Reviews with content warning for Murder - Silence

"It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt- this is the realization that came home to me acutely at that time."
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This was definitely a troubling read. Throughout, the main character struggled with the apparent silence of God, and that rocked his faith. Endo did leave signs- birds chirping or the recurrent character asking for forgiveness, failing, and trying again anyways.

Our main character had a rude awakening. The glory he had envisioned for himself never existed. The definition of martyrdom also shifted for him as he was forced to witness the brutal murders of Japanese Catholics. This, more than his own potential suffering, was what led him to apostatize. The suffering of others was so opposite to Jesus' suffering, which he undertook on behalf of all humanity. This suffering was undertaken by so many on behalf of one person.

Despite all of this, our main character held onto his faith and we are led to understand that what he renounced was glory and notoriety. I think it was just not my favorite ever, but not at all a bad book.

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sherbertwells's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

During the Tokugawa persecutions, two Portuguese Jesuits venture into the “swamp” of Japan in search of a mentor rumored to have abandoned the faith. The intense, melancholy themes presented by Endō are stifled by a too-conventional translation.

“On the day of my death, too, will the world go relentlessly on its way indifferent as it is now? After I am murdered, will the cicadas sing and the flies whirl their wings inducing sleep…the martyrdom of these peasants, enacted before his very eyes—how wretched it was, miserable like the huts they lived in, like the rags in which they were clothed” (128)

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