On a simple level, the book takes the real historical experience of the Middle Ages— when a faith-driven church often became the chief custodian of secular culture and tradition—and projects it into the future. But the real substance of A Canticle for Leibowitz is less the bare story, but rather Miller’s sensitivity to the nuances and paradoxes that accompany his tale at every turn.
His life was part of the paradox. Miller was a radio operator and tail gunner during World War II. He participated in 55 combat sorties, including the 1944 mission that destroyed the oldest monastery in the Western world, the Benedictine abbey at Monte Casino, founded in 529. Was Miller a war hero? Or was he a villain who toppled a cherished monument of European culture? Or perhaps a bit of both? Clearly Miller’s work on this book was his way of wrestling with these very issues.
Twenty years after Miller wrote his book, Michel Foucault sensitized academics to the murky relation of knowledge and power, and the ways the latter often hides behind the screen of the former. Yet few novels explore this matter with as much sensitivity and irony as Miller brings to play in A Canticle for Leibowitz. Here are big questions for musing. What responsibility does faith have towards the intellect, and vice versa? Are the two, as Thomists would suggest, ultimately compatible and complementary, or do they inevitably enter into a battle for supremacy? Above all, why preserve the learning that led a previous civilization to destroy itself? Or, to put it on a more personal level, what should our attitude be toward knowledge that might destroy even a single individual?
No, these are not typical subjects for a sci-fi novel. Or even for literary fiction these days. But Walter M. Miller is not your typical writer. You can find that out for yourself. But you will need to read beyond the opening sentence.
Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Such a great book! Glad to see it getting some attention here.
2 - Ruvy
I did read beyond the opening sentence - many years ago. Upon rereading the book several times (Miller was a great writer), it seemed a fundamentally Catholic book, dealing with fundamentally Catholic themes - cloaked in how Catholicism goes wrong and is unable to save the world from a second nuclear holocaust, let alone a first one.
3 - Dori
Thank you for reminding me of this book that I loved in the 80's. I will try to purchase it for my nephew.
4 - bliffle
Man, it must be a hundred years ago that I read this book. Back when i was reading SciFi. But I remember enjoying it, peculiar as it was. I got a kick out of archeologists misinterpreting common store signs as mystical religious texts.
5 - Cannonball Jones
I just finished the book and was browsing the net looking for other peoples' appraisals when I came across your review. Nice job!
It's not often I enjoy a book so much when I so vehemently disagree with the views of the central characters (assuming they're being portrayed sympathetically). Normally the dialogues concerning euthanasia would have had me tearing my hair out and screaming in defence of the doctor but Miller handled it particularly well. Knowing that he eventually took his own life adds a whole new perspective to this.
6 - Brian Dunbar
I note with interest that it is now August of 2009 and we have yet to see Mr. Mason's promised comprehensive review.
P'haps he bogged down in the second paragraph.