Silence

Jun 12, 2011 Mariel rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: my day depends on the setting sun

Recommended to Mariel by: george michael's faith

This book ruined my life. Sorta true. It's the catchiest review intro I'm going to come up with. I'm afraid to review this book and remember why it set me off to feeling hopeless and stupid. Band aid scenario. Pull it off!

I don't have the religion or spiritual kinds of faith. I'm dyslexic when it comes to religion, maybe. My mind jumbles the meanings and I just don't speak that language of KNOWING what you can't see and this is good and this is always bad. I don't look at someone who does have i...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Harun Harahap rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: punya, fiksi, terjemahan

Saya telah menganut sebuah keyakinan, lalu mengapa kau mengusikku?

Pertanyaan inilah yang berada di benak saya ketika membaca novel ini. Saya adalah salah satu orang yang tidak menyutujui Kristenisasi, Islamisasi atau apapun itu teruatama kepada orang yang telah menganut keyakinan. Dengan iming-iming hadiah atau bahkan pemaksaan, semua hal tersebut saya anggap tidak benar.

Ada kejadian yang menimpa saya beberapa minggu yang lalu. Di tengah percakapan antara saya dan klien, dia(klien) setelah men...more

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Apr 08, 2011 John Ferry Sihotang rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review: Damai di Bumi, Gelisah di Hati

Buku ini mengembalikan niatan awal dan kenangan saya saat berstatus seorang seminaris, yang bercita-cita menjadi rahib katolik. Sebagai calon pastor yang baik, para seminaris diwajibkan mengikuti bacaan rohani tiga kali seminggu. Kepada siswa seminari baru dianjurkan membaca buku "Sahabat-Sahabat Yesus", ada puluhan seri; bercerita tentang kisah santo-santa (orang-orang kudus) dan beato-beata (yang berbahagia), juga kisah para martir gereja, yang mempertahan...more

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Sep 14, 2011 booklady rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, biography, classic, crime, fiction, hagiography, historical-fiction, religion, theology, spiritual, worth-reading-over-and-over

Silence is a modern classic by Shusaku Endo. On the cover a crucified Jesus hangs from Japanese writing characters. My friend, Carol, recommended this book to me awhile back and I've had it sitting on my bookshelf. Then during Holy Week while I was finishing Fr. Neuhaus’ Death on a Friday Afternoon, he mentions the heroic struggles of the European missionaries who gave their all to travel around the world to share the Gospel message. Sometimes it just seems appropriate to leave off one book and...more Silence is a modern classic by Shusaku Endo. On the cover a crucified Jesus hangs from Japanese writing characters. My friend, Carol, recommended this book to me awhile back and I've had it sitting on my bookshelf. Then during Holy Week while I was finishing Fr. Neuhaus’ Death on a Friday Afternoon, he mentions the heroic struggles of the European missionaries who gave their all to travel around the world to share the Gospel message. Sometimes it just seems appropriate to leave off one book and seek out another, as if you are being led to it.

Silence tells a fictionalized story of what may have happened to two Portuguese priests who ventured onto mainland Japan during the persecution of the Christians around 1643. The story is told – brilliantly and poignantly – through the eyes of one Sebastian Rodrigues. The all important thing was to suffer and die a glorious martyr’s death. It was unthinkable that those who did not know Christ could devise any suffering, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual which would lead the true believer to recant—but then this was before the days of Vietnam and the Japanese POW camps. Then it was believed no pain, deprivation, imprisonment, torture of oneself or one’s fellows—however prolonged, could ever be so bad it couldn’t be endured for love of God. It was simply a matter of one’s faith and will.

Silence is about the silence of God. I was 96 pages into the book before it occurred to me to keep track of all the times Shusaku Endo used the word, ‘silence’, ‘silent’ or ‘silently’, as well as words about sound. I had a feeling it was central to the story. From then until the end of the book (page 191) I counted fifty-one more times; I may have missed a few. It might have been a silly exercise—like something a high school English teacher would have you do—but I didn’t mind. And it focused my reading just when plot action came almost to a halt and most everything which was ‘happening’ was in the main character’s mind, or as experienced through his senses.

