If you read A Modest Proposal as straight literature you're going to be outraged. If, on the other hand, you read it as an allegorical condemnation of the lack of charity in Early Modern England... A Canticle for Liebowitz is a meditation on humanity's interlocking regard for technology and religion. I recommended it because that was a theme you explicitly asked to explore. Your other choice, I guess, is the Foundation trilogy, arguably Asimov's masterwork, and therefore mediocre at best. fight me
I do need to dig in to Foundation. That's for sure. And read the books of The Expanse. It's a bit of a new genre for me, so I am gingerly dipping my toes in here and there, and seeing how the water feels in different areas. Earth Abides was such a brain-bending pleasure for me, that I think my expectations may be a tad overblown. It is possible that - at the time (1959) - Canticle was far more ground-breaking than it is today. I also got some more perspective on it from reading about the author, and his personal revelations he experienced writing it. It is a very personal story for him, and he didn't even realize what he was processing by writing it. (BTW - No shade for recommending it. I appreciate it, and am glad I read it! I just posted here instead of a private email to you, to open up the conversation to other interesting Hubskites.)
The three core stories were written in '55, '56 and '57. That's basically the height of the Hollywood Blacklist and the year before the John Birch Society was formed. It's 4 years after the Knights of Columbus got "Under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Now? Now Monty Python's Life of Brian is pushing 40 and Dawkins has sold 3 million copies of The God Delusion. I'm woefully unimpressed with Asimov. If I could recommend one piece of sci fi?It is possible that - at the time (1959) - Canticle was far more ground-breaking than it is today.