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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   939 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 29, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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What’s up with the sequel? In general terms please, and spoilers so as not to ruin it for FtttG.

In addition to the other comments, the se-inter-quel also very much has a plot that goes absolutely nowhere. At least that's how I remember it, I read it in 2008 so some time has passed. Still, I do remember much more from other books I've read that year, so that might be a condemnation of its own.

It's just a really ugly book; one that represents a Walter M. Miller Jr. that had grown cynical and disappointed with the Church. It has none of the idealism and hope that characterized Canticle, and I'm not surprised that the author killed himself.

I mean, Canticle took place before Vatican II, and presumably the sequel was written when the church was at its ontological low point.

Yes, I see. Poor man. I thought he just had a sudden eruption of despair, I didn’t realise he’d lost hope to such an extent.

I’m going through the business of getting Confirmed at the moment and indeed the church is startlingly silly on many occasions but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless.

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