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 Post subject: A Canticle For Liebowitz
PostPosted: 09 Nov 2005 00:31 
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Sergeant Major of the USMC
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Joined: 23 May 2005 16:49
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Location: Wandering the Wastes
Since all this talk of this classic post apoc book has been going on, I thought I would give this little review of the book. I welcome other reviews of this classic post apoc tale. :AH




What if the individual person can find some redemption within their faith, but Man as a whole is a doomed and irretrievable, that there is something in our nature that will not let us survive? A troubling question, one of the many raised by Walter Miller's A Canticle for Liebowitz [Lippincott, 1959].

On its face, the story is a retelling of the Preservation of Knowledge In the Dark Ages tale, of a monastery in a New Dark Ages after the Bomb has destroyed civilization, but it is also a hard look at our first question. Miller's story is a hymn to the dogged, stubborn will of the human species and its accumulated knowledge to survive, even when our own self destructiveness leads us back to the Abyss.

The story unfolds in a monastery somewhere in what was once the American Southwest. Of particular interest to the monks is their own beloved St. Liebowitz, a paragon of past glory known by a grocery list found in the Ruins.

A monk doing his time fasting in the desert stumbles upon a ruined bomb shelter, the very place where Liebowitz spent his last hours, uncovering a hoard of twentieth century relics and documents. The rest of the narrative follows these relics as they are studied by the monks and ultimately by outside scientists intent on rebuilding civilization.

The circle comes fully around, and Mankind prepares yet another volley of destruction which will finally erase its presence on the planet. The monks, bound and determined to save Man's knowledge for the good of God's creation, head off to the stars to search for another Sanctuary, and a worthy recipient.

This is a very grim story, a depressingly pessimistic look at the warring creature that we are. But then there are the monks of St. Liebowitz, quietly fulfilling their vision of God's plan by doing what they can to keep the flickering light of Civilization burning, despite the evil that Man does and a world hellbent on destroying itself.

They have a broad vision of the Kingdom of God that extends far beyond the boundaries of this planet. Miller is saying that, yes, man is a self destructive creature who may indeed be the agent of his own destruction, but the monks of St. Liebowitz are also part of this species.

Miller has presented a dichotomy of secular, self destructive man and the visionary faith of the monks which mirrors the dichotomy of mind and soul. And, in this, Miller's vision of humankind has a small optimism, that the same species that would create a mass of people that seem incapable of a peaceful life has also created the vision of the monks, who are the aspect of Man that struggles to survive and wants to build a lasting and peaceful society.

All in all, a classic tale of the Post Apoc genre, and a musr read for any lover of that genre.



:nuke: Thorgrimm :nuke:

_________________
Benno the Mad Wrote:
man, you gotta realise that thor and bos fell out of the patriot tree (like the ugly tree, but instills patriotism instead of ugly) and hit every branch on the way down.


"Gone now, dispersed by the brutal destruction of this one day, was the belief that the Darkman and his army of the dead were so superior as to be invincible. By attempting to destroy the morale of the Marines, the Darkman had restored it to full vigor. Dia De La Muerto had failed in its objectives."
The Gunny: Stand of the 300

Si vis pacem, para bellum
If you want peace, prepare for war

Gunny's color #FF2400


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