1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Dune books... your thoughts?

Discussion in 'Books & Publications Forum' started by Paul Rittman, Mar 8, 2024.

Top Posters
  1. Paul Rittman

    Paul Rittman Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2011
    Messages:
    40
    Likes Received:
    2
    I haven't posted in this forum in quite a while, but this is the only Christian forum I have a login to, recently I started reading the Dune book, and today started feeling uncomfortable about what I'm suspecting is its underlying message.

    I recently saw the new Dune movies that came out. I did like them both (the first definitely more than the second), so I just bought the first trilogy on Amazon and started reading it on my kindle app.

    I definitely like the book. I can't seem to put it down. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the first book (just called Dune).

    Something has started bothering me, however--the way that religion is portrayed in the book. The Bene Gesserit is seen as spreading religion throughout the cosmos, as a way to prepare the peoples of the various planets, to be more agreeable to the BG leaders.

    I have read that in the second book (which I have not yet read), that Paul takes on the role of a savior, a messiah (the book is entitled Dune Messiah), in which he is not the hero, but more of a villain.

    Have any of you read at least the first two books?

    What are your reactions here?

    I'm ok with the idea that not every author has to believe what I believe. I wasn't expecting the author to share my views on religion. Earlier this year, I finished the Hunger Games trilogy and loved every page of it. I may or may not have the same views on war as the author, but I still loved & respected her work.

    But it just seems that the premise of this book is not just different from me, but diametrically opposed to what I believe.

    For reference--for a view of the series that is more positive than I appear to have---I came across a positive review of this book, from a Christian perspective. See here: The Theology of Dune

    The comments that portray the Dune series in a positive light, even for a Christian, is the following (in the author's reply to Replying Poster, in the comments section of that page):

    What Dune ultimately shows us is that you cannot create a great hero story without reference to the true Messiah, the Hero of heroes, the Once and Future King of kings, Jesus Christ. Christ leaves an indelible mark on our imaginations.

    If I could see the book in this light, I guess I'd be just fine reading it. I'm not sure I agree with the above comments, however.

    So what do you have to say about the series? Are you ok with this series' portrayal of religion? Do you disagree with this portrayal, but still enjoy the book anyways? Or have I misunderstood how the book portrays religion?

    FWIW, my usual fare for reading for pleasure is murder mysteries, such as Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler. For the first time since I don't know when, I decided to dive into the Hunger Games trilogy (the first 3) and I absolutely loved it, so after seeing the Dune movies, I thought of digging into these books as well.
     
    #1 Paul Rittman, Mar 8, 2024
  2. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,760
    Likes Received:
    1,337
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Dune is one of my all time favorite books.
    There are so many theological themes threaded throughout its pages. The book draws you into another world and surely makes you think!

    Obviously, the author Frank Herbert, interspersed quite a bit of Arabic imagery throughout the book, it’s an arid desert world after all, it fits, don’t be offended, it’s fantasy.

    The opening book, Dune, is the best. His following books in my opinion are sleepers, long on dialogue, short on action. They didn’t draw me into the drama as much as the first book.

    Herbert’s son extended the series long after his father’s passing. Written along with Paul Anderson, another sci-fi author, they fleshed out Dune’s pre-history. I throughly enjoyed many of those books. The were what I call “beach reads”, light, quickly read, didn’t make you think much, The are light science fiction. They don’t have deep running theological themes but they answered questions about how the fantasy world came to be.

    Of course, then there are the movies… a whole other topic. The new one is okay but they have their own agenda, apart from the original author’s.

    Rob
     
    #2 Deacon, Mar 9, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2024
  3. Paul Rittman

    Paul Rittman Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2011
    Messages:
    40
    Likes Received:
    2
    Given that you enjoyed them so much, what is your take on its theology? My point isn't anything associated with Arabic or Islam for that matter--just that a main theme of this book (certainly not the only one) seems to be that religion equals manipulation. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and even Hunger Games, none of which seem to have that theme.



     
    #3 Paul Rittman, Mar 9, 2024
  4. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,760
    Likes Received:
    1,337
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Dune is a political drama, the manipulation of people and events by the characters in an attempt gain power and control.
    The various characters believe they can guide history towards a goal described in the ‘Orange Catholic Bible’, a book (never fully defined) that appears to be a conglomeration of various religious prophecies and traditions.
    It doesn’t work out: history has a way of destroying the schemes of man.

    The book doesn’t push a reader toward a religious belief and it doesn’t answer religious questions but it brings questions to mind for one to ponder.

    I find many intriguing and thought-provoking religious questions that are raised in brief portions of the book. Such as the episode where Bene Gesserate Mother uses the Gom Jabber to test Paul to “see if he is human”. What defines human?

    Rob
     
    #4 Deacon, Mar 10, 2024
  5. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,760
    Likes Received:
    1,337
    Faith:
    Baptist
    C.S. Lewis’ Narnia is a children’s book with adult themes. Great series, loved it. It’s an allegory.

    TLOTR’s is fantasy - one of the very few fantasies I enjoy. (My daughter even brought me a souvenir rock from the filming location of Mount Doom in New Zealand.) A well designed world-building book. Great series too.

    Both Hunger Games and Dune are Science Fiction.
    I’m a big fan of sci-fi (so many religious questions are imagined in sci-fi).
    Hunger Games is a knock off of an earlier short story called, “The Most Dangerous Game”. IMO, its only interesting contribution was the dramatic twist at the end of the story. The following books in the series were worthless.

    Dune however is a classic. It is not fantasy. It is not allegory. It’s sci-fi at its greatest; a world building sci-fi in a unique, well-imagined world; not built upon our history or culture. Pick any sci-fi list of great books and it ranks top 5 (if it isn’t at the very top).

    Rob
     
    #5 Deacon, Mar 10, 2024
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Loading...