Scan barcode
A review by ben_smitty
The Samurai by Shūsaku Endō
5.0
"Do you think He is to be found within those garish cathedrals? He does not dwell there. He lives... not within such buildings. I think He lives in the wretched homes of these Indians."
In the Postscript, Endo indicates that The Samurai is autobiographical in a sense, since he matches his travel experience aboard a ship with the travels that the Japanese merchants and the Samurai trudged through. Indeed, the story can be read allegorically as an account of one's spiritual pilgrimage, and the original title of Endo's tale is (rightly, I believe) called A Man Who Met a King.
Because of that, the novel is deeply personal, and it is a haunting account (based on a true story) of a samurai's dilemma whether to convert to Christianity or not for the sake of fulfilling his mission. He must obediently follow the commands of the Council of Elders in Japan to request permission from the government of Nueva España for the trading rights of Japan. He travels with his servants and two other from his rank, along with other Japanese merchants who seek to gain fortune in Nueva España, aboard a ship led by a Franciscan priest named Velasco.
The mission was moot from the beginning, and the Japanese are constantly being manipulated by Velasco for his own gains. Velasco's tactics include fake conversions and baptisms to convince Nueva España of the success of his missionary endeavors. But as the samurai continues to reject the Christianity forced upon him by Velasco, he finds a Japanese monk who lives among colonized Indians, and is continually haunted by the image of the "ugly and emaciated" Christ whom many call King.
I won't spoil the ending for you, but the story is truly memorable, and it is one that will deconstruct the boundaries of a comfortable Christianity to shreds.
In the Postscript, Endo indicates that The Samurai is autobiographical in a sense, since he matches his travel experience aboard a ship with the travels that the Japanese merchants and the Samurai trudged through. Indeed, the story can be read allegorically as an account of one's spiritual pilgrimage, and the original title of Endo's tale is (rightly, I believe) called A Man Who Met a King.
Because of that, the novel is deeply personal, and it is a haunting account (based on a true story) of a samurai's dilemma whether to convert to Christianity or not for the sake of fulfilling his mission. He must obediently follow the commands of the Council of Elders in Japan to request permission from the government of Nueva España for the trading rights of Japan. He travels with his servants and two other from his rank, along with other Japanese merchants who seek to gain fortune in Nueva España, aboard a ship led by a Franciscan priest named Velasco.
The mission was moot from the beginning, and the Japanese are constantly being manipulated by Velasco for his own gains. Velasco's tactics include fake conversions and baptisms to convince Nueva España of the success of his missionary endeavors. But as the samurai continues to reject the Christianity forced upon him by Velasco, he finds a Japanese monk who lives among colonized Indians, and is continually haunted by the image of the "ugly and emaciated" Christ whom many call King.
I won't spoil the ending for you, but the story is truly memorable, and it is one that will deconstruct the boundaries of a comfortable Christianity to shreds.