Finally, it’s over.

But was it worth it? And why did I put up with it?

On Amazon, Dune has 99000 or so reviews, 97% of them five-star. I had to read this stupid book just in the interest of science, to see whether I should trust a large number of positive reviews in 2024.

It turns out, my poor opinion of this book is also, indirectly, an indictment of the intellects of those people who found the book worth five stars.

There’s a major element of truth in what one likes, the other may shun. People differ, and this is a fact. But it’s also true that only similar people like similar things. I guess my disliking Dune makes me, at the very least, dissimilar to those reviewers who liked Dune.

But is there anything to like?

Herbert may have been able to impress the poor, semi-literate reader who has no idea about other countries, cultures, and religions, but to me, his invokation of Paul and the Fremens was not only tiresome and bad art, but also direct cultural plagiarism, taken wholesale from the Arabs and certain aspects of Islam.

He took the story of Islam, twisted it a bit to mask the similarities, kept some of the jargon, added some of his own, and added other stuff he most probably plagiarized from other books, to make it ‘original’.

But disregarding my disdain for his covert plagiarism, and assuming he did not (it’s hard to assume he did not!), is there any merit in anything else in Dune?

Well, one reviewer said the spice, Melange, had a draw factor, as it turned one’s eyes blue and was a sought-after commodity. But to me it sure seems like stealing the idea of marijuana or coffee–it’s not original. Turns eyes blue? The author of Dracula had beat him to it with the idea of adding color to eyes. Others may have had this idea even earlier.

The logic of the story is convoluted and confabulated, and you have to read some pages twice to make sense of it.

There’s no art in the book, no cleverness, the language is limpid, and the tone haggard and boring.

That’s why I give a zero-star f rating: total failure.

I want my time and my money back.