One of the most interesting and innovative genres of literature from the last 70 or so years, is so-called speculative fiction. Two of its main branches are Fantasy & Science Fiction. While fiction being speculative has existed at least from old Athens in the 5th century BC, the modern use of the term, ”speculative fiction”, can be traced back to 1947, when author Robert A. Heinlein used it in ”The Saturday Evening Post”. He, however, used it to denote science fiction and claimed that it did not include fantasy. In the 2000s it has become a wider concept, including many subgenres, of which the dominant ones are Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. We will not discuss Fantasy or Horror this time, but focus on my first encounter with Science Fiction.
In Learning Languages - How I do, I described how, at an early age, I learned to read. After that I have continued reading copiously. My first meeting with science fiction literature, however, was, as so much else in life, a coincidence. In a shop for used books, I suddenly stood looking at a cover with a skull on it. It had a greenish colour and it looked both interesting and disgusting. The title was ”The Green Brain” and the author was Frank Herbert, at the time a name with which I was not acquainted. I bought the book and read it the same night. While it did not make me all that excited, its speculative nature was something (to me) new. While, today, I hesitate to call ”The Green Brain” science fiction, it made me curious on the author, Frank Herbert; I wanted to read more by him. The book I found was ”Dune”. This was science fiction indeed and it opened a new literature for me. I had seen some cheap and quite primitive black & white science fiction films before, and they did not leave any lasting impression, but ”Dune” was the first real science fiction novel I did read.
Now, decades later, I have read much science fiction. All the classics and more than that. Yet, I claim, ”Dune” is the best of them all. I might be biased by that it was via ”Dune” I discovered science fiction, but I don't think it is only that; I am not alone in the opinion that ”Dune” is the best or one of the best science fiction novels ever written.
”Dune” came to get many sequels, and it became a series. While quality at the end is falling somewhat, I certainly recommend the reading of the full series:
Dune, 1965.
Dune Messiah, 1969.
Children of Dune, 1976.
God Emperor of Dune, 1981.
Heretics of Dune, 1984.
Chapterhouse: Dune, 1985.
Frank Herbert, who died in 1986, wrote much more than this, and all of it is worth reading, but ”Dune” remains his masterpiece.
The series is full of philosophy and, although it takes place in a future with much more advanced technology than ours, Frank Herbert never focus on technology in the way of Asimov or Clarke – his focus is more on human nature, psychology, thinking and ecology. I will illustrate that with a selection of quotes:
About power:
“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.”
(Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune)
“The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria.”
(Frank Herbert, “God Emperor of Dune”)
“Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.“
(Frank Herbert, “Dune Messiah”)
“Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.“
(Frank Herbert, “Chapterhouse: Dune”)
“When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles.“
(Frank Herbert, “Children of Dune”)
“Small souls who seek power over others first destroy the faith those others might have in themselves.“
(Frank Herbert, “God Emperor Of Dune”)
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.“
(Frank Herbert, “Dune”)
About life:
“The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.“
(Frank Herbert, “Dune” )
“If you live in bad faith, lies will appear to you like the truth.“
(Frank Herbert, “God Emperor of Dune”)
“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
(Frank Herbert, “Chapterhouse: Dune”)
On knowledge, etc...:
“Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.”
(Frank Herbert, “Children of Dune”)
“Never attempt to reason with people who know they are right!“
(Frank Herbert, “God Emperor of Dune”)
“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.“
(Frank Herbert, “God Emperor of Dune”)
“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.“
(Frank Herbert, “Dune”)
“Do actions agree with words? There's your measure of reliability. Never confine yourself to the words.“
(Frank Herbert, “Chapterhouse: Dune”)
“Silence is often the best thing to say.“
(Frank Herbert, “Chapterhouse: Dune”)
On fear:
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.
(Frank Herbert, Dune)
The last quote (below), is not from the ”Dune series”, but from the ”Introduction to New World or No World, 1970”, which highlights Frank Herbert's viewpoint on ecology:
“There are no uncharted isles here where we can run away to sunshine and sparkling white beaches. We have just this one world, and on these pages we're beginning to get a feeling for the gigantic physical project confronting us. Our awakening is touched with dismay; we must come to terms with this world or it will terminate us. When we speak of defending the environment, we are speaking of defending our own lives.”
Melange
Melange is a fictive spice, or drug, central in the Dune Series. Indeed, the whole civilisation in the series is based on that. It extends life and consciousness, and creates in some humans a level of prescience which is needed for interstellar travelling. The control of Melange is so crucial that it causes war, because “The one who controls the spice, controls the universe.”
According to Paul Stamets, Frank Herbert was inspired by fungi and magic mushrooms, not least those of the genus Psilocybe, many species of which contain the psychoactive substances psilocin, psilocybin, and some also baeocystin and norbaeocystin. Some species of Psilocybe are characterised by blueing, a result of oxidation of psilocin that takes place when the fruit body is injured. This blueing should, according to Paul Stamets, have inspired Frank Herbert to the colour of the eyes of the users of Melange.
Literature by Paul Stamets;
Mycelium Running, 2005.
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide, 2009.
Copyright © 2021 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.
(The lead image is by Reimund Bertrams/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain. It serves as an illustration only and has no direct connection to "Dune".)
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I've never been a fan of Dune but the latest movie is quite epic enough that I'm now interested. Hehehe. Not even a young James McAvoy could let me finish watching any Children of Dune episodes. Lol.
The 2nd movie will be released in 2023 so it is quite a wait to see what happens next.