January 28, 2007

  • More Dune Thoughts

    Usually, I don't post on Sundays.  It's a personal thing.  But I am now full swing into the last of Frank Herbert's Dune books, Chapterhouse Dune.  It is fascinating to me how this particular book continues to elaborate on the revelation of a "hidden" Jewish community.  There is nothing to suggest any remainder of previous religious traditions in their "pure" (or current) expressions.  Throughout there are plenty of signs of combined Islamic thinking, Christian thought, and a variety of Asian philosophies.  Nothing much though related to the Hebrew tradition.  It's appearance in this final work is striking as characters are infused with names and storylines that resonate all the way back to the Torah.

    It strikes me that what Herbert does here is connect human history from his evolved future back to the very roots of remembered human beginnings.  I have always wondered why he waited until this final book to introduce this tradition and even tried to re-read the earlier works trying to think about whether I could see any of those threads in the text.  But they are not there.  [Of course, if I missed something, comment!]  There is an Islamic variant hoping for ascendancy in one thread of the saga but the rest seem to be related to the cultures that Herbert has imagined and their various hybrids.

    Chapterhouse also seems to move into a different literary style.  There are massive sections that begin to waver in a confusing pattern of thought.  At first, I found myself having to read a passage a couple of times to get the sense of what was going on and to connect the narrative.  I remember the first time I read this book that I found it the most difficult to follow even though it seemed to have a similar ebb and flow.  Now, I can see Herbert working to create in his text the same sense of uncertainty that makes Chapterhouse unique in the series.

    Finally, I am struck by how difficult it is to find Herbert's work.  I've managed to pick up a few used copies of older books.  The White Plague is simply a must read in our current age.  I am defnitely curious now to see how the newly released Hunters of Dune spins out the threads unleashed here.