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)

Memorable Stories

well performed. The stories are definitely memorable. Different from most apocalyptic books but vague familiarity by how much it is referenced by other books and video games (Fall Out). will always be favorite of mine.

Philosophical science fiction.

Read the book 20 years ago, fun to hear it read to me. A good look at old tradition in the light of progessing technology, but the presence of human nature as it has been since the garden of eden.

A phenomenal work of post-apocalyptic fiction

I've read widely in this genre and this truly stands out; a profound imaginative achievement!

The Definitive Post Apocalyptic Classic

This is a brilliant vision with the most compelling messages for humanity. Deus misereatur nostri ut non audiamus et discamus.

Brilliant scathing rebuke of humanity's humanity

Ultimately tragic dressing down of humanity's ability to rise above and make the world better. Guaranteed to make you more depressed than you started. Could have done without the "Catholicism is correct" thread that grows more prevalent as the story wears on.

Worthy study of modern sci-fi

Engaging journey through multiple eras of human folly. Ultimately, worth diving into one of the greats of modern sci-fi, though the story itself did fall a bit flat at times, and many of the characters felt less lived in and more thematic jackhammers to the head.

(somewhat spoiler alert) Though the modern era really drove home the point of humanity making the same life shattering mistakes over and over, it was far less interesting than the struggle of the order of Leibowitz to save all of human knowledge, and eventually with outside inspiration, revive the old world.

A classic for the ages

This book is a fresh and pertinant now as it was when it was written during the height of the cold war. If you're not my age you probably don't remember having nuclear attack drills and having to hide under your desk at school, holding your head under your hands and with your head down between your knees. (And as I learned as I got older, "kissiing your a** goodbye".)

No, seriously, we had them every month or two in the late 50s when I was in the third and 4th and 5th grade. Then I guess the government decided not to make us do it anymore. But there were a few good post-apocalyptic books writtien during that time. "On the Beach" was one. And "A Canticle for Leibowitiz" was another, though I don't think it was actually discovered until after it had been out a while.

The book is a lot post apocalyptic (twice); a bit fantasy; a whole bunch philosophical, AND highly entertaining. It's about why human beings do the things we do, and how we manage to screw things up so royally, and the nature of evil in this world as well as the nature of good and the ever present coflict between the two. AND it's a fun read. Wait until the Abbot loses his temper and hits a doctor in the nose because he's doing euthansia of radiation victims. He has to confess his sin. His confessor, the assistant abbot, is relentless. It's hilarious.

However, beyond the funny scene of a priest who lost his temper are serious questions. And the arguement is as pertinant today as it was then, with all the focus on abortion and our "culture of death". Who is right? Is it the doctor, who is only trying to provide a compasionate and painless death to people who are dying already from radiation poisoning? After all, they are facing a painful and slow death and are going to die no matter what. Or is it the abbot who's right; who says to put your faith in God, and give your suffering to Him? The abbot maintains a person can use that pain and suffering to get closer to God. Who is on the right? Is the doctor really perpetuating evil, as the priest seems to think? Is it that "euthanize them" mind set that lead to the nuclear exchange in the first place?

Get it. You'll enjoy it. And the performance by Tom Weiner is just excellent. This is one of my favorite SF books of all time, read very well by a veteran reader. Enjoy!!!

Very original story. No Mad Max, though.

I've never read another story quite like this one before. That truly earns it five stars.

Because it's a post-apocalyptic story, though, I imagined it might involve more adventure and drama than it did. The fact it did not disappointed me somewhat, but the unique nature of the story helped me finish it and still be satisfied.

Borderline Catholic Propaganda

Given the high praise for the novel I was surprised how oriented the book was towards a Catholic vision of the world. While it provides valid insights, the different periods of the story do not allow the listener to have a coherent experience. It is mildly entertaining, and has its moments of intrigue. Overall it is nothing special and certainly not a classical listen or read unless you are one that can really get caught up in the undertones of darkness that could only be saved through redemption by God.

History repeating...

This famous science fiction story deserves its praise as far as I am concerned. It imagines a post-atomic war future that recapitulates the presevation of agent learning in Christian monasteries. In this case the Albertian order of Leibowitz preserves science texts without necessarily fully understanding them. The story takes place in three time periods and settings one six hundred years after the war as a young monk uncovers some material relating to the order's founder, then jumping forward six hundred years to a new Renaissance where a scientist visits and begins reviving some of the texts that have been carefully preserved often uncomprehending by the monks, another six centuries pass and the world is once again on the brink of atomic war and the monks must prepare. It is an engaging book that plays enjoyable with concepts from history and science.

I am not sure whether the treatment of Catholicism is supposed to be sympathetic or unsympathetic, but it is probably enough of both to be unappealing to different people for one or the other reason. The occasional mystical element weaves into the story with some ambiguity and unorthodoxy.

The performance is well done with the narrator managing to do different voices for speakers that more or less suit them.