Silence

Rating:
Summary: Christian Priest in 17th Century Japan
Review: Christian missionaries went to Japan in the 1600s to bring the word of Jesus. For a time, they were somewhat accepted, if not welcomed by all.

This did change, and it became a crime - punishable by torture and death - to follow Christianity.

"Silence" is a historical novel documenting the journey of a priest in Japan during this time. Interestingly, he is not even identified by name until halfway through the book: is this is a creative use of a lack of words to express the protagonist's importance in the grand scheme?

Whatever the reason, this is a beautifully written book. Even the descriptions of tortures used (both emotional and physical) can keep the reader interested. There is a great deal of symbolism that would be lost in a review, but that a savvy reader will understand and appreciate.

This was a difficult book for me to read, because it was so terribly sad. Interestingly, I read it while simultaneously reading "Where Is God When It Hurts?" (Philip Yancey) and "Silence" screamed at me. Nonetheless, I do recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Cross-Cultural Mission In Fictional Form
Review: Endo transports his readers to seventeenth-century Japan, among struggling Christians in Nagasaki, and to the trials and tribulations of Father Rodrigues, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, who faces one of the most painful decisions of his embattled, and still young, ministerial career: whether or not to trample on the fumie -- a bronze plaque bearing the face of "the emaciated Man" (Jesus of Nazareth). It seems that Father Rodrigues must simply trample on the fumie, thereby appeasing his detractors, local magistrates bent on vicious persecution, and then other suffering Christians will find their lives spared. Everything hangs on the decision of Father Rodrigues. Personal integrity notwithstanding, this moral dilemma seems like a 'no-brainer'; after all, from a purely utilitarian perspective, Father Rodrigues ought to trample on the fumie, because to do so would benefit the greatest number of people, and yet his committment to Christ, his filial devotion to the Suffering Servant, makes the task, his final decision, a hard one. In an age when WWJD ('What Would Jesus Do?') has become a dubious catchphrase, its real force evacuated by its oversoiled usage, Endo offers his readers a powerful and painful lesson in what the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called 'the cost of discipleship.' The haunting words of Christ, addressing Father Rodrigues from the fumie itself, at least metaphorically, suggest that Endo's novel is more than a narrative about a dazed and confused Catholic priest; "Silence" shows the reader what Christianity looks like when it is modeled in a non-Christian environment. Endo's multi-layered, multi-faceted tale is essential reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Stunning, Disturbing, Emotional Novel
Review: Endo's novel is a fascinating look at the Christian faith in the midst of brutal, cruel persecution. The novel is set in the 17th century. Two Portuguese Catholic priests journey into Japan with two goals in mind: To minister to the Japanese, and to find their former mentor, a priest named Ferreira, who may or may not have apostatized.

Silence is a well-balanced work. The story is deeply moving without becoming heavy-handed. The characters are very well thought out and developed. Endo uses a very interesting technique in this novel: The first several chapters are narrated by one of the priests. We see the events that develop through his eyes and how they affect him. About halfway through the book, the priest is no longer narrator, but perhaps we can see inside his soul better from another's vantage point. This is a book that I will think about for a long, long time.

Rating:
Summary: You are all off point and ignorant...open your eyes
Review: Frankly, I believe that most reviews miss the true point of this book. Yes, the book does depict persecution and suffering. However, suffering is only the surface of the story because Endo depicts history.

I do not believe Endo intended suffering as his central theme. If you know anything about Endo or have read his other books, you should know he writes about clashing cultures. Silence is about another cultures interpretation and reaction to Christianity. It depicts a westerner's ignorance, eventual enlightenment, and embracement of cultural differences.

If you think that his book is about suffering and faithfulness, then you have the same ignorance as the missionaries in the beginning of the book. This is the same ignorance that has plagued Christianity. Furthermore, it is the same ignorance that Endo writes against specifically in Silence. It's a diverse and beautiful world out there. Open your eyes.

Now to my review... This is one of the best books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Christian Persecution in Japan
Review: I didn't exactly enjoy 'Silence,' it isn't one of those books that is meant to bo enjoyed. I did, however, learn a lot from it. This is an area of history that I don't know much about and it opened my eyes to what happened during that dark period of Japanese history. It is, for the most part, well-written, however, the end drags a bit and I lost some interest in the book towards the end of it. It is still a good book though, and a very important one.

