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A Canticle for Leibowitz

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 31,121 ratings · 1,604 reviews

Down the long centuries after the Flame Deluge scoured the earth clean, the monks of the Order of St. Leibowitz the Engineer kept alive the ancient knowledge. In their monastery in the Utah desert, they preserved the precious relics of their founder: the blessed blueprint, the sacred shopping list and the holy shrine of Fallout Shelter.

Watched over by an immortal wanderer,...more

Paperback, 334 pages

Published May 9th 2006 by EOS (first published October 1959)

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Sep 20, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-nominee-hugo, award-winner-hugo, easton-press, audiobook, post-apocalypse, science-fiction, 1954-1969, world-in-the-shitter, books-about-books, comfort-food

Odd as it sounds, this is hot toddy, warm blanket comfort food for me. Admittedly, that’s not the typical description of this cynical, bleak-themed, post-apocalyptic SF classic. However, the easy, breezy style with which Miller explores his melancholy material manages to pluck smiles from me whenever I pick it up. This go around, I listened to the audio version which was recently released it was as mood brightening an experience as my previous read through.

Despite dealing with dark, somber subje...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Canticle for Leibowitz is Catholic science fiction, clearly written in the aftermath of Hiroshima and the shadow of the Cold War. It is mesmerizing, drawing on history and speculating on the future, focused around a small monastery in the American Southwest. It is also profoundly pessimistic about the fate of man and the inevitability of nuclear war. At the core of the world that Miller explores over thousands of years are some of the following assumptions:

1. In the wake of a nuclear war, the...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Jon added it · review of another edition

Recommended to Jon by: SciFi and Fantasy Book Club April 2010 Selection

Shelves: classics, science-fiction, fiction, apocalyptic, award-winners, hugo-winner, read-in-my-40s, reserved, loved-it

4 stars. Due to the acquisition of GoodReads by Amazon on March 28, 2013 and my existing and continuing boycott of all things Amazon, the review I wrote after reading this book has been relocated to my blog and can be found in its entirety by following this link: http://bit.ly/Xln2mP

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Apr 26, 2009 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I'm not a Christian, but I live in a Christian society, and it's all around me. Reviewing on Goodreads brings home how many authors can be classified as some kind of Christian apologist. I have very different reactions to them. At one end, I can't stand most of C.S. Lewis - I feel he's there with his foot in the door trying to sell me something, and I'm just hoping that I can get him to take his foot away without being openly rude. At the opposite end, I think Dante is a genius, and that The Div...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Guillermo Azuarte rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's nice that a story written at the height of cold war tensions 52 years ago still manages to be relevant. This is a post apocalyptic story mostly set in an abbey in the southwestern United States, hundreds of years after a nuclear holocaust. That event becomes a sort of mythology for the times as the church tells the story of "the ancients" (us) in the form of a parable about the "Princes" of the world being given these weapons in the hope that mutually assured destruction would be enough of...more It's nice that a story written at the height of cold war tensions 52 years ago still manages to be relevant. This is a post apocalyptic story mostly set in an abbey in the southwestern United States, hundreds of years after a nuclear holocaust. That event becomes a sort of mythology for the times as the church tells the story of "the ancients" (us) in the form of a parable about the "Princes" of the world being given these weapons in the hope that mutually assured destruction would be enough of a deterrent. Except of course, each ruler thinks that if they strike quick enough while the other is asleep, they can control the Earth. We know how that ends. "Such was the folly of princes, and there followed the Flame Deluge."

Canticle is divided up into 3 books that take place thousands of years apart. The one variable that doesn't change is the Abbey. It's responsible for protecting the "Memorabilia", which are artifacts from the previous age that the church is safeguarding for a time when man is "ready" again. You see, after the holocaust, mankind finds itself in a new dark age where technology is non existant and the majority of the population is illiterate and preyed upon by bandits (think Mad Max or The Road). The Church once again becomes an important institution set on the preservation of the little literature, science, and culture that remains from our age. Seeing the monks try to decipher what blueprints are and what fallout was ( they thought it was a demon since there were shelters to protect people from it) really amusing. Most of that deciphering occurs in Book 1 "Fiat Homo" which was my favorite of the 3. Its a really nice introduction that is surprisingly humerous for such a dark subject in a dark time. I laughed outloud at Brother Francis of Utah at his expense several times.

I'm not a religious man, but I found it so refreshing to see the Church preserving science and having such a positive role in the future instead of having both those institutions be antagonists all the time. That's been done ad nauseaum in science fiction in my opinion.

Book 2 "Fiat Lux was good, but not as good as Book 1. This takes place in a sort of enlightenment era, where science is finally starting to gain traction once again. It's the little steps towards that end that make Fiat Lux enjoyable. If the world were plunged into darkness today, how many of us would really be able to get a good old lightbulb up and running from scratch?

Book 3 is the most "sci fi" of the three in that it takes place in the year 3781. It's in that last book that I think the book gets a bit derailed as Miller decides to toss in a good old fashioned euthanasia debate and some sort of two headed mutant with a little immaculate conception thrown in for good measure. Also the absurdity that Miller thougth we'd be communicating via radiograms and using microfilm made me a chuckle a little bit although I quickly stopped myself because
its so impossible to try and predict the future with any semblance of accuracy. Book 3 however, is where Canticle delivers its devastating knock out punch that is probably the single reason this book is still held to such high regard and still discussed well outside of the science fiction circle. Is mankind doomed because of its nature? Can we escape the consequences of George Santayana's famous quote of those who can't remember the past, being condemmed to repeat it?

It's a very cerebral book where not alot of action really takes place, but I really enjoyed the ideas and never had a problem picking it up. It's funny at times, heartbreaking, provacative, and has moments of quiet reflection.

I'll conclude with a quote from the exhasparated future abbot Dom Jethras Zerchi:

"What is the fundamental irritant, the essence of the tension? Political philosophies? Economics? Population pressure? Disparity of culture and creed? Ask a dozen experts, get a dozen answers. Is the species congenitaly insane?"(less)

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Feb 04, 2008 Aerin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, science-fiction, litrachur, favorites, apocalyptic, well-that-was-awesome, americana, and-man-grew-proud, what-if-it-all-means-something

A Canticle for Leibowitz is Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s only novel. He was an Air Force engineer who was involved in the WWII bombing of an Italian monastery. Later, he converted to Catholicism, wrote this book, and eventually committed suicide.

