remember one quote that never left me. “Most revolutionaries are frustrated aristocrats”. Made wading through the rest of it worth the time and cost of t he book.
BTW, of Herbert’s non-Dune writings, “Hellstrom’s Hive” is one creepy read (and one tacky movie).
One of the few books I have read that actually scared me while I was reading it.
“In the perfect society, there is neither emotion nor mercy; precious space cannot be wasted on those who have outlived their usefulness.”
― Frank Herbert, Hellstrom’s Hive