Rating:
Summary: Allegorical Passion Play
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Catholics
Review: I met this novel when I was teenager and it still jolts me
(28 years old now) every time I read it.
I recomend this book to Catholics, especially who's in agony.
It will make you think of your faith, and you'll feel you're
embraced by love of God.
This is a gem.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly thought provoking
Review: I read this book in a world literature class and talked about it with my classmates in the halls, on the phone, and with my family at home. In the three years since then, I still haven't resolved all the questions that are brought up by it.

Rating:
Summary: Silence
Review: I've read a lot of Endo's work and Japanese literature in general. I also come from a religious background and so have some appreciation for the choice of topic. However, I don't think Silence is as great a book as its rating here would lead you to think. At his best Endo can be quite poignant. However, he is usually far from subtle and tends to write with broad strokes, leaving very little to the imagination.

The characters in Silence were devoid of nuance or subtlety, and it was evident at all times what twists the story would take even before they were taken. If you enjoy the issues he's writing about I have no quarrel with you. But as literature, it's subpar.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: I've run across an interesting corner of history twice recently: Japanese Roman Catholics in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first time was in the character of Gabriel Goto in Neal Stephenson's excellent Baroque Cycle and the second is in this book.

Everyone has heard of Francis Xavier's mission to Japan in 1549; what I never knew was how successful Xavier and his successors were: by the early 17th century there was a growing community of more than 300,000 Japanese Christians. However, in 1614 the government outlawed Christianity; foreign priests and those suspected of being Christians were forced to apostasize (typically by trampling on a an image of Christ called a fumie) under torture and threat of execution. Thousands were martyred and Christianity nearly died out, with only a few tens of thousands of crypto-Christians carrying on a half-remembered religion in secret until the reopening of Japan in the 19th century.

During the persecution, no priest had apostasized until 1632 when the leader of the Japanese missionaries, the Jesuit Christovao Ferreira, did so and began actively working with the Japanese government. Shusaku Endo's book is a fictional account of a student of Ferreira's, Sebastian Rodriguez, who comes to Japan to investigate the scandalous rumors of his mentor's apostasy and to serve the Christians of Japan, who now have no priests. He finds a guide, a pathetic apostate Christian named Kichijiro, and for some time serves the underground Christians in secrecy. However, he is betrayed to the government by Kichijiro. In prison, he sees Christians executed and tortured in an attempt to get him to apostasize. Finally, he meets his mentor, finds out what happened to him, and makes his decision.


A major theme of the book is the interaction of Western Christianity with "the swamp of Japan." Inoue, the Lord of Chikugo, tells Rodriguez that the Christianity the Japanese Christians believe is, despite surface appearances, not that of the Western Church:
"Previously I have asked the question to other fathers: What is the difference between the mercy of the Christian God and that of the Buddha? For in Japan salvation is from the mercy of the Buddha upon whom the people depend out of their hopeless weakness. And one father gave a clear answer: the salvation Christianity speaks of is different; for Christian salvation is not just a question of relying on God - in addition the believer must retain with all his might a strength of heart. But it is precisely on this point that the teaching has slowly been twisted and changed in this swamp called Japan... the God whom the peasants of Goto and Ikitsuki secretly serve has gradually changed so as to be no longer like the Christian God at all."

The `answer' to this problem, to the extent one can use the word, is tied up with the other difficult questions Rodriguez and Kichijiro struggle with: what are we to make of those who apostasize under persectution who, living the easy life of a European Christian, would never have done so? In Kichijiro's words "The strong never yield to torture, and they go to Paradise; but what about those, like myself, who are born weak...?" What was the relationship of Jesus to Judas, and what did he mean by his last words to him? What are we to make of the silence of God in the face of the suffering of the Japanese Christians?


Verdict: This book is one of the deepest and most powerful works I've read in some time; I didn't react to it so much when I first read it, but as I reflect on it I'm growing to appreciate its depth more and more. While I especially recommend the book for Christians or those with an interest in Christianity, anyone with an appreciation for great literature will likely find it very valuable (in fact, Endo's works, despite dealing with Christian themes, are extremely popular and respected in Japan, where Christians make up less than 1% of the population).