Praise

I love books. A lot. However, this statement, being a generalization, has the capacity to be incredibly untrue. There are books I think are okay; some that I respect enough to finish, but not enough to stock in my personal collection; even a couple of books that I've really rather hated. Then again, there are the books that are so completely brilliant and amazing that I can't help but love them until their pages turn brown and break down from too many messy fingerprints, and the spine becomes so worn that the slightest nudge will cause it to fold open like a fan. Usually, it takes time for a books to be able to demonstrate my affections in this way, but for hometown hero (Tacoma, represent!) Frank Herbert's Dune, this transformation has taken place only in the stretch between two summers.

Originally, for me, it was one of three book recommendations from my father. I asked him for interesting science fiction reading material, after having enjoyed Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game in Freshman English, and I recieved what he dubbed "practically the trifecta of SciFi literature". This grouping included the first of Issac Asimov's Foundation series, William Gibson's Nueromancer, and Dune. Out of the three, the only one that fitted my sensibilities was Dune, and when I say I enjoyed it, I mean thoroughly. (It's own cover dubs it "Science Fiction's Supreme Masterpeice", and even though I don't have that much experience in the field, I would like to agree :) ). It is currently the Number One book I recommend to friends, and one that I can always count on for entertainment, regardless of how many times I read it.

I would also like to briefly note the irony of the fact that I finished this past rereading just as a summer storm was coming to fruition. (Dune is set on the desert world of Arrakis).

Anyways, what I'm trying to get at is there are many reasons why I choose to make the statement that I love books (a lot), and Dune is one of them. So you really need to read it. Like, now. (Besides, it's summer, and the frequent mentions of "sand" and "heat" make it a reasonably appropriate beach read :) ).