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What Members Thought
Hope, Knowledge, Continuity. Mankind's need or thirst for these never diminishes.
The story starts 600 years after the destruction of Civilization. Mankind is finding it's way (again). Times are dark and hard. Miller adds humour to the stark reality. I laughed at Francis' definition of the Fallout, at the wonderment of the religious transistors and more. Yet this isn't a light story.
We follow thousands of years of rebuilding, relearning, reknowing. There are no easy problems or answers here. Ho ...more
The story starts 600 years after the destruction of Civilization. Mankind is finding it's way (again). Times are dark and hard. Miller adds humour to the stark reality. I laughed at Francis' definition of the Fallout, at the wonderment of the religious transistors and more. Yet this isn't a light story.
We follow thousands of years of rebuilding, relearning, reknowing. There are no easy problems or answers here. Ho ...more
This science fiction classic imagines the world decimated by nuclear war in the mid-20th century. The book opens 6 centuries after that catastrophe on a society that is a slightly farcical approximation of the Dark Ages. With the action centered in a monastery founded immediately after the fiery deluge, to preserve the limited texts which survived, the book frames many of its questions about human nature and our proclivity to repeat history in religious terms. I found parts of this story rather
...more
I enjoy meditative SF (actually all kinds of SF) and this novel delivers some beautiful meditations on civilization, religion, loss. In the way of great sf classics that are getting to be decades old, the story feels archaic but not obsolete. Some things, such as a world where Latin is preserved as a living language, feel out of date, but still these touches give the book an otherworldly loveliness.
600 years after the end of 20th century civilization which was destroyed by global nuclear war (the Flame Deluge) life is considerably different than what is familiar. After the Flame Deluge there was an extensive backlash against knowledge and technology, all of which was considered to be the factors driving the global nuclear war. This movement to remove all knowledge from the map is referred to here as Simplification - any one found seeking knowledge or any one able to read were eventually so
...more
This is a three part story that leaves centuries between the tellings. It starts with the world in a backlash against the technology that destroyed it, like we're back in the dark ages where no ones reads and it's not a done thing. We then progress to the enlightened ages where knowledge is prized and kingdoms are created. The last story takes us full circle.
While the eras change the church stays the same, or essentially the same. It provides the continuity for the stories and the subtle refere ...more
While the eras change the church stays the same, or essentially the same. It provides the continuity for the stories and the subtle refere ...more
Parts I and II weren't doing much for me, which was worrying - am I broken inside? I know it's good, why am I not feeling it? Have I really become that distrustful of Catholicism that I can't view it objectively anymore? Because that was so not the point of coming out as an atheist.
But Part III was when the magic happened. It got me engaged and it got me thinking. Most of all it got me conflicted - I was sympathizing with the monks even though I didn't agree with them at all, which should have b ...more
But Part III was when the magic happened. It got me engaged and it got me thinking. Most of all it got me conflicted - I was sympathizing with the monks even though I didn't agree with them at all, which should have b ...more
The title has a kind of quiet satire that's been calling me for years. I wonder if Miller tested lots of Ashkenazi Jewish names before coming up with Leibowitz. Very little of the future science fiction elements felt dated to me, even though it was written in 1959. Obviously a heavily Catholic view of the world - which did result in one unnervingly dated moment for me (view spoiler)
...more
I really liked the first part with Brother Francis, but I had trouble connecting with the other two parts. This is basically a book made of three short stories, which I didn't realize when I started. I'm bad at reading short stories, my attention fades, so take my impression of the book with a grain of salt.
...more
Jan 31, 2011
Genia Lukin
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Feb 14, 2011
Janice (JG)
marked it as to-read
Feb 13, 2013
Sera
marked it as to-read
Jan 21, 2015
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2019
Lise Petrauskas
marked it as unfinished
