Great review. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I've heard about Dune for many years, but did not read the book until after I saw the part 1 movie, as the movie ended in a cliffhanger and I wanted to find out what happened after the ending of the part 1 movie.

I agree that the book does a much better job in character development (i.e. the chapter on Liet-Kynes alone in the desert, descriptions of Wellington Yueh's pain and struggles etc.), but the movie had its limitations, primarily time constraint, and I agree it did a good job retelling the story given the limitations. Also regarding the movie, has anyone noticed Hans Zimmer's music? That score Zimmer composed for Dune is fucking fire!

One aspect I really enjoyed from the book is the scarcity element and how scarcity shaped human action and even cultures. As well, all that human action due to scarcity shown in the book resonates extremely well in the real world. For example, the great houses were willing to wage war and kill for the control of spice. The scarcity of water on Dune makes water sacred and worshipped. Crying over someone's death is considered showing great honor and respect to the dead, because crying is shedding moisture. The moment Stilgar meets Leto and gives Leto the "gift of water" had put a big grin on my face, but also shows how culture is shaped by scarcity. Where something in one culture means respect but could mean insult in another culture.