Given the context of Miller's life, it's difficult to believe he could have written any other story. Canticle is a millennium-spanning, quietly epic novel that addresses mankind's constant cycle of self-destruction, barbarism, renaissance, and more self-destr...more A Canticle for Leibowitz is Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s only novel. He was an Air Force engineer who was involved in the WWII bombing of an Italian monastery. Later, he converted to Catholicism, wrote this book, and eventually committed suicide.

Given the context of Miller's life, it's difficult to believe he could have written any other story. Canticle is a millennium-spanning, quietly epic novel that addresses mankind's constant cycle of self-destruction, barbarism, renaissance, and more self-destruction. It takes place in a Catholic monastery in what was once Utah, several centuries after the world was demolished by nuclear war. There, the monks worship one Saint Leibowitz, a somewhat mythical figure from "the time of the Flame Deluge" who attempted to salvage humanity's collected knowledge during the postwar book-burning backlash. The novel is divided into three sections separated by centuries and so different from each other that they're almost separate books in their own right.

The first, "Fiat Homo", takes place in the dark age that still exists several centuries after the war; the continent is populated with warring nomad tribes and feudal city-states, and the monks busy themselves copying and preserving their library for future generations, firmly believing that someday mankind will once again desire and benefit from the old knowledge.

In "Fiat Lux", that belief comes to fruition; the world is abuzz with a new renaissance of culture and science. A prominent scholar visits the abbey and is astonished at the wealth of scientific knowledge housed there. But outside the monastery, a war is waged between burgeoning empires, with the church caught in the middle.

Finally, in "Fiat Voluntas Tua", mankind has reached technological maturity, once again able to create rockets, robots, and nuclear bombs (the book was written in 1959, and these three artifacts seem to be the hallmarks of The Future in spec-fic of that era). America is once again an empire; so is Asia, and miscommunication and overreaction between the two don't bode well for the future of humanity.

Overall, the book is meditative, dark, and epic, but also at times very funny. There are major themes of faith vs. politics (and similarly, church vs. state), humanity's persistent short-sightedness, and the meaning of suffering. In these elements, the story is saturated with Miller's Catholic viewpoint. But there are also some very bleak, unCatholic threads to the story. Essentially, it's about a group of monks who work for a millennium to salvage, restore, protect, and share the collected knowledge of mankind, only to have the world use that knowledge to yet again destroy itself. The monastery itself acts as Eden's tree of knowledge. Not to mention the irony of this particular group of monks worshipping a Jewish man who likely converted only because he saw the monastery's potential as a bastion of learning in the midst of a world bent on ignorance.

This book isn't for everyone; it's slow-moving, somewhat dated, heavily religious, and contains a great deal of untranslated Latin. But it is deservedly one of the classics of Cold War-era apocalyptic fiction: dark, pessimistic, thought-provoking, and sadly believable.(less)

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Sep 04, 2011 Simon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-masterworks, sf

"Nature imposes nothing on you that Nature doesn't prepare you to bear" quoth the abbot Zerchi in the final part of this book, not long before we are to find out humanity, in contrast, seems quite capable and determined to impose on its self that which it is not prepared to bear.

Are we in an endless cycle in which we build up and then destroy our civilization in our relentless attempt to restore our place in Eden? In our dark ages must he church gather and protect knowledge and wisdom from the v...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, favorites

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

It’s the dark ages again. A 20th century nuclear war spawned a “Flame Deluge” which destroyed human civilization’s infrastructure and technology, killed most of the people, and created genetic mutations in many of the rest. Then there was a backlash against the educated people of the world who were seen as the creators of both the ideas that started the war, and the weapons that were used to fight it. They were persecuted and killed and all knowledge was b...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

It’s the dark ages again. A 20th century nuclear war spawned a “Flame Deluge” which destroyed human civilization’s infrastructure and technology, killed most of the people, and created genetic mutations in many of the rest. Then there was a backlash against the educated people of the world who were seen as the creators of both the ideas that started the war, and the weapons that were used to fight it. They were persecuted and killed and all knowledge was burned up. After this “Simplification,” people took pride in being illiterate and the only institution that seemed to come through intact was the Roman Catholic Church.

Walter M. Miller Jr’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is divided into three parts, which were originally published as three separate stories. In the first story, “Fiat Homo,” which takes place 600 years after The Simplification, we find a cloister of monks who are applying to New Rome to have their martyred patron, an ex-electrical engineer named Isaac Edward Leibowitz, sainted. Leibowitz’s monks have been collecting, preserving, and copying fragments of the Earth’s previous civilization. As keepers of pre-Deluge history, they attempt to piece together knowledge and history, without knowing for certain what they’re looking at. One day, while maintaining a vigil of silence in the desert around the abbey, Brother Francis stumbles upon the entrance to Leibowitz’s fallout shelter containing precious relics, such as a circuitry blueprint and a deli shopping list. These relics cause quite a stir in the abbey.

“Fiat Lux” begins 600 years later. Genetic mutations caused by the fallout are still affecting mammalian DNA, and the monks of St. Leibowitz occasionally wonder whether there really ever was an advanced civilization on Earth, but progress is gradually being made. This is especially true in the abbey of St. Leibowitz where the monks are safe from the tribal wars that are common in surrounding Texarkana. Their studies of the fragments they’ve been collecting have prepared them to ignite a new renaissance.

Another 600 years pass. In “Fiat Voluntas Tua,” humans, though still affected by “genetic festering,” have reached the pinnacle of civilization and culture, progressing beyond what had been experienced before the nuclear war in the 20th century. But there’s been a cold war going on for 50 years between the two world superpowers and they both have nuclear weapons. At the abbey of St. Leibowitz, the monks wonder if humans are destined to repeat the cycle and, as keepers of the world’s knowledge, what is the abbey’s responsibility to humankind?

"Are we doomed to do it again and again and again? Have we no choice but to play the Phoenix in an unending sequence of rise and fall? …. Are we doomed to it, Lord, chained to the pendulum of our own mad clockwork, helpless to halt its swing? This time, it will swing us clean to oblivion… Back then, in the Saint Leibowitz’ time, maybe they didn’t know what would happen… They had not yet seen a billion corpses. They had not seen the still-born, the monstrous, the dehumanized, the blind. They had not yet seen the madness and the murder and the blotting out of reason. Then they did it, and then they saw it… Only a race of madmen could do it again."

