A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz
Author	Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Lippincott (Book club ed.)
Publication date	January 1, 1959
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	311 pp (Book club ed.)
ISBN	ISBN 0-06-089299-4 (2006 paperback)
Followed by	Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1959. Based on three short stories Miller wrote for magazine publication, it is the only novel published by the author. Considered one of the classics of science fiction, it has never been out of print and has seen over 25 reprints. Since initial publication, the book has appealed to mainstream critics and readers, as well as those within the genre. It won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel.

Set in a Roman Catholic abbey in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The Albertian Order of Leibowitz has taken up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge against the day when the outside world is ready for it. The book was inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during World War II.

Publication history

A Canticle for Leibowitz first saw publication in 1955 in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (as "A Canticle for Leibowitz"). This short story was to become "Fiat Homo". "And the Light is Risen" was published in 1956 and would grow into "Fiat Lux". It was while writing the third "novelette", "The Last Canticle", for magazine publication the following year that Miller realized that he was really completing a novel: "Only after I had written the first two and was working on the third did it dawn on me that this isn't three novelettes, it's a novel. And I converted it." The novel was published by J.P. Lippincott as a hardcover late in 1959.

The book was so successful it was reprinted twice within the first year, and has never been out of print since. In 1961 it was awarded the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Novel by the The World Science Fiction Convention. Since then A Canticle for Leibowitz has been reprinted in paperback more than 25 times. It regularly appears on "best of" lists and has been recognized three times with Locus Poll Awards for best all-time science fiction novel.

Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman

Main article: Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman

Toward the end of his life, Miller wrote another installment of the Abbey of Saint Leibowitz saga, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. A full-length novel (455 pages) significantly longer than its predecessor, it is set in AD 3254, seventy years after the events of "Fiat Lux" (but before "Fiat Voluntas Tua"). Suffering from writer's block and fearful the new work would go unfinished, Miller arranged with author Terry Bisson to complete the work. According to Bisson, all he did was go in and tie up the loose ends Miller had left. Miller died before the novel's publication. The novel tells the story of Brother Blacktooth St. George of the Leibowitzan abbey who, unlike Brother Francis, wants to be released from his holy vows and leave the Abbey. In addition to recounting his travels as Cardinal Brownpony's personal secretary, the book describes the political situation in the 33rd century as Church and empire (Texark) vie for power.

Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman has been called "Walter Miller's other novel." Reviewer Steven H. Silver points out that this ". . . is not to say that Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman does not deserve to be read. It is a fantastic novel, only suffering in comparison to Miller's earlier work."

Plot summary

Background

A Canticle for Leibowitz opens 600 years after 20th Century civilization is destroyed by a global nuclear war, known as the "Flame Deluge". As a result of the war there is a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led to the development of nuclear weapons — the "Simplification". Anyone of learning, and eventually anyone who could even read, was likely to be killed. Illiteracy became almost universal, and books were destroyed en masse.

Isaac Edward Leibowitz had been a Jewish electrical engineer working for the United States military. Surviving the war, he converts to Roman Catholicism and founds a monastic order, the "Albertian Order of Leibowitz", dedicated to preserving knowledge by hiding books, smuggling them to safety (booklegging), memorizing, and copying them. The Order's abbey is located in the American southwestern desert, near the military base where Leibowitz had worked before the war, on an old road, probably part of the National Highway System, that was "a portion of the shortest route from the Great Salt Lake to Old El Paso." Leibowitz is eventually betrayed and martyred. Later he is beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, becoming a candidate for sainthood. Centuries after his death, the Abbey is still preserving the "memorabilia", the collected writings that have survived the Flame Deluge and the Simplification, in the hope that they will help future generations reclaim forgotten science.

The story is structured in three parts titled: "Fiat Homo", "Fiat Lux", and "Fiat Voluntas Tua". The parts are separated by periods of six centuries each.

"Fiat Homo" (Let There Be Man)

In the 26th century, Brother Francis Gerard of Utah, a novice training to become a monk, is sent out from the Abbey of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz on a Lenten vigil of "penance, solitude, and silence" in the desert. During this "vocational vigil", Francis encounters a wanderer, who points out a rock that might help him complete the construction of his shelter. In moving the rock, Francis discovers the entrance to an ancient fallout shelter containing "relics", such as handwritten notes on crumbling memo pads bearing cryptic texts like "pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels–bring home for Emma". Brother Francis soon realizes that these notes appear to have been written by his order's founder, the Blessed Leibowitz.

The discovery of the ancient documents causes an uproar at the monastery, as the other monks see the traveler as a miraculous sign (or possibly even Leibowitz himself). Abbot Arkos, the head of the monastery, worries that the discovery of so many potentially holy relics in such a short period may cause delays in Leibowitz's canonization process. To downplay the significance of the discovery and prevent problematic sensationalism, he banishes Francis back to the desert to complete his vigil; subsequently Francis's novice status is extended an additional seven years as he regularly refuses to unequivocally assert the discovery anything but miraculous in nature. Francis is not allowed to take his vows until New Rome approves the validity of the relics and begins formally advancing the case for Leibowitz's sainthood.

