Dune Dissection Chapter Two

Dune Chapter 2 To attempt an understanding of Muad'Dib without understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens, is to attempt to see the Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without Knowing Darkness. It cannot be.
~ from "Manual of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

In the second chapter, we meet the Enemy.

A hugely overweight man and

Quote: dark-haired youth of about sixteen years, round of face and with sullen eyes

along with

Quote: a slender, short man with an effeminate face

are looking at a high tech globe of tthe planet Arrakis. We soon learn that the big man is the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the youth is named Feyd-Rautha Harkonne, the Baron's heir, and the short guy is named Piter, who is identified as a mentat assassin.

They are discussing the Emperor giving Arrakis to the Atreides. We learn that the Baron has offered a peace meeting to Leto Atriedes and been refused. It soon becomes clear that somehow the Baron has manipulated things so that the Emperor ordered the Atreides to exchange Caladan for Arrakis, and that this is some sort of revenge plot upon the Duke by the Baron. The Harkonnen have an agent named Dr. Yueh who will soon bring the Atreides to their doom. When asked why not just have Yueh kill Leto right now, the Baron says it must be done on a larger scale, so that all of the Great Houses and the Atreides will know that he has brought the Atreides down.

The mentat reminds the Baron that he was promised the Lady Jessica as his reward for his part in the plans. The mentat and the Baron bicker like an old married couple, then the Baron has the mentat describe the big plan to Feyd.

In a few days the Atreides will be moving to Arrakis. It is thought that they will live in Arrakeen, as that city is most defensible. They believe that the Atreides will move into the Residency, previously home to Count Fenring (the Imperial Ambassador) and his Lady. The house has already been booby trapped for assassination attempts upon Paul. The Harkonnen agent is Dr. Yueh, but he has a special conditioning thought to be unbreakable. The Harkonnens have indeed broken it, but no one will ever suspect him as he has the Imperial Conditioning. They will make it look like Lady Jessica should be suspected instead. They will also have some uprisings in garrison towns to add to the stress and confusion. As soon as the Duke finally starts feeling secure, they will signal Yueh, and he will betray the Duke just as the planet is secretly invaded by Imperial Sardaukar (Imperial troopers).

Because House Harkonnen is doing the dirty work of the Imperium, they will be given back Arrakis, as well as a directorship in something called CHOAM, which will make them wealthy beyond dreams.

They will have it all -- wealth, power, a dirty secret (the Sardaukar involvement) to hold against the Emperor, and the public credit for the desctruction of their great enemies -- the Atreides.

Dune Dissection chapter one

A new beginning: Dune chapter one! A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then, take care that you first place him in his time; born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most speacial care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.
~ from "Manual of Muad"Dib" by the Princess Irulan

The ruling family of the planet Caladan is leaving in one week for the planet Arrakis. They have ruled Caladan for 26 generations; more than 500 years by our reckoning of generations, which each lasting about twenty years. Few ruling families on Earth have ever lasted so long!

As our novel opens, a fifteen year old boy named Paul is in his bed, and he overhears his mother, the Lady Jessica, having a conversation with a visitor, an old woman whose shadow reminds him of a witch. His mother, the concubine of a duke and mother to that duke's heir, treats the old woman with a great deference. Mysterious words like Kwizatch Haderach and gom jabbar are used. Paul wonders about this very strange conversation as he falls asleep and dreams a dream he knows will predict the future. The dream is set upon the world his family is leaving their homeworld to rule - Arrakis, the desert world known as Dune.

Some things become clear in Paul's thoughts. The move to Arrakis is both a great victory for his royal house, Atreides, and a great danger. His father is a very popular man among the Great Houses, and is seen as a possible threat by the powers that be. Paul is overprotected and lonely on Caladan, and it does not seem that he will miss the world of his birth. And Paul's mother has trained him in great mental discipline, and in something called the Bene Gesserit way.

In the morning Jessica comes for her son, to take him to the old woman, who turns out to be the Reverand Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, and the Emperor's own truth sayer. Jessica is afraid. The Rev. Mother is peevish from her journey, and fusses in her mind about Jessica having a boy rather than a girl, as she had been ordered to do. It immediately makes you wonder about people who have the power to order around the pregnancies of a woman who is the mate of the man who rules a planet. The old woman looks at Paul, and sees his ancestors in his face and coloring, including a maternal grandfather who cannot be named. Makes you wonder if that "cannot be named" means he is unknown, or if there is something deeper and more mysterious going on...

