A Canticle for Leibowitz

[juldea]

(This was written when I first got to work, but I forgot to actually POST it.)

...

I just got to the end of Part 1 of A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr.

I didn't expect THAT to happen!

Now I'm really curious as to what's next... boo to work.

Comments

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

CfL == awesomest standalone work mankind has ever produced.

Well, pretty good anyway.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

I must have gotten some other edition - one that sucked. I found virtually nothing redeeming about it. Any time actual plot began it would be swept aside to go look at something even less interesting. I usually cite it as the worst book I've ever finished.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

There must be SOMETHING wrong with your SOUL.

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

You must have been reading A Canticle for Liebowitz, the Trilogy. I can see where you might be confused.

Part the First: The world has been rent asunder, presumably by Sauron, although he is not named in this part. The story begins with a small group of hobbits, monks in an abbey, who are busy trying to relearn the recipie for the Onion Bagel but are only managing bialys. (And they are running out of onions.) One of the hobbits, Francis, waking up from a Frangelico induced hangover, sees the Order of Liebowitz shining over the nearby desert. After days of wandering he stumbles upon a discarded paper bag to find that it contains the Order itself--a jar of pickles, a half-pound of cole slaw, and a bagel--somehow mystically surviving through the centuries. On returning to the abbey he is scolded for taking the last bottle of Frangelico and about to be put into the jibbet the bagel falls out of a pocket of his robe. Angels appear. Music begins to play. A two-headed donkey wanders by--one of many in that time--and tries to eat the bagel. The not-so-quick-thinking abbot saves the bagel in time but attempts to bite into it and dies on the spot. The remaining brothers vote to have Francis take the bagel and ride the two-headed donkey to see the Hobbit Pope and present it as a holy artifact--which is later revealed to be a scheme for getting rid of him so the brothers can go back to making more Frangelico. Along the journey, Francis meets up with an elf and a dwarf who seem to be more than just friends--if you know what I mean--and the three of them present the Bagel of Liebowitz to the Hobbit Pope. The Pope reveals himself to be Sauron, eats the bagel and sends the fellows packing. The elf and dwarf disappear somewhere along the way and Francis hangs himself in shame.

The other two parts are actually not as good.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

What in the world are you smoking?!

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

Smoking? What exactly are you implying? I get high on bringing joy and amusement to others. Also, sometimes, there are kittens to rescue. And there are Necco wafers. Truly the food of the gods.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'm halfway through and enjoying it so far...