Frank Herbert may have created many complex female characters (Lady Jessica, Alia, Irulan, Odraid, etc.), but feminist he was not. The way I see it, the misogyny of the first 4 books was limited to Chani and Hwi being a little flat and the whole "men do thing so it's impressive" bit that you broke down. But once you get to Heretics, Frank writes like an incel at best and a Salem witch-burner at worst. You are totally right about this book and no deep-lore explanation can dismiss these criticisms. It's like in GEoD he unloaded all his gay theories and in the next book he said "Women, you're next!" 😂 I still enjoy these books. If anything, the social critiques add nuance to a discussion of Dune. I'm glad you're making honest videos about this complex series. Thanks for sharing!

Hey, Saoirose! Found your channel recently and have watched so much of your content since - congrats on the videos, they're great. If I may, I would like to recommend a book to you: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. From what I got from your taste you appreciate character and mood and appreciate well put gender dynamics in your books - you mentioned that came in as a problem in Dune for example. I believe Left Hand of Darkness fills in those prerequisites while also building a beautiful fantasy world. It's also a quick and short read! Anyway, just wanted to recommend this book to you. Again, appreciate the content. Take care

I read the first 4 chapters, and was going to give the book to a library, but your video is encouraging me to get a little further and make a decision then. Thank you!

15:32 - 15:55 As much as I love his Dune Saga, Frank Herbert, like J.K. Rowlings, unfortunately had some questionable political views especially when it comes to sexuality (some homophobic elements even exist in the first book in the form of the Harkonnens); one of his children was gay and he completely disowned him because of that fact alone. Sad but true...

4:38 awwwww

I’ve recently been wanting to get into the Dune books and so I’ve started collecting them. But I’m a bit of a hardcover kind of guy and I was wondering where can I possibly find all the original six books on hardcover? The book she’s holding is what I’m looking for as far as size but on hardcover. The current copy I got is more like a pocket book size and I would much prefer a matching set across the board with that new print cover style ever since the forest new Dune movie came out.

and here 🙂

I don’t think I am a poetry person and I can barely remember my thirtieth year but when all the world is asleep and I am wandering about looking for comfort and delight I often find myself loitering here, comforted and delighted. Thank you 🙂

This probably means nothing to you, but you are an insightful and lovely creature. Be that. Be you. Love yourself. Only the worst of men wants a woman to "flatten out beneath his feet." What a horrific, detestable image. We are not all like that.

I'm a big fan of Albert Camus and I've got 3 of his books: Étranger, La chute, La peste, all in French. Absurdism is a big thing with him, as I came to understand. So, before you try to get meaning from him, I'd look up the meaning as per Mr. Camus.

Hi Saoirse. Hope you survived the storms okay. Happy October to you. You have a great section of books. It's always special to have a signed copy of a book when you meet an author. Take care.

Such a cozy video. :) I was collecting a book myself for a while. For me that special book has been "Walden". I have 10 of it. Most of them are old hardbacks with different illustration styles - they are beautiful! The oldest one is about 150 years old. I have a pocket version (also old) that I use as a reading copy, but it's starting to come apart, so I should glue/tape it. I still love the book and reread it occasionally, I just stopped looking for more copies of it at some point. One of the versions I have of it is in Norwegian, because that is my language. I got that from a family member who wasn't into it. I tried reading it in Norwegian once, but that was horrible, haha. I generally only read Norwegian authors in Norwegian, and all foreign authors in English.

Hi Saoirse, I saw some news of the hurricane and remembered you are from St. Petersburg, I hope you and your family are safe. And well, everyone in Florida.

thank you so much was looking at an obscure frankly horrible book and you convinced me away (praise of stepmother 0-0) thankyou i am glad to have not read it

You look like a Hollywood movie star of the older age❤

Quinn is a KZbin Dune Scholar, kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpC6aZKoZpyKoposi=PVwU1Cqt2arQQ1Sa ❤

I love that book. I actually read it twice. the movie was good but the pictures in my head what the scenes looked like was better.

I was just thinking about what you were saying about books being translated into American and reached out for the copy of Peter Pan that came nearest to hand. It was published by union square & co of New York, printed in Canada, and if the spelling of the word colour is any indication has not been translated. I wonder if it is an exception because it is quintessentially an English classic. I am quite sure that a large proportion of the books I have ever read are American editions but I can't think of an example or claim to have ever noticed. It would make a interesting video to compare the UK and US editions of some short stories. I wonder if the direction of translation makes a difference. 🤔 I am rambling on a sunny Saturday afternoon 😊

Love your videos so much as always, thank you for doing what you do 🤍

I bought a first-year printing of a favorite antique book. Someone dated and inscribed the inside cover "From the cook to the laundress." The book also contains pressed flowers that were strategically placed between the pages of key moments. Over time, the flowers left an impression on the pages. You're right, sometimes the older books hold some cool surprises!

I need to read books by Brönte, found out that was the original spelling of my last name!

Thanks for a great review.

Twilight inspired me to read Wuthering Heights 😂

Great fun. I couldn't help imagining many decades from now a young girl being delighted to find a book you had annotated and wondering about you and how this treasure had found its way to far side of the world. 😊

Very entertaining! Of course I do think you’re a bit of a hoarder, albeit a tidy one!😂 I don’t think I have many duplicate copies of books, partly because I don’t actually buy very many… I know…the horror of it all! But I’m a fabulous library patron so there’s that😜Fun video!❤️😊

Translator here. Thank you for this wonderful review!