Many years later the Abbey is visited by Monsignors Aguerra (God's Advocate) and Flaught (the Devil's Advocate), the Church's investigators in the case for Leibowitz's sainthood. Eventually, at least 15 years after the discovery of the shelter, Leibowitz is canonized, based partly on the evidence Francis discovered in the shelter. Brother Francis is sent to New Rome (formerly St. Louis) to represent the Order at the canonization Mass. He takes with him the documents found in the shelter and an illumination of one of the documents he has spent years working on. The illumination is a gift to the Pope.

En route, he is robbed and his illumination stolen. Francis completes the journey to New Rome, and during his return trip to the Abbey he is rewarded with an arrow through the head by the same bandits who robbed him. The wanderer who pointed out the rock discovers and buries Francis's body, and arranges to have it returned to the Abbey for interment.

"Fiat Lux" (Let There Be Light)

North America in 3174, showing Texark territory in yellow. Texark expansion as described in this story and in Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman marked in orange.

In 3174, the Albertian Order of St. Leibowitz is still preserving the half-understood knowledge from before the Flame Deluge and the subsequent Age of Simplification. The new Dark Age is ending, however, and a new Renaissance is beginning. Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott, a highly regarded secular scholar, is sent by his cousin King Hannegan of Texarkana to the Abbey. Thon Taddeo, frequently compared to Albert Einstein, is interested in the Order's preserved collection of Memorabilia.

At the Abbey, Brother Kornhoer, a talented engineer, has just finished work on a "generator of electrical essences", a tread-mill powered electrical generator that powers an arc lamp. He gives credit for the generator to work done by Thon Taddeo. After arriving at the monastery, Thon Taddeo, by studying the Memorabilia, has made several major "discoveries", and asks the abbot to allow the Memorabilia to be removed to Texarkana. The Abbot Dom Paulo refuses, stating he can continue his research at the Abbey. Before departing, the Thon comments that it could take decades to finish analyzing the Memorabilia.

Meanwhile, Hannegan makes an alliance with the kingdom of Laredo and the neighboring, relatively civilized city-states against the threat of attack from the nomadic warriors. Hannegan, however, is manipulating the regional politics to effectively neutralize all of his enemies, leaving him in control of the entire region. Monsignor Apollo, the papal nuncio to Hannegan's court, sends word to New Rome that Hannegan intends to attack the empire of Denver next, and that he intends to use the Abbey as a base of operations from which to conduct the campaign. For his actions, Apollo is executed, and Hannegan declares loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church to be punishable by death. The Church excommunicates Hannegan.

"Fiat Voluntas Tua" (Thy Will Be Done)

It is the year 3781, and mankind has nuclear energy and weapons again, as well as starships and extra-solar colonies. Two world superpowers, the Asian Coalition and the Atlantic Confederacy, have been embroiled in a cold war for 50 years. The Leibowitzan Order's mission of preserving the Memorabilia has expanded to the preservation of all knowledge.

This final segment begins with a press conference and reporters are questioning the defense minister of the Atlantic Confederacy about abnormally high levels of radiation on the "Northwest coast". They also ask about recent rumors that both sides are assembling nuclear weapons in space. The minister denies everything. At the Abbey, Dom Jethras Zerchi, the current abbot, is recommending to the Church authorities in New Rome that the Church reactivate the Quo Peregrinatur Grex ("Whither Wanders the Flock") plans involving "certain vehicles", contingency plans the Church has had since 3756. Soon a "nuclear incident" occurs in the Asian Coalition city of Itu Wan: an underground nuclear explosion has destroyed the city, and the Atlantic Confederacy counters by firing a "warning shot" over the South Pacific.

New Rome tells Zerchi to proceed with Quo Peregrinatur and plan for departure within three days. He appoints Brother Joshua as mission leader, telling him that this is an emergency plan for perpetuating the Church on the colony planets in the event of a nuclear war on Earth. The Order's Memorabilia will also accompany the mission. That night the Atlantic Confederacy launches an assault against Asian Coalition space platforms. The Asian Coalition responds by using a nuclear weapon against the Confederacy capital city of Texarkana. A ten-day cease-fire is issued by the World Court. Brother Joshua and the space-trained monks and priests depart on a secret, chartered flight for New Rome, hoping to leave Earth on the starship before the cease-fire ends.

The Abbey offers shelter to people from the regions affected by fallout from the nuclear attack. It is soon overrun by refugees, many who are dying of radiation poisoning. Zerchi allows a Green Star (government emergency response agency) hospital to set up at the Abbey, provided they do not advise anyone to go to a "mercy camp" (euthanasia center). A battle of wills between Zerchi and the Green Star Doctor Cors over the morality of euthanasia ensues: Zerchi attempts to persuade radiation victims to follow Church teachings against euthanasia while Cors offer it as an alternative. Zerchi revokes permission for the Green Star camp to operate from the monastery as a result.