Obviously, the main theme of A Canticle for Leibowitz is the repetitive cycle of human history and the role of our advancing knowledge and technology in our own destruction. This provides the reader with plenty to think on, but Miller also addresses issues that the Roman Catholic Church has tackled during its history, such as its role in state politics and its insistence that euthanasia is a sin. While the novel is meant to be a serious consideration of these ideas, and while its predictions and warnings are frightening, A Canticle for Leibowitz still manages to be amusing and agreeably quirky all the way through. Though there’s a powerful and unforgettable message here, it is the irreverent, eccentric humor that makes it so enjoyable to read.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a classic piece of post-apocalyptic science fiction that had mass cross-genre appeal when it was published in 1960, won the Hugo award in 1961, and has never been out of print. Thus, it’s a must-read for any true SF fan. I recently tried the audio version which was just released by Blackstone Audio and narrated by Tom Weiner. Audio readers, even if you’ve read A Canticle for Leibowitz before, you won’t want to miss Blackstone Audio’s first-rate production of this imaginative, chilling, and humorous novel.(less)

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Jun 18, 2008 Sandi rated it 5 of 5 stars

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

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

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Sep 15, 2011 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: after-the-fall, futuristik-classik

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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Oct 31, 2008 Nicholas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With all the dystopic literature coming out of the collective 20th century psyche of post-Hiroshima anxiety and the realization that as of now we, literally, can 'bomb ourselves back to the stone age,' Walter Miller's contribution runs with that very idea and tosses you into a world at once both familiar and foreign. Through three successive time periods spanning some 1,000 odd years from the 26th century onwards, Miller's protagonist becomes the all-observing spectre of time as the reader is d...more With all the dystopic literature coming out of the collective 20th century psyche of post-Hiroshima anxiety and the realization that as of now we, literally, can 'bomb ourselves back to the stone age,' Walter Miller's contribution runs with that very idea and tosses you into a world at once both familiar and foreign. Through three successive time periods spanning some 1,000 odd years from the 26th century onwards, Miller's protagonist becomes the all-observing spectre of time as the reader is dropped from the sky into the middle of a medieval desert ala Bruce Campbell without the chainsaw, shotgun, and red convertible.

Initially there seems to be no rhyme or reason to Miller's almost capricious use of time travel, sometimes dwelling on what feel like side stories (we are talking about the destruction and rebirth of the world here) for pages and then passing over centuries with a few smartly worded sentences that occasionally feel like he's cheating you out of knowing a world he's just piqued your fascination with. Imagine being introduced to Hannibal Lector and then spending 20 minutes on his athletic pursuits. It's not that what Miller includes isn't of itself worthwhile, but sometimes you could expect more from him. Then, you are uh-huh uh-huh yup oh interesting exactly with a character for 100 pages and in one paragraph the monk's head is split open with an arrow and a page later you're sitting in 'New Rome' 500 years forward with some dude named like a classical history multiple choice test and you realize Miller seriously means to F with your head.

But it also is a liberating arrangement he has made with the reader, in by severing any attachment to a single protagonist you're expectations are realigned with the general arc and meanings transmitted across time period and character, while still writing intriguing characters for you to follow. This quickly becomes a strong point of the novel, as most follow central characters throughout a story, and therefor most novels' aspirations are contained within the rubric of the changes and understandings contained in the singular life of one or a few persons in a given time period. When Miller opens his novel up into a future world charting different stages of growth, we readers have shifted our search for meaning into a far broader examination of humankind, in lieu of the singular human.

Probably most enjoyable for me was the undeniable focus on the head games that history plays in a world of multiple futures where epistemology, logic, symbols, sociology, and reinterpretation are all put on a comparative plain of historical (yet futuristic) analysis through the conversations, events, and details of an engaging story. It would be hard to read this book after 1980 and not think of The Name of the Rose. Asking some very basic questions about how humanity thinks about itself and construes its world based on a shared yet fragmented intellectual heritage (and whether such a heritage ultimately matters), one can't avoid Miller's constant emphasis on understanding and creating present existence through understanding and recreating past existence, resulting the confining of what we think of as 'truth' to a subjective category.

For example, the discovery of a "Fallout Survival Shelter" by a monk in the initial neo-medieval time period becomes humorously misinterpreted in a world devoid of common knowledge and stripped of all its previous 'progress' as some kind of ghastly creature (a 'Fallout') that terrorized previous societies (who needed a 'Fallout' Survival Shelter). This results in a grievous error repeated as 'truth' that would take centuries to correct, and what of all the resulting axioms, behaviors, and laws that were in direct response to an 'erroneous' assumption? How fragile is our boldly stated reality? Its hard to read the passage and not wonder what materials, ideas, and accepted histories we have immersed ourselves in that might be just as grossly misinterpreted as the monk's 'Fallout' episode. One is forced to admit not only that they are probably living in a misinterpreted history of the present (which makes absolute History closer to story-telling), but that the truths we are so attached to presently are just as subjective and time-sensitive and indeed may not be the omniscient safety-valves of natural orderly understanding we all employ in explaining our world and escaping our deepest anxieties. In considering the future, Miller plays with our relation to time, such that every society experiences itself as a 'present-day' society and thinks of itself as the most 'advanced.' Yet in considering the future, one has to consider the present-day to be future's antiquity. And this is assuming that each current civilization is more intelligent and finer-tuned than the previous, an idea which Miller turns on its head as his story progresses.

For reasons just as these, this book draws attention to the subtleties of how fabricated every worldly period is composed, how brittle to fall apart, how limitless the possibility of the structures humans apply to their perceptual worlds, yet how interwoven and built upon they can be, and how much their resemblance and disparity points to broad observations displayed across time periods that might resemble closest the basic 'truths' humans are always seeking. On this note, it's with such a wide ambition that I find any fault in the novel itself, mainly because the ideas inherent in cross-cutting such large swaths of human history, thought, and experience, are so enormous that it could consume 5 lifetimes for a human to do justice.

