Religion, resources, trust, self-control, death, long term vs short term, community vs individual, it's one of the best books of political philosophy I have ever read. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
I read it more than a decade ago, so memories are foggy, but IIRC I found the first very good, the second a load of crap, and then again two of the last four good and the other two bad (don't remember the sequence). The main distinction seemed whether the political manoeuvring was just handwaving or had a logic to it. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I really miss the hinted at 7th book after the 6th one. It was promising to be absolutely ecellent. Maybe his son has enough notes to create it (I quite like the work he's done with Anderson to write some of the earlier episodes - not as grand, maybe, but faithful to the style and atmosphere od his father and pretty good books). In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Now I have to take the time to re-read the original six... (if I can get my hands on copies). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I read the whole book aloud, once. Made for interesting discussions. Words and ideas I offer here may be used freely and without attribution.
It is a common occurrence in American publishing that if an author has a big hit, publishers push for a sequel. If that also does well they push for another book to make a trilogy. If that flies they push even harder to make a series and then they ride the series until they wear it out. I suspect that is what happened to Herbert. The ending of the third book where the main character (son or grandson of Muad'Dib?) basically wins all the chips and issues the stern prophesy about a regime that will last for a thousand years and that's the end of that, seemed to me to be a not so subtle piss-off to his publishers. I took him at his word and didn't bother reading any of the others. Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
I regularly re-read the original, but havent had the urge to reread the others since I first encounterd them. Perhaps it's time to re-read them all again Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