The old woman sends Jessica away, and calls Paul over to her. She has him stick his hand in a black box which produces pain, then sticks a needle coated with a deadly poison against his neck. That needle is the gom jabbar. And being able to stand there as his hand feels as if it is being burned off without moving (if he moves the needle will kill him) is the test of whether or not he is human!

Paul passes the test, with the help of the mind exercises his mother has taught him. The old woman admits she used more pain on him than on anyone she had previously tested, and she gets excited when she learns he can tell whether or not someone is telling the truth. She wnders, in her thoughts, if he could be the one?

The old woman tells Paul to sit at her feet, as his mother did as a girl, but he refuses.

A relieved Jessica is called back into the room, and a brief conversation takes place about an ancient revolt called the Butlerian Jihad that set humans free from their enslavement by thinking machines. Paul is told that the Bene Gesserit comes down from those days, with a beginning as a group which trained human minds to replace the machine mind overlords. One purpose is politics, another for sorting people into humans from animals for breeding purposes. One of the goals of the breeding is to produce the Kwisatch Haderach, a man who can function like a Bene Gesserit who has used a special truth drug, but who can mentally go places the women cannot.

Thus far, any male who has tried to do this has died from the testing.

first snow of the season

Yesterday I saw my first snowflakes  of this winter while driving to work, and some more on the way home, and then some more this morning when I looked out the window when I woke up. Nothing is sticking to the ground yet, but it is cold enough for the snow to stick if it arrives in sufficient quantity. The high will be below freezing today. At least the sun is trying to peek out from behind the cloud cover, which is always very welcome at this time of year.

Last night was the one night of the year when they open the store at work for people who work the off shifts. It normally closes at 1530. It was mobbed. A lot of people like to buy high end electronics there, as the price is comparable with electronic stores, and you do not have to pay state sales tax on your purchases because it is a federal store. It is the VA's answer to a military PX. I bought a new stereo system for my bedroom, because the CD player portion of the old one died several months ago. I can now finish my Mahler quest with the last two symphonies I had not had a chance to listen to, the seventh and eighth. The old system went into Bill's room. He doesn't mind having a good radio to listen to in there, and maybe someday Dan can figure out why the CD player doesn't work, if he ever finds time to look at it.

I got to have Bill home for lunch today. He has a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so he dropped off at home for some soup before heading into Ann Arbor and the doctor's office. It was great seeing him. I hate not being able to see the kids during the week because of my screwy work schedule. It's like being divorced and the noncustodial parent, even though I live in the same house! I usually only get to see them two nights (Friday and Saturday) and two days (Saturday and Sunday up to the afternoon) a week. And then they are usually busy with sports. Dan gets to see them everyday, and has never been able to understand why vacations are so important to me. It's the only time I can see him and the kids without either his business or their sports controlling everything. For him its a nice break to get away from the kids for a few hours. For me its a nice break to be able to see them!

winter is here!

Monday was my older son's birthday. He turned 17. It's hard to believe that this is the age he will be when he graduates high school and begins college! It always puts me in awe when I think that this wonderful young man, with all of his intelligence and his gentleness and determination was once a tiny little being growing underneath my heart. We had a good day on Monday. We had a nice dinner (I made him four cheese biscuits - we loves fresh baking) and we gave him books and music and a new video game for the Gamecube.

Now that my long weekend is over, I am feeling rather blue, though that might also be due to the weather.

Winter has snuck in over the last couple of weeks. I told the kids on the day we were up in Holt that the season was turning. Yesterday we had torrential rain for hours and hours, and the winds were roaring so loudly all night it was hard to fall asleep. I made the mistake of driving home on the freeway instead of the country roads, and the winds were so strong they blew the semitruck in front on me into the next lane. Of course, my Jeep was also all over the road. But I made it home safe and sound, and we didn't have any trees come down in the yard, and we did not lose our power. Nor did we have a tornado, as happened one county to the south!

