A Canticle for Leibowitz

By: Walter M. Miller Jr.

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1961

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’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-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 infantile rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From there, 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 recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes.

Seriously funny, stunning, 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.

©1959 Walter M. Miller, Jr. (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Chillingly effective.” (Time)

Had this book for ages...

I've had this book on my shelves for ages... decades... I love Latin (spent many years studying it) and had the best intentions to read the story. never had time... finally the audiobook gave me the chance.

if you don't know Latin, some of the untranslated phrases can be lost: much easier to ascertain the cognates when read. The performance was good, as was the Latin pronunciation. The dramatic singing could have been professionally done or left as recited. B+ book.

Still A thoughtful read in 2015.....

I had read this book back in high school and again in college and then about 10 years ago. Each time the story was interesting but listening to it this time was much more impactful. The narrator did an excellent job. The story is really a series of smaller stories within it. The ending is a Little too optimistic and futuristic in the 1950s and 1960s Way.
But the characters in the story are compelling and the storyline and plot is exceptional. I can see why it has longevity in its appeal. If you enjoy science fiction and futuristic/dystopian stories, this is a classic. Enjoy Paul F Minneapolis Minnesota.

Too much Latin

struggled to finish. Too dystopian. More like a Catholic tract than a good story. I like it better when I read it Year's ago.

Still fresh after 60+ years

This book is as relevant today as it was when it was written, maybe even more so as we create new ways to destroy ourselves, either by climate change, disease, or war. It reads well and has better characterization than a lot of early sci-fi, a tall order especially as this book introduces essentially three casts.

The narrator was excellent- a clear reader offering enough voice work to help easily differentiate characters.

interesting idea, mundane story

The story of humanities search for innocence and absolution is an interesting start, but the characters followed throughout the story are somewhat boring.

One of the greats

This is one of the great science fiction novels. And it is a great performance.

Post Nuclear War

I read this in high school for an advanced placement English class. This was the first post-nuclear war book I’d read and it had a impact that stayed with me.
The Latin inspired me to study it on Duolingo. Psittaci semper ebrii sunt. If you do Duo you’ll know what that means.
The voice is no frills and authoritative which fits my impression of sci-fi written in the 50s and 60s so I find that fitting.

Don’t listen to the negative reviews

Before getting this book I decided to look through the reviews so I knew what I was getting into. While the story does have 2 time jumps and I concede that some people might just not like that, the reviews saying the characters after the first were hard to care about I found to be not true. Obviously you can’t expect to immediately have the same connection to the brand new protagonist as the one you just spent the first third of the book with, but with the wonderful writing I found myself invested in the new stories just as much a chapter in. The reviews saying there aren’t enough through lines to make it a connected series I also disagree with. Each story is very relevant to how the world turns out in the next section, with many objects and even a character showing up through all of them. Finally I really don’t get the reviews saying you need to know Latin to understand the story. Sure it can pop up a couple times in a chapter but every time it is very easy to know the gist of what they are saying through the subtext of the author literally providing a brief summary of what was said. I’d definitely recommend reading this as it feels like the most real post apocalyptic stories I’ve read and the writing is superb.

weird but good

The narrator was amazing this story is not an easy one to tell. Worth it.

Appropriate for a new generation

A new generation of readers will find this a thought provoking read on how to rebuild oneself, one’s home, and one’s world with an uncertain end. Existentialism influenced.