One of my favourite scenes from the Dune novel is the dinner scene. I’m sure I’ve talked about it before, but I love the way Herbert injects a real sense of danger into a casual eating event. No violence occurs, although a fair amount of it is suggested or implied, but there is a fair amount of “action” that occurs by Paul and his mother just observing the diners.
A couple times I have tried to do similar sorts of scenes in my novels. “The Hunt for the Wind’s Howling Rage” has a dinner scene between the protagonist, Cici, and her boyfriend’s evil father that I am very proud of, but it doesn’t have the same sense of tension that Dune manages. There’s a great dinner scene in “Starconvoy EH-76” that is one of the best parts of that book. The novel I’m working on right now has a better dinner scene, IMO, between the captains of various naval vessels heading out to battle, and like in Dune it occurs much earlier in the story, setting the stage and letting the readers know some of the gravity of what is going to happen down the line.
That stated, lots of different authors handle dinners very differently. Who could forget the Red Wedding? Great scene. Or the smaller, more intimate meals in “Legends and Lattes,” which is a great little light fantasy novel. Food is an integral part of many societies, and showcasing the way social norms and spaces interact with it gives great fodder (ha) for scenes!
Then again, maybe I’m just hungry, and so I’m putting more importance on it than usual! I should get back to editing my dinner!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!