A Canticle For Leibowitz- 7th Hugo Award Winner (1961)
7th Hugo Award Winner (1961)
Originally 3 short stories.
The core story was kept when combining the short stories. The characters in the story’s were changed.
“I’m not so sure he’s mad, Father. Just a little devious in his sanity.”
Overview
It’s a post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi novel that is composed of 3 parts. Each part takes place in the same catholic monastery 600 years apart.
The 1st part takes place about 600 years after the nuclear apocalypse. Technology has gone back to the bow & arrow. (It’s the dark ages)
The 2nd part is a renaissance. Old technology is being discovered/reinvented.
In the 3rd part we see that humanity has progressed to a point of where they were before the nuclear apocalypse. Technology is pretty advanced but everybody is afraid another apocalyptic war will break out.
Pros
Vivid post-apocalyptic world.
Unsafe roads, radioactive wasteland that causes birth defects, superstition reigns, monotony of medieval life, etc.
You get this vein of humor that plays off the ignorance of the characters. In the first part, a monk finds some written parchment he thinks is a holy relic but it’s just a grocery shopping list.
Miller wrote for the reader. Part 2 & 3 will reference earlier characters/events that the reader understands but the characters in the story don’t.
Miller shows that time warps history. What is true and what is false is lost when time passes.
Cons
The pacing was a bit slow. The first & second part felt a little dragged out. It’s really well written but a bit dense.
It’s written in a way where you are following the characters and the world but I never really got to a point where I was actively rooting for the characters.
Should you read it?
Yes. I really enjoyed the humor & it does a great job of showing a post-apocalyptic future.
My Rating
334 pages