A Canticle for Leibowitz
Part 14 of 63
Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic novel about the preservation of knowledge after civilization has been devastated by nuclear war. Across centuries, members of a Catholic religious order in the American Southwest safeguard fragments of the old world, often without fully understanding what they have inherited.
The story follows the monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz as they copy, study, and interpret relics and documents. Its three-part structure moves through distinct eras, tracing the slow return of learning and technology while returning to questions of faith, memory, and humanity’s capacity to repeat its mistakes.
The listening experience combines speculative fiction with religious and philosophical reflection. Miller’s measured, often wry prose balances the monks’ daily routines and scholarly puzzles against the immense sweep of history, creating a thoughtful story about what people choose to preserve—and what they may do with it.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
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