Shūsaku Endō (1923–1996)

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.… (mais)

Who else but Endo is credited with the notion of, "an ordeal such that, please note, the ethical is the temptation."—Silence (and Trembling) (1966). Given he is writing over a century after this combination of words has appeared on paper somewhere, we are not shocked by the nature of the final temptation, though perhaps bemused that our protagonists are unprepared to exegete around it.

The close reader will apprehend that the absence of a language barrier is due to the fact that, by their due diligence in preparation for this journey, our priests have watched a lot of anime on videocassette.… (mais)