A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr. Isn't Perfect But Is Very Deserving Of Its Legacy

[@WalterWild-uu1td]

I like the concept of setting the first novel in a monastery. The idea that a "religious order" sets itself apart and concentrates on the accumulation of lost knowledge. It reminds me of "The Name of the Rose." Monks trying to regain the fragments of a disastrous past. And a fixation on books and the written histories.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'm always in favor of the need to preserve physical copies of books.

[@EatWithBadlands]

@@mikesbookreviewsYes. I want to own things, not have the license to read things…

[@RussellPike]

Definitely a fan of this book. Fantasy and science fiction have a wonderful ability to take a step away from the reality, and by so doing, examine the world through a unique lens. Books that do it right leave the reader with food for thought long after the last page is turned. "A Canticle for Leibowitz" is certainly one of these, in my humble opinion.

[@enoch1524]

With extreme praise from Christopher Ruocchio (I know he’s mentioned it many times in his YT interviews), and now a positive review from you, I’ll be adding it to my TBR. Thanks for the review Mike!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hope you like it!

[@yamashi82]

Thanks for the recommendation. Got a paperback copy coming in the mail.

[@momo_genX]

Amazon has one of those super-deal, I think...Save 9.99, paperback cheaper than the mass market.

[@toddblanchard7765]

I read this in January of this year. Your take on this material was excellent. I also felt myself drifting in part 2 of the book - then I focused on the themes of fascism, of science, of a religion of science, of the character that off in the distance (that mystery was a revelation to me) and then of course part three had me almost tearing the pages to turn them. Great review (btw - this has been my year to dip into the past sci-fi books and, brother, I am so glad I've done that - you won't be disappointed.) great video. thanks

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'm always a fan of going back and seeing how subgenres I love began.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Ordered.... thanks to you and Christopher

[@mikesbookreviews]

Enjoy!

[@NevsBookChannel]

Loved it. Even has self driving cars in it - pretty amazing prediction from 1959

[@mikesbookreviews]

Miller was quite smart

[@andreamiller3578]

Thank you for this review. I've been interested in this for a long time and I hope to read it sometime in the next few months.

[@christophermiller7051]

Yep this is a great book. Influenced a couple of Babylon 5 episodes. Really made me think a lot. Forever War is really good as well. Time jumps in that one too

[@ChaplainMalachai]

Read this aa couple of months ago and I have a similar take. Part 1 is excellent, part 2 drags a bit and part 3 does tie it all together. The longer I think on it, the more impressed I am with the storylines and messages. I think you will enjoy The Forever War as the character arcs in that combined with the passage of time really hammer home the scariness of humanity's future.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Right, thinking about it as a whole makes it feel different

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I really do like A Canticle for Leibowitz. Character-wise it's a bit thin, but the ideas are stimulating and the story kept me hooked. A great "serious" sci-fi novel from a time when sci-fi wasn't as respected as it is today.

[@LightningRaven42]

Characterization being thin and classic sci-fi go hand in hand.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Definitely an ideas/thoughtful book vs character

[@Kwisatz-Chaderach]

Bro in Foundation the characters don't even matter.

[@rudilator2178]

I think Riddley Walker took Canticle and ran with it.

[@CaptainTrips6]

I've been wanting to read this for a long time. I put it on my list for my small family book club, and I can't wait to dive into the story. I really appreciate all the work you put into your channel and truly enjoy your content and opinions.

[@Slobrojoe]

Thanks for putting this on my radar Mike

[@mikesbookreviews]

My pleasure!

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

The fact that almost no one is able to connect this book with the original Fallout is astonishing.

[@camrodthegreat]

This is the first thing I'm watching after I just got power turned back on after the hurricane (I live in NC).

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hope you guys are okay!

[@HowellingRoots]

Thanks Mike. I really enjoyed this one, especially pt 1 of the three parts. I am considering reading *Nightmare Alley*. Maybe you would consider it for an October read. It's very short.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I never say never!

[@HowellingRoots]

@@mikesbookreviews :)

[@cjtoday61]

Glad you enjoyed it for the most part! I remember being very bored with this book, mainly during the later half but it’s been one that’s stuck with me more than a lot of other books Ive read and I always recommended to people. Might give it a reread in a few years and see if I still enjoy it!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Part 1 definitely blows the rest away

[@fangs1972]

“Rock Rock (Till You Drop)” and “Photograph” - one of the best 1-2s to start an album. #Pyromania

[@stevehoran6011]

Might be my favorite novel in this genre

[@markb3534]

Read from the FS edition!! Yes!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I mean, I was terrified to, but...

[@iSamwise]

Glad you read this! It’s high on the tbr!!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hope you like it!

[@jlodomauthor]

That copy is so stunning. This is one of my favorite books of all time, and while it is bleak, it always focuses on someone holding the line of humanity, faith, and mercy even when it seems hopeless, and I LOVE that. The bleakness makes it all the more meaningful.

[@Kwisatz-Chaderach]

Its hella good.

[@robertsatterfield7226]

I'll add it to my TBR

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hope you like it!

[@michaelgiles6410]

Christopher Roucchiou is gonna eat the sun when he sees the title of the video

[@EricMcLuen]

Just finished. It is incredibly relevant in the time it was written and while perhaps a little dated, the themes can still be seen today. The writing is quite sparse compared to more recent works. It would be hundreds of pages longer with descriptions of people, clothes, what they were eating, types of trees, etc. But that wasn't the point and I felt there was enough. The first few pages of part 3 were jarring and I was 'wait, what?' and then thankfully it moved past that. I would recommend for a 'classic' and it is also quite short. And maybe Allen can read it to translate all the Latin.

[@mikesbookreviews]

For sure!

