A Canticle for Liebowitz - reader's group

[megladon8]

Indeed, D, I do think this is very powerful literature, and it once again reminds me of the introduction where they speak about how genre works are often tossed aside as "lesser" works.

I think the same can be said with film, music, video games, anything really. There is depth, quality and importance to be found in all different areas, and limiting one's self doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

What you wrote in your post above is exactly how I feel about religion/spirituality. I consider myself a very deeply spiritual person, but I just haven't found a religion which I felt suited my own beliefs and way of looking at things.

And when I say that I "don't believe in God" or whatnot, it's simply that I do not believe in the whole "big, vengeful man with a white beard, sitting in the clouds and showering plagues upon his people" way of looking at it. I honestly don't know where my belief lies with the idea of a "creator(s)".

I think it's very sad that there are such horrible things done in the name of religion, especially when the victims and perpetrators of these acts are so, so close in their beliefs. You look at the teachings of Islam and the teachings of Judaism, and they're almost identical - especially in, as you said, their encouragement of love, acceptance and peace.

So, in the end, I think you and I really are in the same page with our beliefs - the only difference being that you attribute an actual religion to yours, whereas I am more of a mix-and-match

[Sycophant]

I just picked this up on a whim at a local bookstore. I'll probably start reading it tonight.

[megladon8]

I just picked this up on a whim at a local bookstore. I'll probably start reading it tonight.

Sweet...it'll be great to get more contributions to the discussion

I hope you enjoy it. It's certainly thought-provoking.

[D_Davis]

I just picked this up on a whim at a local bookstore. I'll probably start reading it tonight.

Great! It is quite good.

[Sycophant]

Great! It is quite good.

I think I'm near the end of FIAT LUX. Either that or part 3 is rather short. Whatever. I'm about 80, 90 pages from the end. I'm really liking it so far and have found part the second even more enjoyable than the first. The interplay of science, religion, and politics is totally engrossing. I'll go back and read others' comments and post more of my own thoughts when I finish reading, which I expect will be Friday.

[Sycophant]

Took me a little longer to finish than I'd anticipated, but I finished it early this afternoon. I rather love the book. As many may know, I'm a pretty hardcore atheist and secular humanist, one with a deeply, devoutly, and ferociously religious past. As time has gone on, my anger toward my religion and all religious has ebbed and I now don't wish so much to fight religion as encourage broadmindedness in all, as I think the sufficiently religious should also be sufficiently humanistic. A lot of this book deals with the necessity to bridge this gap (Thon Taddeo's concern for offending the monks in Fiat Lux was touching) to progress.

But the book is not ignorant. Solutions are not offered, but ideas and questions are explored. That the book accomplishes getting me on the side of the monks throughout, with a particular affinity for Abbot Zerchi at the end, seeing the countdown moments of the book largely obsessed with his face off of ideals with a Green Star officer who I pretty much agreed with wa a fascinating showdown.

Perhaps my favorite passage in the novel occurred in Fiat Homo, where in contemplating the past, Francis recounts the 20th century nuclear holocaust, reducing a large and grand narrative to biblical simplicity and euphemism. It's stunningly effective.

The thoughts above are a bit random but there you go. That will do for now.

It looks like there's been a significant amount of criticism and analysis written on this book. Perhaps I'll pop back after I read some of these scholarly pieces.

[D_Davis]

Took me a little longer to finish than I'd anticipated, but I finished it early this afternoon. I rather love the book. As many may know, I'm a pretty hardcore atheist and secular humanist, one with a deeply, devoutly, and ferociously religious past. As time has gone on, my anger toward my religion and all religious has ebbed and I now don't wish so much to fight religion as encourage broadmindedness in all, as I think the sufficiently religious should also be sufficiently humanistic. A lot of this book deals with the necessity to bridge this gap (Thon Taddeo's concern for offending the monks in Fiat Lux was touching) to progress.

Interesting thoughts. I love how this book seems to impact readers differently depending on their own perceptions of religion. I find this notion fascinating.

One might read it as a condemnation of religious institutions, while one might read it as a celebration of religious institutions, and further more, one might read it from a humanistic perspective.

[megladon8]

Not sure if anyone's interested, but if you're a member of the Science Fiction Book Club, they're having a clearance right now, and "A Canticle for Leibowitz" is on sale.

It's hardcover, and the coverart is gorgeous...