Monday, December 5, 2016

Good Day!

I write to you from the Madison Public Library in Florida. I made it about 35 miles today before it got too dangerous to be on the road. I had planned on staying in Monticello another night, due to the forecasted thunderstorms, but saw that the weather was going to have a break for a few hours. I decided that 30ish miles was better than no-miles.

I spent most of the morning in Burger King! Oh how they entice me with their free coffee refills and wifi... I ended up just reading for most of the morning anyway. I'm about 60 pages shy of finishing the book I started at the beginning of the trip-Dune.

So, I think I'll use my power as "Blog-Master" to let you know what I think of the book. Here goes:

I started out a little hesitant to get into this book. My fellow Gannett Glacier comrades nudged me into it however, with their constant old-english accents and phrases. I knew I needed a book to bring with me on the trip. What I didn't know, is that my down-time didn't really occur as often as I thought it would. This resulted in two-months worth of cliff hangers. I would often have to reread previous chapters just to catch back up with where I left off.

Ok, ok, so back to the actual review of the book. Let me first say, I'm a little biased by my interest in Science fiction. I read the glossary and some of the appendixes first. This was the first novel I ever read that required me to actually research the terms and gain insight on the characters and environments. I think this helped keep my attention. Exploring this "World" that Frank Herbert (Author) created, was like swimming in a pool of some medium created outside the box, with just enough touches of home and reality to give me somewhat of an anchor point to start from.

About three chapters in, I realized that I was reading a book about a desert planet, Arrakis, while I was actually in a desert in California. This is when things started to get weird. Try pedaling out into the desert (completely different from the environment you came from) by yourself, and then reading a book about the dangerous life in a similar landscape. Every cacti took the form of some weirdly beast, and every grain of sand falling down a dune was the signal of fate to me. The cold nights and bright stars brought me to another world. I was on my own Arrakis.

The depth of character stories, coupled with the intrinsic description of emotions that were attached to those characters, was gripping. "A feint within a feint, within a feint." I'm glad I never watched the film ( from what I've heard, was done in the 80's and a horrible flop). Starting the book with child Paul, the protagonist, and following him on his path, has been a wild ride so far.

I will admit, the book does jump around a bit. The past, present, and future all start to blend together, and you begin to sense the same struggle that "Maud-Dib" faces. There were a few times when I didn't know what was a dream and what was reality. I kind of like that sort of thing though. The Philosophical side of me is drawn to it.

Would I read this book again? Yes, definitely. I'll be buying the second book in the series when I get home. I have heard that the first book is the best, but isn't that how it always is? I mean, with books and movies alike? But you still go to the theater and watch the movie. I will still go to amazon and buy the second book. So I guess you could say, I'm hooked on Dune.

Ok the library is closing now, so I need to go. Hope this short little "Review" has influenced you in one way or another.

Peace!