[@kyleboon11]

I think a pillars of the genre video would be a great idea for you

[@Kellen81]

I loved part 1 but honestly, I could have stopped there. By part 3 I saw where things were going but didn't care enough to see it play out.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'll agree that part 1 dwarfs the rest of the book but I am glad I finished it

[@chucklitka2503]

The two post-apocalyptic novels from that period that I recall reading are Davy, by Edgar Pangborn, and Andre Norton's Daybreak - 2250 AD aka Star Man's Son. I don't think I got past the first part of Canticle for Leibowitz, though I do seem to recall one of my (Catholic) high school English classes taught it back in the day

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'll look them up!

[@Barklord]

"But he tells it sweet-and-simple, rather stupidly, in fact, and lets others read in the meanings." -Abbott Arkos

[@mikesbookreviews]

Great character

[@momo_genX]

Five minutes into listening to this review, I am going to have to check this novel out. This is the type of fantasy/horror/sci-fi I would like the best, especially in genre fiction. I watched your video the other day when you weren't finished, and you said the middle was slow. Eight minutes in. You have sold me. As I am about to embark upon a modern literary interpretation of these same things.... 🤢=🤣 When I intentionally purple-prose. Lastly, this is why I hate reading sometimes. Wonderland By Joyce Carol Oates, the plotless but spectacular American Psycho. (I am actually 30 pages away from finishing) Thanks for checking out this Classic. I am going to have to check out this book, as it seems to be what I like to write. I really hope it's not a chonker. Thanks for the video, Mike .

[@momo_genX]

I just purchased this book. I'll finish American Psycho tonight. Next in line is supposed to be a dystopian novel that Glen with two N's Beck and his ghostwriter wrote in a collaborative effort with Mikayla G. Hendrick. My grandmother loved Glenn Beck when I was a young adult and how she'd pull up a chair into the kitchen by the radio in the late 1990's stuck with me. The look on her face. After reading the prologue of it which indicated it could be a possible DNF, I decided to read something else. Maybe Canticle for Leibowitz is going to be the book showing me what to do, Casing Embers by Glenn Beck will show me what not to do. Two N Glen can be a little dramatic at times.

[@ratgerms138]

Just checked this out on Libby

[@brandoncordeau7277]

I need to like sci fi novels more i still only ever read the first dune book and i have all 6. Hopefully theyre worth it when i get in a sci-fi mood again. This book sounds kind of interesting though but i doubt i will read it I'm more of a fantasy and horror nerd lol

[@mariareadsssf]

I could not get into this book unfortunatelly. My favorite distopian, much more realistic are "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of Talents" by Octavia E. Butler. The action of the fist novel starts in 2024!

[@Emroczart]

I thought this was going to start …so I just finish devils lol

[@Awfullyblankpage]

For anyone that wanted that edition of the book it is £400 new and sold out on FS, so I guess just have a booktube channel so you can get it for free 🤷‍♂️

[@mikesbookreviews]

Thanks for watching!

[@WalterWild-uu1td]

A recommendation for a classical fantasy novel "The Traveler in Black" by John Brunner, 1971.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'll look it up!

[@dphunk87]

Once again, we have similar thoughts on the same book

[@mikesbookreviews]

Thanks for watching!

[@patrickspencer5033]

will read

[@mikesbookreviews]

Enjoy!

[@GreatPlainsFlyTyer]

The folio society ACL is gorgeous but it’s $600 ffs.

[@KalleVilenius]

Will you be reading the other book, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman?

[@mikesbookreviews]

Not sure as of yet

[@EatWithBadlands]

lol the first 250 pages of The Passage is a top 5 book ever for me. The next 500 pages was very mid. Biggest disappointment of my reading life 😕

[@authrrr]

I have a book that I would love to be reviewed, I would like to know what it would take for you to review my books and how i would send it to you. It is about the first woman to legally vote in a national election in the united states.

[@AndrewDMth]

It is such an important book for scifi history. (And such a great example of well-written Incensepunk.) I spent the first two thirds wondering if the monks were actually an AI robots. Didn’t turn out to be true. And it was my head canon, but it might have been…

[@mikesbookreviews]

Be right back....Googling Incensepunk

[@Yesica1993]

You know what? I read the first part and was loving it so much. I remember it was a hot summer day and I was sitting in my doorway with the door open and could not stop turning those pages. Then the next chapter was so different that it felt like an entirely different book. I kept going thinking we'd get back to the first part. And we never did! It jarred me so much that my brain couldn't process it. I honestly don't remember the rest of the story. Or if I even finished. I think I did. But my brain was so scrambled it never recovered. Also, it ought to be illegal for books to have time jumps without telling you first! All of that said, I am willing to give it another try. The Passage - YES! I'm not alone! I loved it going in. Then it turned into an entirely different story. I kept wondering if I somehow had missed a transitional statement or something! I felt so cheated.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Man, I'm still bummed out about The Passage. It started so damn great.

[@Dude_on_a_Map]

Mike I hate to say it, but The Name of the Wind was better than this book lol 😊

[@mikesbookreviews]

To each their own, my friend!

[@Dude_on_a_Map]

@@mikesbookreviews for sure 👍

[@jacobolopezgil1740]

The hipster monk on the cover is a turn off though.

[@PhilipposACosta]

I did not like the book. You have to be extremely attentive and focused as the writing style is dense. The characters seem foolish. The story somewhat boring.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Most classic SF has thin character work. At least in my experiences

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

I don't see anything wrong with a book being dense, it is quite stimulating to read from time to time a book that requires a lot of interpretation and reasoning. And old sci-fi was focused on ideas, not characters.

[@Grimm44]

It's more reel than you know a lot of people are living in a bubble

[@margaretdyal1380]

I hated that book. It didn't age well at all!

[@mikesbookreviews]

That's a shame