I finished watching Sex and the City this morning. I have been slowly working my way through the dvd's for at least a couple of months now. While I know some people wouldn't be able to deal with the nudity and language (and its certainly nothing you want to watch while the kids are at home), I hugely enjoyed it. It tells the story of four women friends in New York City and how they learn to love. One has to get over the illusion that "perfection" is the same thing as love. She thinks that love is having everything perfect - good looking rich husband, perfect white wedding, perfect apartment, etc. One has to get over the illusion that grand romantic gestures mean love. One has to get over the illusion that great sex is the same as love. One simply has to get over her own fear of emotional intimacy and rejection. What do the girls (and their mates) learn? Love is what you have when you find the person who will stand by you through anything. Love is the person you can laugh with. Love has nothing whatsoever to do with physical looks or profession. Love is the person who celebrates your success, as much as his/her own. Love is forgiving. Love is giving extra chances. Love is when someone accepts you as you are - warts, extra pounds, too much or too little hair, and all.

Quiet Weekend Days at Home

Day four of a five day weekend. I had a very peaceful and pleasant day at home with the kids.  Dan and Bill went out and raked leaves all day (Steven and I were exempt due to allergies) and Stevie and I worked inside the house. I helped Bill with his admissions essays to the University of Michigan, and his applications to Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University are ready to go out tomorrow. That UM application is a massive undertaking and pain in the butt, though. Might take a couple more weeks on that one. Three essays are a bit much! I also baked some pumpkin bread.

I have been spending a lot of time reading the George Martin book, A Feast For Crows. Am very happy to read it, and have been greatly enjoying it. I've been craving it for five years, and am savoring every word in it. I am glad there will probably be only a year to the next book in the series, the twin to this one, A Dance with Dragons.

I have not been able to work much on my NaNoWriMo story this week, but am still happy I was able to start writing again. The seed of  what could be a very good story is there, if I find time to polish it up a bit.

Tomorrow is Bill's birthday.

Meeting the Great Writer George R. R. Martin

I live about ten miles from Ann Arbor, where George R.R. Martin did a book signing tonight.

While driving in, there was unnaturally bad traffic for the couple of miles from the freeway to the campus area. We're talking worse than rush hour bad traffic. We're talking as bad as a UM home football game traffic. We're talking bumper to bumper here. Dan was teasing me and saying that all of these people were heading to Borders for the Martin reading. As we got closer to the bookstore, and it became clear that everyone was heading to the Martin signing, it wasn't funny any more.

At Borders they gave out colored tickets depending on what time you arrived. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there. I have no idea how many hundreds, as so many people were everywhere, not only in the open area where they had set up chairs for the reading (the chairs were all filled and so was the standing space) but all of the shelving units in that part of the store, including those behind the podium, were all filled with people. I stood behind a shelving unit filled with dvd's and peeked over the top to be able to see GRRM. Pretty much the whole second floor of a building that takes up most of a city block was filled with people.

Martin was very surprised to see so many people. He was surprised that he was completely encircled. "There are so many of you and you are all around me!" His talk was warm and funny. He gestures a lot with his hands. He talked about previous trips to Ann Arbor when he was a college student at Northwestern and he would come over for football games. He talked about when he started out as a writer he couldn't pay his bills on what he made with his pen, so he also had a job running chess tournaments, and Ann Arbor was one of his regular stops.

In reaction to the large crowd, he told a funny story about how the smallest crowd he ever had at a signing was -4 (that's right; negative four) in downtown St. Louis for A Game of Thrones.

He spoke of how he thinks of A Song of Ice and Fire as a symphony with the individual books as the movements and the characters as the instruments.

He spoke of the notorious originally planned "five year gap" and why he had to scrap it, and restart the book, and how that delayed the book. He spoke of why the book had to be split into two. He said that he hopes to be back in Ann Arbor this time next year to do a signing for A Dance with Dragons, and that he hopes to be done with the series in about six years and a total of seven books (four of the seven are now out and he is well on his way with the fifth), but he admitted it might take more than six years. He would like to write some science fiction and horror again someday, after he finishes this series.

He took questions from the audience.

He does not see them ever being able to make a movie, though he said he would consider it for a large dumptruck filled with money (that was a joke). He pointed out that LOTR in its entirety is shorter than ASOS alone. If LOTR took three long movies to film, it would take more and longer movies for ASOIAF. He says that a miniseries is also unlikely, due to the length of the material, as these days many miniseries are only four hours long.