He has quite the challenge in not only imagining how a future society might re-imagine our current one based on what he chooses to have these future monks and scholars rediscover and explore in the story, but also formulating their reactions, their logical conclusions, their scientific understandings, their employment of logic, and occasionally you wish he fleshed out more of this world. If you're going to destroy the world to begin your novel and you want to detail a new world both uniquely invented yet enmeshed with the leftover artifacts, social habits and all of previous societies, you need to address, maybe even in a few pages at each segment, an overarching outline, or a few scattered didactic chapters (although some people loathe that kind of thing re: Name of the Rose) of how this new world logically holds itself together (if you're at all concerned with the very topics he is, at least, as opposed to something junk for pure entertainment). For instance, all monks of Leibowitz (and of the new world) read from left to right, but would that necessarily be the case in a world newly reformed? Who knows? It's not necessary for the story to continue or his points to be made, but it would provide more nuanced character to the piece as a whole.

But it looks like I have to eat my words a bit on this critique, because apparently he published this 'novel' initially as 3 separate stories, which makes complete sense regarding some of what I felt was missing from the total novel. Now I feel like an asshole. But hey, at least my cellphone isn't cancering my brain every day while I drive my SUV, okay now I feel better.
Regardless, this book was so wonderful it nears brilliance and therefor a quality of writing is expected, and Miller just barely misses it. But I find his imagination, his attention to semiotics and philosophy as it would be in a future society, his fabric-of-history sensibilities, his obsession with the large questions in life, and that he did all of this primarily in a monastery, endlessly delightful.

(less)

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Nov 16, 2012 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to K.D. by: 501 Must Read Books

Shelves: sci-fi, 501, disaster, drama, dystopian, post-apocalyptic

One of the best sci-fi that I've read so far.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is composed of three parts. In between each part is a period of 6 centuries. This reminded me of Roberto Bolano's 2666 (5 stars) that I recently read and found amazing. I am not sure whether Bolano got the idea from here but if it was a coincidence then there must be something happening around that time. Creepy. This first part, Fiat Homo or "Let There Be Man" happens 6 centuries from the 20th century. This book, the only one...more One of the best sci-fi that I've read so far.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is composed of three parts. In between each part is a period of 6 centuries. This reminded me of Roberto Bolano's 2666 (5 stars) that I recently read and found amazing. I am not sure whether Bolano got the idea from here but if it was a coincidence then there must be something happening around that time. Creepy. This first part, Fiat Homo or "Let There Be Man" happens 6 centuries from the 20th century. This book, the only one by Walter M. Miller, Jr, was first published in 1960. He used to be a aircraft pilot during World War II and was part of the Allied forces that bombed an ancient monastery in Italy. That experience inspired him to write this part of the novel. The main character in this part is Brother Francis who has found the entrance to the ancient fallout center of the mysterious order founded by the blessed Isaac Edward Leibowitz during the 20th century. Blessed Leibowitz used to work as an engineer before the nuclear war. Prior to hiding in that shelter, he founded the Order of Liebowitz whose main purpose was to preserve the religious artifacts that had become meaningless to men.

The second part, Fiat Lux or "Let There Be Light" happens after another 6 centuries or to be exact in 3174. The setting is in the same mysterious shelter now turned into an abbey where a brilliant engineer, Brother Kornhoer has just discovered a fancy but powerful lamp. The said lamp becomes the focal point for the inter-state wars involving religious fanatics that resulted to executions and excommunications. In the part, religion is back and plays a big role in running the state.

The third part, Fiat Voluntas Tua or "Let Your Will Be Done" happens after another 6 centuries or in 3781 to be exact. The nuclear war is back but this time the fight has moved outside Earth. The battle for supremacy between the two world's superpowers, Asian conglomerates called Asian Coalition (is Philippines part of this, no mention in the book) and Atlantic Confederacy. The shelter in the first that turned into an abbey in the second parts of this book still exists but it is ultra-modern and has more sophisticated weapons. In this part, the fight of dominion over how to rule the state between church and government reached its highest point and is resolved at the end of the story.

The stories are all mind-boggling and the telling is exceptionally brilliant. Well, compared to the other sci-fi novels that I've read so far. It is circular in pattern because of the re-appearance of some incidents or elements (like the nuclear war) or the issue on the separation between church and state. However, unlike "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce or "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell, the story or the narration does not literally go back to where it started.

I enjoyed this book. If you can tolerate reading at least one sci-fi, go for this book. Definitely satisfying.(less)

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Sep 01, 2007 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fant-horr-sf

I remember reading an old first edition paperback as a teen and having my cousin's confirmation teacher disapprove of it. Want to make a curious teen read something? Act scandalized by it. Anyway, it kind of blew my world and acted as a sort of seed that bloomed into a giant agnostic blossom in my brain years later.I was excited, but a little fearful when it was reprinted a few years ago because I hadn't read it since my early teen years. It was like going to meet a friend that you had lost cont...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Dustin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Yeah, its preachy. Yeah, most of the plot happens off the page. Yeah, its light on action and heavy on a secular vs. religious debate. But it has a two-headed woman and an immortal Jew, medieval warfare AND rocket ships. Dude.

Also, I liked the structure. Supposedly the three sections were different novellas that Miller linked together to form this novel, which gives it a stop-and-go sensation that he uses to good effect in spanning over a thousand years of story, dropping and picking up charact...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Alfred Searls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

O how this book touched my heart; how it illuminated the darker corners of my soul with the brilliance of its generosity of spirit and the love with which it was evidently crafted.

What’s that you say? “Enough with the hyperbole - quit it with the over exuberance?” Well it’s my review and I’ll cry if I want to and if there are times in which you’re not moved to tears by this wholly remarkable work of post-apocalyptic science fiction then you have no soul to illuminate.

The book opens in the twenty...more O how this book touched my heart; how it illuminated the darker corners of my soul with the brilliance of its generosity of spirit and the love with which it was evidently crafted.

What’s that you say? “Enough with the hyperbole - quit it with the over exuberance?” Well it’s my review and I’ll cry if I want to and if there are times in which you’re not moved to tears by this wholly remarkable work of post-apocalyptic science fiction then you have no soul to illuminate.

