A Canticle for Leibowitz

I gave this book a read after repeatedly seeing it listed as one of the “greatest science fiction stories of all time” in several different places. Quite frankly, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Overall, it's a good enough read. I can see why it's considered an “important” book, and why it would have caused such a splash when it was released, what with its themes of nuclear holocaust and the conflict between Church and State. And, while those conflicts are just as important today as they were then, the book feels somewhat ... dated, nonetheless.

Anyways, the plot in a nutshell: we are given three interconnected short stories, all taking place in the same post-apocalyptic future. Through them, we see how humanity manages to bring itself up out of the ashes, and into the next nuclear holocaust centuries later. The idea of the cyclical nature of time has never been more depressing.