Yashima reviewed A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (St. Leibowitz, #1)
Review of 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
So you love classics, want to complete your must-have-read list, and really want to read every novel that ever won the Hugo? Even if it is dated, and preachy apocalyptic message-fic without plot? Go ahead read this. The basic premise that mankind moves in self-destructive cycles is well executed.
Sometimes I wonder why I keep going back to reading ancient SF books. This one is from the early 60s. But it won a Hugo and I was curious (and I remember liking [b: Stranger in a Strange Land|350|Stranger in a Strange Land|Robert A. Heinlein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1156897088s/350.jpg|908211] which I read only a few years ago which is a year or two younger than this one). This one appears on so many must-have-read lists. And I guess that is true. But only because one must have read a book, it doesn't mean the process of getting there is necessarily enjoyable. More than anything this …
So you love classics, want to complete your must-have-read list, and really want to read every novel that ever won the Hugo? Even if it is dated, and preachy apocalyptic message-fic without plot? Go ahead read this. The basic premise that mankind moves in self-destructive cycles is well executed.
Sometimes I wonder why I keep going back to reading ancient SF books. This one is from the early 60s. But it won a Hugo and I was curious (and I remember liking [b: Stranger in a Strange Land|350|Stranger in a Strange Land|Robert A. Heinlein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1156897088s/350.jpg|908211] which I read only a few years ago which is a year or two younger than this one). This one appears on so many must-have-read lists. And I guess that is true. But only because one must have read a book, it doesn't mean the process of getting there is necessarily enjoyable. More than anything this book was a history lesson on how it felt to be living in 1960.
The book is about how man-kind wipes itself out with nuclear weapons. Remember early 60s. Beginning of the Cold War. Assured mutual destruction. In the book it happened several centuries ago, and was followed by the Age of Simplification when the mob sought to destroy the knowledge that had brought mankind to the brink of extinction.
The first of the three parts of the book begins in the new dark ages. Only a few monks from the Order of Leibowitz guard fragments of former scientific knowledge. It's a strange story of a monk named Francis who finds his vocation in the desert where he discovers remnants of an old fallout shelter. The story meanders through his life and eventual death without much point or emotion.
In the second part centuries have passed, the abbey has grown and a new renaissance dawns. There are once more scientists and scholars rediscovering what was once known. But besides the science mankind is also rediscovering war and politics. We see through the eyes of the abbot who is at odds with a secular scholar who is visiting to study the "memorabilia" the monks are guarding. I found this the most interesting part, until it just ended with the abbots death.
In the third part we're in the futuristic vision. Man has reached for the stars, founded colonies and nuclear war threatens again. The Order of Leibowitz is still trying to fulfill their mission of saving knowledge, and mankind, and the church. This part is enjoying the new future setting and takes a lot of time to describe some of the fantastic advancements that have been made. There are colonies on other planets but computers are still the size of a room (the Abominable Autoscribe oO). But it wasn't the weird combination of futuristic visions with technology that we have surpassed, that I didn't like about this part. This part even more than all the others is focused on the morals of the church. And that's just not my thing.
I understand why this book won the Hugo. I get the message, and if you're into that it's a must-have-read. But not everybody is into reading books just because they are a kind of milestone.
It must have been something I ate, or I was just not prepared for this book. I found it un-entertaining (except for the "Forgive me father I ate a lizard" confession somewhere in the beginning). It left me with a clear impression of its very much not dated message, and the writing is solid. But it lacked such modern inventions as plot or characters I wanted to read more about. Add to that the extremely strong religious themes, and the moral musings permeating everything, the nearly complete lack of female characters (or anyone but monks and priests for that matter), and the apocalyptic setting and extremely bleak outlook and I know I'll never touch that book again.
