Human civilizations rise and fall over millenia like birth-deaths in some radioactive imitation of reincarnation. Faith in God, preserved by the Catholic Church, is the surviving thread that keeps people going. Such is the premise of A Canticle for Leibowitz.
A STORY OF CYCLIC FALLS
The story, first published in 1959, opens in our near-future (relative to 1959—around 1980 or so), and covers a stretch of about eighteen hundred years. It is written in three acts, each entitled in Latin. In fact, there is a lot of Latin used in this book, along with Catholic conventions and ideas. The author, Walter M. Miller Jr., was a convert to Catholicism after serving in World War II. Knowing Latin or Catholicism, however, is not necessary to understanding the story, though either would probably help.
The first act is set in the Utah desert in a roughly medieval-level world. Brother Francis, a monk of the Leibowitz Abbey, is fasting in solitude for Lent in a rocky outcropping close to the abbey. Enough tropes from post-apocalyptic science fiction are spread around to orient the reader as to time and place. These include familiar place names used with unfamiliar connotations (Brother Francis of Utah), roads of “broken stone,” deformed human wanderers, references to the nuclear apocalypse (”Flame Deluge”), and terms common to us but mystifying to the characters (”fallout shelter” as a place to hide from the fallout creatures).
The book’s driving plot device is launched when Brother Francis discovers an old fallout shelter containing artifacts relevant to the life of his abbey’s patron saint candidate, Leibowitz. It seems I. E. Leibowitz was an electrical engineer who converted from science to the Catholic faith. This science/faith duality is a major theme of the book.
Most of the first act is Brother Francis coming to terms with the artifacts he has found (which include a blueprint drawn by Leibowitz) and how they affect his vocation, relations with his abbot, the Vatican (in New Rome, North America), and the prospective sainthood of Leibowitz.
The second act is set a few centuries later, in 3174 CE, still around the locale of the Leibowitz Abbey in Utah. Technology has not advanced much, but the abbey has become the keeper of ancient knowledge with a vast basement library. Its holdings, especially regarding Leibowitz, is known as “the Memorabilia.”
The plot in the second act centers around the work of a visiting scholar, Thon Taddeo. He wants to review the Memorabilia as part of the studies he is doing for New Rome. His work in the dark basement library is facilitated by an arc-lamp built by Brother Kornhoer and powered by several monks pushing a wheel. The light works well, as long as the powering monks can hold out. The science/faith theme comes heavily into play, with an initial tolerance by the adherents of both sides (monks vs scholars). That tolerance breaks down towards the end, however, curiously mediated by the neutral character of the Poet.
The third act takes us to the year 3781 CE, when civilization has recovered beyond the technological height it had reached before its previous fall. Now, interstellar space travel is possible.
The action still centers around Leibowitz Abbey in Utah, which is now a modern building adjoining the historic one. Humanity has rediscovered nuclear power. When war threatens, the Vatican launches its plan to preserve Catholicism among the human colonies in space. The current Leibowitz Abbey abbot, Dom Jethrah Zerchi, contributes to the working of that plan from his abbey. He must also contend with refugees fleeing a nuclear blast, complicated by the local medical authorities advocating euthanasia for those terminally irradiated.
As nuclear war escalates, the book draws to a very metaphysically symbolic end.
INTELLECT VS FAITH THEME IN EPIC SCOPE
A Canticle for Leibowitz is epic in its scope, connecting characters and themes across millenia. One thread is that of the character, Lazarus, aka: the pilgrim, Benjamin, Old Lazar, and The Old Jew of the Mountains. His life is longer than the span of the story and offers hope for humanity, or disappointment, depending upon how you view his “search.”
Also, the death of every major character is presented, both violent and natural. This depicts, I think, the brevity of human life within the cycles of civilizations. While the book is full of characters of faith and obedience to God’s Law, there is no assurance of life beyond death. Only the Lazarus character asserts an immortality of sorts. Even then, the emphasis is on long physical life.
This immortality question melds with the science vs faith theme. Lazarus keeps looking for Jesus, but can’t find him. Dom Zerchi braves death with faith, but wavers when his end is certain. Scholars, worshiping science, have to admit their moral bankruptcy when they endorse tyranny for the sake of underwriting their love of tech.
As the years progress in a given civilization cycle, it seems the gap between science (intellect) and faith widens. Which side wins? I think Mr. Miller comes down on the side of faith, though with reservations. See if you agree.
WELL-HANDLED TROPES FROM 1950S PERSPECTIVE
Though long in text and literary scope, A Canticle for Leibowitz is easy to read in spite of all the Latin. There is enough action, suspense, and engaging characters to keep readers engrossed. Those characters are mostly sympathetic, with conflicts coming from differing agendas and opinions rather than just good vs evil. This promotes some thoughtful themes and ideas that linger, possibly even leading to insight.
I liked Mr. Miller’s working of post-apocalypse tropes. Though written from a 1950’s viewpoint, the novel reads pretty much like a current one. The projection of tech is evidently old, however, such as the absence of personal computers and the “power switch” nature of the tech described in the last act. I found this quaint and not a problem.
EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH IN THE FACE OF NONE
A Canticle for Leibowitz reminds me a lot of Neil Shute’s On the Beach in its condemnation of nuclear war’s potential for human extermination. Both novels offer a kind of triumph of the human spirit, though Mr. Shute’s is a spiritual triumph rather than physical. Mr. Miller avers the physical survival of humanity but offers some doubt about a spiritual triumph. He suggests the possibility of delusion.
I much liked A Canticle for Leibowitz and agree that it is a classic of its genre (post-apocalyptic science fiction). Its expressions of faith within harsh environments and hopeless situations make it a story likely to resurface in readers’ minds for a long time. As a consideration of the apocalyptic nature of human technical progress, it offers insight, if not hope, for our time.
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Everybody Is Wrong: A Canticle For Leibowitz
Everybody (or a whole lot of strangers on social media, which is nearly the same thing) told me that A Canticle For Leibowitz is one of the greatest of all science fiction novels. Those same everybodies told me that Walter M. Miller Jr.’s 1959 novel pretty much set the standard for everything to come in the genre.Everybody was wrong. It is not one of the greatest; it is the greatest. A Canticle is everything you could ever want in a science fiction novel, and more. It greatly exceeded the high expectations I had before reading it. When I say it has everything, that means everything; a bit of sociological sci fi, post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic, steampunk, alternate history, space opera, lost worlds, and a talking kitchen sink (that is only a slight exaggeration). There are battles, harrowing moments, philosophical discussions, and space flights. Miller’s imagination was large enough to encompass all of this, and his abilities as a writer allowed him to put it all into a compelling story that keeps you turning the pages. Rather than providing us with an overview of the entire universe he possessed in his mind, Miller allows us to view it from a tiny perspective, through little conjoined stories, through glimpses into the lives of people as they experience the world around them. Their bewilderment connects to our own; the ways in which his characters are grasping in the dark allows us to identify with them. Miller develops his characters through actions.There is a quiet humor here, a belief in the ability of humanity to preserve something worth keeping despite a tendency to self-destruct, and a streak of stubborn independence from the mainstream beliefs of his day that allows this story to become both timeless and exactly what we need to be reading at this moment in time. It is little wonder that Miller never wrote another novel that achieved this kind of success. At 338 pages, he had produced a masterpiece. His later works were derivative of this one. When you have said it all there isn’t anything left to say.
Top reviews from other countries
rosesinbud
This might be an appropriate warning for the world we are seeing around us today
Reviewed in Japan on June 13, 2017