Shūsaku Endō (1923–1996)

Shusaku Endo offers a rare perspective, that of a Japanese Catholic. He traces a small cast of tourists to India, concentrating on their experiences at Varanasi at the Ganges. In this setting he widens the perceived Western Christian tradition through an Asian viewpoint; one that does not necessarily place good and evil as opposites, but which understands that good and evil are sometimes common to the pursuit of God. He uses the example of the Hindu deity Chamunda, who despite being a mother goddess like Mary dispensing good, is also a bringer of awful suffering and pain.
Endo offers us a pantheistic variation on the person of Jesus who himself undertook the burden of human suffering with our redemption as its purpose.… (more)

This short (fewer than 100 pages) collection comprises five stories, each of which is impressive in its own way. "Unzen" tells of a Japanese Christian who visits the Valley of Hell where Christians were tortured in the 17th century. The theme—with which Endo was long obsessed—revolves around his struggle to understand the martyrs’ faith. "Japanese in Warsaw" portrays a group of Japanese businessmen who visit Warsaw primarily for the prostitutes. They mock the city and are uninterested in its history even when they learn that Warsaw residents associate them with a noble Polish priest, Father Kolbe. The story of this priest, who once lived in Nagasaki and who was killed at Auschwitz (and whose death is well worth reading about if you don’t know about it), ends with an eerie revelation. In "A Fifty-year-old Man," Mr. Chiba decides to learn ballroom dancing even as he struggles with his brother's terminal illness and the death of his loyal dog Whitey. The final story is the opening chapter of Endo's novel Deep River. This story (chapter) tells about the death of Isobe's wife, a women he has long taken for granted, and sets the novel’s plot in motion by telling him, "I'll be reborn somewhere in this world. Look for me... find me... promise... promise!" An impressive collection and nice introduction to Endo by those who don’t know his stories.… (more)

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.… (more)