[globular-toast]

> You are meant to

There are no rules except "be good". I've thoroughly enjoyed Dune every time I've read it and it had quite a profound effect on me as a youngster. There are countless thousands just like me and you can't argue with that really.

> It's a bit like building a UI that is unusable without reading a boring manual.

Well, I think the purpose of a UI is slightly different to that of a novel. One exists to be useful while other exists to be enjoyable. If it's useful it's useful. Doesn't matter if it requires a manual or not.

[toyg]

McDonald's is also enjoyable and enjoyed by millions, it's still not "good food"; as I always say, that sort of reasoning leads to us eating shit because billions of flies cannot be wrong (cit).

The best part of Dune is clearly the worldbuilding rather than the prose. Yes it can be used, and the software is great when you get to know how it works, but there is a learning curve that similar software does not have.

[long_time_gone]

Your reasoning contains the same assumptions, just in the other direction. You seem to be saying that if masses of people enjoy something it must be “bad” on some level.

[toyg]

Nope, not said that anywhere above; just that popularity is not necessarily the be-all and end-all of literary quality.

[long_time_gone]

> I always say, that sort of reasoning leads to us eating shit because billions of flies cannot be wrong (cit).

You didn't make the distinction "is not necessarily" in your first comment. That changes the connotation.