A review by emmkayt
When I Whistle by Shūsaku Endō

4.0

Earlier this year, I read Silence, and when I came across another Endo I was eager to check it out. When I Whistle alternates between the stories of a man and his son. Ozu is now a middle-aged under-achiever in post-war Japan. He is prompted to reminisce about a friendship in his youth just before and during the Second World War. Ozu's son Eiichi is a ruthlessly self-promoting young physician, resentful of his father's inability to assist him in fulfilling his ambitions. The translation is periodically a bit awkward (e.g. the occasional attempts at a colloquial 'ain't'). The novel, however, was well worth reading.