Dune by Frank Herbet
Having been gripped by the film it only made sense to me to expand my insight into the world of Dune.
The main focus of this fascination was the religion surrounding the myths of the book, and sects such as the Bene Gesserit. I was gripped by the philosophy underpinning the super human elements and wanted to know more about this element of the story. I think the scene that gripped me most in both the book and film concerning this was the test Paul must take to prove he is human (or in other words, strong minded and capable). I won't spoil it but this idea of feeble mindedness being a flaw of the inhuman, however much I disagree with it, captivated me and made me wonder what other kind of philosophies would arise from such a sect.
I was also taken my the story's take on environmentalism and how the universe functions as a whole. I think the intricacies of an eco system as described in the book are essentially what is followed today but I suppose the book takes it further by creating a whole religion and movement around it.
Now I've finished the first book (which was a mighty read) I'm curious to know more about the bene gesserit and what happened to Dune. There was so much about super human powers but I have no understanding of how these were developed. I'm also interested more in the positive philosophy Herbet tries to sell in the book to see how much I agree with it, or not.
