Dune

About ten minutes ago I finished Dune.

What a sudden ending. "Well, I've wrapped up all I absolutely must," I imagine Herbert saying to himself. "I think I'll just quit writing, then."

What a strange play of ethics and philosophies across the different characters. A framework of existence is set up at the beginning of any story - an orientation of the reader to its word - and one sympathizes with the place of the protagonist in that framework. Yet here the protagonist himself begins to doubt if he believes what was set forth, shifts his place as the story evolves, leaving the reader to consider with seriousness the moral confusion rather than adhering to a hero's unchanging "side."

Coming-of-age stories are so often linear, with challenges to be overcome that test the adolescent's abilities, but not his identity, foundations, assumptions. Harry Potter never deviated from moral true, never had to question his very aims. Dune, by contrast, was a story containing real growth and maturation.

I look forward to reading the appendices.