The Canticle for Leibowitz

The Canticle for Leibowitz was written by Walter M. Miller Jr. and was originally published by HarperCollins in 1959. It was not one of the books assigned for the ILM program but was something I read during the summer of 2011. It was given to me (as a birthday present) by my daughter and her boyfriend, because of a conversation we had about my interest in a specific science fiction sub-category. You might be surprised to hear that it's probably the first fiction book that I've read in about 20 years.

The story takes place in the future (of course), during two period’s separated by about 600 years. It begins long after the world has been destroyed by all out nuclear war, and follows what remains of humanity and its struggle to survive and prosper. After the fall of civilization, those who didn't die reacted by eliminating those they felt were responsible for their condition. All politicians were simply killed or driven into hiding. Then they went on to eliminate all knowledge by killing scientists and teachers and eventually anyone with any education at all. Being a simpleton and unable to read or write was everyone's goal. Along with this came the predictable loss of law and order, personal safety, and freedom of movement. Life was hard, violent, and short, and in some ways may have resembled the dark ages of our own history.

What makes this book interesting is that it is about the Church of the future. Although religion itself hasn't been eliminated, Christianity has been reduced to small pockets of believers. The story follows a small group of monks living in what has been for a long time, nothing but desert. From the first page we're introduced to various characters that inhabit this monastery, and to their mission of preservation. The small monastery was started by a man named Leibowitz, and their mission is to preserve as much of the banned knowledge as possible. It's a tricky balance, secretly hand copying science text books, articles, and manuals, while offering your reading and writing skills to those in control of the surrounding area. Much of what they are trying to preserve is fragmented due to loss and damage, and although no one understands what they're preserving they do try to imagine its value.

I enjoyed this book because it presents the Church with some good and some bad, and although it's not exactly the Church we know today, it's the Church you might imagine to exist after the end of civilization. In fact I believe one of the books statements is that the Church is crucial to civilization; it exists to preserve the faith of mankind and tie not only the populations of the world together, but the course of time itself. Another very compelling statement from this book is that mankind is resilient. It can and does prevail in the face of extreme hardship and failure; even when it is self inflicted. God is with us and He loves us no matter what.

The back cover says, "Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature; a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future. In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writing of the blessed Saint Isacc Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to re-celebrate its grand foibles an repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.”