I really enjoyed the book. I’m almost always down for some sci-fi dystopia, and as a religious person I enjoyed this particular lens on it. A couple I highly recommend from another Catholic author, The Lord of the World, and Dawn of All, by Robert Hugh Benson. Those two are more early 20th century Catholicism in worldview, which I particularly enjoyed.
On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
81–90 of 142 posts
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's strange, you rarely hear it mentioned in the same breath as other post-apocalyptic literature like A Boy and His Dog or I Am Legend . I was only made aware of it while reading an article about the making of Fallout. So, thanks for the indirect recommendation!
>It's strange, you rarely hear it mentioned in the same breath as other post-apocalyptic literature like A Boy and His Dog or I Am Legend. Only because I rarely hear either of those mentioned at all, unlike Canticle.
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#83I tried reading "A Canticle for Leibowitz” recently. Didn't love it. Not alot really happened in it. It felt like a response/commentary to the sort of apocalypse that was envisaged in the 1980's, like nuclear war. I feel like there's a much more sophisticated post apocalyptic vision of the future now. As an alternative, I loved "The Road" - now there's a really great post apocalyptic scifi.
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm doing the Hugo list now! Just about at the end of Speaker for the Dead. A Canticle for Leibowitz was the first ones that I really enjoyed. Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are up there too but my absolute favorite so far is Dreamsnake. I'm really annoyed at myself for not reviewing or at least jotting down some notes about the books as I've finished them. I remember liking Canticle a lot but I would be hard…
Reading all the Hugos is a fascinating tour through sci-fi across the years. We started with Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" in 1992. Tim Cain had gotten the CD-ROM version and it was the first ebook I read. Then we went back to the first Hugos and tried to read them in order. We had to go on scavenger hunts through used book stores to find some of the titles. I think we finished our book club with The Doomsday…
My biggest surprise was Rogue Moon (Hugo 1961). Incredible ending, up there with Man in the High Castle (Hugo 1963).
I agree with the "fascinating tour" part. The earlier books (from the 50s and 60s) where clearly more optimistic and more realistic at the same time. The human nature was captured more accurately I believe, most of the heros were actually anti-heroes. But the human capabilities were clearly over evaluated and the social interaction a little simplistic. Also, its funny to read books were martians were still a plausible thing (Protector Hugo 1973).
If I have an advice to give you it's: don't limit yourself to the 90s onward. You are missing on gems like Rendez-vous with Rama (Hugo 1974) or Forever War (Hugo 1976).
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to get you nervous, but the Russians run bombers to the airspace of Alaska all the time. US jets intercept and turn them around. It's the expensive version of the border crossings between India & Pakistan
Don't they do this more like yearly? And they don't usually breach airspace generally considered sovereign, though they might fly into airspace the target country itself believes sovereign. AFAIU, these flights are similar to the yearly runs the U.S. Navy makes through some disputed territorial waters; that is, principally intended to preserve normative freedom of movement rights, albeit in a military context obvious…
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe that Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog" was also a major influence behind it.
Absolutely, but we didn't refer to it as much as the other three. But besides Dogmeat, it also influenced the Vaults.
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't they do this more like yearly? And they don't usually breach airspace generally considered sovereign, though they might fly into airspace the target country itself believes sovereign. AFAIU, these flights are similar to the yearly runs the U.S. Navy makes through some disputed territorial waters; that is, principally intended to preserve normative freedom of movement rights, albeit in a military context obvious…
No
To wit,
> F-22 Raptors from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, intercepted a group of Russian aircraft in international airspace near Alaska Monday night.
> In a series of tweets early Tuesday morning, NORAD said the Raptors intercepted a pair of Russian Tu-95 “Bear” bombers escorted by Su-35 fighters. NORAD said it also identified a Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft supporting the other Russian planes that “loitered” in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone and came within 30 nautical miles of Alaska’s shore.
> NORAD said that all Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and at no time entered U.S. or Canadian airspace.
Another example, from 2015: https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/09/politics/russian-bombers-u-s-...
> The U.S. military performed two intercepts of Russians aircraft, though they never entered U.S. airspace, according to a U.S. military official.
> In Alaska, F-22s took off to identify and track two TU-95 Bear bombers near the Southern coast. The two bombers were followed until they turned around.
> [...]
> Similarly off the coast of California, F-15s tracked two other TU-95s that had been detected near the coast of San Francisco. The incident in California was a rarity, because Russian forces don’t generally travel that far South. However, this was reminiscent of a similar flight Russia performed off the West coast on July 4 three years prior.
If anything, their frequency is less than yearly, at least off the U.S. coast, especially before 2015 (and within the range of internet memory). They seem far more common (and aggressive) in Europe, which I expected. And I can't find one example where the Russian aircraft breached U.S. territorial airspace. Sincere question: can you provide examples?
EDIT: Here's a 2008 story addressing Sarah Palin's claims about "incursions": https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/after-palins-inter...
> The air-defense identification zone, almost completely over water, extends 12 miles past the perimeter of the United States. Most nations have similar areas.
> However, no Russian military planes have been flying into that zone, said Maj. Allen Herritage, a spokesman for the Alaska region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage.
> “To be very clear, there has not been any incursion in U.S. airspace in recent years,” Herritage said.
> What Palin might have been referring to was a buffer zone of airspace that extends beyond the 12-mile strip. Although not recognized internationally as the United States’ to protect, the military watches it.
> That zone is where there has been increased Russian bomber exercises, about 20 in the past two years. When Russian bombers enter that expanded area, sometimes called the outer air-defense identification zone by the military, U.S. or Canadian fighter jets are dispatched to check them, Herritage said.
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#88In the early 90s, I read all of the Hugo winners at the time. A Canticle for Leibowitz was one of my favorites. A few years later, it was one of the three major influences we used when making the original Fallout (along with Road Warrior and City of Lost Children).
One question, is City of Lost Children the French movie by Jeunet or something else?
Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#89Re: On “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
#90In the early 90s, I read all of the Hugo winners at the time. A Canticle for Leibowitz was one of my favorites. A few years later, it was one of the three major influences we used when making the original Fallout (along with Road Warrior and City of Lost Children).
Too bad the Aeon got the Black Sun (bad name choice?)... I support Cybran and going autonomous, like what is wrong with Aeon: they are like the Illuminati from scripture but just retarded from Eastasian evil.