Silence is a powerful book. It seems to have as much to say about East meets West as it does about evangelization, martyrdom and the true voice of God. It is one Christian man’s search for the meaning of ‘the mud swamp Japanese in me’. ‘Japan is a mud swamp because it sucks up all sorts of ideologies, transforming them into itself and distorting them in the process.’ (p. xv) Sound like another country we all know and love?

Silence will leave you different than it found you. 'Be still (silent?) and know that I am God.' (Psalm 46:10) (less)

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May 03, 2012 Wirotomo Nofamilyname rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-bought-it, indonesian, novel-other

Saya membaca cerita ini pertama kali sebagai cerita bersambung di Kompas. Lupa ya tahun berapa, pokoknya saat saya masih muda. Pada saat itu pun, cerita ini terasa mengganggu (kalau orang bule bilang "disturbing"). karena pertanyaan pertama setelah membaca buku ini, adalah jika saya mengalami seperti yang dialami Pastor Rodrigues apakah saya akan seperti dia atau saya tetap berkeras sampai akhir, mati sebagai martir, dan tentu saja membuat orang-orang di sekeliling saya juga mati sebagai martir?...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Elsie M rated it 5 of 5 stars

Silence by Shusaku Endo is a story mainly focusing on Catholic missionaries/priests and believers in Medieval Japan. The events occur at a time of persecution. This book is Fiction, but is based on the series of events that happened in the lives of real people.

I thought this book was amazing. The spirituality as well as the diction was really breathtaking. Silence is about a Portuguese priest named Sebastian Rodrigues who secretly goes to Japan to spread Catholicism and to help persecuted believ...more

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Apr 24, 2007 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite possibly among the most profound and stirring books I have read that address the issues of faith. While this is based on the true events in japan, jesuit/christian missionaries going over to convert the japanese people and the subsequent fallout and harsh persecution of the people who practiced christianity. Part of my interest lies in my background with Jesuits and my Catholic/Christian faith. But I think that this book goes well beyond this scope and quite honestly my offend or disturb m...more

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Mar 01, 2012 José-contemplates-Saturn's Aurora rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: jap-lit

Preamble

Jesuit priest Francisco Xavier called Japan “the light of my heart…the country in the Orient most suited for Christianity”.

Fact: Kakure or Japanese crypto-Christians, meeting in secret for 240 years…reciting a Japanese version of the “Hail Mary” and yet nobody knew what it meant for many years. Estimate: 30,000 Kakure live today in Japan.

Chronology
1587- Hydeyoshi started persecution of Christians.
1614-26 priests punished in Nagasaki.
1614-expulsion from Japan of all missionaries; 70...more

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Nov 13, 2011 The Holy Terror rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Catholics who want to learn about Japan's history

Recommended to The Holy Terror by: my pre-modern Japanese history professor

Shelves: school-books, owned, historical-fiction, japanese-authors, japan, good-but-will-never-reread, historical, asian-literature, asian-characters, asia, asian-authors

I read this for a pre-modern Japanese history course and as far as assigned reading goes, it wasn't bad. It's a pretty easy and fast read but a lot of the themes either went over my head or were unrelatable because I'm not Catholic. I had a hard time connecting with the characters; I just couldn't understand what they were going through.

This novel tells the story of a fictional Portuguese priest named Sebastian Rodrigues who is modeled after a real priest, Giuseppe Chiara, who went to Japan in 1...more I read this for a pre-modern Japanese history course and as far as assigned reading goes, it wasn't bad. It's a pretty easy and fast read but a lot of the themes either went over my head or were unrelatable because I'm not Catholic. I had a hard time connecting with the characters; I just couldn't understand what they were going through.

This novel tells the story of a fictional Portuguese priest named Sebastian Rodrigues who is modeled after a real priest, Giuseppe Chiara, who went to Japan in 1643 as a Christian missionary. At that time, Christianity was outlawed in Japan and the country had closed off trade with foreign countries. Sailing to and getting into Japan was a hard task in and of itself, but Rodrigues thought it was worth the hardship in order to save the souls of the Japanese.

Rodrigues decides to go to Japan as a missionary and also to find out the fate of his mentor, Father Christovao Ferreira. Once Rodrigues lands on Japanese soil with his fellow priest Francisco Garrpe he quickly seeks out Christians with the help of a peasant named Kichijiro whom they met in Macao. Kichijiro takes them to the village of Tomogi where they are hidden in a hut and visited daily by Christians who wish to pray and tell their sins. Eventually, officials raid Tomogi looking for the two priests based on an anonymous tip. The priests flee the village, but not before witnessing the torture and death of two Christians who refused to apostatize.