The book opens in the twenty-sixth century, six hundred years after the world entered a new dark age, following a disastrous nuclear war. In the wake of the global catastrophe the survivors of ‘The Fire Deluge’ turn against the written word and all its cultural and scientific consequences. In a great purge the collected knowledge of mankind is swept away and within a few generations illiteracy becomes almost universal. Almost … for even amid the chaos of ‘The Simplification’ knowledge is secretly preserved by a number of Catholic monastic orders in the remoter parts of what was once the United States, now a hotchpotch of feuding entities with suitably medieval appellations such as ‘The Empire of Denver’ and ‘The Kingdom of Laredo’.

The novel follows three separate generations of Brothers in the ‘The Albertian Order of Saint Leibowitz’ – (each one separated by around six hundred years) in their struggle, firstly to preserve and understand the knowledge of the past; then to propagate it, and finally to adapt and defend themselves against a world that has regained the kind of scientific and secular zeal last seen only in the years preceding mankind’s great fall into darkness.

Walter M Miller was a writer in the Golden Age of the science fiction and his prodigious output in the 1950’s earned him a Hugo Award. ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’ is the product of three of his stories and the lessons Miller learned in the tough, competitive world of the sci-fi pulp magazines are evident in this, his only full length novel.

Although the novel is epic in its scope the pared down prose prevents it from becoming flabby and at no time is Miller tempted to stray too far from the cool stone cloisters of the order’s Abbey; but when he does he is capable of conjuring up new vista’s every bit as compelling and convincing as the monastic world he so lovingly and expertly creates.

Nor are his characters mere cyphers for the transmission of his own faith and ideas, but rather they are the ghosts of thousands of unnamed novices and brothers who kept alive the words of Aeschylus and Sophocles, the wisdom of Socrates and Plato and knowledge of Vitruvius and Tacitus through the great first dark age, when the monasteries of the first millennium were lighthouses of knowledge amid a dark sea of ignorance. As that great Victorian poet and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay puts it:

“She [the Catholic Church] was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's.”

At this point I feel I should firmly point out that one need not hold a candle for the Catholic Church, or indeed any denomination or religious faith to appreciate ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’. The ideas it examines are universal and its concerns wholly human. Indeed, the novel may be all the more interesting and enlightening (in a non-proselytising sense) when read from an atheist perspective, giving as it does an insight into a world that can seem incomprehensible even to the converted.

The book is often seen, and rightly so in my opinion, as an examination of the cyclical view of history. But for me it is also an exploration of first principles and it indirectly asks many questions on behalf of its reader about the wider human condition. To my mind A Canticle for Leibowitz’ does not so much provoke thought, it is far more subtle than that; rather I believe it invokes it … in a way that is both beautiful and profound.
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Jan 14, 2009 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sff

Hauntingly beautiful. I loved the cyclical nature of the world. Death, rebirth and ultimately destruction occurring over a plodding time frame, where each life is a drop in the bucket of generations.

I enjoyed the book because it dealt with a future of nuclear annihilation. Most stories dealing with fallout seem to focus on the aftermath, with people who still remembered a different life, life before the holocaust. In A Canticle for Leibowitz the flame deluge is a distant memory remembered only...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Yael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Where do I start? A Canticle for Liebowitz, first published in 1960, is one of the greatest English-languge novels. I first read it the year after it was introduced to the public, when I was 16, and it drove home an understanding of just what global nuclear war was likely to do to the world. Somber, heart-wrernching, the novel is nevertheless written with wry, sardonic humor that counterbalances the horror of what has happened to the world . . . until it dawns on the reader that what is sardonic...more Where do I start? A Canticle for Liebowitz, first published in 1960, is one of the greatest English-languge novels. I first read it the year after it was introduced to the public, when I was 16, and it drove home an understanding of just what global nuclear war was likely to do to the world. Somber, heart-wrernching, the novel is nevertheless written with wry, sardonic humor that counterbalances the horror of what has happened to the world . . . until it dawns on the reader that what is sardonically humorous are the human attitudes that got the world into that state in the first place. This is not a book for light reading or mild entertainment -- but it is one that every thoughtful adult ought to read, lest we fall into the trap of suffering the repeat of a history we tried to ignore . . . or creating a future even more hideous than some of history's blackest periods.

A Canticle for Leibowitz, a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American Walter M. Miller, Jr., is based on three short stories which Miller contributed to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; it is the only novel published by the author before his death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1996. Considered one of the great classics of science fiction, according it has never been out of print, and has seen over 25 reprints and editions (or so according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cantic.... I tried looking for it on amazon.com this evening and came up empty; only amazon.ca had it; it may not be currently in print). Appealing to mainstream and genre critics and readers alike, it won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel.

Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during World War II, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Walker Percy, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research.

The novel is, with rare, short exceptions, set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war. The story spans nearly two millennia, beginning with the Flame Wars, or 20th century global nuclear holocaust, and covers the slow, torturous rebuilding of civilization through the devoted work of the monks, nomad raids, police actions by civil authority, and all the rest of what constitutes the history of any civilization. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it -- but is man ever ready for that?

One of the things that has deeply moved me every time I've read and reread A Canticle for Liebowitz over the years is the devotion, courage, and grace of the Albertian monks as they strive over the centuries to preserve what is left of the scientific and other texts of a suicidal civilization from the fires of raging mobs of simpletons, i.e., ordinary citizens, whose hate for "those smug bastards who did this" has led them to root and burn not only texts, but those who wrote and taught them, not to mention any monks who, like Isaac Liebowitz, founder of the order himself, have been unfortunate enough to be caught with such texts on their persons or in their near vicinity. Since the end of the 20th century, all the way to the 32nd century and the beginning of the recovery of late 20th-century technology, the monks live all their days doing everything possible to protect the books and documents that preserve that technology, so that their contemporaries can begin the work of rebuilding an advanced global civilization. But even as technological progress once more begins to unfold with lightning speed, it becomes evident that the human soul hasn't changed at all, and that history is very likely to repeat itself. Which it finally does -- humanity doesn't want the moral maturity of the monks, only the toys the plans for which have been preserved so lovingly by the monks, and once again the world is wrapped in radioactive fire, possibly for the very last time.

