When I Whistle [Paperback]

Shusaku Endo (Author), Van C. Gessel (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

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

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Taplinger Publishing Company (December 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080088244X
• ISBN-13: 978-0800882440
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,359,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively simple but packs a powerful punch, March 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When I Whistle (Paperback)

As translated by Van C. Gessel, _When I Whistle_ uses spare, simple prose in switching back and forth between the stories of Ozu, a nostalgic World War II veteran, and his son Eiichi, an ambitious doctor. As Ozu's reminiscences move closer to the present, the two narratives interlock with devastating effect. Like much of Endo's other writing, _When I Whistle_ is elegaic and concerned with serious moral issues; however, it is not overtly theological (Endo's Catholicism has led some to describe him as a Japanese Graham Greene). Plot points and themes which could be oppressively heavy in the hands of a lesser writer are here leavened by humor (notably in the character of the hapless Flatfish) and unspooled in beautifully observed scenes. The sentences may be easy to read, but it is difficult to reach the end of the novel unmoved...

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary Japanese literature at its finest, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When I Whistle (Paperback)

Shusaku Endo draws on a well of personal experience as well as powerful, thoughtful philosophies concerning family relationships, the trauma of war, transistion to the modern age, generative versus stagnant personality types and basic human nature in order to create this vivid, yet restrained, novel. 'When I Whistle' is the story of Ozu, a man whose simpleness betrays the depth of his expreience, and his son Eichi. Their contrasting attitudes and views on morality allow Endo to masterfully weave a conflict which not only entices the reader to the plot, but forces the reader on a journey of questioning personal philosophies and beliefs. Though When I Whistle is a moving literary work and exemplarary of Japanese aesthetic principles, it is an easy read. I thoroughly reccomend it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Intimate life-experience in a global expanse, June 12, 2011

By 

David W. Laplante - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When I Whistle (Paperback)

If you haven't read anything by Endo, this is a good place to begin. Endo moves deep into the human experience with his deceptively simple characters and stories.
When you finish this, you might venture on to "Deep River" and his most profound novel "The Samurai." The Japense names and places take a little effort, but the
translations are excellent. These are books that can profoundly change you.