I enjoyed A Canticle for Leibowitz, and have had two questions running through my head since I finished it a couple of weeks ago.
Question 1: Do I belong in a Monastery? And would it be an Ideal Place to live out one's post-apocalyptic life?
It's America's oldest Trappist monastery, and has been there since the 1800's. Thomas Merton was One of Them from 1941 until his death in 1968. He's buried there. They farm, they garden, they carve wood, they pray, they bake brownies, they sing their vespers, they do not have a mandatory dress code.
They do have a website--apparently they got their Interwebs act together early (or I'd imagine paid some good money later), because they are in fact the owners of http://www.monks.org.
I think I might be cut out for this kind of living. Routines and Rituals have a calming effect on my brain. I might have trouble with the Religion part, but it's possible that the benefits of this kind of life would outweigh that. As for its location in the beautiful hills of Kentucky, it'd probably be low on the list of nuclear warfare targets, and its agriculture, skilled residents, and solid buildings would make it an excellent place to stage one's post-apocalyptic life.
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