Comments (28)

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1 to 25 of 28 items
Nov 27, 2023ushi rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Puts me in mind of the story told at the start of "The Pigeon Tunnel" which seems to me to be an apt analogy for human life. When you gain perspective life is such a waste of time and effort in the wrong direction.
Jun 29, 2023xiaojunbpl12 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I read again, shift my attention away from Catholicism reference to origin/destiny of Man. In Man's future after Man destroyed Earth (Flame Deluge), human remnant (possibly with aliens), and/or whose descendant had begun (repeating)…
Sep 18, 2022
3.98 103k 320pp
Nov 30, 2021AidanVenneman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Walter M. Miller’s 1959 novel A Canticle For Leibowitz is one of the most influential cold war science fiction stories, paving the way for iconic pieces of post-apocalyptic fiction like The Road and I Am Legend. The book includes three…
Jan 16, 2021MichelleinBallard rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This book was inspired by author Miller's participation in WW II in the senseless and barbaric bombing by US air forces of the 6th century Christian monastery, founded by St. Benedict, of Monte Cassino in Italy. Here are three quotes from…
Aug 16, 2020chazbufe rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Vastly overrated. While some of the episodes are entertaining, there's not much of a plot. It's an ode to a fantasy version of the Catholic Church, and will appeal to those who are unfamiliar with the Church's actual history during the…
Apr 24, 2019FVReader rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Hope, Knowledge, Continuity. Mankind's need or thirst for these never diminishes. The story starts 600 years after the destruction of Civilization. Miller adds humour to the stark reality. There are no easy problems or answers in this…
Oct 01, 2018fledge rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A post-nuclear-bomb-apocalypse Catholic abbey blunders its way to preserving a good deal of the science and technology that led the way to the apocalypse. An analysis of faith and Catholicism with some Judaism thrown in. The prose is…
Sep 01, 2018sat7 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this SciFi -
Dec 17, 2017DanglingConversations rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I read this in 1980 and this classic sci-fi left a strong impression on my 20 year old brain. Now, In the Trump era, when truth is malleable and a leader's word cannot be trusted, the underpinnings of a human holistic are frighteningly…
Jul 12, 2017dennismmiller rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
St Isaac Leibowitz was one of the scientists who made Armageddon possible, and hoped that it would never become actual. When human folly unleashed unimaginable destruction, he took shelter from the aftermath in a secluded monastery,…
Dec 05, 2016rhys33 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
It's post-apocalyptic sci-fi, it's historical fiction, it's literary fiction, and it's all around fantastic. I put this book up there with Mary Doria Russell's The sparrow in terms how much I enjoyed it. Interestingly, I see that Russell…
UptownGirl1
Sep 13, 2016UptownGirl1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A very well written spiritual science-fiction novel. This novel is very thought provoking and is relatable to everyone living today. The author in this novel gives us a thorough view of monasticism and he goes to the core of original…
Jul 27, 2016TeresaWBrown rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Interesting exploration of world destruction, religion in a secular world and how little we learn from history.
Jul 17, 2016susan_findlay rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Bleak and barbaric. While the setting is the future, the world presented more closely resembles a prehistoric one than a futuristic one. For that reason, it doesn't particularly read like science fiction. The book is divided into three…
Jun 27, 2016JackPurcell rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
An excellent read .... and if you love it you'll probably wish to chase down the sequel released in the later years, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.
saharri1
Mar 23, 2016saharri1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Epic post-apocalyptice novel that contemplates the nature of guilt, fatalism, and cyclic history.
Jun 26, 2015
Walter M. Miller Jr. eloquently dissects the nature of mankind in a moving manner that is also surprisingly funny. Read more at: http://www.librarypoint.org/canticle_for_leibowitz_miller
Jul 01, 2014
I normally do not read sci-fi books (not my type at all!) but I randomly picked this book up at the library and I really love it! Its qutie different and I like the slow progression in the chapters. I highly recommend this
May 05, 2014phartshorn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A brilliant and timeless novel. I originally read it on the recommendation of my father when I was teen. I was reluctant (of course!) initially, but found myself drawn deeply into it. I have reread it as an adult and found myself even more…
Mar 11, 2013danomcd rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
I heard so much about this book that I had pretty high expectations. Instead it really seemed to not go anywhere for large parts of the chapters.
Jan 19, 2013EJSawyer rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I read this book in high school (longer ago than I like to admit), and it blew me away. Very thought-provoking, but grounded in authentic characters and speculative (but realistic) situations. With all due respect to Lemony Snicket, if…
Jan 19, 2013jgwening rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Great post apocolyptic novel! Would have rated higher except for the parts I couldn't follow and the latin. Definitely a little scary for if the mind can think it then it can happen. The writing is classic and worthy.
nyplteacher
Feb 24, 2012nyplteacher rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I don't particularly like sci-fi, but I loved this book! The author brings up meaty themes in every section of the book, and while the book was written long before e-books, it does bring up the thought of what will happen to hardcopy books…
Mar 28, 2011kwsmith rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
"A Canticle for Leibowitz" is a classic cold-war era science fiction novel set in post-apocolyptic America. Despite its ever-present tongue-in-cheek humour, this profoundly philosophical novel is full of subtle symbolism and hidden…