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Silence: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics) Paperback – January 5, 2016

by Shusaku Endo (Author), William Johnston (Translator), Martin Scorsese (Foreword)
4.5 out of 5 stars 13 customer reviews
#1 Best Sellerin Japanese Literature
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Product Details

  • Series: Picador Modern Classics
  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Picador Modern Classics; Tra edition (January 5, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1250082242
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250082244
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThis novel is very sad and very hard to take
By R. Clayton on March 28, 2016
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This novel is very sad and very hard to take. It forces the reader to search one's own soul. It is a very compelling story. Your opinion on the book is going to depend on where you are in your own life. I do not think you can read this story and be unchanged, unmoved. It is worth reading to the end and then turn it around and read it again. It is very powerful.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a deeply profound look at the struggles of ...
By SAM BOOKS AND THINGS on March 2, 2016
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This is a deeply profound look at the struggles of Christ as lived by a missionary in a world that rejected him. We see his internal spiritual, psychological and even physical hurts and disappointments. A book for those interested in the spiritual and religious life.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe writing itself is truly excellent and the story will throw you for a loop
By A.E. Teresa on May 24, 2016
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The writing itself is truly excellent and the story will throw you for a loop. Silence digs right into really difficult questions and challenges of religious faith and what it means and looks like to BE a Christian. Non-religious people will certainly be interested in the theme of devotion and identity.

If you're a Joel Osteen, warm-and-fuzzy type, this is very far from your experience and you should DEFINITELY read it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA novel of transcultural theodicy, blending a Japanese Christology and cultural sensibility...
By LitCrit on July 10, 2016
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Silence (1966) by Shusaku Endo
Book Review by Mary P.
Background and Summary:
Historically, Endo’s novel is set in seventeenth-century Japan after the 1614 edict of expulsion of all Jesuit missionaries, and after the Shimabara Rebellion in 1636 by Christian insurgents, when the Tokugawa Bakufu finally severed all ties with Portugal and sealed Japan from the world. Despite widespread persecution, torture, and death by fire and water, a secret organization of Christian converts kept their faith alive. The story pieces together historical artifacts, shipping records, and letters from Father Christovao Ferreira and his Superior, and relies largely on letters sent by Sebastian Rodrigues recounting his journey with Father Garrpe to Japan in 1637. Father Rodrigues narrates their meeting with Christian villagers in Tomogi, near Nagasaki, living in a hillside hideout, their mission to the neighboring village of Goto, before the betrayal and subsequent prosecution of the villagers by government agents started a systemic psychological and spiritual warfare that escalate, when he’s betrayed, prosecuted, and his faith tested.
Main Characters:
In the spiritual vacuum left by the expulsion of all Jesuit priests, Father Rodrigues identifies himself as the only one who could minister to the poverty-stricken, spiritually-deprived peasants. His weakness lies in the flawed view that if he dies, the Japanese church dies with him. Therefore, he should preserve his life to keep the faith alive, even as an underground apostolate.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsVery good read
By thomas andrew on July 31, 2016
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Thought provoking and enlightened history that is well written/translated. A taut tale told with compassion and insight. Characters are clear and conflicted. A very good read that makes you think, in a good way.
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4.0 out of 5 starsMakes One Evaluate the Extent He is Willing to Go for Faith
By Sarah on July 20, 2016
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This engaging book will have you evaluating your own faith and decisions as you read of the harsh tales of the early Christian missionaries in Japan. Shusaku Endo brings the events of the martyrs and apostates of the early Christian church body in Japan to life through the chronicling of Father Sebastian Rodrigues’ life, tales, and letters. Beginning his journey with the God-given desire to share God’s love with the people of Japan, he is aware that the price may lead to martyrdom for his beliefs, but he never suspects himself falling prey to the apostate position in which he finds himself at the end.
An intertwining of both history and fiction, the novel brings out themes of God’s silence during this period of suffering for the Christians in Japan as well as the testing of faith and religious philosophy through trials. The effectual way in which Endo presents these themes causes his readers to inwardly search their own thoughts, values, and beliefs in response to his characters who take bold stances, or in the case of Father Rodrigues, who experience complex decisions with others’ lives at the stake.
His work is an excellent delivery of the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and social factors of the times, forcing one to consider those factors in light of one’s current thoughts and stances. Endo, through the characters of Kichijiro, then Father Ferreira, then eventually, and sadly, Father Rodrigues, allows the modern day reader to understand the true essence of the excruciatingly difficult place the early missionaries found themselves. Despite whether or not he or she agrees with the decision or even whether or not he or she thinks he or she could withstand the various tortures and apostasy tests, the reader
Can one truly bear the silence of God?Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsJust okay
By Aaron Gotwalt on May 24, 2016
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I really thought the whole time that something interesting was going to happen or that the main character would have some important realization that would tie the whole thing together. This didn't happen, or if it did, I didn't catch it. Not even in a delicate, subtle, quiet way. Perhaps it's just not my cup of tea.
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