A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr., 1960)

[madali]

A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr., 1960)

“The closer men came to perfecting for themselves a paradise, the more impatient they seemed to become 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 them, perhaps, it was easier for them to see that 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. Well, they were going to destroy it again, were they – this garden Earth, civilized and knowing, to be torn apart again that man might hope again in wretched darkness.”

Set after a nuclear apocalypse, the book focuses on a monastery, called the "Albertian Order of Leibowitz", believing in the sainthood of a scientist that lived during the nuclear war, who they revere. The book is split into three parts, with each part being a different era, spanning thousands of years, as society rebuilds itself.

The first section is during what is compared to the Dark Ages, as nuclear warfare has completely destroyed not only civilization and technology, but has turned man against anything academic, as they consider science and technology to be the cause of the destruction. The monastery differs from the norms of the society. Their love for the scientist Leibowitz has installed in them a love for preserving knowledge that does not exist in the general populace. Their mission in life, aside from a life of prayer, is finding textual relics of the past and preserving them. Most material has been destroyed, and the few that remain are in fragments. In a civilization that has their past erased, finding technical texts and prints have very little practical use. Without background knowledge, how can man decipher the complicated material within? But the monastery is not concerned. They believe that one day, they will reach a stage, where mankind will gain enough knowledge to be able to make use of them. Until then, they only aim to copy each piece they can find, and try to preserve the originals as much as they can.

Hundreds of years later, in the second section, civilization has finally entering the Enlightenment stage, where scientists can finally make use of the material that has been kept by the monastery for centuries. Finally, in the third section, the world has regained their technical advancements, but there is a concern that the past mistakes are to be repeated…

"A Canticle for Leibowitz" is a fascinating science-fiction book. The focus is always on the monastery, guardians of knowledge, to the extent of being religious fanatics. After centuries, their mission is not exactly science, but just the religious rituals of KEEPING the past safe. While their actions are worthy in a world that has short-term memory and high temper, the monks blindly follow tradition. Among most of them, there doesn't seem to be the actual goal in mind, but merely the automated actions that religion seems to claim is wanted by God.

4/5

[shariqq]

*like*

Adding to my wish-list.

[shariqq]

1960, and the Sci-fi still holds up? I'm impressed.

[madali]

50s-60s were the golden age of sci-fi!

[shariqq]

Yes, but many of those books (except a few authors') are outdated today, mainly in premise. So I'm glad you reviewed one which stands the test of time.

Btw, have you read Christopher Priest's The Inverted World? Surreal, mind-bending sci-fi.

[madali]

I havent read it. For now, my sci-fi is limited to ones that have won the Hugo Award for best novel. Which, by the way, is one of my secret personal projects, to read every sci-fi book that has received the award. Well, actually more than just read them, but review them, which means, I have to reread a few.

[shariqq]

Bold and noble undertaking. If I wasn't a sucker for paper-based reading only, I'd have loved to accompany you on this odyssey.


I've picked up "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel". My views on it as soon as I finish it.

[madali]

Kindle reading is really the way  to read. If you read one book with it, I'm sure you'll stick to it. I remember how unyielding books could get sometimes, specially if they were thick. I guess, the only thing I miss about books, is the texture and smell of the paper...! And of course, hording tons of books on your bookshelf.

[shariqq]

There is something traditional and  egoistic about having a library of books at home, visible to self and guests, the memories and conversations it evokes. Randomly picking a book and leafing through the pages. Leaving bookmarks in some of them. Arranging them in an absurd order that makes sense just to me.

I don't think I'll go paperless for books anytime soon.

[X.]

My large book shelf is my only treasure and always a great conversation starter whenever I bring someone new home. (Though whenever I've moved, I wished I had all those books on Kindle!)

I'm actually waiting till September because rumor has it that Amazon will put out the new Kindle.

[madali]

Kindle has so many advantages for me. I have so many unread books on my book shelf in Dubai, and there is no way I could bring them with me. And I'm one of those people that, if I travel for a week somewhere, I take multiple books with me, IN CASE. As if, I'll be so bored, that I would need to finish 6 books in one week. Unnecessarily taking up space.

No so with the Kindle!