A Canticle for Leibowitz

This one has been in the “classics I haven't actually read” pile for a long time, and I'm glad the book club picked it so I had an excuse to read it. Considered the foundation of post-apocalyptic literature, I can see how this story has echoed through the genre's years both in its predictions and its themes.

Canticle for Leibowitz takes place in three parts as civilization rebuilds itself after a nuclear apocalypse. It is told largely from the perspective of a Roman Catholic monastery somewhere in the American Southwest who have taken on the purpose of preserving as much evidence of the previous age as they can through memorizing and smuggling (booklegging) any and all texts. The first part takes place in a very rudimentary society, the second in the beginnings of an industrial revolution, and third in a futuristic world (with magnet-powered self-driving cars that I'd really like) on the verge of repeating the disaster. Thus, the main theme is the cyclical nature of history, and the idea that we are doomed to repeat ourselves. Not a comforting idea in post-WWII years during which Miller wrote this novel. Indeed most of the novel doesn't feel dated at all as the problems faced by the characters are pretty much the same ones that rise up every time a nuclear threat does.

I see how this book earned its place in the literary pantheon, and I definitely think it should be required reading for anyone in a position of power. I don't agree with every point it makes, and honestly the ending with Rachel left me very disturbed, but on the whole I think its importance lives up to the hype.