4 ms·

For me its just that you have to get through a lot of world/universe building before anything really happens. I struggle with books that want me to learn about

For me its just that you have to get through a lot of world/universe building before anything really happens. I struggle with books that want me to learn about insert alien history before telling me why i need to care about this specific alien race. But I'm going to read the book now. Normally having a visual to put to the words helps me get through that stuff.

the_af 5y ago
> you have to get through a lot of world/universe building before anything really happens I'm re-reading the novel right now and there really isn't that much world-building. It's a slow burn (in a very short novel), but akin to the set up to the drama in, say, Hamlet; characters making their moves and preparing their traps, and it bears fruit in the second half. The world building is way less complex than Lord of the Ring or A Game of Thrones. I know people also complain about those, but they are also wildly successful novels so they must be doing something right. Way less obscure than Dune, in any case.
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  You asked why people find it difficult to pick up them dismissed the reason I gave... Your experience is not universal.
  - the_af 5y ago
    I'm not dismissing your opinion. I understand a lot of people share it, otherwise they wouldn't find Dune a difficult book. I'm just puzzled because it doesn't match my own experience.
kgwxd 5y ago
Same for me. I've always had a hard time reading sci-fi because of all that, especially everyone and everything having impossible to pronounce names. I started reading it a few months ago. Linus Torvalds mentioned that he often rereads it in some interview, and I was looking for a new book to start so I went with that. I was unaware there was an existing movie or a new one coming out. It was a rough start, I gave up on it a few times but ultimatley kept with it. The timing was perfect. I ended up getting to the part just before where the movie ends so when I watched it, the book was fresh in my mind and the ideas and character traits that are only hinted at in the movie were clear to me, and I got to experience a bit of the story for the first time through the movie.

the_af 5y ago

> you have to get through a lot of world/universe building before anything really happens I'm re-reading the novel right now and there really isn't that much world-building. It's a slow burn (in a very short novel), but akin to the set up to the drama in, say, Hamlet; characters making their moves and preparing their traps, and it bears fruit in the second half. The world building is way less complex than Lord of the Ring or A Game of Thrones. I know people also complain about those, but they are also wildly successful novels so they must be doing something right. Way less obscure than Dune, in any case.

AlwaysRock 5y ago
You asked why people find it difficult to pick up them dismissed the reason I gave... Your experience is not universal.
- the_af 5y ago
  I'm not dismissing your opinion. I understand a lot of people share it, otherwise they wouldn't find Dune a difficult book. I'm just puzzled because it doesn't match my own experience.

kgwxd 5y ago

Same for me. I've always had a hard time reading sci-fi because of all that, especially everyone and everything having impossible to pronounce names. I started reading it a few months ago. Linus Torvalds mentioned that he often rereads it in some interview, and I was looking for a new book to start so I went with that. I was unaware there was an existing movie or a new one coming out. It was a rough start, I gave up on it a few times but ultimatley kept with it. The timing was perfect. I ended up getting to the part just before where the movie ends so when I watched it, the book was fresh in my mind and the ideas and character traits that are only hinted at in the movie were clear to me, and I got to experience a bit of the story for the first time through the movie.