The novel begins with Part I, "Fiat Homo (Let There Be Man)." Set in the 26th century, Part I describes the time taking place after the Age of Simplification, a time of popular revolt against scientists inspired by the nuclear Flame Wars. Part II, "Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light)," takes place in the 32nd century, when humanity rediscovers the light bulb and the use of electricity to turn motors. But to his horror, the monastery's abbot discovers that once again, science and true wisdom are beginning to diverge in ways that promise to be radical, and that science and, with it, engineering will always be the preferred studies of the rulers of men, while wisdom is sent to weep in the corners of the world, watch as disaster comes ever closer, and be powerless to do anything to stop it. In Part III, "Fiat Voluntas Tua (Let Thy Will Be Done), set in the 38th century, the vast, technologically advanced civilization built on the ashes of the 20th century is destroyed . . . by another global thermonuclear war. This time, it may be that all that is left of Earth's life is what has been transplanted to various interstellar colonies before the nuclear balloon went up, though, at least, it is noted at the end of the novel, a shark survives, but only by moving to particularly deep water to avoid the fallout, and thereafter he experiences a time of great hunger. The Order of Liebowitz, however, survives -- offworld, on one of Earth's struggling interstellar colonies, along with a great number of orphans that those monks assigned to crew the ship and settle the monastery in at the new colony have taken with them.

Life's long history is one of endlessly repeated tragedies. Miller's great testament was an attempt to get the world to pull back from carrying out the worst tragedy of all: the end of civilization and with it, possibly, humanity as a species and even Earthly life itself. At least so far, we have managed to avoid that fate. If God is kind, Miller is smiling at that in the heaven reserved for those who do all they can to prevent murder on the largest possible scale.(less)

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Jul 02, 2008 Tedb0t rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: big fans of pap sci-fi

Shelves: apocalypse, modernfiction

I read this immediately following another well-known 1950s apocalyptic / nuclear holocaust novel "Alas, Babylon." That book, which I gave 4 stars to, was an excellent story and made no pretensions to literature; its prose was plain and transparent. The novel in question, "A Canticle for Leibowitz," turned out to be one of the most irritating kinds of genre sci-fi: one with ambitions to beauty and importance that falls far short of the mark.

Now, I hate to put it that way, because I would never cr...more

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Jun 15, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, apocalypse, science-fiction, 2008, 100-paperbacks

Without a doubt, A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of the classic post-apocalyptic novels. That it strikes so mercilessly at so many of our deepest fears, it is no wonder the tale has held up well over time. There is a fantastic interplay here of innocence vs. corruption, of reason vs. faith and intuitions, of hope vs. despair... The novel was significantly more emotional and gut-wrenching than I'd expected.

The novel is certainly worthy of a thoughtful and detailed review but I fear I may need mor...more Without a doubt, A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of the classic post-apocalyptic novels. That it strikes so mercilessly at so many of our deepest fears, it is no wonder the tale has held up well over time. There is a fantastic interplay here of innocence vs. corruption, of reason vs. faith and intuitions, of hope vs. despair... The novel was significantly more emotional and gut-wrenching than I'd expected.

The novel is certainly worthy of a thoughtful and detailed review but I fear I may need more time and subsequent re-reads to really pin it all down. That said:

(1) That the novel revolves principally around an Abbey dedicated to preserving knowledge (specifically scientific texts) presents a wonderful little conundrum in and of itself -- one that Miller does well in exploring. The "Fiat Lux" section is where he performs this most skillfully. However:

(2) The science vs. faith conflicts were, I felt, a bit overly simplified. When presenting this conflict in terms of allegory, it makes sense to create these high-contrast dichotomies. But my skin crawls at the suggestion that an atheist and a scientist will apply his knowledge without consideration for conscience. The last, fifth ★ in my rating might well have been earned with a more subtle and thorough treatment of this.

(3) On "Benjamin (the Old Jew)": is there a name for this kind of character? The pilgrim, the wanderer, the hermit... In reading the passages that contained this character (the pilgrim in the opening chapters of "Fiat Homo"; Benjamin in "Fiat Lux"; and the appears-only-once vagrant in "Fiat Voluntas Tua") I could not help but get echoes of Merlin, Gandalf, Fizban... This archetype seems to appear most often in fantasy novels (sometimes in scifi; perhaps elsewhere?) -- the nearly-supernatural not-quite-narrator that has a too-intimate knowledge of the past and a too-accurate prediction of the future. This demands further research.

----

See also:
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08...(less)

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Jan 09, 2008 Eli rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion-myth, sci-fi

Though told through the lens of the Catholic Church as it survives centuries after nuclear holocaust, this book is less about faith and more about human reason as it clashes with the forces of xenophobia, greed and ignorance.

We see a picture of the church as a giant institution, slow to change and long to deliberate, and an order of scholarly monks who sometimes bump against this inertia. Within the order are disparate personalities kept together by the code they've adhered to and the rule of th...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, apochalypse

Excellent story, well told--in the didactic style typical to early SF. Despite it's late-1950s origin, the science fiction holds up well. (Modern authors take note: it is possible to avoid glaring technical errors even if your crystal ball is cloudy.)

Younger readers may not appreciate the fullness of the text because Miller could assume a level of reader literacy about things Christian--especially Catholic--which may no longer be true.

"Benjamin" was cute, but unnecessary to the story, especially...more

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Jun 15, 2012 sologdin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: blew-it-up-you-maniacs, speculative

Really three novellas strung together, sans schwerpunkten, though--and linked tenuously by details of setting alone, with the exception of one character. The setting itself is now standard post-apocalypse.

Text opens with the continuity character, "a wiggling iota of black caught in the shimering haze," an iota that "materialized out of the mirror glaze on the broken roadway," and an iota that "suggested a tiny apparition spawned by heat demons" (3). The iota (I, the ego of the author's dear Lati...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Canticle is a wonderful, full, rich book, and is wholly deserving of all the praise it gets.

A Canticle For Leibowitz is labelled as science fiction, and rightfully so, but at the same time, there is this sense of blended genres present, a mix of hard sci-fi, alternate future sci-fi, religious drama, seriocomedy, etc. This blending gives the whole novel a vaguely very real and simultaneously and paradoxically surreal feeling over the whole endeavor, or at least it did to me, but this feeling was...more Canticle is a wonderful, full, rich book, and is wholly deserving of all the praise it gets.

