Silence

by Shūsaku Endō

English language

Published April 5, 1999

ISBN:: 978-0-8008-7186-4

(13 reviews)

Silence (沈黙, Chinmoku) is a 1966 novel of theological and historical fiction by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, published in English by Peter Owen Publishers. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th century Japan, who endures persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians") that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion. The recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called "Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels". Written partly in the form of a letter by its central character, the theme of a silent God who accompanies a believer in adversity was greatly influenced by the Catholic Endō's experience of religious discrimination in Japan, culture gap in France, and a debilitating bout with tuberculosis.The novel has been adapted to film twice, a 1971 Japanese film directed by Masahiro Shinoda (for which Endo co-wrote the screenplay), and a 2016 film …

3 editions

The Gnome King reviewed Silence by Shūsaku Endō

Review of 'Silence' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I'm not a religious man and one of the things I hate the most is preachy people who try and help you find Jesus. We get a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses around here and I find them super annoying. So, starting this book about a missionary off to Japan in the 1600's facing many trials whilst he spreads the faith and looks for his mentor who is rumoured to have Apostatised I had high hopes of him getting a hard time. What I wasn't expecting was to really feel for him, whilst he goes through much madness.

I've gotta admit this has got to be one of the most shocking and brutal books I've read, it's not gory, it isn't violent, what is most shocking is how simple and efficient the methods of torture are that the Japanese use. The priest goes through so much, sees so much death, I'm impressed he managed to keep his sanity, I know I would have lost it earlier on.

I picked up this book because a number of the characters feature in [b:The Ghosts of Nagasaki|16003161|The Ghosts of Nagasaki|Daniel Clausen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438091711l/16003161.SY75.jpg|21765908], one of my all time favourite books. It was really great to see how the characters helped to create that book.

The writing is top notch, using a series of letters from the priest to create the story worked really well. The arguments on religion between the priest and the Japanese Lord seem to be well structured, I'm not an expert but they made sense to me.

Give this book a go, it doesn't seem to be that well known but it is a very important book.

Blog review > felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/silence-by-shusaku-endo/

AliCorbin reviewed Silence by Shūsaku Endō

Review of 'Silence' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The writing was vivid, drawing the reader into the landscape. (Bruce referred to it as poetry.) Erin appreciated how Endo inhabited Rodrigues' mind, even if his portrayal was not especially sympathetic. We were incessantly battered with his disgust with all things Japanese, and his continual comparisons between himself and Jesus (or 'that man'). Our feelings might have been tinged by our discomfort with the concept of missionaries, and by the fact that most of us had grown up as Catholic ('recovering' Catholics, as one woman put it). ("To Irish Catholics, guilt is a competitive sport.")