I hadn't read Dune since round about the time it first came out, in the late 60s, so I thought, given all the chatter about the upcoming film, I'd better read it again. Most of the chatter seems to be about two things: 1. Is Dune one of the best, if not the best, SF book ever written? and 2. It's unfilmable.
   Well, I think I can confirm it's one of the best SF books ever written. It's way ahead of its time. Characters are reasonably developed, perhaps not as well as by today's standards, but certainly much better than other SF books of its time. The characters are a little superficial, clearly there to fulfil parts of the plot, but still better than other earlyish SF novels. The plot and the world-building are brilliant and certainly stand the test of time. And Herbert doesn't make much use of tech, so that hasn't dated. Thinly described spaceships, force-field body suits and laser guns are about the extent of it. So yes - one of the best SF books ever written
   I don't know how the upcoming film is going to pan out, despite good advance reviews. This is because a great deal of the book is predicated on the thoughts of various characters. In fact, it's unusual in that the thoughts of almost all the characters are given, often in the same pages or paragraphs... which shouldn't work, but it does. How you can film all these thoughts is... difficult. I shall certainly be interested to see how the director has managed to do that. He needs to do it somehow, otherwise the plot will be unfathomable. The special effects required will, I suspect, be easy-peasy by today's standards. So the jury's out on whether the book is unfilmable. We will all have to watch it and make our own minds up.
   But as for the book: read it if you haven't already, or you'll be missing a treat.