Member-only story
I Read Dune at 15 to Look Smart. I Reread It as a Dad.
Teenage me saw a story about becoming a hero. Adult me found a story about the people who have to watch him
I first read Dune when I was in high school. I walked through the school hallways with the book in hand (even though I had a backpack over one shoulder) so that people would know: I’m the type of guy who reads dense science fiction.
Reading it then, I related a lot to Paul. I was also a scrawny, white, 15-year-old boy. I could imagine myself on the surface of Arrakis, forced into a harrowing life of survival and grit.
It felt similar to other stories I was used to. Like Luke Skywalker being thrust into an interplanetary adventure because his family was killed.
Spoilers by the way… In case you haven’t seen Star Wars…
I didn’t know it at the time, but there was a lot that went over my head in Dune. This was 2002, so we weren’t chronically online, devouring Reddit threads and every hot take imaginable on social media. There were no rabbit holes to go down. All I knew was that the book was popular.
So when I went onto the second book, Dune Messiah, I was bored. Where were the duels? The battles? The death and destruction?