A Canticle For Leibowitz is labelled as science fiction, and rightfully so, but at the same time, there is this sense of blended genres present, a mix of hard sci-fi, alternate future sci-fi, religious drama, seriocomedy, etc. This blending gives the whole novel a vaguely very real and simultaneously and paradoxically surreal feeling over the whole endeavor, or at least it did to me, but this feeling wasn't bad or detracting. The blending of genres and the feeling of mixed reality and surreality added to the novel's impact and draw and were pleasant to notice and feel. This smoothie of book types and the writing, which can be both purplish and embellishing and then sterilely analytical at different sometimes intertwining times but is always fantastic and fits every scene, make the book a highly intriguing and rewarding read.

The meat of Canticle, the plot following the Order of Saint Leibowitz the Engineer, a monastic order dedicated to the preservation and cataloging of human knowledge, across 1200 years of post-apocalyptic history, is the real jewel, however. (view spoiler) The world after the Flame Deluge, the thoughts of the characters (who are, while occasionally not fully fleshed out, usually full of emotion and clear motivation and internal conflicts and decision-making), the well-reasoned arguments and the feelings of all involved get the messages across at a great pace and in a way that lets you think on the problems and evaluate the speech and ideas of issues, thoughts, and arguments as they come before conclusions are reached.

And the large conclusion reached, at least within the story if not broadly concluded about the world we live in here in actuality,(view spoiler), is a poignant one. I doubt I fully understand all that was said in this book right now, and further thought and re-reading will likely reveal or make me appreciate things in Miller's masterpiece more. But as for right now, I know this was a brilliant, entertaining, unique, and masterful work of sci-fi and thought on man's dedications to science and state and religion. Recommended to sci-fi fans, and to anyone interested in theological/moral thought especially comparative to reasoned or scientific thought and modern conflictual, progressive society.(less)

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Sep 07, 2012 Tom Loock rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

No need to repeat all the things mentioned about A Canticle for Leibowitz in other Goodreads-reviews (real classic, Hugo-winner, religion, apocalypse), but there are two buts.
Before the stoning commences, I feel I should say that of course I enjoyed the book, very much so, and I'd not hesitate to recommend it.

Having started but not finished the book back in the 70s, I can now see why I put it away unfinished. Most likely I dismissed it as religious propaganda - it really isn't, but unless you ar...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Wesley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge, solo_favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Big Leibowitz-ki

This probably is one of the most interesting perspectives of a post-apocalyptic situation over the course of a 1000ish year.
So what makes for a post apocalyptic situation? Usually some event, whether man-made or nature having hot flashes that immediately affects our way of life usually setting us back a few decades if not a century in how we operate. Millions die, technology is lost, man-made things sort of stop existing. But we usually would still have humans existing after...more The Big Leibowitz-ki

This probably is one of the most interesting perspectives of a post-apocalyptic situation over the course of a 1000ish year.
So what makes for a post apocalyptic situation? Usually some event, whether man-made or nature having hot flashes that immediately affects our way of life usually setting us back a few decades if not a century in how we operate. Millions die, technology is lost, man-made things sort of stop existing. But we usually would still have humans existing after this event.
Now we have humans that were alive prior to the event and are still living after. Now most would think even if it may be 100 or so years off that we would essentially see this as a reset button being pushed. Given we still have the knowledge of prior to our “event.” We can rebuild bigger, faster, and stronger. As new people are born we pass this information along.
Fairly standard issue. Here’s the thing we keep resetting ourselves over and over for these hundreds of years. Setting us back to the point that things become forever lost and forgotten. Until finally we catch up to the point that electricity is born again. Now these situations happen after the first main event but prior to electricity mainly affect isolated areas. As technology doesn’t exist, so really it’s just standard issue pillaging.
But now after taking 3 steps forward and 2 back we’ve gained enough steps forward with electricity again, thus, nuclear relevance. Sort of back where we started once, except without the finesse. Also having the capability to regenerate causing another event like the one that started the post apocalyptic situation in the first place.
So in the end we just kept beating ourselves in with whatever technology we had. Given a megaton bomb or traditional archery. That’s fkd up. Then have the entire thing revolve around some form of religion, now that’s a FRIDAY NIGHT!
Excellent book, I did partial kindle and partial audiobook. As there are some actual language barriers (as in hella latinish ways), I highly recommend the audiobook. Either way though, one fantastic story.
Rating: A SOLID 5 stars
Format: .mobi/audiobook
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Feb 02, 2009 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Three novellas make up this sci fi classic, that is as much about religion as science. In fact, it's probably the most sympathetic to organized religion of any sci fi book I've ever read, addressing questions of the course of science when it's not tied to any moral or ethical structures. That makes it sound boring, and it's actually a pretty lively read.

Walter Miller was in the air force during World War II. He was in the squad that bombed Monte Casino in Italy, the destruction of which was the...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

this book was boss as fuck

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Apr 01, 2013 Marc Strozyk rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was a real chore to finish. Maybe because it is considered intellectual Science Fiction? I don't know. Maybe I require some entertainment in my reading. IT just felt like nothing happened in this book. The writing was also very dry. Just lots of chanting and philosophy and boring church rituals. I did like some of the concepts of the book and parts of the story: seperation of church and state, and how man is destined to keep repeating his mistakes as well as his successes. I need more...more This book was a real chore to finish. Maybe because it is considered intellectual Science Fiction? I don't know. Maybe I require some entertainment in my reading. IT just felt like nothing happened in this book. The writing was also very dry. Just lots of chanting and philosophy and boring church rituals. I did like some of the concepts of the book and parts of the story: seperation of church and state, and how man is destined to keep repeating his mistakes as well as his successes. I need more characterization in a book in order for me to enjoy. At least I got this done for my reading group. ARgh!

UPDATE:

I know I gave this book one star .. but now I have to give it 2 stars :) Only because I am still thinking about this book 24 hours after I read it.
Are we doomed to keep repeating our destructive ways? Do we just go from simpleton to genius blow ourselves up and then decide to repeat it again even with the knowledge of our past failure. Knowing all of this how would you stop it from happening a second time? Would you hoard all remaining information/memorabilia and only give it those you found worthy (religious or having the same "faith") to use it for the greater good of all mankind? Would you give the information to everyone freely? Or would you just destroy all memorabilia and let man live simply as hunter and gatherers. None of these are easy choices to make. The book doesn't condescend to any opinion nor indicate which would be the preferred solution. Because the book has me still thinking about these things makes me think the book deserves another star.

