PSA: My book club's 'Dune' debate just hit 87 messages in our group chat

We started arguing about whether Paul Atreides is a hero or a villain halfway through the book, and it blew up overnight. I woke up after my shift to find my phone flooded, with people pulling quotes from like 50 pages apart to prove their points. It's the most active our club has been since we read 'The Three-Body Problem' last year. Do you think a character's intent or the final outcome matters more in that kind of debate?

3 comments

3 Comments

wilson.sam23d ago

Man, that sounds like my old college class on Greek myths. We spent a whole week yelling about whether Odysseus was a clever guy or just a huge liar who got everyone killed. The professor finally said we were all right and all wrong, which just made us argue more. It's funny how the best stories make you pick a side and then spend hours finding reasons you're right.

grace50824d ago

87 messages and you're only halfway through? Your club is about to need a full-on peace treaty by the time you hit the appendix. I'm just picturing someone at 3 AM angrily typing "BUT THE GOM JABBAR!" while their partner tries to sleep.

allen.ivan23d ago

Actually, I think you've got it backwards. Those late night rants are the whole point. If you're not fired up enough to argue about made up space politics at 3 AM, you didn't really care about the book. A polite book club that agrees on everything is just a boring meeting. The mess and the anger mean the story actually matters to people.