He loves all of his characters, including the bad guys, but his favorite character to write is Tyrion, as he is witty and active and emotionally tortured. His least favorite to write is Bran, as he is the youngest so you have to look at every word to see if an eight year old would know it and every situation to try to see it as an eight year old would understand it, he is crippled and therefore more reactive than active, and his chapters have the most magic thus far. Martin compared magic in fantasy novels to anchovies on pizza. A little adds flavor and spice, too much can overwhelm it.

When he writes he will write chunks for one character at a time. Perhaps he will write 2-3 Jon chapters, then will find something he has to write in another character's POV to go with what he just wrote for Jon, so then he will work on a couple of that character's chapters. And when he puts them together in the books, he will often change their order several times before he finds the optimum order, which will make him do minor rewrites to fit them in together just right.

Someone asked why the seasons are so messed up. Martin said he couldn't give an answer necause that would be telling! He did say that there would eventually be an answer in one of the books, and the answer would be a fantasy (as opposed to a science fiction/science based) answer.

He has a good chunk (I seem to remember over 500 pages) done in A Dance with Dragons and he has part of a third Dunk & Egg novella also finished.

Then came the two hour wait (I was in the middle color of the five colors used; some people had a considerably longer wait) to get my copy autographed. People had come from all over the place to get to this signing. It was interesting talking to them in line. It was also torture, as the line snaked through the music section, and I saw many jazz and classical CD's I would have liked to have looked at more closely. When I finally got up to the table, Martin was very warm and friendly and happy. I am a very shy person but he put me to ease right away.

I'm going to go read my book now.

Good and Bad; Ups and Downs

In the great pattern of my life, every moment of great joy has to be followed by a lot of crap. It is just the way things always seem to work out. In this case, it was joy over how all of one of my son's years of hard work paid off in Holt last weekend.

The crap is that the same son was having his first asthmatic episode in years in the wrestling room just a couple of nights later. He started wheezing and couldn't get up off of the mat for a few minutes. That same day I had called to work due to allergy problems. The next day the same son had was running a fever and had a nasty infected area on his knee, complete with oozing pus. So for his thirteenth birthday yesterday, I got to take him into the doctor. His breathing was OK -- they checked his lungs and he's just a little under average for his weight and age in how much air he can move in and out (I shudder at that, considering he's a top athlete) and he was put on antibiotics for the skin infection. I kept him home for rest of the day, and made him his favorite dinner and let him just relax and have fun all day and evening long. I even let him stay up until midnight since it was his birthday, even though it was a school night. The excitement came when I had my own asthmatic episode, and the kids had to run to get my rescue inhaler. I was laughing really hard and my lungs didn't want to work right. There are a lot worse ways to go than laughing yourself to death, if it ever comes to that.

Bill had his soccer banquet this week. It was bittersweet for him, as he is now a former Big Red soccer player. One of his fellow seniors, a gifted goal tender, has been offered a full soccer scholarship at a local university, and that was great! The coach said that pound for pound, Bill was the most aggresive and tough soccer player we've ever had in this town. They always did like to put him into games to knock opponents on their butts! They gave special medals to the seniors this year, something they've never done before. When these young men were freshmen four years ago, the team did not win a single game. But they stuck with it for four years, and in this, their senior year, the team won most of its games (had the best record in the history of the school) and was state ranked for the last five weeks of the season. So the medals were a way of saying thank you to these players for sticking with it. It's easy to stay with a championship team. It's not so easy to come back after a disaster like their freshman year.

I have tried one last time to try to work things out with a friend who things went sour with last December. This will probably be the last time I try. The person is very dear to me, but how many times must one person have to be rejected? Hot and cold, friendly and not, and the most mixed signals in the world. I do not know how to take this person, I do not know how to fix things, I do not understand this person. I do not understand where this person is ever coming from. But I do miss our friendship. I miss the laughter. I miss the kindness. I miss the smiles.

edited: Just heard back from former friend. Rejected yet again. That is it. There is no point in trying anymore, or ever again. One more load of crap to balance out the joy. I am not angry with this person -- we each did a lot to hurt the other, and most (if not all) of it was unintentional. A lot of snowballing pain and the like... This person simply might not be ready to try again to be friends. If this former friend wants to be friends, or needs me for anything, I will be there. But any further attempts have to come from that end, not my end. I have tried, but have obviously struck out.