I still hate the writing style though. I never felt close to any of the characters in "The Canticle for Leibowitz", except Brother Francis from the first part. It took me awhile but I started to relate to him. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter that "part" ended and he was gone (he is mentioned again later in part 3). I think this theme (man is destined to destroy himself over and over again) and these same archetypes could be done better in the hands of a better wordsmith. I find it hard to criticize as I know that the author is far better than I could ever dream of but perhaps I have become spoiled by the characterization the likes of George R.R. Martin and Hugh Howey who relate their characters so well that you become so devoted to them immediately that you dive right into their story.

Anyways, if I am still thinking about this book by the end of the week I might have to give it 3 stars. However even if I'm still thinking about this book a year from now it will never get more than 3 stars from me :)(less)

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Nov 05, 2008 Brandon Harwood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A very enjoyable read. The ideas and concept of a circular history (returning to dark ages from high technology, and then through renaissance and back to high technology) was engaging. Still, I found the writing in the three sections markedly different and thus jarring. It was clear that this was three different stories set in the say era with some minor reoccurrence (e.g. the Wandering Jew, Brother Francis, the poet's glass-eye).

The first story, "Fiat Homo: [Let there be Man]," was jerky and s...more A very enjoyable read. The ideas and concept of a circular history (returning to dark ages from high technology, and then through renaissance and back to high technology) was engaging. Still, I found the writing in the three sections markedly different and thus jarring. It was clear that this was three different stories set in the say era with some minor reoccurrence (e.g. the Wandering Jew, Brother Francis, the poet's glass-eye).

The first story, "Fiat Homo: [Let there be Man]," was jerky and sprawling. Also, it had a slight inconsistency when Brother Francis was asked to wander into the dangerous desert with an important church artifact. He was armed with nothing! I'm sure New Rome or the Abbey could have afforded some protection . . . a topic which Miller assumes in the second story without explanation.

The middle story, "Fiat Lux: [Let there be Light]," was my favorite and, I believe, the best written. In "Lux," Miller does an excellent job of creating a diverse cast of character and unfolding their resistance to what each represents. The Wandering Jew, The Poet, The Thon (scientist), the Church father, and the Church's engineer prodigy all represented interesting takes on the idea of knowledge and what it is to be used for. The coming war and political domination was a back-drop to these characters, but I think that it was done very effectively.

The last story, "Fiat Volunta Tua: [Let your will be done]," was interesting and engaging. Also, I thought that it was the most polished of the three. But, Miller became increasingly preachy in this third story. The point about war, euthanasia, and the danger of technology was trounced in front of the reader with little argument given for the other side. I agreed with some of Zerechi's point, but I am unsympathetic to an author that cannot let the issue be well represented on both sides. Kudos for bringing up these interesting points, however.

All-in-all, Canticle is a worthwhile read, just maybe not the top tier of good literature. (less)

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Oct 09, 2008 Nicolas rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anticipation, broc, post-apo, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

J'ai donc terminé ce bouquin, qui nous raconte l'histoire de l'ordre de St-Leibowitz, de sa fondation à sa fin.
Il s'agit clairement là de SF classique, par son thème et son
traitement. Par son thème tout d'abord, car il est avant tout question dans ce roman des conséquences de l'usage de l'arme atomique. Dans son traitement ensuite, car il me semble avoir déja vu bien des histoires traitant de ce thème.
Pour être honnête, je trouve ce roman plutôt bon, mais seulement pour son époque. Ce que je veu...more

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About Walter M. Miller Jr.

From the Wikipedia article, "Walter M. Miller, Jr.":

Miller was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Educated at the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas, he worked as an engineer. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radioman and tail gunner, flying more than fifty bombing missions over Italy. He took part in the bombing of the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino,...more From the Wikipedia article, "Walter M. Miller, Jr.":

Miller was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Educated at the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas, he worked as an engineer. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radioman and tail gunner, flying more than fifty bombing missions over Italy. He took part in the bombing of the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino, which proved a traumatic experience for him. Joe Haldeman reported that Miller "had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for 30 years before it had a name".

After the war, Miller converted to Catholicism. He married Anna Louise Becker in 1945, and they had four children. For several months in 1953 he lived with science-fiction writer Judith Merril, ex-wife of Frederik Pohl and a noted science-fiction author in her own right.

Between 1951 and 1957, Miller published over three dozen science fiction short stories, winning a Hugo Award in 1955 for the story "The Darfsteller". He also wrote scripts for the television show Captain Video in 1953. Late in the 1950s, Miller assembled a novel from three closely related novellas he had published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1955, 1956 and 1957. The novel, entitled A Canticle for Leibowitz, was published in 1959.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic (post-holocaust) novel revolving around the canonisation of Saint Leibowitz and is considered a masterpiece of the genre. It won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The novel is also a powerful meditation on the cycles of world history and Roman Catholicism as a force of stability during history's dark times.

After the success of A Canticle For Leibowitz, Miller never published another new novel or story in his lifetime, although several compilations of Miller's earlier stories were issued in the 1960s and 1970s.

In Miller's later years, he became a recluse, avoiding contact with nearly everyone, including family members; he never allowed his literary agent, Don Congdon, to meet him. According to science fiction writer Terry Bisson, Miller struggled with depression during his later years, but had managed to nearly complete a 600-page manuscript for the sequel to Canticle before taking his own life with a gun in January 1996, shortly after his wife's death. The sequel, titled Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was completed by Bisson and published in 1997.(less)

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Quotes from A Canticle for Leibowitz

“You don’t have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.” — 19,517 people liked it

“The closer men came to perfecting for themselves a paradise, the more impatient they became with it, and with themselves as well. They made a garden of pleasure, and became progressively more miserable with it as it grew in richness and power and beauty; for then, perhaps, it was easier to see something was missing in the garden, some tree or shrub that would not grow. When the world was in darkness and wretchedness, it could believe in perfection and yearn for it. But when the world became bright with reason and riches, it began to sense the narrowness of the needle's eye, and that rankled for a world no longer willing to believe or yearn.” — 29 people liked it

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