Allegorical Passion Play

books:


	• Silence Shusaku Endo Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980 - 201 pages average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Silence

Silence is an excellent book based on the trials of a Catholic Priest attempting to do missionary work in Japan in the early 17th century. This was a time of persecution an tribulation for Christians in Japan as the Government had decided that Christianity could no longer be allowed to flourish in the country.

The Japanese took great pains to stamp out Christians, using torture to force padres and Christians alike to apostatize, and trample a fumie in order to prove their apostasy. It was a brutal time for Japanese Christians as well as the Priests who attempted to lead them.

In the end, Father Sebastian Rodrigues, the main character, must make some increasingly difficult decisions and come to some difficult conclusions concerning his faith and his God. I highly recommend this book, as it was very moving. I think it will strike a particular chord w/Christians especially, but recommend it for everyone.

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Great Book

It's true he really is the Japanese Grahm Greene, what a book. Be ready to ask yourself how you would be Christian and be forced to watch other's suffer. It's a deep look at good, evil and religion.

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Honest Portrayal

Shusaku Endo seems to have been one for taking a good look at the darker side of his Catholic faith and church, and dealing with it without fear and with honesty. "Silence" is certainly no exception as Endo takes on some very difficult issues about faith and apostasy, along with ethics and a host of other issues.

The vehicle of this reflection is the character of Father Sebastian Rodrigues, who is a missionary attempting to do God's work in Japan during the Tokugawa Bakufu. As is well known, this was a tough time for Japanese Christians and their priests, as torture and death were common ends. It is in this environment that Rodrigues must confront the demons of his own calling, fear and love of the flock he feels God has placed him to lead.

It should be noted that despite the difficult issues addressed throughout the novel, there are high points of truly moving nature. The elation and joy is somewhat infectious as you read Rodrigues' thoughts through these times and his exulting in doing what he feels called to.

This is, indeed, a powerful novel, and one that can't help but move you. Religious or not, the reader will find themselves closely connected with Rodrigues as he tackles his own faith, his own weaknesses and life with or without faith.

Shusaku Endo wrote another excellent book and wonderful story. I am hooked.

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Dark Nights of the Soul

I have just finished reading this book and I am moved to such depths as I didn't know existed.

Endo, in his inimitable way, takes us into dark and treacherous waters: into an examination, indeed a portrait, of what lies beyond the end of faith. The questions he raises are questions all people of faith should consider for themselves, though whether we can be as honest as the protagonist, Father Rodrigues, is will remain a secret known only to ourselves.

This book, more than all of Endo's fine novels, takes the reader on a journey to encounter God in ways that may prove unsettling, but worthy of the effort all the same.

If you read only one book in your whole life, read this one.

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Allegorical Passion Play

I first read Silence in the 70's and having recently watched Mel Gibson's Passion movie decided to seek it out and read it again. I was not disappointed. This is a wonderful and touching novel regarding the plight of a Portuguese missionary in feudal Japan. As the powers that be view the growth of Christianity in that country as a threat to their authority persecution becomes an inevitable response. The priests and missionaries being dispatched from Europe are targeted for a special role in the Japanese attempt to stamp out this threat. The story follows a missionary through his time of trial which mirrors in many aspects the passion of Christ himself in a different time and under a different authority.

This book is well written and the tension builds in a way that is palpable and gripping. An excellent choice for many reasons. First it is a fine introduction to one of Japan's greatest novelists. It is also a great historical novel with insight into the culture and values of feudal Japan. Finally, it is a book of great spiritual insight for Christians and non-Christians alike.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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