Rodrigues and Garrpe part ways soon after leaving Tomogi. Rodrigues happens upon Kichijiro and they travel together for a short while. Rodrigues finds out that the bounty on his head is 300 silver coins and he believes that Kichijiro will turn him over to the officials. Sure enough, Rodrigues is captured and Kichijiro is rewarded. Father Rodrigues is never physically tortured but he is forced to watch and listen to the torture of others. Throughout his imprisonment he is forced to look within himself for answers. He starts to wonder if there is a God that would allow people to suffer as the Japanese Christians do. Christians are drowned and executed because Rodrigues will not apostatize. It is not until he finally speaks with Ferreira that he tramples on the picture of Christ and apostatizes, saving the lives of three Japanese. Before he steps on the image, he hears the voice of Christ say, "Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men’s pain that I carried my cross." He realizes that it is not the Japanese officials that he is fighting with but his own faith until he is forced to renounce it. It is not until the moment that he apostatizes that he realizes that it was his faith in God that he had to rely on and not God Himself to relieve his suffering.

What's funny is at the end the priest finally realizes that you shouldn't get all wrapped up in the institution of religion, you should try to lead by example and live a good moral Christian life. He stood by and watched people die because he wouldn't give up his faith. An apostate pretty much said to him, "You know, Jesus would have apostatized to save these people, it's not what other people think of you, it's what you know in your heart." And I was thinking, well duh, that's what I thought at the beginning and I'm not even Catholic!

I wouldn't have read this if I wasn't forced to, but I did enjoy learning more about how the people lived during the time period, so it wasn't a total loss.(less)

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Jun 27, 2007 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

this review first appeared on [http://intraspace.blogspot.com]

this was a novel i was inspired to read by reading about it in philip yancey's book 'soul survivor'. i got this copy from mum for christmas.

endo has been called 'japan's foremost novelist' and 'silence' (first published in 1969) has been called 'one of the finest novels of our time' by graham greene. endo is a catholic christian, and much of his work deals with the tension between his catholicism/christianity and his japanese culture....more

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Oct 21, 2008 Craig Moore rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Silence" is an example of one of the books I occasionally purchase to feed my curiosity about religion and culture. This book struck me as intriguing because it deals with two very different cultures and helps explain the impact felt by the Japanese after they let the Portugese missionaries into their world.

This is translated from Japanese and tells the story of the Japanese persecution of the Christians as the Japanese grew weary of them in the late 1500's. It is told from a christian perspec...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Corinne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ward-book-club

Silence takes us to the Japan of the 17th century. Christianity has been outlawed and extreme and horrible measures are taken to convince Christians to apostatize. It is into these conditions that Father Rodrigues leaves his Portuguese home, with his companion Father Garrpe, and travels to Japan to try and do some good as a missionary, as well as to hopefully confirm or deny rumors that his former mentor had apostatized under duress.

It's not a pretty story. The torture and treatment of Christian...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Brandon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating story of utter brokenness. Takes place in Japan, during the greatest and most successful Christian persecution in history. Christianity was wiped out. Literally pushed off the islands of Japan. The novel covers the story of one missionary priest who is slowly absorbed into the "swamp of Japan".

Before I read it, I had simply no idea there ever even was a persecution in Japan. It turns out the story is rather sad. In an effort to acquire better trading rights, the various European cou...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Omar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

