Book Name: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Book Summary
The book deals with a journey across time, where the only constants are the Church, war, paranoia, and the disastrous human tendency to make the same mistakes again and again. The book places its emphasis on the challenge of preserving knowledge, understanding it, and repeating the same cycles of history.
The scope of the book spans over a thousand years, where human civilization goes from a desolate, religiously oriented, post-nuclear apocalyptic world to a medieval one where tribalism dominates. The world slowly opens its eyes to new avenues of understanding its history from the point of view of science. The ending of the book culminates in a developed world where human civilization has progressed to achieve interstellar travel, yet is still as divided as ever. The book ends with the world wrecked, pushed into apocalypse yet again. How scores of humans navigate this world throughout the eons determines the flow of the story.
My Views about the Book
The book is a long and hard read, not just because of the central theme but also the way it is narrated. The story is largely told from the perspective of monks belonging to the Albertian Order of Leibowitz, which means that Latin is frequently used for official and religious communication. While the characters speak English, the heavy use of Latin makes reading the book a bit of a drag at times. The characters are also sad and are victims of their times, making the progression slow yet thoughtful.
Considering today’s world, I liked the central theme of the book. I enjoyed a few monologues that some of the characters deliver, and I especially like the humor some of the characters show in difficult moments, which stuck with me.
Overall Rating
I would like to give the book 3 stars. Perhaps I will re-read this book at a different time and enjoy it more.