Deep River is an authentic and rewarding story that peers directly into the heart and mind of one of Japan's really great writers. I opened it and could not close it until I had finished it.
This short (200 page) novel packs more emotional punch and character depth is a paragraph than most books do in a chapter. I was quickly taken in on Endo's portraiture of the main characters. Isobe grieving for his recently deceased wife is captured so well - the classic suffering in silence of a late middle age salaryman suddenly and for the first time unable to suppress feelings and emotions. There is Kiguchi. Endo deftly uses spare but gripping language to describe the desperation of the Japanese soldiers of WWII retreating through Burma at the tail end WWII. It's both a physical and mental hardship which plays on Kiguchi even 40 years later.
Then there is the intriguing interplay between Mitsuko, 20 years removed from the beguilingly smart and beautiful college student who is now in middle age, divorced and still bothered by Otsu, a student at the same time as she, who is committed to Christianity but is insecure and inarticulate about his faith and position in life. She sees him as weak and yet cannot quite convince herself as she herself looks for something to commit to in her own life.
These and others cross paths on a seemingly innocent group tour heading to India. Using the backdrop of 1980's India and the deep spirituality of the people coming to the Ganges in pilgrimage provokes something in each of our characters to lead them further on the path of life. The story ends with some characters finding what they were looking for and for others there remains lots of ambiguity.
For me this was a deeply satisfying snapshot of men and women of various stages of life confronting emotional and spiritual needs.
This is a well paced story with universal themes, empathetic characters and full of provocative challenges to the meaning of faith or friendship or alienation. It's done earnestly and intelligently.
Equally I liked the very Japanese manner and tone. Endo questions the materialism creeping into modern Japan by then. He shows the growing generation gaps between characters of different ages. And he clearly has doubts about Christianity's role in Japan or Asia. He is willing to express where others may have only been thinking or burying deep within them. In Japan those are rare traits and because of that this is a gem.
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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Top reviews from other countries
BGH
Really good book and brilliantly translated
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2016