في ثلاثينات القرن السابع عشر، يخرج ثلاثة رهبان من بلدهم البرتغال متوجهين إلى اليابان، لم يكن هدفهم مجرد الدعوة والتبشير بالمسيحية، بل كان للتحقق من الشائعة التي لا يمكنهم تصديقها من أن القس فيريرا وهو الذي تعلموا ودرسوا الدين على يديه قد ارتد عن المسيحية. إنهم لا يكادون يصدقون أن فيريرا قد ارتد وهو الذي كان قد قضى عشرين عاماً في اليابان داعية ومبشراً بالمسيحية، ثم إنه لا يمكن أن يكون الاضطهاد الديني والتعذيب الوحشي للمسيحيين في اليابان في تلك الحقبة هو سبب ردته خاصة وأن أخبار المسيحية والمسييحين...more في ثلاثينات القرن السابع عشر، يخرج ثلاثة رهبان من بلدهم البرتغال متوجهين إلى اليابان، لم يكن هدفهم مجرد الدعوة والتبشير بالمسيحية، بل كان للتحقق من الشائعة التي لا يمكنهم تصديقها من أن القس فيريرا وهو الذي تعلموا ودرسوا الدين على يديه قد ارتد عن المسيحية. إنهم لا يكادون يصدقون أن فيريرا قد ارتد وهو الذي كان قد قضى عشرين عاماً في اليابان داعية ومبشراً بالمسيحية، ثم إنه لا يمكن أن يكون الاضطهاد الديني والتعذيب الوحشي للمسيحيين في اليابان في تلك الحقبة هو سبب ردته خاصة وأن أخبار المسيحية والمسييحين والاضطهاد والتعذيب لم تكن تعرف إلا عن طريق هذا الراهب برسائله التي كان يبعثها والتي تدل على قوة إيمانه ورباطة جأشه وعقيدته الجازمة التي لا يمكن أن يتزحزح عنها

سباستيان رودريغيز أحد هؤلاء الرهبان الثلاثة يخوض الأهوال والصعاب وتلقي به الصدف هو وصاحبه (جاربي) في أحضان إحدى القرى اليابانية في الجنوب والتي سرعان ما يعم الفرح أهلها حيث يتبين أنهم مسيحيون يكتمون إيمانهم، وفي ظل ممارسة مهامه كقسيس وإقامة الشعائر الدينية بسرية تامة بين مسيحيين لم يعد لهم كنائس ولم يبق لهم قس ولا راهب تبدأ سلسلة من التنقلات ومحاولات التخفي عن أنظار أتباع الحاكم الذين قد وضعوا الجوائز الثمينة لمن يبلغ عن أي راهب أو مسيحي

تسير أحداث القصة وكأنها فلم سينمائي، يخوض فيها سباستيان أحداثاً جسيمة تنتهي به إلى السجن وتعذيب المسيحيين أمامه لإرغامه على تدنيس صورة العذراء والمسيح بقدمه وإعلان ردته، وفي خضم كل ذلك يقابل سباستيان أستاذه ومعلمه فيريرا، فهل يكون فيريرا فعلاً قد ارتد? وهل يستطيع سباستيان الصمود أمام التعذيب الجسمي والنفسي ? إن ما كان يغيظ سباستيان طيلة رحلته هذه هو الصمت الرهيب الذي يلاقيه من ربه، والذي لا يستجيب لتأوهات المعذبين واستغاثاتهم، وهم الذين يموتون أمامه واحداً تلو الآخر في صور شتى من صور القتل البطئ

هذه رواية تحكي إحدى صور الاضطهاد الديني الذي ملئت به أحداث التاريخ، يحكي بدايات دخول المسيحية إلى اليابان، وما عاناه المسيحيون في ذلك الوقت في سبيل الدين الجديد الذي آمنوا به، رواية تثير بعض التساؤلات عن الدين والخطيئة بمفهومهما الكاثوليكي

إنننا لا نستغرب حين نعلم أن صاحب الرواية (شوساكو إندو) من أحفاد أولئك المسيحيين الأوائل، فهو كاثوليكي ياباني، ولد في طوكيو عام 1923م درس الأدب الفرنسي في اليابان وابتعثته حكومته لإكمال دراسته في فرنسا، وبعد عودته نشر عدداً من الكتب والروايات التي جعلته في مصاف كبار الكتاب اليابانيين الذين يتنافسون على الفوز بعرش الرواية اليابانية بعد انتحار يوكيو ميشيما

لقد تلقف هذه الرواية أحد أشهر مخرجي هوليوود وهو (مارتن سكورسيزي) حيث قرر إخراجها في فلم سينمائي

إن هذه الرواية أعادت ثقتي بالرواية اليابانية، والتي كدت أفقدها مع (الغابة النرويجية) لهاروكي موراكامي(less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Ensiform rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, japanese

