Hi All,On January 29th, 2015 at 7pm the Farmingdale Public Library will be hosting a book discussion group on the book 'A Canticle For Leibowitz' by Walter M. Miller, Jr..
The Wikipedia entry for A Canticle For Leibowitz says that 'it is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself'.
The book won the 1961 Hugo Award and is considered by many to be one of the best science-fiction novels ever written. Heady stuff for a book steeped on religion, history and science-fiction.
Click on this next link for one of the many reviews of Canticle on the internet. This next link is a full-text, online version of the book - in pdf format.
Click on this link for a audio version of Canticle which was adapted for radio by John reed in the 1980's or so.
For a review from SFReviews.com click here - its about a 2 page review of the book and written back in 2005. Interesting, quick, concise and fun to compare to reviews listed below.
For a high-school level evaluation/criticism of Canticle, click on this link from Shmoop - seriously. Its like Cliffs Notes for literature - except the material is on the web.
Another link for literary criticism of the book can be found at this site - from Georgia State University Department of English. Link goes to a document called, 'Walter M. Miller, Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz: A Study of Apocalyptic Cycles, Religion and Science, Religious Ethics and Secular Ethics, Sin and Redemption, and Myth and Preternatural Innocence'.
Finally, for a chapter-by-chapter study guide to Canticle, readers should click on this link - still one of the best free summaries and discussions of the novel available. Quite thought provoking - and written by a college professor at Washington State University.
For a more formal set of questions about the book, click on this link - its a lot like a study-guide in the guise of a set of questions.
Enjoy the book and be prepared for a thought provoking, elegiac, critique on humanity, religion and the future!
(And since this will be the last post of 2014 - Happy New Year!)
Regards,
Stu
