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A Canticle for Leibowitz

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A Canticle for Leibowitz

Written by: Walter M. Miller Jr.
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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About this listen

Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1961

Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature - a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future.

In a nightmarish, ruined world, slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infantile rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From there, the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes.

Seriously funny, stunning, tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.

©1959 Walter M. Miller, Jr. (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Classics Dystopian Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Witty Funny
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What the critics say

“Chillingly effective.” (Time)

What listeners say about A Canticle for Leibowitz

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I feel this would have been a better read.

I just feel it would have been a better read. It was a good book but a somewhat complex story if ones mind wanders.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favourites

I've read this book numerous times, but hadn't ever listened to it. Tom Weiner's performance really gave life to the Abbots of the Abbey of Leibowitz in a way that reading it hadn't. I didn't think I could enjoy this book any more, but listening to his performance just made it that much better. Such a wonderful book and such a cautionary tale for humanity! #Audible1

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is now one of my favorite books

Beautifully narrated, despite my schedule not allowing it I essentially finished it in one go. a dark story filles with lessons that isn't just despair porn. I know this is a story I will find myself considering parts of at random for the rest of my life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fav novel of all time.

spans 2000 years after we are whipped out by nucléar war. jump ahead by chunks of 600 years

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Vivid and Dynamic

While I first shied away from this title fearing it to be either too "simplistic" or too pessimistic in its take on the world, I was delightfully surprised by its depth. The writing itself is stylish and engaging; the characters are memorable and human. Likewise, the story portrays a plausible future of humanity that is rife with delightful comic relief.

The portrayal of Catholicism in this book is not imbued with an overly positive Catholic sentiment, but reveals all the same the heart of the Church for what it really is and how this is expressed in a world that is volatile. What we receive is a Church with all her zits, yet filled with mysterium and mission.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

great performance

The narrator needs a medal, he really went all in with the character voices. Additionally, the story presented a very fascinating concept.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Almost magical, that’s how good

This is one you’ll think about for many days afterwards, couldn’t give a higher rating.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen for the end of days.

Simpletons gather round and and hold close your memorabilia its listenin time. 11/10 from a re-re-re-repeat listener.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

great performance but not a book i enjoyed

the reader was excellent. great pacing and affect. but the story itself was not my favorite. ive read so much SF and this is just not among the ones i enjoyed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Well-written and completely engrossing. Beautiful creation of characters whose personalities make the perfect witness to the fallibility of human ambition. Enjoy the sickly satisfying critical eye of humanity’s self-involved, rash, and naive pursuit of so-called greatness.

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