Wednesday 26 March 2014

Week 10: Frank Herbert - Dune



Narratives from the Multi-verse




I read Dune by Frank Herbert. Dune is a complex piece of literary work dealing with a time period in the not so distant future. The story explores a lot of fascinating themes like religion and power and the need humans have to control their environment. I thought it was an intriguing notion that “Dune” addressed religion in a way that it was such a prominent feature within the novel. Thinking about it more, I realize how little other things within the sci-fi genre touch on religion. Looking more into it I realized that Herbert actually held a different outlook on religion as an institution, as opposed to his contemporaries. Hebert’s outlook on the future and religion’s place within it has religion and politics heavily intertwined, much like our time right now in my opinion, whereas other science fiction writers wrote of religion being an outdated institution that would lose all functionality when the future approached. I think in part that’s why  he’s such a critically acclaimed author because he wasn’t afraid to point out that religion wasn’t just a faint or new idea and that years in the future it could very well still be a crucial player in our day to day affairs. I also think it’s brilliant how his story seems to be making observations about life in his day even though it’s told through the efforts of a futuristic story. For instance the idea of the Fremen being controlled by religion seems to be a good way of highlighting the way cults work and how charismatic religious leaders can sometimes exploit the religious for their own ends. Herbert’s outlook on religion, as implied by Dune, is that when mixed with power and greed it could be the most detrimental thing to a person’s way of life, in which I agree.

Another interesting concept that Herbert addresses within “Dune” is the idea of humanity having power over the environment. Within the novel an ecologist by the name of Kynes is determined to altar the harsh desert climate of Arrakis into a more lush tropical one, a dream that Paul is more than happy to continue with after Kyne’s death. No one seems to question whether it is right to completely altar the eco-system and typical planetary conditions, that have kept numerous animals alive on the planet. This brings to mind the way we, as a whole, treat the planet we live on today. Herbert seems to be trying to point out that the way we are treating our planet will only hurt us  in the future. Although the repercussions are blind to us presently, though we are slowly starting to become more aware, we mustn’t take it upon ourselves to completely altar the ecological makeup of our environment because we will surely pay for them later. It’s themes like these that I think propelled Herbert’s book far above it’s time and is why it has gained the reputation as one of the greatest sci-fi writers. He addressed ideologies that I don’t think a lot of science fiction writers were thinking about at the time.

I also really enjoyed the movie, which we watched in class.  I have seen the movie before many many years ago with my grandpa and it was really nice to see the movie again and to read the book and be reminded of the times that it was just me and my grandpa with milk and cookies, sitting on the couch watching Dune.

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Week 9: Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination



Space Opera



I think that Space Opera allows the viewer to imagine what our future will really be like and all of the possibilities of mankind, while equally allowing us to reflect on our current state. I found this book to be a very interesting read, it delved into a lot of social and political issues and really explored how far one person would go to exact revenge. It is quite an interesting story being told. The main character, Foyle, is intense, to say the least. He is a character that you as the reader both root for and despise at the same time.  At first he was easy to identify with, the feeling of mediocrity, nothing makes him special or stand out, until he becomes possessed by revenge, and that is when I thought he took a turn for the worse. some of Foyle's actions make him quite a shocking character. Foyle is brutal and often it is hard to remember he is the protagonist. I found it an interesting notion that up until the point where Foyle was enraptured in retribution he was a common place man with no ambition whatsoever but his embitterment empowered him. It seems like one of those things where the protagonist needed to find something to draw strength from and although revenge was good fuel at the time, it ended up costing him a lot more than it was worth in the end.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Week 8: Neil Gaiman - Stardust



Mythic Fiction & Contemporary Urban Fantasy




I chose to read Stardust, which proved to be an interesting read, because I have seen the movie and loved it. Truthfully, I had no idea that it was a book before it was a movie. The movie version of Stardust, for me, is the ultimate feel good movie. So naturally when we were given the opportunity to read a Neil Gaiman novel, I jumped at the chance to read this book. The book was an excellent read, though very different in major ways from the movie, like most novel to film movies. I think the production of the movie did what it could to make it a more visually appropriate story, which I personally don’t mind because sometimes you just have to what with time constraints and the attention span of the viewer.  Though I feel if I had read the book before I had watched the movie that those changes would have irked me a lot more then they did.

I personally enjoyed the movie more than the book. Though I did still find the book interesting the characters were given more 'weight' within the movie than they were in the book. In the book some of the characters feel very one-dimensional as though they had no real purpose. For example the sky pirates who rescued them in the book were there with the intention of finding them a way out of the clouds and taking them part of the way so they could arrive at their destination much sooner, but in the movie the sky pirates did much more than that by also teaching teaching Tristran things like how to fight etc. and in the movie that was also the true turning point in the way Yvaine felt about Tristran. Which bring me to another issue that I had with the book, the relationship between Tristran and Yvaine happened kind of matter of fact-ly and didn’t seem to grow and flow naturally, I was very disappointed in how it happened. As a whole I did enjoy it, though there are some things that I personally found lacking but that might have to do with me watching the movie before reading the book, and I would defiantly suggest reading it, especially if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's writing.