In the early 17th century, two Portuguese missionaries make a dangerous trip to Japan, where feudal lords want to drive Christianity out of Japan, and try to do so by torturing priests and peasants alike. Father Sebastian Rodrigues in particular wishes to discover the truth about a supposed apostate priest, Ferreira. Through several narrative approaches – third person omniscient at the beginning and ending, in epistolary form from Rodrigues’ point of view in the middle – Endo explores how Rodrig...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Andy Wilkins rated it 4 of 5 stars

I became curious about this novel having discovered that Martin Scorsese was planning to make a film adaptation starring Daniel Day Lewis. It's the story of a Portuguese priest who arrives in Japan during the Sakoku period in search of his former mentor (Ferreira) who is rumoured to have apostatized. The premise reminded me of Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now.

However, the story is quite different. The protagonist's (Rodrigues) adventure is a thoroughly miserable one from start to finish. He s...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Monica Sigalingging rated it 4 of 5 stars

Menyentuh....

Novel ini menceritakan tragedi yang terjadi di Jepang. Tragedi pembunuhan orang Kristen/Katolik secara tidak manusiawi. Manusia diperlakukan seperti anjing dan diseret bagai domba dibawa ke pembantaian. Pembantaian yang dilakukan secara perlahan, menyiksa dan menyudutkan Iman.

Kisah Ps Rodriugues yang memberikan dirinya demi kesalamatan bangsa lain melalui Kristus, membawanya pada dilema ketika harus mempertahankan iman dengan taruhan nyawa petani tidak bersalah. Benarkah di tengah s...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a modern classic, meaning it is a bit of a slog, but like climbing a mountain, it gets you somewhere you couldn't have made it to any other way. To be clear, I don't fully understand this book, and will have to read it much more than once, but I do think about it a lot, and that is ultimately the mark of a great book in my opinion.

I will list a few random thoughts on this book, starting first with a portion of the Wikipedia article that I thought very pertinent:
Endo, in his book A Life o...more This is a modern classic, meaning it is a bit of a slog, but like climbing a mountain, it gets you somewhere you couldn't have made it to any other way. To be clear, I don't fully understand this book, and will have to read it much more than once, but I do think about it a lot, and that is ultimately the mark of a great book in my opinion.

I will list a few random thoughts on this book, starting first with a portion of the Wikipedia article that I thought very pertinent:
Endo, in his book A Life of Jesus, states that Japanese culture identifies with "one who 'suffers with us' and who 'allows for our weakness'", and thus "With this fact always in mind, I tried not so much to depict God in the father-image that tends to characterize Christianity, but rather to depict the kind-hearted maternal aspect of God revealed to us in the personality of Jesus."

I like that the book fully delves into the fact that God does nothing (apparently) to help Christians. Americans whine about God not helping them out with the few interruptions in their (overall) amazingly blessed life, and this book reminds us (remember that this is based on a real time period of events in Japan) of martyrs dying meaningless deaths with not a word from God, just silence. We are talking about martyrs, not just random people. In the vein of the famous quote from the WWII concentration camp prisoner author Elie Wiesel watching Nazis hang a child, this is a deep exploration into "the god who suffers with us" theology.

I also liked the play on how the typical act of not denying god, which is held up as ultimate faith, as it was for the main character in his mind originally, becomes unimportant in the idea of a god that is there to be trampled on, in his immense, never disappointed, love.

The sobering take away I had from Silence is that my faith is circumstantial and that my personal theology better be able to fit within the confines of this story. The final scene where the weak Japanese believer wants rites or blessing from the main character priest that has denounced Christ, and the priest thinks at first he can't because of how he been a Judas, is very thought provoking... the emphasis being that we are all weak, way weaker than we think and Christ's sacrifice is ALL we have to fall upon. At the beginning the priest thought his resolve was his faith, at the end, it was Christ's suffering alone that left him with anything. And here lies the ultimate power of this book that has to wrestled with; probably all of us would denounce Christ in some set of certain hard circumstances. The truth is, we are ALL too weak to truly, actually love God on our own... his love is all that is strong enough.