The ten-day cease-fire ends and full-scale nuclear war starts soon after. Zerchi is hearing the confession of a local bi-cephalic woman, Mrs. Grales, when a nuclear explosion occurs near the Abbey. He is pinned under several tons of rock from the walls of the Abbey. The explosion has opened up the monastery's ancient crypts, and bones are scattered among the rocks. Before dying, Zerchi is able to work loose a nearby skull with an arrow's shaft protruding from its forehead.

Joshua and the Quo Peregrinatur crew launch as the nuclear explosions begin. Joshua, the last crew member to board the starship, knocks the dirt from his sandals, murmuring "Sic transit mundus" ("Thus passes the world"). As a coda, there is a final vignette depicting the ecological aspects of the final human war: seabirds and fish succumb to the poisonous fallout, and a shark evades death only through moving to particularly deep water, where, it is noted, it was particularly hungry that season.

Characters in A Canticle for Leibowitz

"Fiat Homo"

• Brother Francis — Young man originally from Utah who is a novice in the Albertian Order of Leibowitz.
• Wanderer — Traveler who encounters Brother Francis during his Lenten vigil.
• Abbot Arkos — Religious and administrative leader of the Leibowitz Order's abbey in the 26th century.
• Monsignor Aguerra — God's Advocate for the Leibowitz canonization application.
• Monsignor Flaught — Devil's Advocate for the Leibowitz canonization application.
• The Pope — Pope of the surviving Roman Catholic Church; New Rome is located on the site of St. Louis, Missouri.

"Fiat Lux"

• Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott — Highly regarded scholar from the city-state of Texarkana; relative of King Hannegan ("Thon" is an academic honorific or title).
• King Hannegan — Ruler of the rapidly rising city-state of Texarkana.
• Dom Paulo — Abbot of the Leibowitz Order's abbey in the 32nd century.
• Brother Kornhoer — Leibowitzan monk with talents for science and engineering.
• Monsignor Apollo — Papal nuncio to Hannegan's court in Texarkana.
• Benjamin — Itinerant Jew who claims to have met Brother Francis centuries before.

"Fiat Voluntas Tua"

• Dom Jethras Zerchi— Abbot of the Leibowitz Order's abbey in the 39th century.
• Brother Joshua — Monk of the Leibowitz Order, technician and former astronaut.
• Benjamin — Itinerant Jew.
• Doctor Cors — Medico with the Atlantic Confederacy's emergency response agency Green Star.
• Mrs. Grales — Bi-cephalic woman who frequents the Abbey, selling tomatoes.

Major themes

Scholars and critics have noted the theme of cyclic history and recurrence in Miller's works, epitomized in A Canticle for Leibowitz. David Seed, in his book American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film (1992), in discussing the treatment of nuclear holocaust in science fiction, states, "it was left to Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz to show recurrence taking place in a narrative spanning centuries." David N. Samuelson, whose 1969 doctoral dissertation on Canticle is considered the "best overall discussion of the book", calls the "cyclical theme of technological progress and regress . . . the foundation-stone on which A Canticle for Leibowitz is built."

The third part, "Fiat Voluntas Tua", includes a debate between future Church and state stances on euthanasia, a thematic issue representative of the larger conflict between Church and state. Literary critic Edward Ducharme claimed that "Miller's narrative continually returns to the conflicts between the scientist's search for truth and the state's power." Walter Miller, himself mentally ill for years, committed suicide several decades after publication of his masterpiece. Just as the Order of Leibowitz in the book could not prevent the death of civilization on earth, the enormous success of the book could not prevent Miller's own suicide. And yet in the book the Order lives on, giving meaning and value to humanity even as it questions its own behavior, just as the book itself lives on after Walter Miller's tragic death — asking similar questions of us all. As Duncan Lawie noted, the book has become its own metaphor.

Reception

Martin Levin of the New York Times hailed A Canticle for Leibowitz as an "ingenious fantasy". In a front page review in the Chicago Tribune Magazine of Books, Edmund Fuller called the book "an extraordinary novel". In contrast, Time said, "Miller proves himself chillingly effective at communicating a kind of post-human lunar landscape of disaster," but dubbed it intellectually lightweight.

Adaptations

A 15-part serial of the novel was adapted for radio by John Reed and broadcast in 1981 by National Public Radio (NPR). Directed by Karl Schmidt, it was produced by Carl Schmidt and Marv Nunn. Carol Collins narrated the production.

Latin phrases in the text

Main article: List of Latin Phrases in A Canticle for Leibowitz

Latin phrases populate much of the novel. All are related to Roman Catholic Church practices, rituals and official communications, and are not accompanied by English translations. A list organized in the same tripartite structure of the novel has been separated out to its own article.

Allusions/references from other works

Gary S. Dalkin notes in a DVD review that the Babylon 5 episode "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is an homage to the novel, which the series creator noted.

References

Sources

• Roberson, Williams H. (1992-06-30). Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Bio-Bibliography. Bio-Bibliographies in American Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313276514. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Wagner, Thomas M. (2005). "A Canticle for Leibowitz". SF Reviews.net. Retrieved 2007-06-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• A Canticle for Leibowitz title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database