What is a mentat in the book dune?
A Mentat is a human in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe who has been specially trained to mimic the cognitive and analytical ability of electronic computers. A Mentat was a profession or discipline that was developed as a replacement to the computers and thinking machines following the Butlerian Jihad that banned the creation of machines in the human mind's image, just as the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit took up similar functions. Shortly after his fifteenth birthday in 10191 AG, Paul's father revealed to him that Paul's training, through his teachers, had been geared toward turning Paul into a mentat. The theory was that when Paul succeeded his father as Duke of House Atreides, one of the most respected and moral Great Houses of the Imperium, a mentat-duke would truly be a formidable force in the Landsraad.
What is the theme in this poem??
A Mermaid Questions God by Kelli Russell Agodon As a girl, she hated the grain of anything on her fins. Now she is part fire ant, part centipede. Where dunes stretch into pathways, arteries appear. Her blood pressure is temperature plus wind speed. Where religion is a thousand miles of coastline, she is familiar with moon size, with tide changes. She wears the cream of waves like a vestment, knows undertow is imaginary, not something to pray to. Now her questions involve fairytales, begin in a garden and lead to hands painted on a chapel's ceiling. She wants to hold the ribbon grass, the shadow of angels across the shore. She steals a Bible from the Seashore Inn; she will trust it only if it floats.
How would you classify Frank Herbert's Dune within science fiction, and what are your conclusions based on the questions it brings up?
I would call it Fictional Science Philosophy.It isn’t an adventurous romp of fun: So no Space Opera.It isn’t an world where the rules can be broken at will because of “Space Dust”: Not Space Fantasy.It isn’t about one person surviving a difficult time while in outer space and then returning home: So no Space Drama / Standard Science Fiction.It isn’t about using Space as a way to distance the audience from the situation and then talk about how humans behave and allowing the audience to see the morality of the situation. Therefore not a Science Fiction Morality Play.It isn’t about conjecturing how modern technology will advance and then what effects those new technologies will have on our society: So it isn’t Hard Science Fiction.Instead, it is a bit of each of these and a whole lot of Philosophy. It has “Magic Worm Dust” to allow the rules of reality to be bent. It uses human history but with “planets” and “Fremen” instead of “states” and “oppressed people” to talk about how people behave. Most of the technology that is described may very well be evolutions of current technology. Most of them seem more and more possible with each passing decade. Most of the series plays out like Game of Thrones, but in the end, no one wins.And then it talks, and talks, and talks - about Philosophy. What is the human soul? What is prophecy? What is best for a human? What is best for humanity? Which is more important? Is it moral to keep bringing your friend back to life for his moral compass and conversation, if you know that you will have to murder him later because of his moral compass? Does there always have to be a group of Have Nots? etc.And that’s why, in the end, I would call it Fictional Science Philosophy.
Is Dune by Frank Herbert a self-contained book? I heard the sequels were not very good but the first is great?
It is one of my favorite books. Yes you can read it without the sequels. There is no cliff hanger.
What does the poem "Length of Moon" by Arna Bontemps mean?
I need help to figure out the meaning of the poem by Arna Bontemps called "Length of Moon". It goes like this. Then the golden hour Will tick its last And the flame will go down in the flower. A briefer length of moon Will mark the sea-line and the yellow dune. Then we may think of this, yet There will be something forgotten And something we should forget. It will be like all things we know: . A stone will fail; a rose is sure to go. It will be quiet then and we may stay Long at the picket gate But there will be less to say.
How many characters in Dune are fictionalizations of real people?
I don't know of any list for this, but this site Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange is similar to Quora but specifically for works of science fiction. You can ask your question there and probably get a more plentiful and accurate response.
Excluding "Dune" and its numerous sequels and prequels, what is your favorite novel by Frank Herbert?
Question; Excluding “Dune” and its numerous sequels and prequels, what is your favorite novel by frank Herbert?Answer: This is an interesting question because of the choice of author. I read a lot of Frank Herbert, partially because he always showed potential, and partially as a result of reading Dune. I consider both Dune and Dune Messiah to be terrific, two of the greatest books ever written. Children of Dune is a come down, but is still possibly worth reading. The rest of the Dune series shouldn’t have been written.I’d be interested if a consensus view recommends a title in answer to your question. For my part I’d have to say that while books like Whipping Star, The Dragon in the Sea, The Green Brain and so forth do show that Herbert ‘had’ something as an author, which all came together in Dune and Dune Messiah, nothing else he ever wrote is actually worth reading, when there’s so much other good stuff around. Some of it was quite good for its time, but thirty years later when one can pick and choose from the best - no.
What do you think this poem means?
I found this poem, and I was wondering if any had some thoughts about it. I'm not sure what it means but it seems beautiful. It's called "Love of My Flesh, Living Death" Once I wasn’t always so plain. I was strewn feathers on a cross of dune, an expanse of ocean at my feet, garlands of gulls. Sirens and gulls. They couldn’t tame you. You know as well as they: to be a dove is to bear the falcon at your breast, your nights, your seas. My fear is simple, heart-faced above a flare of etchings, a lineage in letters, my sudden stare. It’s you. It’s you! sang the heart upon its mantel pelvis. Blush of my breath, catch of my see—beautiful bird—It’s you.