A well written book that brings in moral questions of faith and whether our pride can interfere with our faith. ( )

Read this in preparation for my trip to Nagasaki during Holy Week and Easter. I tried to read it before around the time the Scorsese movie came out but didn't get beyond the first few pages. This time went through it in a few days, perhaps having since then become a weekly Mass goer again and much more aware of the history of Catholicism in Nagasaki.

Even though I, just like Inoue who was the priest Rodrigues' main tormentor, knew where it would end, the novel wasn't just an interesting philosophical or theological discussion. There is a strong narrative driving the discussion. Rodrigues often discussed how Kichijiro would be a great Christian if times were easy, though by then he is also talking about himself. All the Christians in the book suffer for their faith. Though there is a lot to think about in how torture and violence is used to "persuade" people, we often in our daily lives do things we dislike just to get along, thinking we are helping out ourselves and others in the short or long run. How much are is one willing to sacrifice to stay true to oneself and one's faith while living in a community, especially one which does not share the same values? Even though Endo pushes his characters to their extreme, that was the heart of the book to me.

One of the greatest books ever written. A must read. ( )

Pretty bleak. Sort of 1984, but set in 17th century Japan, and the main character is a Portuguese priest/missionary. ( )

While being myself a Christian, I am always afraid that books written by Christian authors turn out to be 'preachy' or pretend that if you only believe in God everything will turn out fine. I therefore rather avoid Christian books. This book, however, is something else entirely. It has sharp edges, very disturbing scenes, ask difficult questions and has the courage not to answer them. The characters Endo creates are superb and real. I am very glad the great Martin Scorsece is making a movie about this, so more people can discover this masterpiece. ( )