The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus by Lesley Blanch. It is about the Islamic resistance of Imam Shamil against the Russian Empire.
It is the main inspiration for the DUNE books and several lines from this actual book are taken wholesale by Frank Herbert and put into DUNE.
Short talk on the subject for those interested:
I would also suggest The Provos The IRA and Sinn Fein by Peter Taylor. He wrote a book one focused on the IRA, one on the British Army and one on the Loyalists. In my view his sympathy is clearly more with the IRA, although he condemns all sides more or less.
Yeah I donāt know about that.
No one can deny certain motifs prevalent within the Dune canon but main inspiration. I assumed parallel for spice was oil. Hence the desert planet. I could be wrong though.
The story of Imam Shamil is interesting though. Many of his descendants now live in Australia. Ended up farmers. Probably have no idea about their famous ancestor.
I love the part where he capture his one Armenian wife in a raid. Its good to be the king.
There are lines and short paragraphs taken from sabres of paradise and literally inserted into Dune. Also words like Kindjal, sietch, the obvious Islamic nature of the Fremen. Vladimir Harkonnen and beast Rabban, being the Russian Tsar, the most brutal Russian general told to āsqueezeā.
I think it is fair to say itās the main inspiration. Of course there are others.
Have you read through the whole saga? I actually thought Dune messiah was the best book of the lot, but I know itās not the most popular.
Yeah Chechens and Dagestan is end up in really odd places. Very tough folks. The MMA fighter khabib has a relative who was a Naqshbandi Murid.
I think psychedelics provided more inspiration than a mere energy source. At least, thatās why we got to read about spice melange and not just space oil. Keep in mind that it was published in 1965, back when everything was groovy. Throw a little jungian collective unconsciousness into the mix and youāve got a pretty sweet drug that makes for a great plot device.
Iāve read the whole series and a fair bit of his son Brianās spin-off work.
āCastles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Seaā by Robert K. Massie
Hi, books are one of my favorite topics of discussion, the next one is their authors, but now not about them. Right now Iām finishing reading Stephen Kingās book āNecessary Thingsā. Very interesting plot, some mysticism and symbolism. I love King! Thatās why I chose the topic of my essay based on his work. But I canāt write, I like to read. So I asked them ( https://www.bestessay.com/ ) for help. My essay was one hundred percent original. It had interesting thoughts and assertions and ended up with an excellent score. And just as importantly confidentiality and confidence in the quality and outcome.
Did you mean Needful Things?
That was a wild ride.
Keep forgetting to put my books on here. Just finished Kitchen Confidential, very similar to Down and Out in Paris and London. I loved the section where Bourdain visits the restaurant of his exact opposite and finds the man is a far better chef for it. I think this could be one of my new favourite books.
I might have to read this (these) next as a nice change of pace for me
Just started One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Iāve moved onto Medium Raw which is a great followup to KC. The ortolan eating scene is really sticking with me
Tried to learn something today as I begin to plan out my home garden.
Abstract Algebra: theory and application - judson
This book is amazing (and free)!
Dorian Yates - Blood and Guts. Finished that last weekend.
Started on Animal Farm.
Did you like this one? Been thinking about picking it up for awhile.
I have a smallish covered bin that gets tons of worms (this is my finished bin this year)
Also have a cedar slat open bin (currently active) ā¦ will probably need a third bin at some point but I need to clear a tree first
How much garden space do you have?
Its an easy read.
Covers a lot of DY personal history , familial relationships etc.
I was hoping to read more about his conversations / work with Mentzer, but there isnāt a great deal.
I got an electronic copy of it - happy to share [somehow, if its permitted by the rules of the board].
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay Gibson
+1 to that. Itās a good read.
