Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1923–1996)
Autor von Lobgesang auf Leibowitz
Über den Autor
Miller's participation in the bombing of Casino, Italy, during World War II apparently had a lasting impact on the writer, for his only novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960), is rife with images of massive destruction caused by war. Miller began writing short stories in 1950 while recovering from mehr anzeigen an automobile accident, and most of his writing was done between 1950 and 1960. Often regarded as one of the best science fiction novels ever written, A Canticle for Leibowitz is a complex, beautifully written book that traces human history from a twentieth-century nuclear war forward to another war in a.d. 3781. It stands as one of the best examples of the fear that millions of people have of the power of nuclear weapons and the aftermath of nuclear holocaust. Richly symbolic and multilayered, the novel lends itself to critical commentary more than do most popular works of literature. Critic John B. Ower remarks that, perhaps because of his conversion to Catholicism, "Miller's religious belief is complex and comprehensive enough to contain within itself the dark misgivings, the ironies, and the ambiguities of our deeply disturbed century." (Bowker Author Biography) weniger anzeigen
Reihen
Werke von Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Un cantico per Leibowitz - Benedizione oscura - Umani a condizione - Il mattatore (1988) 8 Exemplare
Classic Science Fiction by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics) (2010) 5 Exemplare
I Made You [short fiction] 4 Exemplare
MillemondiEstate 1995 3 Exemplare
Izzard And The Membrane 2 Exemplare
(A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ ) By Miller, Walter M. (Author) Paperback Published on (05, 2006) 2 Exemplare
And the Light Is Risen {story} 2 Exemplare
The magazine of fantasy and science fiction #13 2 Exemplare
Um Cântico Para Leibowitz, 3 2 Exemplare
Um Cântico para Leibowitz, 1 1 Exemplar
Nova SF* 11 - II serie 1 Exemplar
C'era una volta un mondo 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico Para Leibowitz - 3 1 Exemplar
A Canticle for Lebowitz 1 Exemplar
Fantastic, May 1968 (Vol. 17, No. 5) 1 Exemplar
CONDICIONALMENTE HUMANO 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico Para Leibowitz - volume 2 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico Para Leibowitz, Volume 2 1 Exemplar
God Is Thus {story} — Autor — 1 Exemplar
Check and Checkmate 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico para Leibowitz 2 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico Para Leibowitz - volume 1 1 Exemplar
The Song Of Marya 1 Exemplar
The Yokel 1 Exemplar
The Reluctant Traitor 1 Exemplar
Six And Ten Are Johnny 1 Exemplar
Bitter Victory 1 Exemplar
Let My People Go 1 Exemplar
Um Cântico para Leibowitz 1 1 Exemplar
Zugehörige Werke
Unirdische Visionen - Ein Buch aus der Reihe: Terra - Utopische Romane - Terra Nr. 171 (1952) — Mitwirkender — 86 Exemplare
The Mammoth Book of Vintage Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1950s (1990) — Autor — 70 Exemplare
A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959 : The Greatest Stories of the Decade (1996) — Mitwirkender — 56 Exemplare
The Wild Years 1946-1955 (Amazing Science Fiction Anthology Series) (1987) — Mitwirkender — 25 Exemplare
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction October/November 1997, Vol. 93, No. 4 & 5 (1997) — Mitwirkender — 17 Exemplare
Getagged
Wissenswertes
- Gebräuchlichste Namensform
- Miller, Walter M., Jr.
- Andere Namen
- Miller, Walter Michael, Jr. (birth name)
- Geburtstag
- 1923-01-23
- Todestag
- 1996-01-09
- Begräbnisort
- Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, USA (cremated, ashes scattered)
- Geschlecht
- male
- Nationalität
- USA
- Geburtsort
- New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA
- Sterbeort
- Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
- Todesursache
- suicide
- Wohnorte
- New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA
- Ausbildung
- University of Tennessee
University of Texas - Berufe
- novelist
short story writer - Organisationen
- Army Air Force (WWII)
- Preise und Auszeichnungen
- Hugo Award for Best Novel (1961)
Hugo Award for Best Novella (1955) - Agent
- Don Congdon
Mitglieder
Diskussionen
Second Round: A Canticle For Leibowitz (Miller) in Consensus Press (November 2022)
Second Round: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr. in Consensus Press (November 2022)
Leibowitz: what's the appeal? in Consensus Press (Oktober 2022)
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Book 10) discussion in Group Reads - Sci-Fi (Februar 2014)
Rezensionen
1 
nitrolpost | 305 weitere Rezensionen | Mar 19, 2024 |
nitrolpost | 305 weitere Rezensionen | Mar 19, 2024 | 
I read 3 of the 14 short stories:
1. You Triflin' Skunk!
2. The Will
3. Dark Benediction
Dark Benediction was the only one I liked. I'm generally not a fan of short stories.
