A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1) in Beyond Reality

Nov 13, 2010 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: after-the-fall, scifi-classic

bleak themes with a light touch. although not an easy book to get into, once i realized the effort was a worthy one, it became an increasingly absorbing read. the structure in particular was interesting, challenging - and distancing. novels with religion at their core are often absorbing to me personally, and this novel is all about the impact of religion on the building and rebuilding of society. i appreciated the humanist values and found myself agreeing with the at times progressive, other ti ...more

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May 17, 2008 Sandi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2008, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic-dystopian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 16, 2009 John rated it really liked it

I’ve had A Canticle for Leibowitz in my consciousness for years and years now, probably since way back in junior high or high school when I was getting catalogs from the Science Fiction Book Club. It’s a recognized classic of the genre, a Hugo winner, but my knowledge of Walter M. Miller Jr.’s storied story was pretty well limited to the back-of-the-book blurb: “The atomic Flame Deluge was over. The earth was dead. All knowledge was gone. In a hellish, barren desert, a humble monk unearths a fra I’ve had A Canticle for Leibowitz in my consciousness for years and years now, probably since way back in junior high or high school when I was getting catalogs from the Science Fiction Book Club. It’s a recognized classic of the genre, a Hugo winner, but my knowledge of Walter M. Miller Jr.’s storied story was pretty well limited to the back-of-the-book blurb: “The atomic Flame Deluge was over. The earth was dead. All knowledge was gone. In a hellish, barren desert, a humble monk unearths a fragile link to 20th-century civilization. A handwritten document from the Blessed Saint Leibowitz that reads: pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels—bring home for Emma.” From that (I’m sure I’d seen basically the same thing before I even owned a copy of the book), I expected this to be a novel of human misunderstanding, a story of creating mistaken religious significance from the mundane details of a mysterious age.

Instead, it’s first and foremost a jeremiad against human hubris, stupidity, and, well, evil and a celebration of human perseverance, reverence, and goodness. Structurally, it’s almost like three related novellas, because we get these slices of life and characters centuries apart: first, the dust-jacket-mentioned relic is found a few hundred years after the atomic war; then, we see the world just beginning to rediscover science and more advanced technology; finally, a world that has all but recovered and at the same time exceeded our current technological levels is poised on the verge of bombing itself into a new dark age as nations vie for dominance and their leaders put the interests of power above people.

It’s a testament to Miller’s craft that we gets us to empathize with these characters to the extent that we feel their story arcs are all-too-brief. And that leads to a bit of dissatisfaction, because—gosh darn it—we leave each era before we’re quite ready. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine this as a trilogy, with each third of the novel expanded into a novel in its own right, and the result might be more satisfying (certainly, it would be more satisfying to the modern publishing industry where stand-alone fantasy or sci-fi are anathema and trilogies are almost a minimum).

The entire novel is centered around monks of the Order of Saint (well, eventually he’s canonized) Leibowitz, an order dedicated to the preservation of knowledge from the past (even if they often don’t understand that it means). It shouldn’t have been a surprise then, when the end especially seemed pretty heavy on Catholic ethics/theology. I’m still trying to puzzle out my own reaction to it: I kind of resented it, because it seemed to have been a privileged perspective (and—I think—not just because it’s the POV characters’ perspective). You see, a central question at the end is [only a minor spoiler, really:] about suicide/euthanasia in the context of what amounts to a hopeless situation. I don’t agree with the Catholic prohibition; at the same time, Miller does manage to bring in some thoughtful consideration of our culture’s relationship to pain (i.e. that it’s something to be avoided at all costs, when in fact it may be valuable), but on ultimately I couldn’t buy what Miller seemed to be selling.

At the same time, I really can’t say that this was a case of the “message” getting in the way of good storytelling—this wasn’t a preachy book, even if it did get on my nerves and feel a bit preachy at times. Certainly, I can believe it won a Hugo, and I’m glad I finally read it.
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Dec 02, 2011 Banner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This could also be titled, "The End of the World as we Know It". What would the world look like at the end of a nuclear holocaust? And more importantly, what would happen to the human race? This is what Miller deals with in this 1961 Hugo winner.

The main characters are monks that want to safeguard knowledge for the human race after the experience of an almost world ending war. His approach has a higher view of theism, which is not the case in a lot of science fiction. I think most people would ...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Adrienne rated it liked it

Shelves: library, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, bookskype

Warning! This book is told in three sections set hundreds of years apart. This may bother you if you get attached to characters like I do.

I did not know this, and happily read along with Brother Francis in the first section. I liked him quite a bit, and even though he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he was at least entertaining. And then... a whole new section. And new characters! Argh. None of them were as interesting to me, but that might have been because I didn't know a switch was comi ...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Oni rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites

It is not common for a novel to make me feel emotional. This novel is one of them. It makes me sad, as well as optimistic, pondering upon the fate of our human species. So special, yet so stubborn.

The story spans for millennia. It is divided into three parts, each forward the timeline about 600 years. It begins from the aftermath of a global nuclear war (a.k.a. the Flame Deluge) that destroyed all technological advance, leaving humankind to survive with medieval technology and scraps of advance It is not common for a novel to make me feel emotional. This novel is one of them. It makes me sad, as well as optimistic, pondering upon the fate of our human species. So special, yet so stubborn.

The story spans for millennia. It is divided into three parts, each forward the timeline about 600 years. It begins from the aftermath of a global nuclear war (a.k.a. the Flame Deluge) that destroyed all technological advance, leaving humankind to survive with medieval technology and scraps of advance knowledge, waiting to be awaken.

Spanning for such a long period, there are no characters for you to follow from the beginning to the end, except for one mysterious character that seems to be always there. But he is acting as a watcher, instead of the main character. There is only one thing that is common in the story line: the Order of Saint Leibowitz, an order of secluded monks vowed to keep the record of "ancient technology", hence the title.

The tension in this book is heavy. You can see the tension between the progressive vs conservative, religious vs secular, peace maker vs military, militant vs opportunist. It is this kind of tension that makes this novel very interesting. And also seeing that our human nature does not really change, no matter what technological level we are currently in.

This novel also carries the same tone as The Foundation Trilogy: a small group of humankind, dedicated to preserve human civilization at all cost. I love the trilogy, of course. It feels like we are actually reading a real history. It makes you really respects the Arabs who translated the ancient Greek, the Renaissance movement who brought the Greek and Romans text back to Europe, the monks who kept the records and diligently copying them without understanding them. They are the true hero or our human civilization. Salute!

Finally, I will put this novel in the throne of the best post-apocalyptic science-fiction, side-by-side with World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

Note: The heavy doses of Latin might hinder some readers to enjoy this novel. There are also a lot of references to the Catholic faith. Uncle google is always helpful of course. ...more

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Aug 06, 2008 Kevin rated it it was ok

WoW!

I must say, the phrase, "the more we learn, the less we know" comes to mind after having read this book.

It is truly sad to see a fictional representation of societies making missteps that we ourselves commit regularly.

I'm glad to have read it, won't be reading the sequel!

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