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Hahaha, I have to read it now...

:-)

Agreed!!

I read this and wouldn't say I liked it, but found it very thought-provoking material.

Hm. Not a huge fan of the whole missionary movement, but I'm intrigued.

so there is no way, someone who doesn't believe in god can enjoy it?

I think it would be awfully boring if you didn't believe in God. Unless you're playing at ethnographer.

what religion do you associate with, if I may ask?

No organized religion. My mores are Judeo-Christian.

so you believe in god? did that make the book more interesting?

Oh yes. My point is that without that I can't imagine it making much sense to anyone. It would seem superstitious mumbo-jumbo

interesting that you believe in god and still read the existentialists. I like that!

Call it Freestyle, Keaton. I'm afraid, for me, that atheism is too certain. In the same way the church is too certain. I'm more with the Buddhists. I don't think we really can know.

Greg, Scorsese made Silence as an act of faith.

I read this novel awhile ago, At the time, no one I knew had even heard of Endo. I am glad to see he is getting some attention. I do not agree that this book is limited to readers who are religious. Throughout history, human have been put in a similar bind about renouncing their families, their people, their culture, and their countries. When faced with such a choice, what would you do? That is the central question of this book.

Respectfully disagree. I don't think the larger concern with repression generally will get you through this book. Too amorphous. Just saying...

Yes. He said in NYT mag that Catholicism and film were the two formative forces in his life, allowing him, a fast talker, someone who does everything fast, to slow down. V interesting.

That answers my un-asked question (whether to read this book or not), and the answer is no. Thanks William, you saved me loads of time, and I'll still try to watch the movie when it becomes available. Thanks for your review! :)

Thank you, kagami. Do read Endō's The Girl I Left Behind though. Adored that one.

Report back, Reid! :-)

I'm an atheist and I actually really enjoyed this book. It has value to anyone if you're respectful to people having beliefs different from your own. It's good historical fiction, I was intrigued to see what Rodrigues would choose in the end.

You, Leah, may be the exception that proves the rule. :-)

It's obviously "very Christian," because it's about the persecution of Christians in Feudal Japan which was a very real thing. There should be no surprise there.

Did I say there was a surprise?

I've seen this all over ŷ������ the past 2 years. Does it live up to the hype?

It’s very good. In fact I would recommend all of Endo’s books, including The Girl I
Left Behind, Deep River and The Sea and Poison.

i'll skip this. thanks for letting us know :)

As an atheist who read this book just now, I can agree with this review. Nothing I just read made any sense to me, I was just frustrated at how everyone acted and could not draw any emotional and/or logical worth from this at all. I gave 2/5 because it was historically interesting but I guess I will read another book about that time that is meant to be historic and not religious.

Yes. Nanodayolo. I guess you have to have some kind of footing in the material, no matter how skeptical, to proceed. That's my take anyway. Thank you for your comments.

I am an atheist but I like this book very much. You don't need religion to feel some empathy, you just need to be human.