1. You Triflin' Skunk!
2. The Will
3. Dark Benediction
Dark Benediction was the only one I liked. I'm generally not a fan of short stories.
Not a thriller, but an emotional pressure cooker. This story takes place in the interim between the beginning and end of "A Canticle for Leibowitz"; it seems to describe the difficulties of recovering the lost civilization. While there's a lot of pessimism in this book, Miller does give us a relatively believable structure for the various attempts at a new civilization. Sadly, he doesn't give us much hope for any quick revival. What made the story tolerable for me, and kept me reading, was the in-depth exploration of the mental and emotional states of most of the characters--most of it pretty dark, but sadly realistic.… (mehr)
She leaned close to whisper behind her hand. “I need be giving shriv’ness to Him, as well.”
The priest recoiled slightly. “To whom? I don’t understand.”
“Shriv’ness-to Him who made me as I am,” she whimpered. But then a slow smile spread her mouth. “I-I never forgave Him for it.”
“Forgive God? How can you-? He is just. He is Justice, He is Love. How can you say-?”
Her eyes pleaded with him. “Mayn’t an old tumater woman forgive Him just a little for His Justice? Afor I be asking His shriv’ness on me?”
A book about hope, death, suffering, endings, nostalgia, heritage, preservation, change, what actually matters, whether a small group of people has the power to change the world, tradition, and other stuff that I'm bad at articulating. Pretty depressing too. It gives an amazing sense of time passing, of how things change, how people forget and remember. The society presented feels real.
I came away with a feeling of just how important nuclear disarmament is, how important peace is, how disgusting justifications for war are. I feel like there's more to say but it's hard to articulate, there's a lot to think about that feels like it needs an essay to put into words.
The ending is a little weird and it's really depressing sometimes and the Latin can be a bit confusing with no translation (BUT whenever it's key to the story it's translated) but otherwise it's great.
Also, I will say that although they get only minimal mention in the book: I have strong sympathy for the "Simpletons" (very minor early spoiler)
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This book gives me the goosebumps still and because of my recent experiences in and around Byzantine churches, the (re)reading experience was amplified.
The setting is post-deluge - civilization had been utterly destroyed in a nuclear holocaust- and it is a sort of Christian order, the order of the St. Leibowitz that becomes the caretaker and perhaps more importantly the interpreter of past knowledge. The parallels between the Christian church after the destruction of the Roman Empire are striking, by the way.
“From the monster Fallout - deliver us.”
“From the spirit of fornication - deliver us.”
“From the Strontium, the Casium, the Cobalt- deliver us
It all kicks into gear when brother Francis finds among other items, a shopping list and a drawing of a circuit plan in an old fallout shelter which become objects of religious veneration.
It is then when taken out of context, we realize how easily the banal, the trivial is recognized as the ultimately profound, the lifeless becomes alive and ignorance becomes king. We, through the endless arrogance of contemporary societies are not aware that each and everyone of us, just as brother Francis and the whole church of St. Leibowitz, are forever dwelling inside universal concentric circles of dramatic irony. In that sense, ignorance permeates all there is and can’t be abdicated.
Walter Miller’s tale is a forever masterpiece, a classic of speculative fiction. Ah, what arrogance to suppose, to claim that anything can be forever-lasting .
Yet, Miller’s work ticks all the boxes. It is masterly eloquent, at times lusciously, then disturbingly ironic.
“What did the world weigh? It weighs but is not weighed. Sometimes it’s scales are crooked. It weighs life and labor in the balance against silver and gold. That will never balance. But fast and ruthless it keeps on that way. It spills a lot of life that way and sometimes a little gold. And blindfolded a king comes riding across the desert with a set of crooked scales, a pair of loaded dice and upon the flag is emblazoned vexileragis.”
The plot moves on like a steam engine, undisturbed and not caring for a reader’s preference. Driven by the stark reality of circumstance, it takes no prisoners. Simply wonderfully profound. Ah, I’m getting carried away.
A spiritu fornicationis, Domine, libera nos (in religious context fornication is often used as idolatry) Deliver me from the sin of idolatry.
Deo gratias.… (mehr)