Everyone who knows me knows how much I love and revere Dune, so it's only natural that I am predisposed to love any decent treatment of it, even if I tend to judge it harshly on the particulars. That said, I am less impressed tonight than I was after Part I last night. The main reason for this is that, now that it's moved into the real substance of the story, I don't feel we are getting quite the faithfulness to the novel we were promised.

The most egregious example of this is Paul's naming ceremony. He is only given one name, not two - and that one is wrong! They do not give him the secret name "Usul" for use by his new tribe (Sietch Tabr, led by Stilgar) and a separate public name. Rather, he asks what the mouse he saw in the desert is called (correct, and much better than the "second moon" silliness in Lynch's movie) and, upon learning it is called "Muad'Dib", he asks simply to be called by that name. In truth, he should have asked to be called "Paul Muad'Dib". This is no mere quibble. Paul has seen a jihad in his dreams, a holy war led by fanatics with Atreides banners shouting the name "Muad'Dib". He is terrified of the prospect of billions dying in his name and, by choosing to change the name he has heard in his visions, he is seeking to change that future. Paul's complexity as a character, his very humanity, is deeply tied to the conflict he feels over the content of his visions and his parallel desire to avenge his father's death. I was really hoping Harrison would preserve all this as it is crucial to the messianic theme of the novel, IM(NS)HO.

Another level on which the novel can be read is as an allegory for societal dependence on a crucial substance. In the Known Universe that substance is melange but on Arrakis it is water. Caladan rich in water, but must scrabble for spice along with everyone else, a need which drives all other aspects of life in the Universe. On Arrakis, OTOH, the spice is everywhere, it is water that is scarce. Fremen sietches are supposed to be caves - well-appointed, perhaps, at least compared to the desert, but underground and hidden from view. Yet Sietch Tabr is mostly in the open air and built up like an ancient Egyptian city. Fremen walk around day and night with no stillsuits. This seriously undermines the water discipline (almost worship) that should define the Fremen: No Fremen would be so lax - what sense does it make to reclaim the water of the dead if one is just going to walk around with no protection from the sun all say just because one is at home?

Compared to the above, the other shortcomings I saw aren't so burdensome. The word "Mahdi" is a bit too close to the name "Muad'Dib" and sometimes it's hard to tell which is being said. They could have avoided this problem by using "Lisan al-Gaib" (the phrase of choice in the novel) for the Fremen messiah figure. A lot of scenes, especially in the desert, were obviously done in sound stages (but I suppose that couldn't be helped, given their budget constraints). Harkonnen heraldry is supposed to be emblazoned (coats of arms are always emblazoned with something, never merely, say "ornamented" - have you noticed?) with a griffon yet here the Harkonnen livery (which is otherwise excellent) features only a cross-like, stylized geometric figure. I am pleased that Count Fenring is included, but I don't much care for the way he's being presented, honestly. He should be important at the very end - we shall see, I guess. The word "Feydaykin" is misapplied to refer to all the Fremen who come to follow Paul (itself a plot distortion, of sorts) instead of the 15 chosen to be his personal guard. Then there's the acting - or, in the case of some, the alleged acting....

Happily, there are still good points to report. The vision sequences (Paul's dreams and Jessica's Water of Life ceremony vision both) are astonishingly well executed. I don't know if they really impart enough information to be thoroughly understood by someone not already familiar with the plot, but they are marvelous anyway. Paul's fight with Jamis (only available in the Extended version of Lynch's movie), in toto, is great (though the actor playing Jamis is substandard), as is Jamis' funeral ceremony (an important episode in Paul's development which Lynch didn't have time to include). We get a couple of views of Geidi Prime tonight: It's beautifully done, but I'm not sure that it should look so nice since Harkonnens are defined by their tendency to plunder resources without concern for aesthetics or mere environmental (or human) degradation. The stillsuit design here doesn't look as "functional" as Lynch's did, but they look more realistic - they seem to provide some camoflague, include face masks, and look comfortable enough to wear all day. Lastly, sandriding is wonderfully true to the book - a real plus for a fanatical Dune geek like me.

So, I guess I'm going to have to watch this sucker quite a few times to really let it seep in and for all the differences from what I'm used to to cease to impede my enjoyment. I am pleased to be able to say that it's good enough that I will want to keep watching it, despite the flaws I've identified. Come back tomorrow for my impressions of Part III and the mini-series as a whole when it's finished up.