I'll end with an idea stolen from another reviewer:
There is a funny commercial on TV about a car salesman telling a young couple that the warranty can always be trusted with this car. And the buyer says, "So it is the warranty that is trustworthy, not the car?" I think that is kind of what this book is saying--Christ is what is trustworthy--not our faith in Christ. (less)

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May 07, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 2012-around-the-world, fiction, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, novels, religion, spirituality

This is a short novel, only 201 pages, and I read it in just a few hours. The prose is spare, almost minimalist, but that doesn't mean it isn't in the end powerful. The translator in his introduction calls the author Shusaku Endo the "Japanese Graham Greene," and in this work of historical fiction set in the mid-17th century, Endo tackles questions not only about what it means to be Japanese and Christian, but Christian period. Or to believe in any spiritual creed. Questions such as can Christia...more This is a short novel, only 201 pages, and I read it in just a few hours. The prose is spare, almost minimalist, but that doesn't mean it isn't in the end powerful. The translator in his introduction calls the author Shusaku Endo the "Japanese Graham Greene," and in this work of historical fiction set in the mid-17th century, Endo tackles questions not only about what it means to be Japanese and Christian, but Christian period. Or to believe in any spiritual creed. Questions such as can Christianity take root in foreign soil without changing the faith fundamentally? Is truth universal or does each culture have its own? But most of all it asks, about "the silence of God... the feeling that while men raise their voices in anguish God remains with folded arms, silent."

At the beginning of the 17th century, there was a thriving Christian community in Japan of as many as 400,000 believers in the nation of 20 million. But then in 1614 the Japanese government issued an "edict of expulsion" of the Christian missionaries and the persecution of Christians began, almost completely eradicating the faith within Japan and driving the remnant underground. The book follows Father Rodrigues, a Portuguese missionary, who comes to Japan a couple of decades after the banning of Christianity and whose faith is challenged when he witnesses the martyrdom of the Japanese Christians, and then is captured and put under pressure to repudiate his faith.

Often I hear that we're not supposed to cross cultures in fiction. Over and over again I read people saying it's arrogant for a Westerner to try to write of the East. Yet here Endo, who is Japanese, writes from the point of view of a 17th century Portuguese man and puts the lie to that, and I think shows we only narrow our vision when we refuse to at least try to see a view alien to us. I thought amazing the psychological insight and complexity with which Endo depicted Rodrigues. Over a third of the narrative is presented as his letters, other parts in third person but sticking closely to his point of view. Reading his struggle with forgiving and faith was often a moving experience. If I don't rate this a full five stars, it's only that I felt the ending fell a little flat for me. I think it would have ended more strongly if the "appendix" at the end had been cut, and we had been left with Rodrigues' reflections. (less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature, theology, discipleship

Moving. The book is written in simple, yet elegant, prose. Poetic at points. It takes place during the 1600s when Japan was in its early stages of being Christianized. At the height of its growth there were about 300,000 Christians in Japan at this time. Early in that century, several Japanese rulers turned against the Christians and started a devastating persecution.

In this setting, the story follows two priests who come to Japan searching for another priest who is reported to have apostatized...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Patrick McCoy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: japanese-literature

I've heard good things about Skusaku Endo's writing and have wanted to read one of his books for some time. The opportunity came when I was invited to attend a book group that was reading David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet and Endo's novel Silence, under the general theme of life during the Edo period. It is the story of seventeenth century Portuguese priests who are smuggled into Japan to promote christianity despite the official ban and persecution of christians that had bee...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Silence was my choice for airplane reading the last time I was on an airplane. As such, it was a horrible choice. It's an incredible downer, and arguably vacation reading should be lighter, fluffier, and an escape. This did no such thing. In some ways, finishing it was the escape.

I mean not to indicate the book was bad, however. On the contrary, it was quite intriguing on many levels. The sheer brutality of the book, and the examination of faith, makes it worth reading today by those who have st...more Silence was my choice for airplane reading the last time I was on an airplane. As such, it was a horrible choice. It's an incredible downer, and arguably vacation reading should be lighter, fluffier, and an escape. This did no such thing. In some ways, finishing it was the escape.

I mean not to indicate the book was bad, however. On the contrary, it was quite intriguing on many levels. The sheer brutality of the book, and the examination of faith, makes it worth reading today by those who have strong belief and those who are without, as well. As someone who is caught between those opposing sides, I found it easy to both sympathize with the persecution of those with faith, as well as marvel at the futility of that faith.

