Jul 10th 1-2-3: A Man and His Hunger for Spice
Welcome back to the compendium! For today’s entry, quite frankly I had no clue what to write about, and as my mind slowly drifted into thought of some of my own stories, I began to think of my favorite book of all time.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks “I should write about dune!”. So without further due, What’s the story behind Dune?
1: A Man And His Hunger For Spice ( 4 minute read )
Herbert briefly attended the University of Washington only to conclude his time there without obtaining any degree. He would then go on to begin his career as a journalist, photographer, and editor for various newspaper outlets.
Sometime in the 1940s he was briefly enlisted into the U.S. Navy, this was during the Second World War, and he was specifically enlisted as a ‘Seabee’; a part of a ‘Construction Battalion’. He was then medically discharged due to a severe and chronic ulcer. Herbert’s time in the military was brief, and he saw no combat, and thus he never really spoke or wrote about how his time had effect him as a writer or even as a person.
However, he was cited saying that he’s “not interested in heroes. They’re dangerous. It’s the systems I want to understand.”. Now one could add the conjecture that maybe this was insight that he gained from his time in the military. Being that he potentially saw how hierarchical systems like the military can breed dangerous individuals who obtain a false sense of importance, or power. But I think it’s much simpler than that.
I believe that this statement from Herbert just shows his innate interest in the systems behind an organism.
The idea that millions of tiny cells, organized by the laws of nature, can equate to something as large and sophisticated as a human being can also be extrapolated into an even larger system.
Thousands of humans, organized by the laws of human nature, can equate to societies with governments, consumers, producers, and entertainers.
Though I’d say that my example here is incredulously brief, this concept can be extrapolated and applied in various forms of scale, scope, and functions.
And it’s these concepts that are small building blocks into the greater anthropological curiosities that Herbert had that led him to on his inevitable path to write a series of novels that changed sci-fi.
Before the Landsraad, Before the Makers, Before Rakis
After the military, Frank became a speechwriter and a political writer. Sometime after that, he published his first sci-fi short story titled “Looking for Something”, and a couple years later he published his first novel.
It was a psychological submarine thirller with themes of resource conflict and paranoia, and was titled “The Dragon in the Sea” (also known as “Under Pressure”). Though not a commercial hit, the novel is praised for its complexity and marks Herbert as a serious writer.
Then began his 6 years of research & development for his much more ambitious work.
In 1957 Frank was assigned by a magazine editor to write an article on a U.S. Department of Agriculture project to stabilize the sand dunes near Florence, Oregon, using specially planted grasses. Alongside writing this article, he also began taking notes for a longer piece titled ‘The Dune Project”.
In 1958 his studies were primarily focused on Ecology, Systems, and Power. He dove headfirst into ecological systems theories, and read extensively on dessert cultures. This gave him the early thematic questions of what happens when ecology becomes political.
Can a planet be terraformed by human effort and ideology? How does scarcity of water shape a civilization’s values and religion?
In 1959 Herbert was studying religion, myth, and the desert prophet archetype. This included an extensive study of islamic culture and religious history, as well as a full reading of the Bible, Torah, and Qur’an. He specifically studied how religion is used as a political and social tool.
In 1960 he studied genetics, memory, & human evolution. His study of psychology and conditioning literature from Freud, Pavlov, and B.F. Skinner would lay the backbone for the Bene Gesserit’s, and the early form of the ‘Kwisatz Haderach’ begin to form.
In 1961 the study was on Politics, empire & economic allegory. He read works on resource conflicts, monopolies, and economic dependence, which all informed how he wrote spice melange to function within the Landsraad.
In 1962 it was all about world building and language construction.
From 1963-64 Frank would serialize and write for Dune in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.
In 1965 Dune would be rejected by more than 20 publishers, until it was finally published by Chilton Books, a publisher better known for car manuals.
He who creates the Spice, Controls the Spice
About another year had passed when the book slowly began to gain critical acclaim and a cult following, eventually winning the Hugo Award (1966, shared) and the first-ever Nebula Award (1966).
Dune since then had 5 Sequel novels that fleshed out Herberts philosophies and worlds even more, and is a pivotal work of science fiction to this very day.
It’s personally my favorite book series of all time, and I think the story behind its conception is yet another powerful reminder of perseverance and writing for an audience of one.
With Dune more than any other work of art would i say that it’s clear Frank studied and wrote this series for himself first and foremost, and because of that, he changed all of sci-fi. Dune is a wonderfully profound and thought provoking series of novels that is both lauded and studied to this very day.
I believe the number one factor in that being the case is seen in how the writing had seemingly zero care of being like anything from its time. Frank loved his systems, he loved his studies, and so he wrote into creation a universe worthy of his passion.
Now go an create something worthy of your own passion!!
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. Create some art today, then tomorrow create some more art.
II. Repeat step one daily until death do you part.
3: Inspirational Quotes From Frank Herbert
I. “The single most important piece of advice I ever got was to concentrate on story... Don’t think about money, don’t think about success; concentrate on the story—don’t waste your energy on anything else.”
II. “Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.”
III. “Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
Thank you so much for reading!