Rating: 
Summary: I need a 10-star rating for this book.
Review: There's no point in even trying to describe A Canticle for Leibowitz. It's pure Genius-with-a-capital-G. If you're literate and don't need all the whiz-bang crap that usually populates sci fi (I don't even think I would consider this sci fi, it's so... WAY beyond the norm); that is, if you can think independently, Read This Book. Don't worry about all the latin... he doesn't translate most of it but you can imply meaning from context.
So... I can't describe it, but here are some reasons why I consider Canticle pure Genius.Canticle :
1. Offers an entirely classical and yet revolutionary reading of history.
2. Is a darn good story.
3. Is purely intellectual, working to excite thought and reason and possibility rather than visual senses or innovations.
4. Gives credit to Christianity for preserving literacy over the centuries, a fact that is usually overlooked.
5. Respects religion; most sci fi novels either disdain religious people, lampoon them, or write them off as annoying or dangerous quacks. This one treats them with the respect they deserve.
6. Is, perhaps, an incredible act of penance by the author (read the "about the author" when you finish).
7. Addresses all the serious questions in life: suicide, war, pacifism, what the role of religion in society is... the list is endless.
8. Is the epitome of intertextuality. It doesn't mention any specific works (though the Inferno is quoted), but it draws heavily (purposefully) from world and biblical history... not only so that it may enlighten us about the current text (the arrow usually goes that way), but rather to prompt us to view PREVIOUS texts in a totally different way.
9. Asks the question: Why do we mistrust our historical sources so much?
10. Hasn't dated itself a day since it was written in 1959. Not a day.
11. Contains thoughts so terrible and yet beautiful it made me cry. So read it. Or abandon hope, ye who enter here.
Rating:
Summary: Lucifer is Fallen
Review: This novel from the 1950's is a deserved classic among the sci-fi intelligentsia. Maybe its laborious title has kept it from being noticed by the popular masses, but this book is a hidden gem for those looking to broaden their horizons. This is probably one of the earliest stories to speculate on a post-nuclear apocalypse, and here Walter Miller created one of the most imaginative and far-reaching examples of that motif. Later nuclear winter stories would get predictable and formulaic, but not this originator. In this masterpiece of storytelling, three ages of human development pass by over the course of 1800 years, but in the end we see that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. While it's a bit dated in places, this brilliant and disturbing novel will keep you thinking for a long time after you're done reading it. In addition to its unique take on historical processes, this book is essentially about the pros and cons of organized religion. In Part 1, humanity is stuck in the middle of several centuries of dark ages after a nuclear war, and once again the Catholic Church (or what's left of it) holds sway over a fearful and unenlightened society. Among the few records of the pre-war world that have survived are some inconsequential notes and blueprints by a minor scientist called Leibowitz. The church has made Leibowitz a saint, and here Miller appears to be commenting on the reverence of organized religion toward matters of doubtful authenticity and importance. Is religious belief built upon weak foundations? In Part 2 humanity is entering a new renaissance of knowledge, with religion being unable to adjust to the new enlightenment. In Part 3, humanity has reached a new technical age, but society is again oppressed by nuclear paranoia and mutually assured destruction. Humanity is about to destroy itself once again in this 1800-year cycle. Miller then takes us on an examination of the strength and relevance of faith in the face of such suffering and destruction. However, for the entire 1800 years and more, the disciples of Leibowitz have kept faith and hope alive. So is organized religion the curse or savior of humanity? Walter Miller contemplates these issues with great lucidity in this lost classic. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating: 
Summary: Great example of 'Future History'
Review: Canticle for Lebowitz is a story that will appeal to all types of readers: science fiction readerers because of its speculative aspects as well as fantasy readers due to its projection of people into a strange (but all too possible) world. This novel does a great job of describing how certain human organizations (religion, in particular) could survive apocalypse and become the vessel of knowledge into a future age--not unlike the function of the Middle Age monasteries preserved Classical knowledge. It also provides a very believable account of how people might perceive technologies that have become incomprehensible. For example, one of the characters marvels over why ancient people put metal bars into stone (it is rebar reinforced concrete). It shows us how even things that we perceive as mundane in the modern world could take on a mystical nature to those who lack understanding. For me, the best of this book was the first two thirds. These are the parts where the writing really shines and the you get a sense of how humanity could endure and rediscover science through a neo-dark age. The last part is very good as well, but I think the authors voice begins to creep into the story and the characters, and events unfold more for the benefit of the point he's trying to make more than any other factor.
Rating:
Summary: A Great and Terrifying Novel
Review: I first read this book over thirty years ago, after hearing Frederick Pohl on the radio say that if you only wanted to read three Sci-Fi novels, this was one (the other two were Dune and Stranger in a Strange Land). Having been raised an Orthodox Catholic during the time of bomb shelters, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the fear of godless communism, this book was a fair warning to mankind of what the future could become. Understanding the beliefs of the Old Catholic faith does make the story easier to understand but the messages are just as thought provoking to any one who will just ponder the story. There is no happy ending but a very real one instead. An earlier review stated that this story can inform our children and grandchildren what type of thinking went on during those grim days of the 50's and 60's. The story will also let them know what a real nightmare is to anyone who had to live under the fear of a nuclear holocaust where there are no survivors, only the dead and those who envy the dead: "Lucifer has fallen!".
