Dune, does it feel British/American/Arabic/Other

[FNH]

I heard on a podcast ( might have been dragon page ) that they thought Dune "felt" British, rather than American.

What does that mean?
What makes someone get that "feel"?

 

[Russell Nash]

The book, movie, or mini-series?

They were three different things to me.

[Rigger]

I am a huge fan of Frank Herbert's, my love for the first Dune novel knows no bounds, but I have never looked for a specific national "feel" within the book. To me it feels as if Herbert created his own unique interstellar society. The writing style it's self does not strike me as having originated from a specific area, and the society that he created is an interesting blend of existing cultures and traditions... albeit warped from our current perceptions by some twenty odd thousand years of history.

It would be interesting to know what someone means by the story "feeling British". Could you maybe expand on this statement?

[FNH]

The book, movie, or mini-series?

They were three different things to me.

They were taking about the book.

[Alasdair5000]

I heard on a podcast ( might have been dragon page ) that they thought Dune "felt" British, rather than American.

What does that mean?
What makes someone get that "feel"?

 

   It may be due to the Houses and the social stratification in the books.  They read as European to me, rather than outright English, for that reason.  There's a slight air of the Holy Roman Empire to them for me and that sort of historical model being mapped onto a story could cause them to read as British.  Or maybe it's just the feeling of a very old society that gives them that air.

Or...Patrick Stewart in the film...

[wherethewild]

   It may be due to the Houses and the social stratification in the books. 

Actually, that was the first idea that popped into my mind as well...Royalty abounds...

Maybe it also has to do with the language/style of writing? I must admit that I haven´t read a lot of 1960´s sci fi, but it´s certainly a different feel to the earlier pulp and to later/current sci fi - even just in the choice of vocabulary. Then comes style: less Wham! Pow!, less oooh shiny, pretty things. It has a more sedate and serious feel than some other sci fi (more a pot of tea than coffee to go if you get what I mean).  Just as an idea.