reading 'Dune'

the rohn report

reading 'Dune'

0:00

-18:32

reading 'Dune'

with epigraphs

rohn bayes

May 30, 2024

Transcript

“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.”
From “The Sayings of Muad’Dib”
by the Princess Irulan

Sounds about right. That’s the epigraph on page 459 of my library copy. I’m reading it in bits and pieces, a few paragraphs here, an epigraph there, can’t seem to make it thru the dense underbrush of verbiage that constitutes the text. I just drop in and out wherever it seems interesting.

I read this book before but I don’t remember now. I don’t remember if I finished it or how it ended or what it was about. That was a long time ago.

What do we remember and what do we know? Maybe that’s what it’s about. Some insane messianic prophecy being fulfilled through a long line of successions like the Hebrew kings or the Arabian califs?

What is a prophecy, though? Just seeing the portents and possibilities and calibrating a view of what might happen? I can prophesy too. Planet Arrakis is a desert planet. No water. Inhabited by giant worms. And they want to make it green again like it once was long ago. We live on a verdant planet, full of life, water, water everywhere and we’re turning it into a desert.

”Prophecy and prescience—how can they be be put to the test in the face of the unanswered question? Consider: How much is actual prediction of the ‘wave form’ (as Muad’Dib referred to his vision-image) and how much is the prophet shaping the future to fit the prophecy? What of the harmonics inherent in the act of prophecy? Does the prophet see the future or does he see a line of weakness, a fault or cleavage that he may shatter with words or decisions as a diamond-cutter shatters his gem with a blow of his knife?”
—From “Private Reflections on Muad’Dib”
by the Princess Irulan

The story starts off with Duke Leto at home on his home planet that he rules. There are all these ‘Houses’ and they rule things. Like the Harkonnens, they rule their own planet. They’re evil. Well everybody has their moments but the Harkonnens are more like the arch-typical Vikings - raiding and plundering whenever they can get away with it. Kinda like the Comanches. So Paul is Duke Leto’s son and Jessica is his mother, concubine of the Duke and a Bene Gesserit witch. They move to Arrakis to take over the lucrative spice trade and get ambushed by, of course, the devious Harkonnens. Anyways they end up hiking out into the desert on this planet, Paul and Jessica, and they hook up with the Fremen and Paul becomes Paul-Muad’Dib in remembrance of the little desert rat who survives, against all odds, in the harsh, unrelenting desert-scape of planet Arrakis.

“The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.
— From “Collected Sayings of Muad’Dib”
by the Princess Irulan

I got that. Yeah, maybe. Anyways. He’s the hero. Maud’Dib, previously known as Paul, becomes the long awaited messiah and leads a revolt against the evil Harkonnens. Of course. Every messiah needs a good war. Ends up taking over the whole entire universe basically.

What? Huh? Who knew? What were the chances that this scrawny kid would become Emperor of the entire known universe? Must be that Bene Gesserit training tempered with the survival skills of the Fremen (the natives) of Arrakis.

“There is in all things a pattern that is part of our universe. It has symmetry, elegance, and grace—those qualities you find always in that which the true artist captures. You can find it in the turning of the seasons, in the way sand trails along a ridge, in the branch clusters of the creosote bush or the pattern of its leaves. We try to copy these patterns in our lives and our society, seeking the rhythms, the dances, the forms that comfort. Yet, it is possible to see peril in the finding of ultimate perfection. It is clear that the ultimate pattern contains its own fixity. In such perfection, all things move toward death.”
— From “Collected Sayings of Muad’Dib”
by the Princess Irulan

But is it clear? It’s not clear to me.

Maybe perfection is not what we imagine or not even something we can imagine. Maybe it’s constantly in flux, appearing differently to different people at different times since it’s, after all, perfect. Maybe perfection isn’t ‘something’, maybe it’s just a way of perceiving, a feeling.

Maybe the message is that humans form religions and then live within their constraints, that humans can form their world either by terraforming the external world or by indoctrination (also called training or education) of their internal world. And the schemes run deep, infact make up much of our subconscious realm relating back, back, back to the ancient myths of our species.

“Muad’Dib could indeed see the Future, but you must understand the limits of this power. Think of sight. You have eyes, yet cannot see without light. If you are on the floor of a valley, you cannot see beyond your valley. Just so, Muad’Dib could not always choose to look across the mysterious terrain. He tells us that a single obscure decision of prophecy, perhaps the choice of one word over another, could change the entire aspect of the future. He tells us ‘The vision of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow door.’ And always, he fought the temptation to choose a clear, safe course, warning ‘That path leads ever down into stagnation.’”
—From ‘Arrakis Awakening’
By the Princess Irulan

Well there’s a clue. Maud’Dib, previously known as Paul, can see the future, can see the pathways of human destiny, the warping and weaving of culture, the making of the world. That could open up some possibilities.

Yeah, possibilities. Imagine the world 20,000 years in the future, if we survive that long. What kind of a world would you come up with? Just more of this? More civilization, more money, more high powered relentless consumption. Or something very different. Something very, very, very different.

This book has got space travel in it but that’s about the only thing that’s different. Everything else is the same like nothing ever changed in 20,000 years. Fighting with each other over resources, using guns and knives in fact, like it was the Wild West. Greed, intrigue, betrayal - same as it always was. The human passions. And of course love, loyalty and bravery too.

Greed, intrigue, betrayal, love, loyalty and bravery. Never changes, never evolves apparantly. Same stupid reasons for the same stupid wars 20,000 years in the future? Fuck that. Excuse my language but it will be very, very, very different in 20,000 years if we survive. That’s my prophecy.

That’s all I got. Don’t really know if I got it. It would probably be helpful if I actually read the book. It does have some nice epigraphs.