A Canticle for Leibowitz Still Smolders (2014) | Hacker News Reader

A Canticle for Leibowitz Still Smolders (2014)

newyorker.com

66 pointsjhallenworld17 comments

FYI:

> The world's most glorious monastery, at Monte Cassino in Italy, was destroyed during the second world war because of a mistake by a British junior officer, according to new evidence in a book due out this week.

> The officer - translating an intercepted radio message - mistook the German word for abbot for a similar word meaning battalion. His version convinced his superiors this meant a German military unit was using the monastery as its command post, in breach of a Vatican agreement which treated it as neutral.

> Allied generals ordered a huge bombing attack. Only when the planes were in the air did a British intelligence officer, Colonel David Hunt, recheck the full radio intercept. He found that what it actually said was: "The abbot is with the monks in the monastery".

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/apr/04/johnezard

Some more information on the German: The word for abbot is "Abt", and in some cases the word for batallion is "Abteilung" which could be abbreviated to "Abt."

I don’t have a lot to say, other than I love this book. It’s difficult to articulate why. But I make a point to read it every couple of years, and I recommend it often to others. It’s funny and sad and contains some beautiful reflections on faith and doubt and history and human nature.

There's a magnificent little scene at the end of Fiat Homo, where Brother Francis confesses to the Pope that he cannot understand anything in Leibowitz's blueprint. The Pope confides, with a wink, than neither can he. And for a just moment after that wink, Francis notices how shabby and poor everything about the church is.

Those who really enjoy it may also enjoy the 1997 sequel (finished after Miller's death) “Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman”. (Took me a while to try it, glad I did.)

If you can find it (it was once available at I.A.) the 1981 WHA radio-play version is well done.

Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman

Okay, this is real? (apparently so)

I've listened to the version available at http://www.oldradioworld.com/shows/A_Canticle_for_Liebowitz.... and it's great.

I like this book because it provides plenty of interesting discussion topics. I attended Catholic high school, and one of my teachers recommended it. My teacher was a devout Lutheran while I've always been an atheist, but anyone can enjoy the book and get something out of it.

I like the book because its well written, but it is also because I read it when younger. Its hard to be entirely dispassionate about childhood favourites.

I've had a couple books (including this one), that I've gone 30 years between reading. Most of them have resulted in disappointment or at least haven't aged well. This is the exception.

It is exceptional read or listen.

Agreed this would be the case. I read it for the first time as an adult, and thought it well written. Around the same time I re-read the original Foundation trilogy, which I hadn't touched since high school, and was disappointed by the writing and also various (minor) plot holes.

There are a series of books from around this timeframe like James Blish's "after such knowledge" "doctor mirabilis" "black easter" or John Boyd "the last starship from earth" which feel like they're grappling with the science/religion divide, free-will vs predestination, limits to knowledge, what it is to be human. I think they have mostly dated, but not terribly badly. And, the writers appeared to care about how they wrote: slim books, well edited. well crafted.

It's interesting to read about the 10,000-year clock while thinking about Canticle.

indeed!

I wonder if there is something to say for "build an organization that will last" in contrast to "build an object that will last".

Will some incarnation of the catholic church be around in a few thousand years? Seems unlikely. Will the Long Now foundation be? Also seems unlikely.

But hey, the first did manage to last two thousand years already, and things have a tendency to survive once they get the habit..

I noticed yesterday that someone in the Reddit AMA for the Wikipedia guy with 3M edits randomly recommend he read "A Canticle for Leibowitz".

I was going through my Pocket to-read list and came across the AMA for the guy who wrote Metro 2033 and they were discussing this book. Now it appears here. Guess someone or something wants me to read this.

This book was one of the inspirations for the original "Fallout" game - alongside "I Am Legend" and "On The Beach."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5IzHhAdi4&feature=youtu.be...

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