“You Never Miss the Water Till the Well Runs Dry”: Thirst

Just as an animal can’t live without food, so too can it not live without water, a fact that Frank Herbert used to enormous effect in his classic work of science fiction, Dune. When I first read this book and journeyed with Paul and the other characters across the sands of the desert planet of Arrakis, I repeatedly felt thirsty. Gradually, through Herbert’s absorbing prose, I became aware of the enormous role that water and thirst play in our lives.