Dune Army

You know how there are those people who completely missed an important cultural touchstone, and then start raving about it years and years too late??

You know the ones.
"Hey, have you guys watched Anchorman??? It's hilarious!"
"I totally got into The Beatles this week. They have heaps of good songs! I'm surprised more people don't listen to them all the time."
"There's this guy in the NBA named Vince Carter and he can DUNK! Like amazingly! You really should check him out."
"EVERYBODY SHOULD PLAY GOLDENEYE ON THE NINTENDO 64. I'M NOT JOKING."
"You probably haven't heard about it, but you should watch this show called The Wire. It's really good. It's pretty small and unknown, but I think it has potential."

I have become one of those people.

"Seriously, everybody should read Dune and be all like 'oh fo-shang this is the biz!' Because I am."

I bought it a few weeks back and started reading it in my new apartment (by torchlight. Because the stupid agents screwed up getting my power on. Four nights, no power...). And I was totally into it very early. Frank Herbert wrote it in 1965 and it's aged well.

Yes, I know, I know. I really should have read it years ago. We just didn't have it in the shelves at home (or maybe we did and I had no idea what it was). Either way, I feel bad it took this long.

What do I love about it? Here are five short things:
1) The Bene Gesserit. The high-ranked female caste who have mysterious connections across the Great Houses.
2) The way reading body language and conversational tone is key to navigating tricky situations.
3) The 'terrible purpose' and the way destiny is maleable.
4) The idea of Mentats - human computers/advisors.
5)Paul's realisation of his growing abilities.

Anyway, it's great. Now I have to find Dune Messiah. Herbert packed so much into Dune. Religious themes, politics, intrigue, action and violence, science, mysticism, and a huge dose of planetary ecology.

Read it!

Also, for those who are interested and for those who aren't. Here is just ONE of the MANY 'Vince Carter Top 10 Dunks of All Time' compilations. These are literally jaw-dropping. My jaw kept dropping open.

And here's his famous famous dunk at the Sydney Olympics over a 7'2" French centre.