Silence [Mass Market Paperback]

Shusaku Endo (Author), William Johnston (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1979

"Silence I regard as a masterpiece, a lucid and elegant drama." Irving Howe. -- The New York Times Review Of Books

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Silence I regard as a masterpiece, a lucid and elegant drama." Irving Howe. -- The New York Times Review Of Books --NY Times Review of Books --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Univ in assoc with Charles E Tuttle (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804807205
• ISBN-13: 978-0804807203
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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223 of 226 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel of Undeniable Power, June 17, 2001

By 

mp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silence (Paperback)

"Silence" is an excellent novel. Comparisons between Shusaku Endo and British novelist Graham Greene are apt, as both deal with the relationships that develop between individuals, Catholicism, and the world. "Silence" is an extremely intense historical novel. While knowledge of Catholicism may be helpful for some of the situations and terminology, the issues of doubt and faith, in God and in people, are readily available to any reader.

"Silence" is set in sixteenth century Japan, where Portuguese missionaries must contend with traders from rival European nations and the persecution of Christians by Japanese feudal lords. The feudal lords want to drive Christianity out of Japan, and try to do so by torturing priests into apostasy, denying their faith. This is done symbolically by stepping on a "fumie," a Christian image, like a picture of Mary or a crucifix. Two Portuguese priests, Sebastian Rodrigues and Francis Garrpe, make a dangerous journey to Japan, both to locate and comfort Japanese converts, and to discover the truth about a supposed apostate priest, Ferreira.

"Silence" makes use of several narrative approaches, third person omniscient at the beginning and ending, while the middle portion of the novel is written in the style of a diary and letters from Rodrigues' point of view. The main protagonist, Rodrigues must deal with the validity of his faith, the propriety of the Christian mission in Japan, the suffering of Japanese converts, and the silence of God in the midst of so much hardship.

Rodrigues' trials are exacerbated by his physical and cultural isolation, as he and Garrpe are forced to conceal themselves in a small hut dug out of the side of a mountain near Nagasaki. Culturally, he must confront being in a nation whose language and customs are mostly alien and threatening to him. The most perplexing external difficulty Rodrigues faces is from an ambiguously motivated local named Kichijiro. Rodrigues' relationship with Kichijiro forces the priest into his deepest and most troubling reflections on faith and the Bible.

"Silence" was an absolutely fascinating read. The historical and cultural milieus of the novel are complicated by Endo's own background. Endo's perspective on Christianity and Catholicism in particular, as a Japanese writer, and writing about Japanese history forced me, at least, as a Westerner, to look at issues of faith and international relations from a radically different perspective than even the foreign-based novels of Graham Greene that I have read, like "The Heart of the Matter" or "The Power and the Glory," the latter of which is thematically very similar to Endo's "Silence". Overall, a tremendous and powerful novel.

107 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvelous, soul-wrenching work, October 28, 2000

By 

Snickerdoodle "teknon" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silence (Paperback)

"Silence" towers above what passes for most religious fiction for its evocative and unflinching treatment of faith and suffering.

While the theology of pain has been touched on in much of Western literature, most of it recently seems either an apology for God's permitting suffering, rants against God for permitting suffering, or pep talks for believers going through suffering. Philip Yancey has provided a great service on the issue in his books on pain, but even they take a somewhat detached view. By contrast, Shusako Endo seems to write from within the terrible grasp of suffering in "Silence", one of the most moving novels I have ever read.

The plot centers around a band of Portugese priests who land in Japan in the 1600's to spread the gospel on a culturally and spiritually unfertile soil. Their theology is eventually challenged in ways that only persecution and suffering can do: can I carry on here? should I? can I forgive my tormentors? should I? Ultimately, they wrestle with public apostasy and with whether or not they could ever be forgiven if they commit such an act.

This is not a feel-good book by any stretch. It deals with failure, defeat, abandonment, pain, and the 'silence' of God through it all. But at the same time it opens the window wide on what the Man of Sorrows went through on our behalf and on how we need God's grace not because of our strength but because of our weakness. Highly recommended.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How can God remain silent?, November 3, 2002

By 

Charles E. Stevens - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silence (Paperback)

This question, raised countless times by the main character Rodrigues, is just one of many theological issues that Endo explores in this highly emotional, extremely probing novel. The Christian period of Japan is regarded as a somewhat curious anomaly by the Japanese themselves, and is largely unknown in western circles. That Endo could weave so elegant a tale, using a foreign main character (there are few precedents in Japanese literature) and frequently changing narrative styles no less, is an accomplishment in itself.

"Silence" raises several theological points, but the two that stuck with me the most were the following: how can God remain silent despite the suffering of his people (a question no less relevant with the events going on in the world today), and secondly, is it possible that Christianity cannot "grow roots" in the "swamp" that is Japan. A Catholic himself, it is obvious that Endo has struggled over these questions himself, searching for answers. Is it possible to betray your faith but stay true to your God? Endo's frank look at questions like this is part of his universal success. It is amazing to consider that this book was a huge seller in Endo's native Japan, which itself is barely 1% Christian.

"Father, you were not defeated by me," Inoue says to Rodrigues. "You were defeated by this swamp of Japan." "No, no ... my struggle was with Christianity in my own heart" Rodrigues replies. Ultimately, Christian or non-Christian, no matter your age or nationality, faith comes down to these battles in the heart. Endo does a magnificent job depicting this, and Silence is an outstanding book because of it.