Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Duna by Frank Herbert

19 reviews

kubs's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Big worm.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

emeraldzak's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Misogyny and War

Minor: Child death, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

pro-eugenics / "race science" / "genetic destiny"

kergo's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Islamophobia

Minor: Suicide

jonssweater's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Ningún desastre más terrible podría sobrevenir a tu gente que caer en manos de un éroe.

¿Cómo empezar a reseñar un libro tan complejo y denso como Dune? Dune es una tragedia. Es una historia donde todos los personajes saben exactamente lo que va a suceder y aún así no pueden evitar lo que va a pasar. Siempre van a tomar las mismas decisiones, siempre van a acabar en el mismo punto. Lo emocionante es el camino que toma la historia para llegar a ese final ya pronosticado y la comprensión de que no había manera de parar el destino.

En un futuro lejano, los humanos han llegado a las estrellas y se han multiplicado, organizándose en feudos bajo el mando del emperador. En este imperio espacial el artículo más importante es la melange, la especia. Sin este bien el imperio se paralizaría de la noche a la mañana. La cofradía no podría volar sus naves espaciales, los mentats no podrían calcular ni las Bene Gesserit confabular. Y esta materia preciosa solo se puede conseguir en el desolado y desértico planeta Arrakis. Por muchos años bajo el control de la Casa Harkonnen se vienen vientos de cambio cuando el emperador le cede la concesión del planeta al duque Leto Atreides, un evento que cambiará el destino de la galaxia de una forma violenta e impredecible.

Este es un libro denso y complejo, lleno de ideas que necesitan ser digeridas para ser entendibles. Es una historia sobre política, venganza y los peligros del fanatismo de cualquier tipo. Seguimos a Paul Atreides, hijo del duque, quien termina en una situación en la que todos los caminos conducen al sufrimiento, ya sea de él o del universo. Poco a poco nos damos cuenta de lo lejos que irá por lograr su cometido y cómo estas acciones cambian quién es, hasta que lo que queda es irreconocible. La evolución de los personajes en este libro me gusta mucho porque obliga al lector a analizar la situación a profundidad, no existe tal cosa como los buenos y los malos sino personajes tomando decisiones difíciles cuyas motivaciones tienen muchos matices.

Para mí, lo mejor de este libro es la habilidad de Frank Herbert de crear un mundo ficticio que podría ser real. Creó desde cero un universo que se asemeja al nuestro, pero que es lo suficientemente alien para entretener y fascinar. Aunque esto puede ser una traba para entrarle al libro, ya que de entrada el lector debe sumergirse en un mundo completamente nuevo solo con un glosario de guía, y por esa razón, el inicio de esta obra puede parecer eterno. Mucha gente hablando sobre cosas que todavía no tienen sentido por páginas y páginas. Pero, sí mejora, por lo menos para mí, y si gustan de intrigas políticas este libro tiene suficiente de eso.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

multech's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

banned_book's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The ideas presented here must have been mind-blowing during the time it was published for the impact it made on modern culture. I can recognize that. But the prose was insultingly basic, and gave no room for the characters to grow beyond cookie cutter tropes. The dialogue was a painful slog to get through, and almost exclusively constructed of as-you-know-Bobs. I heard for years that the worldbuilding was dense and difficult to follow. No. Herbert drives information into your skull repetitively as if you could not grasp it the first time. This book has not aged well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

luminifera's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I find some of the characters very annoying for many different reasons, but the worst for sure is Chani. She simply

has no personality outside of being Paul's love interest

, which is kind of outrageous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, and Medical content

It's about the colonization of a planet, and the main character is The Chosen One. Expect violence, war, and of course plenty of misogyny - this book is from the 1960s and was written by a man. Some things are simply offensive.

joan_zyaire's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Dune required heavy emotional back lifting for me go care about the characters, especially for Paul and his mother. I was surprised when I read the final page because I expected more. More character depth, more world building and yes, although this is the first book in the series, it didn't feel like it did a lot plot wise. I was intrigued about the politics and the Benne Gesserit mythos. This is the only reason why I will consider reading the other books. A majority of the story takes place on Arrakis but I didn't feel immersed on that planet. The timeskips didn't help with that. Perhaps the other Dune books go more into depth but this book was more of a setup. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and War

nozomi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, and Pedophilia