I finished Dune this morning expect for the appendixes which I do plan on reading. I do want to briefly comment on the ending of the book which was nothing like I imagined it to be.
The assault on the Emperor's and Guild's ships were terrifying. I could see the wall or sand worms raging towards those ships and Sardukar. I never thought that Alia would kill the Barron, but it makes since that she would. I see the girl as an extension of Jessica and by allowing Alia to kill the Barron, Jessica was able to have revenge for Leto without having to kill her own father. What's more, Alia kills the Barron with a gom jabbar! I guess the old Barron didn't pass the humanity test. Leto II died, but he was never really introduced as a concrete character and the grief of his passing only effects Paul for a moment but like the grief he felt for his father's death, I guess Paul will deal with it when he can.
Oddly enough, Paul is not even close to being a favorite character of mine. He's fascinating and his rise to Empreror is great and all though it is terrying at the same time. Paul has changed, he has taken into himself the terrible purpose and has, perhaps, realized that the jihad can not be stopped and should not be stopped. The characters that surrond Paul, from his mother to Count Fenrig are far more interesting to me. Paul has become something more then Human, almost unrelatable, and if it wasn't for Jessica, Chani, and Gurney then Paul would be completely unreachable. I did not include Stilgar since, as Paul put it, he is now a creature that worships Paul. And this seems to be true. Paul mourns the loss of such a good friend and I'm sure more will succumb to the worship of the Maud'dib. It's the people around a Messiah that make the Messiah interesting such is the case with Paul.
Well, I'm done rambling about this book for now. I'll read the apendixes and maybe some brief reviews of the themes and what-not. I now want to see Lynch's movie version.
Chances are the next time I post something here, I will have finished Dune.
Dune, so far (I'm a little more then 30 or 40 pages from the end), is a good book and a great story. There were plenty of times when I was afraid that it would loose it's emotion especially with Paul but I think Chani helps with humanizing the Maud'dib; which is her purpose outside and inside the book's universe. Yay Chani (I hope Jessica doesn't change her mind about her). Sometimes the reach for social commentary is painful. Yes we get it! God we all get it! Harlock has told me about some paper delving into the similiarites of Dune and the political and social issues during the time of it's publication. I need to find it and give it a brief read. What we did discuss about it has really given me a better insight into the book and it's purspoe and I'm rather ashamed that I never considered the time period of the book as I read it. I consider the dates and the happenings in the other books I've read but most of those books make a direct reference to whatever class struggle or war is happening. With science fiction I think it's easy to forget about the social complexties that brought the book into being and just loose oneself in the story. I guess it's the really good books that slap the readers in the face later on and say: "Hey stoopid remember when this happened? It's just like this!!!" I wonder if I would have had such a revelation about Dune if I had not been reminded of the social strife during the book's publication by Harlock?
My favorite characters of the books have changed throughout the reading. At first it was Leit, then Idaho, Stilgar, and is shifting to Gurney. I hope that Hawat comes out of left field and kills the Baron with his super awesome Mentat abilities. My all time favorite novel character remains Lt. Rinaldi from A Farwell to Arms and so far no one in Dune is even close to ursupring the good Italitan's place. Paul's sister (her name escapes me and I'm far too lazy to look it up) is fascinating. I would not want a daughter like that but at least the Fremen have began to accept her. I like Harrah, the wife of Jamis that became Paul's servent after Paul bested Jamis. I was really afraid that Paul would have to kill Stilgar, by the way, it might still happen but at this point in the book, Paul has convinced the Fremen that Stilgar is like his right arm, more valuable alive and available to the people and to Paul so as it stands Stilgar gets to go on living. Where I'm at, Paul has just witnessed the 'Now' and has seen the Guild ships in orbit and is prepared to use the Water of Death to rid Arrakis of the intruders.
As it stands, there seems to be a lot of loose ends to tie up before the end of the book. The story isn't afraid to kill off major characters casually so I'm sure many of those loose ends will resolve itself in such a manner. I do not expect Jessica and Gurney to survive. I'm hoping Chani makes it but I know it's possible that she won't.
I forgot how FAT the Baron is!! How could I forget that!?
Oh and also
I got Tokyo Zombie tonight. I hope it's half as good as I'm expecting.
Oh and also
Bitchy waitresses suck and they can all suck my balls!
nerdy