I am interested to see where Silence will go. Not just because I like to read but because what I ‘m reading is not what I expected. I expected the book to be about persecuted missionaries in the early 1900’s or Japanese Martyrs –not Spanish Jesuits in Japan. Yes, now that I think about it, Jesuits probably did go to Japan, because they went as missionaries to many places around the world. But, because I am used to thinking of Jesuits in a bad light (The Conquest of the New World, Eat some Jesuits, etc) I was shocked to find that two Jesuits are the main character cast in a good light. They have been through a lot just to get to Japan. They are heroic figures and I am used to comical figures or enemies made out of them. I wonder where Endo will go with the book? Why does he set his story in this place? I appreciate the suspense. I am still inching around them carefully and probably over analyzing the two main characters. I Watch what they say and sometimes criticize. But I am not far enough in the book to say whether or not they are heroes in the end. I suppose I will see and, until then I will have to get adjusted to the characters.
The story has grabbed my attention too. I'm anxious to see where it goes.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever heard of the Shimabara Rebellion was from a Japanese anime called Rurouni Kenshin. In one story arc, they discussed the religious persecutions.