"I'm not a hoarder," said the organized book hoarder as she spoke to the camera. My dad was watching the Les Miserables film, the one from the 90s a couple of weeks ago, and it got stuck in my head the idea of reading it in french, but I want a pretty edition, yours is beautiful. I'm also buying new version in English of The lord of the rings, I read them in Spanish like 12 years ago, but Tolkien was good words, so want to have another go in English, currently stuck in The Silmarillion. In Spanish it's called "Men who didn't loved women". Which I think is not as bad as The girl with the dragon tattoo... but I guess editors thought Spanish speakers also couldn't handle the word hate. I was just in Quebec, and wasted a wonderful opportunity to press flowers... there were so many flowers all over... but did took a lot of pretty pictures of them... This just made my week... such a lovely and fun video... take care of yourself... see you in next month's video!

Happy October to you too. This video reminded me of your review of The Bell Jar, it was excellent. I purchased my copy right after watching your review.

I’m so glad I found this video. You summed up everything I felt about this book so perfectly! And I couldn’t find very many people who felt the same way.

It's very interesting how modern authors think representing bygone times means making all the male characters abusive rapists who demean women. If you read any number of books written during said times, Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, society doesn't excuse abusive characters. None of the love interests treat women badly. If a man is abusive its usually one of the villains like Bill Sikes.

For me, one of the fascinations with Du Maurier is the ambiguity of her characters. She conveys the mystery that every human being is, that we never know everything about another person, and there are many lights and shadows in her characters. A favorite of mine is The King's General, for which she used her own house as a setting - at least, the house as it was when first built in 1600. The character who lends the book its title is both a dashing cavalier to the woman he loves and cares for, as well as a terrible and cruel man to his own son, and to others. She loves him, but is horrified by his deeds during the English Civil Wars of the 1640s. Highly recommended.

This book’s title and even the premise attracts me and many people who wants to sleep through hardships and restore, until you start reading what it takes. I liked the book it and it stays with me years after, but i never knew to recommend it because it is so dreary. I loved the contrast of her best friend, who had a character arc i think where i didn’t see much in our narrator. Reva was a respite on the page we she appeared. Dynamic to the narrator’s apathy and also the ending where Reva is wearing the narrator’s clothes, it resounds for ever. Its been years since i read this so that’s what i remember most. I have read another book by the author, a mystery with an older woman and i forget the title. But i liked it too and would encourage you to pursue reading her, for a not tragic and hatd experience of her writing.

I can't go futher than God Emperor. I want to complete the saga but I just can't read any more "I am eleven and this is deep" shit. I can't. I can't read any more random bullshit about Atreides having pharaoh bloodline. Also sex stuff, orgasms while watching someone climbing. Weird homophobic rants. What the everloving fuck am I reading?

Leto wanted an all female army due to woman being less violent during peace times and in war which is a big contribution to the golden path

Yeah, i agree completely. I know this story and show is popular, i have never read the books, but considering that the show is trying so hard to stick to the source, i have to think that this book series's writer... has very dark fantasies. And the truth is, it's a pretty niche kink. I don't think that there are millions of women in the world who are into R* as a turn-on. Its just... gross to me.. *for the record, I'm mostly meaning ppl outside of J and C. Their relationship is just grocery store love story books to me.

Thank you. I needed somebody else's point of view on this series of books after reading quite a few of them years ago. Very interesting and enlightening thoughts. I think I wanted so much to like the books myself. I remember being unsettled from the beginning by a scene where Claire is running along the rooms of the castle risking to be raped by any man who could be on her way as if she was happy of the threat (that's what I remember). I thought of the gothic novels with the vilain and the kidnapped young lady and didn't quite like it. I didn't know the genre "dark romance". Had I understood it I might not have read so much of the serie. I ended up asking myself why I was imposing the reading of so many rape scenes on me. I wandered about the adaptation of a series about rape as a popular TV show. Thank you again

Truth is stranger than fiction... Michael Davies's book embodies that idea. Thanks for sharing🙂

Would be super cool if you'd do a Cormac McCarthy video. Nice review.

I am so glad you also didn't like Bobbi. I immediately thought she was so insufferable and toxic and I was sooo hoping that would change, that she would have some kind of arc or growth, and I don't think she actually did??

I could listen to you talk all day. No one, absolutely no one, does videos like you. The laid back nature with reading quotes that stuck out to you along with commentary based on your life and experiences is just something that I don't see often and I just really appreciate.♥

You look wonderful! I could picture you in the Indiana Jones movie.

OMG You have a treadle, does it work, do you use it, does it inform you when reading novels like Jane Eyre which mention sewing and related matters.

Just ripped through this in a day and now I’m starting my own deep dive here. Thanks for being a good first stop

I'm nearly 8 min in, and there haven't been any spoiler warnings. Are there any major spoilers like last time, or is it safe to proceed?

Very entertaining! I loved the way you related your own experiences with hiking and relationships. I’d actually like to read this one!❤

This has been my favorite review of yours so far. Great job. I was also reminded of when I discovered your channel. It was a review of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I too am fascinated by the '20s.

Judging from your poetry and book reviews, you're pretty much the opposite of boring.

Youre funny!

Have you heard of the Starship? Reminds me of the Titanic...god almighty i hope they don't actually try to land on Mars that way. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6SaZ42Ia7aUrpI

I love this.I feel like I'm sitting in the room with you.And you're just telling me what you think! Also I love your cat❤❤