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multiplicity in fiction: Dune
Oct. 20th, 2006 08:35 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
chipmunk-planet.livejournal.comIf you've never read the Dune series by Frank Herbert, go out and read them. Not the prequels, they were written after his death and stink. Start with Dune, written in I believe 1965. It is a classic, arguably the best SF book ever written.
Dune itself is about the dangers of prescience, but what interests me greatly about this series is its attention to the topic of multiplicity. Due to breeding there came to be a class of women who have access to their ancestors' memories, with the help of a substance known as melange (or the spice). This group's goal was to breed a male that could do this, and the first book deals with this quite a bit. But something went wrong and Paul could see the future as well (It wasn't clear about whether he had access to his ancestors' memories too, but it suggests at the end of the third book that he did). His children and sister, though, clearly had access to all their ancestors' memories, and the next two books, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, go into this a lot. Of the two, Children of Dune is written the best.
I just finished re-reading Children of Dune last night, and as with every time I read this, I'm struck with how the author portrays the experience of being a community. The only thing he doesn't have with his characters is losing time (which is what disabled me -- I had a job where I just couldn't lose time and work). One of the issues these people face is that an evil ancestor in each case tries to take over the collective, something called Abomination. One character loses the battle and becomes possessed, the other two make bargains with the group inside and remain mostly themselves. I found that concept frightening in abstract, but not too applicable (after all, our people are just us, not some weird ancestor from the past ... imagine if you descended from Ghengis Khan or something!) For me, the task is to understand these parts of myself and become a more well-rounded person, something that was taken from me as a child.
In any case, it's not too often that the experience of life as a community is portrayed in such a positive manner. It's strange that I've never seen anyone comment on this, as it plays such a huge role in the series.
Dune itself is about the dangers of prescience, but what interests me greatly about this series is its attention to the topic of multiplicity. Due to breeding there came to be a class of women who have access to their ancestors' memories, with the help of a substance known as melange (or the spice). This group's goal was to breed a male that could do this, and the first book deals with this quite a bit. But something went wrong and Paul could see the future as well (It wasn't clear about whether he had access to his ancestors' memories too, but it suggests at the end of the third book that he did). His children and sister, though, clearly had access to all their ancestors' memories, and the next two books, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, go into this a lot. Of the two, Children of Dune is written the best.
I just finished re-reading Children of Dune last night, and as with every time I read this, I'm struck with how the author portrays the experience of being a community. The only thing he doesn't have with his characters is losing time (which is what disabled me -- I had a job where I just couldn't lose time and work). One of the issues these people face is that an evil ancestor in each case tries to take over the collective, something called Abomination. One character loses the battle and becomes possessed, the other two make bargains with the group inside and remain mostly themselves. I found that concept frightening in abstract, but not too applicable (after all, our people are just us, not some weird ancestor from the past ... imagine if you descended from Ghengis Khan or something!) For me, the task is to understand these parts of myself and become a more well-rounded person, something that was taken from me as a child.
In any case, it's not too often that the experience of life as a community is portrayed in such a positive manner. It's strange that I've never seen anyone comment on this, as it plays such a huge role in the series.
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