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| Silence by Shusaku Endo |
| Description Silence is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo drawn from the oral histories of Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan communities in Japan. It is the story of a fictional Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians") that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion. The recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called "Endo�s supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century�s finest novels". Written mostly in the form of a letter by its central character, the theme of a silent God who accompanies a believer in adversity was greatly influenced by the Catholic Endo's experience of religious discrimination in Japan, racism in France and debilitating tuberculosis. (201 pps.) |