A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.  334 pp.

This classic of science fiction literature has been on my "to read" list for awhile and I finally got around to reading it. In a post-apocalyptic desert in the southwestern U.S. in a land devastated by nuclear war that essentially is a new Dark Ages inhabited by mutant victims of radiation and religious communities. The residents of a cloistered monastery worship Leibowitz and study the "holy relics" created by him. The relics amount to blueprints and random memos found in an abandoned fallout shelter where. The novel covers thousands of years centered around the monastery of St. Leibowitz up to a time in the far future when world annihilation is once again a threat. The appearance of "The Wanderer", a strange man who is apparently immortal, leads some of the monks to believe he is, in fact, Leibowitz. Even though this book was published in 1959, many of the topics are timely which cements it's place as a classic.

The Name of the Rose

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco  592 pp.

Every few years I dig out my old paperback copy and reread it. This time I decided to listen to the audiobook version read by the great actor, Theodore Bikel. I can't find fault with his reading, but when I read the words of William of Baskerville my brain automatically hears it as Sean Connery who played him in the film version. The story is a whodunit in a medieval monastery during the time of the Inquisition. The story is narrated by William's young assistant, Adso, initially visit the monastery to investigate heresy but a series of strange deaths put them on the trail of the murderer. In addition to the murders there is political intrigue, a cast of diverse and sometimes creepy characters including a fanatical, old, blind monk. Now it's time to watch the movie again.

Zen Confidential

Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk by Shozan Jack Haubner 269 pp.

Jack Haubner was raised conservative Catholic, studied philosophy and abandoned Catholicism in college, and went on to become a failed screenwriter/stand up comic/drug abuser before making his way to a Zen Buddhist Monstery to ultimately become an Osho (Teacher). This memoir recounts humorous, touching, and occasionally awful anecdotes about his life as a Zen Buddhist monk. The point of much of this book is to show that, while much of society thinks that because monks are striving for a type of perfection, it doesn't mean that their thoughts, emotions, and actions are all Zen all the time. Flares of temper, relapses into bad habits, and personality quirks that are blatantly un-Zen frequently arise. It is in how these faults are recognized and dealt with that makes the monks different from the "average person."

Anathem

Anathem by Neal Stephenson  937 pp.

There are some lengthy books that don't seem as long as they really are because you are riveted to the story from page one. But this is not one of them. In general, I like Stephenson's books but this one was a bit of a slog. There is a lot of intellectual argument on philosophical questions and speculation on technological subjects which are occasionally interesting and sometimes amusing. Stephenson uses terms that are "close to English" (glossary included) in this world of "Saeculars," the common people in the society and "Avouts," the thinkers, mathematicians, and scientists who have been segregated into a monastery type existence because of fear of their technical knowledge. The real storyline doesn't begin until about a third of the way through the book when the main character, Fraa Erasmus (Raz), and other Avouts end up on a mission to save the planet. There is even a bit of a love story in the mix. By the end I was eager to see how it was all going to turn out. I just wish it hadn't been such a long trip to get there.