Rating:
Summary: Miller's highly personal struggle with religion and science
Review: Walter Miller's only major novel is not simply a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel but also a multi-layered meditation on the conflict between knowledge and morality. Six hundred years after a nuclear holocaust, an abbey of Catholic monks survives during a new Dark Ages and preserves the little that remains of the world's scientific knowledge. The monks also seek evidence concerning the existence of Leibowitz, their alleged founder (who, the reader soon realizes, is a Jewish scientist who appears to have been part of the nuclear industrial complex of the 1960s). The second part fast-forwards another six hundred years, to the onset of a new Renaissance; a final section again skips yet another six hundred years, to the dawn of a second Space Age--complete, once again, with nuclear weapons. The only character who appears in all three sections is the Wandering Jew--borrowed from the anti-Semitic legend of a man who mocked Jesus on the way to the crucifixion and who was condemned to a vagrant life on earth until Judgment Day. Miller resurrects this European slander and sanitizes him as a curmudgeonly hermit, a voice of reason in a desert wilderness, an observer to humankind's repeated stupidities, a friend to the monks and abbots, the ghost of Leibowitz (perhaps)--and even the voice of Miller himself. Throughout "Canticle," Miller's search for religious faith clashes with his respect for scientific rationalism. For Miller, Lucifer is not a fallen angel but technological discovery unencumbered by a moral compass; "Lucifer is fallen" becomes the code phrase the future Church uses to indicate the imminent threat of a second nuclear holocaust. The ability of humankind to abuse learning for evil purposes, to continually expel itself from the Garden of Eden, perplexes and haunts the author: "The closer men came to perfecting for themselves a paradise, the more impatient they seemed to become with it, and with themselves as well." Some readers might be turned off by the book's religious undercurrent, but that would be to mistake fiction for a sermon. The work is certainly infused with the author's Catholicism, but its philosophy is far too ambiguous to be read like a homily. This is no "Battleship Earth." Instead, it is Miller's highly personal act of atonement; he acknowledged later in life that his fictional monastery was first subconsciously, then purposefully modeled on the ancient Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino, which, as a World War II pilot, he bombed to smithereens. (An historical aside: most of the major Greco-Roman scientific and mathematic texts were preserved for posterity by Arabic scholars--not by medieval Christian monks. But this is fiction, and it's not clear whether Miller is trying to replicate Church history as it was or as he felt it should have been.) In many ways, Miller's Catholicism is as conflicted in the book as it was in his own life. He changed religious beliefs several times; in the 1980s, he immersed himself in Buddhist texts. Throughout "Canticle," you can see Miller wrestling with his spiritual beliefs and with his own demons, and in the final chapters, Miller includes an extended debate over whether suicide and euthanasia (and, tangentially, abortion) are ever viable options, even to avoid the worst forms of pain and certain death. Although he seems to side with Catholic views on these issues, Miller himself committed suicide in 1997. Rather than distracting the reader with religious and philosophical musings, however, "A Canticle for Leibowitz" is enriched by them. It's not only a compelling, well-written story, it's an allegorical tale that might encourage readers to struggle with their own beliefs and demons.
Rating:
Summary: After the Fall
Review: Imagine a Benedictine monastary, monks going through their daily rituals, preserving and reproducing holy documents without understanding them or why they're holy for hundreds of years through the dark ages. Now imagine that same monastary in some future time, some future dark age after the fall of all those things we believe make us a civilization. That's the basic theme of Canticle for Liebowitz. As the churches of past times strove to have their Saints and holy artifacts recognized by the Church, so they do in Canticle. It's a good yarn, an intertaining one, an absorbing one. I'm not certain why this book isn't among those listed as 'classics', reviewed by hundreds of reader-fans. I do know I loved it when I first read it several decades ago and I've loved it every time I've read it since. I see in the editorial review that the book had a sequel I'd never heard of. I'm going to try to chase it down. Meanwhile, I recommend you get yourself a copy of this one and begin the sustained process of enjoying it occasionally for as long as you have eyesight and enough light to read by.
Rating:
Summary: I cuncur fully. . .
Review: . . .with those who consider "A Canticle for Leibowitz" as the single greatest Science Fiction novel ever written. Imagine a world, devastated by nuclear holocaust. Imagine such a world further devastated by a "Simplification" in which all traces of learning are eradicated. The only vestige of civilization to survive is the Church. In the desert, a group of monks spend their entire lives trying to save, reconstruct, and restore knowledge to the world -- but to what end? Filled with humor, pathos, faith, and hope, this book transcends a categorical description. Take and read. You will not regret it. Very Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A very grounding tale of humanity
Review: An unbelievably good book. I can't believe it's actually out of print. Buy it used or check it out from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Order it right now!
Review: Stop wasting your time reading reviews - read the book instead!!
Rating:
Summary: Tragic and Hopeful
Review: The horrific Flame Deluge has come and gone, and in the broken world that remains, a small order of monks collect and protect what remains of worldly knowledge at a remote abbey in the Utah desert. Spanning three millennium, the magnitude of this tale is nothing short of stunning. The story and the writing are both very well done, and all of the characters were vibrant. In many ways, the book reminded me of Catch-22; it is spiced with the same humor and wrenchingly tragic moments. The message I gleaned was that ultimately, Man is incapable (or unwilling) to learn from his mistakes. Though labeled science-fiction, there were several strong fantasy elements strewn throughout, which I enjoyed wholeheartedly. In my book, A Canticle for Leibowitz fully deserves its classic status.
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