Haha, yeah that quick flash was awesome

1:27m …you cheeky cheeky scholars. Gave me a jump scare, then I had to rewind.

Glad to hear it! There's some great audio versions of HPL and it's a convenient way to explore his vast catalogue. I also recommend the BBC audio dramas, one of which will be on the new course. Well done on catching the subliminal scene :) You've avoided a descent into madness... for now!

Please could you let Bronwyn Rivera know that they have misspelled Cthulhu! Not the best ad for a course about Lovecraft eh?

@@thevaultsofmctavish Cthulhu appears twice in the article and it's spelled correctly both times. Where is it spelled incorrectly?

We've managed to force Cthulhu back into R'lyeh but it is only a passing victory... He will return, more terrible than before! But seriously, looking forward to teaching this course in the Fall term instead :)

Representation of LGBTQ characters is important, but far from the only issue in our political and social zeitgeist. To be fair, the book was written 50 years ago, which was a very different time. I'd argue the film has a lot to say about contemporary issues, from environmental change to the rise of charismatic demagogues. Some of these issues are a bit more apparent in the novel.

I agree. It's such an excellent companion to the book. As I said in the video, the movie didn't capture everything about the book, but I felt like it captured the look and feel of the novel.

It's funny because I actually thought there was a lot of set-up for the next movie(s). The four muad'dib shots, Alia / Jessica's pregnancy, some of the visions, a war in my name, the increased focus on Shani, the open-ended nature of Gurney and Thufir's stories. Even "who will our next oppressor be" cutting to Paul. It also sets up a couple of things like sietches, the larger politics, mentats, space travel, and the guild to explore in the second movie. It definitely laid a lot of groundwork imo.

@@TCO_404 you missed the key word...backstory. As in history of the Dune universe that explains why we are even in this mess to begin with. The visions are the story. So unless you have already read the Dune series you have no clue what's going on with anything. If you are new then 80 percent of what you are seeing has no context or base reality to compare to and you lose in the end so much of the relevance of what you are seeing.

@@adamslater1634 the book doesn't really give much the backstory either at this point in the story, unless you skip to the glossary, so personally that didn't really bother me. Spice being related to space travel is already more information than the books give at this point for example. The mystery of this world is half the fun, though I can see how people could feel differently about that. One thing I often see being brought up is why we didn't dive deeper into mentats, why computers are banned, how does space travel work, what is the guild etc to set up more of the world. Thing is, that's barely in this part of the book either, so I don't mind having to wait. I think the alternative was going back to either the horrible exposition of the Lynch movie or inventing new scenes that drag the pacing down. For me, it was a good balance, though I understand what you mean. :)

I didn't like it the first three sittings; that's how long it took to drop my own baggage and watch it as its own piece. I owe a friend on that one who wouldn't let me off the hook until I either had a fair critique or acknowledged its strengths. In the end, as a unique work, it stands solid for me. I expect my view to mature over time; I can be slow to absorb. My biggest disappointment was that it seemed rather nihilist, almost pointless. Even with Gawain's final submission, it seemed little was achieved. The strengths for me were the refusal to explain and the demand that symbolism carry the weight- true to the original poetic format and richer for the interpretive liberty. Ah,well. I bought it outright, so I can dive in any time the mood strikes. Thanks again for all you do at SU. It's a rare treat to have a resource of that nature openly available.

I'd love to own a copy. I remember being super creeped out by the cover when I came across it during my master's!

I'm wondering how the Tolkien translation rates, I'm looking to get a copy.

@@DavidRoberts Me too. I haven't actually read any of his "real world" works. Negligence!

@@GabrielSchenk-Signum You can't beat the line by line. By the end of the poem, you can almost go without the translation. Great tool.

@@astrogypsy I've read his prose Beowulf (oh, for the poetic version!), but I've not much to compare it to, since I've not had a chance to read eg Heaney's translation. The style was very distinctive. Fall of Arthur is on my shelf, I need to have another crack at that. The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son is a great read, even if something like a Battle of Maldon fanfic

Thanks, that video was new to me... I think A24 did a really good job of respecting the text, especially by Hollywood standards!

Juli Thompson Yes indeed! Thank you