75. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Review
“A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. is an astonishing read. The book provides a discussion and comment on society and the way it is ruled, which few authors manages to do with such fervour. The book itself could easily be considered very bleak, but fortunately the author writes with a great, albeit, dark sense of humour and to top it off he also writes wonderful characters. These characters follow clear philosophies and patterns of thought. This often leads to intellectual fencing between the different viewpoints between the Church and the rest of Mankind and in the process the role of religion in society is contemplated.
The book somehow manages to retell some very significant parts of human history and it is sometimes even an eerie read, due to the precision on which the discourse occurs between different viewpoints, while also lending a most thorough broadside to the men of science of the real world and considers the questions of accountability. His foresight in terms of technology and society is simply impressive for a book written in 1959 and at its core he challenges some of the very flaws in our society we see today, which might just have been apparent in 1959 as well - Perhaps, this is the entire point of the book along with the question of how to handle those issues.
The first place to look for comparisons is probably in a whole different type of entertainment: Video games. The world of the “Fallout”-series closely resembles the world in which this book is placed. To look at other books “Dune” by Frank Herbert springs to mind, mostly due to the religious themes. Also “Lord of Light” by Roger Zelazny is quite similar in both style and theme. “The Word for World is Forrest” by Ursula K. Le Guin also springs to mind, which provides some of the same rage, which is at times felt from the author of this book.
Score: 8/10
The book itself is excellent and it is clear that a lot of thought/study has gone into writing this book. I am impressed with the ability to write characters with such a large amount of personality. The score of 8 is mostly due to the complexity induces by the amount of latin and religious tradition, both of which I am not well-versed. I do not know how large a part of the book I have missed on account of the latin, but I imagine that the main points of the book was written in English.