brucec@iddic.UUCP (Bruce W. Cheney) (01/15/85)
If you have read Dune and seen the movie now you should read the parody: DOON by Ellis Weiner. I found it to be hilarious, especially if the original book is fresh in your mind. In it, Pall Agamemnides is suspected of being the "Kumquat HaagenDasz", the desired result of the Boni Maroni breeding scheme. The parody has jest within jest within jest. Certainly the original Dune was "futuristic", but not by much. The parallels between oil and melange, Arab (moslem) and fremen, etc. seem quite obvious now, but from an early 1960's perspective they were prophetic of events of the next two decades. For a good BS session, try comparing Paul to Ayatollah Khomeini, with the Shah of Iran as the PadiSHAH Emperor SHAdam IV. How did Herbert know that was going to happen? Psycho-history? pSHAH !!!! Dune was rejected 13 times before being published. Pretty amazing for a book that is undisputably the BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL EVER WRITTEN (not necessarily the most popular ; the Bible still holds that title). iddic!brucec
mwm@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (02/01/85)
[Steak for dinner sometimes soon.] Just a short note to tell everybody that National Lampoon's "Doon" is worth your time and money. Especially if you saw the movie. The parody has more from Dune than the movie does. <mike