– Customer review on 04/10/2006

Perhaps Endo's most powerful book that I have read, "Silence" is a hard look at the issues of faith under oppression, and the issues of apostasy for the sake of others.

The drama is played out in early Edo Period Japan, after the Christian religion was deemed illegal after the Shimabara Rebellion, which was fueled by Christians, though not exactly caused by them. Father Sebastian Rodrigues illegally enters Japan to continue serving the Christian community there, and he is quickly hidden by local Christians. Of course, he is quickly caught by an efficient Bakufu, (military government of the Shogun), system and is put to the test.

While many Christians were cruelly tortured, such as the Pit, or being partially immersed in tidal waters for a few days which caused a long and agonising death, Rodrigues suffers only the persuavive methods of the most feared offical of the Bakufu: Inoue. Inoue comes across as uniquely gifted for getting priests to apostasise.

"Silence" is a no-holds-barred journey into the world of failing faith, suffering and God in the midst of incredible hardship. It does not propose answers, but it does bring up a lot of issues that require thought.

I have read this book twice, and it is the book that firmly placed me among the fans of Shusaku Endo. It is a fantastic book, and worth reading more than once.