Review for A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz treats religion very differently than does most science fiction. Miller's Brother Francis is charged with discovering the meaning of faith and God in the wake of total nuclear destruction. The particular religion extent in Miller's future is the venerable Catholic Church, an institution that has survived near-annihilation before. The novel begins with the discovery of a tomb by a novice, Francis, a …

…from plaguing humanity for eons. The things that could save humanity are ridiculed and forgotten, but the book ends with a strange feeling of success. No matter how foolish and suicidal humanity is and will become, the species will survive. Faith in ourselves seems even more a part of us than faith in Francis' God. Haunted by the spectre of religion and resurrection, humanity learns what it takes to hold onto life against all odds.