"The writing is dreadful; the book was terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character was afraid...

>"The writing is dreadful; the book was terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character was afraid, the author wrote instead that the character "swallowed in a dry throat." I began marking on the back of an envelope every time that phrase was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Herbert's mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that he has no other style of writing. Later I read a lavish, loving review of Dune by the same Ernest Cline. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are reading Dune at 11 or 12, then when they get older they will go on to read Ernest Cline." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you read "Dune" you are, in fact, trained to read Ernest Cline.

Why do plebs consider this literature?

If I had a dollar for every time Herbert used the word "presently" then I could have used that money to buy a better book.

>it’s bad because a phrase is repeated and it’s similar to other writings

So this dude can’t even think of a single criticism concerning the plot, or the world building, or any of the themes. He just doesn’t like that Herbert overused one phrase

Either good bait or new

user, OP's post is a meme. He slightly edited Harold Bloom's review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Well it was either a shit review or new critic

It's in your hands to make this thread not shit, anons. Come up with the "swallowed in a dry throat" of other books.

Genre fiction readers, everyone.

>world building
kek

Did anyone listen to the audiobook? I was super thrown off by the complete disparity in accents for the reader vs the actors. Why the fuck did they use actors anyway? The most egregious example is the baron, who goes from like James Earl Jones to withered white guy depending on who is reading him. Is this common in other audiobooks?

The actual bad tic in Dune's writing is the goddamned thinking in italics. I read the books as a pre-to-early-teen and even then it pissed me right off.

The story and Dune universe is cool but the writing sucks ass. I was blown away by how much better book of the new sun is

Discuss: the only decent character in Dune is Arrakis.

Correct. All the human characters are just a hairsbreadth away from being complete caricatures. Paul is also a pretty shitty protagonist imo. He's way op and kind of a narcissistic dick. I wasn't happy when he beat the emperor. Mostly felt sort of hollow, but maybe that's the point.

Isn't that the whole point? Dune is amazing as a book SERIES (at least the first 4). The first book is deliberately written like a YA adventure story with a cookie-cutter heros journey ancient prophecy chosen one plot. Then the author spends the next 3 books tearing apart society's need for hero worship. That was the entire point, to shit on the idea of the charismatic Ubermensch coming along and saving everybody.

So you recommend reading the rest of the series? I've heard they go to shit pretty quickly, and I dunno if I want to put in the effort to keep on going.

The common consensus is that you don't "get it" until you finish god emperor. I say read something you can "get" in less than 2000 pages.

It can't be worse than Robert E. Howard and the word supple. Every single Conan story I have read has it.
>Conan is supple
>The girl is supple
>The light is supple
I think at one point he described a weapon as supple. Stories are still good though

That was entirely the point. I don't see Paul as someone you should apire to or like. In fact, none of the characters are, really. They have good points and bad points. Like real people.

>"shit, fuck, chrissake" -- Stephen king

I'm actually not contemptuous of him all. the Harold Bloom meme review of Harry Potter hasn't been brought up in a while, and, if anything, you and I should feel embarrassed for going on Veeky Forums so much we instantly recognize it as pasta/a meme.

JG Ballard uses the word 'deliquesce' more times than you'd think possible, although to be fair mainly in The Crystal World.

I know this is bait but I actually didn't like Dune. The characters were wafer-thin even by sci-fi standards and weren't coherently constructed besides. Spice is a cheap stand-in for oil and the whole thing reeked of Mary Stu power-fantasy indulgence.

Nice bait, faggot.

Thanks, friend :)

Brainlet.

What do you mean 'the characters'?

This is the problem with modern fiction, way too much time spent on dialogue not enough on physical actions. Dune and Lord of the Rings and Watership Down are all examples of amazing fantasy. And this was because they created a world, a religion, an entire universe and history and backstory based on everything that their characters went through. Screw personalities, screw the fanciful cinematic sequences, give me something that cannot be replicated in a theater. Give me such a detailed account of a battle that I might re-read the chapter just to understand what has actually occurred. Give me politics, give me laws and spirituality. Give me religion.

Your modern fantasy/sci-fi will give you personalities, different monsters/races, and then tell you some that happens during the story, but not be arsed to create a good backstory.

But I digress. I try not to read too much fiction anyway, the stuff is a bit time-consuming and time is limited.

The only good genres in literature, movies and video games are the Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi and Western genres. Nothing else is worthwhile.

>I'm going to write like shit but on purpose! Then I'll show everyone it's shit and they'll say I'm a genius!

Dune is one of those books that should be read. I can't imagine it being worth listening to, it would be difficult to follow and things would be missed.

>the whole thing reeked of Mary Stu power-fantasy indulgence.
If anything it was a deconstruction of that because by the end paul doesn't give a shit about anything and everyone who used to see him as a person and be close to him either worships or fears him or both.

Oh boy. I just spent $130 on the Folio edition. Looks like I'll have to throw it away in the trash.

the entire 'YA' genre didn't really exist when Dune was written

>power fantasy indulgence

I immediately discount any criticism that uses this. The entire series is a criticism of hero worship and power fantasy. Paul is the most powerful being in the galaxy and he is utterly enslaved by his power, his visions control him, not the other way around.

Ive only read the first two so far, but I liked the second one better.

Just wish it had more Jessica in it. I want a magic witch milf

I know this is an edited pasta, but it should've used the word 'betrayed'

not a book, but I'm single handedely responsible for 75-80% of the usage of the word "qualia" on Veeky Forums in general. certain words just resonate with people.

Messiah > Heretics > Dune > God Emperor > Children
Never got to read Chapterhouse

God Emperor > Dune > Messiah > Children > Heretics > Chapterhouse

>Planet is stressed as being a desert planet without equal on which water is the second most valuable resource
>WHY IS THE MAN ALWAYS SAYING THE CHARACTERS HAVE DRY THROATS??

Redpill me on God Emperor. It is a self-proclaimed book on a millennial stagnation, the transhumanist parts and the political philosophy dialogues were interesting to read but the story is spread too thin and gives little insights as to how Leto actually implemented his politics
Messiah and Children were high on "Paul did this and that but he ended up creating this type of men, maybe he fully realized it maybe he didn't" content, while God-Emperor's recollection parts read more as "I wanted to created this type of man because muh Golden Path so I did"
The whole aspect of the secret diaries and them being found centuries later gives a nice prospect to it all but it reads as still too static for a novel, I'd unironically have loved the "what I expected" panel in more

>either heads or tails, you heard it here first!

But that's one of the best parts.

>Why do plebs consider this literature?
Because it's fucking excellent.