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A review by ben_smitty
Silence by Shūsaku Endō
5.0
Ok, I do realize this is long overdue, especially since, you know, this is one of the books I'm doing my thesis on. I waited too long because I was curious about what Endo had out there. But after reading through most of the English translations of Endo's books, I do have to admit this is his best, followed closely by The Samurai.
Most of the people I know on here are already familiar with Endo, but if you've never heard of him, I highly recommend that you give him a try. Endo's Silence destroyed my neatly arranged Christianity and continues to haunt me, especially his attempt to redefine faith and compassion with a theology of the cross. I also don't want to diminish the fact that Endo's very Jungian, and pretty much all of his protagonists come into contact with a Shadow self at one point that it's almost overdone, but I find his attempt at synthesizing Christianity, Jungian Psychology, and a more maternal Christ in Silence refreshing in its originality.
Not gonna lie though, I thought the movie was better.
Most of the people I know on here are already familiar with Endo, but if you've never heard of him, I highly recommend that you give him a try. Endo's Silence destroyed my neatly arranged Christianity and continues to haunt me, especially his attempt to redefine faith and compassion with a theology of the cross. I also don't want to diminish the fact that Endo's very Jungian, and pretty much all of his protagonists come into contact with a Shadow self at one point that it's almost overdone, but I find his attempt at synthesizing Christianity, Jungian Psychology, and a more maternal Christ in Silence refreshing in its originality.
Not gonna lie though, I thought the movie was better.