Unforgettable SF masterpiece. "A Canticle for Leibowitz" book review and ranking.

Tonight I review Walter M Miller Jnr's 1961 Hugo award winning Novel "A Canticle for Leibowitz". I provide a plot overview, discuss my likes, my dislikes, make some recommendations and then I rank it on our ever growing SF Shed Ladder.
Over the last year i have reread over 40 Hugo and/or Nebula award winning Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, and I have been ranking them on the ever growing SF Shed Ladder.
I use the following criteria to help me rank these wonderful novels.
1. Concept (how interesting/unique is the SF or F concept)
2. Execution of the concept
3. Characters (interesting character arcs, relatable, interesting)
4. Writing (how much did i enjoy the writing)
5. How memorable are these novels (the memory test)
6. Plot (interesting twists and turns)
7. Ending (does the ending satisfy)
Playlist of all the Hugo Winning Novels
• Hugo Winners
Playlist of all the Nebula Winning Novels
• Nebula Winners
1 Hyperion Dan Simmons
2 Dune Frank Herbert
3 Gateway Frederik Pohl
4 Way Station Clifford Symak
5 Doomsday Book Connie Willis
6 To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip Jose Farmer
7 A Case of Conscience James Blish
8 Tehanu Ursula Le Guin
9 The Forever War Joe Haldeman
10 The Dispossessed Ursula Le Guin
11 The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula Le Guin
12 This Immortal Roger Zelazny
13 The Fountains of Paradise Arthur C. Clarke
14 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein
15 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Heinlein
16 Starship Troopers Robert Heinlein
17 Ringworld Larry Niven
18 The Claw of the Conciliator Gene Wolfe
19 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick
20 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester
21 Falling Free L. McMaster Bujold
22 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
23 Moving Mars Greg Bear
24 A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge
25 The Windup Girl Paolo Bacigalupi
26 Redshirts John Scalzi
27 Flowers for Algenon Daniel Keyes
28 Rite of Passage Alexei Panshin
29 Among Others Jo Walton
30 The Uplift War David Brin
31 A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge
32 Startide Rising David Brin
33 The City and the City China Mieville
34 Man Plus Frederik Pohl
35 Babel-17 Samuel R Delany
36 Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang Kate Wilhelm
37 Double Star Robert Heinlein
38 A Memory Called Empire Arkady Martine
39 Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie
40 Forever Peace Joe Haldeman
41 The Terminal Experiment Robert J. Sawyer
42 The Quantum Rose Catherine Asaro
43 The Einstein Intersection Samuel R Delany
44 The Big Time Fritz Leiber
45 No Enemy But Time Michael Bishop
46 The Falling Woman Pat Murphy
47 The Fifth Season N.K Jemisin

[@TauZeroSF]

Definitely on my TBR.

[@unstopitable]

Canticle is also one of my all-time favorites. There's just something about the way that it's written. What most people don't realize how deeply Catholic the really isnovel, especially in the way it deals with the meaning of suffering. May Miller's soul rest in peace. Enjoyed the video.

[@thesci-fished]

Thank you kindly, it's a great novel that deals with difficult subjects beautifully.

[@paulcooper3611]

A Canticle for Leibowitz is also one of my favorite books. I first read it in 1969. There were a couple of things that struck me the first time. First, the Vatican II conference had taken place between the time the book was written and the time I read it. Hence, Latin had been replaced by colloquial language so the heavy sprinkling of Latin throughout the story wouldn't have happened. Second, I was a draftsman at the time and I did a lot of blueprints. However, a new blueprint technology had come in since the book was written; now the black lines in the drawing were developed in blue on a dusky background instead of white on a blue background so the blueprint in the bunker wouldn't have happened. And it didn't detract from the story at all. The book immediately went to the top of my list. Over the last 50 years, it has moved up and down the list but it has never dropped below five. I reread it every decade or so. I last read it 4 months ago and it still wrapped its hands around my heart and squeezed.

[@thesci-fished]

"still wrapped its hands around my heart and squeezed" exactly how I feel, thank you Pau.

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

War, war never changes.

[@thesci-fished]

Unfortunately, that seems to be the case.

[@SciFiFinds]

Great to see your top 5 getting shuffled around after so many reads! I definitely need to get to this one.

[@thesci-fished]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@chrisw6164]

Re-read it last year. I got a lot more out of it, mostly because I first read it 30 years ago.

[@thesci-fished]

Nice one Chris, would you have ranked it as highly?

[@chrisw6164]

@@thesci-fished Definitely

[@NevsBookChannel]

Yep, loved it! It’s a fantastic idea well executed. I didn’t know it was the outcome of 3 short stories. Have you read those?

[@thesci-fished]

Thanks Nev, I'ev wanted to read the short stories but I haven't been able to find them down under. I did read an article some time back (i'm pretty sure it was a paid article - i'll see if i can find it) that did a side by side comparison of the book and the novellas. The latin was one of the key take aways I can remember from it. Would be nice to read and follow up on this video one day with my fresh take on those.