Simply framed, it is a story of mission work. Two priests sail to Japan at a time when Christianity is a sin punishable by death. Priests are taken in and tortured, believers are slaughtered, often in mock crucifixion by the coasts. When the main priest is taken in, his captors taunt him repeatedly, stating that if he would simply renounce his faith, they would not make his followers suffer. That is what made the book such a spiritual struggle for me... throughout, there was the voice yelling at the priest... "they're the ones hurting your followers, not you... say it!" On the other hand, his stubborn refusal becomes a mixed blessing... with each instance where he stands up for God, there is the triumph of not being beaten down by tyrants, with the frustration of allowing more pain to come to his people. It's a lose-lose situation here.

That pathos, still, is what made this worth reading, and makes it far more than a book of faith, or one of spirituality, but one that questions faith as well as the people who seek to extinguish it. As such, the people most apt to flock to a book with religious overtones will likely be the most disappointed, while the people most averse to the institution of religion may come away frustrated, but in the way good, thoughtful literature should make you come away. It's by no means perfect, but it was certainly worth the read.

(3.5)(less)

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Aug 30, 2011 Merie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel-terjemahan

Buku ini punya makna tersendiri untuk saya, karena buku ini saya jadikan sebagai bahan skripsi :D

Novel sejarah ini diangkat berdasarkan sejarah yang memang pernah terjadi di Jepang, masa dimana agama Kristen sangat ditentang dan umatnya pun mengalami tekanan-tekanan dari pemerintah Jepang. Beberapa tokoh pun memang nyata.

Berlatar belakang Jepang abad ke-17, periode Edo, dikisahkan perjalanan seorang pastor Portugis, Sebastian Rodrigues yang dikirim ke Jepang untuk membantu gereja setempat sekali...more

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May 01, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are certain books that deal with faith and doubt in a way that hits so close to home that I really need them to end a certain way for the sake of my own belief system. Silence is one of those books, and the fact that it didn't end the way I wanted it to means that I'm still somewhat reeling from having read it and am not yet sure how to talk about it, let alone say whether I liked it or not.

Endo seems to be tackling the very idea of relying on others for our own strength and faith, though...more There are certain books that deal with faith and doubt in a way that hits so close to home that I really need them to end a certain way for the sake of my own belief system. Silence is one of those books, and the fact that it didn't end the way I wanted it to means that I'm still somewhat reeling from having read it and am not yet sure how to talk about it, let alone say whether I liked it or not.

Endo seems to be tackling the very idea of relying on others for our own strength and faith, though, and what he has to say is very complex and difficult to swallow. Silence takes place in Japan in the 1600s, while the country was closed, particularly to Christianity. The book opens with three Portugese missionaries who decide to journey to Japan for the dual purpose of maintaining the Christian communities that have been shut off from church leadership, and to seek out their teacher, who had gone to Japan years before and was rumored to have apostatized. Endo portrays a Japan where Christians are persecuted mercilessly, and the arrival of the priests only intesifies the situation.

From the beginning we see that the survival of any of the Christians hinges on the rest of their community - if any one person in the community decides to come forward about their religious beliefs (for an alluringly hefty reward), the whole community suffers. So they must have utmost faith not only in their religious choices but also in those around them. The priest whom the action centers around struggles with his own faith and purpose in being in Japan, especially when he sees that the peasants are tortured all the more for his presence among them. He questions the purpose of missionary actions at all, and is tormented by the situation he is placed in by the government: having to choose public profession of faith at the expense of the peasants versus renouncing his beliefs in exchange for the peasants' freedom. Above all else he is overwhelmed by what he perceives as the silence of God in the face of increasingly unbearable circumstances.

The book comes to no easy answers or tidy solutions. I have a lot to think about, that's for sure. Right now I feel like I'm glad I read it but I'm not sure what to take away from it. I guess that's what Endo was trying to suggest - that this world is even less black-and-white than we like to think of it, and that oftentimes there is no solution to a problem (or resolution to a book) that is entirely satisfactory.(less)

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Mar 27, 2011 Homer Harianja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beginilah Shusaku Endo memandang kekristenannya. Ia seperti baju setengah pakai. Artinya, kekristenan yang diperolehnya secara temurun adalah pergumulan yang belum selesai. Sempat menjadi penganut nihilisme di masa mudanya, sampai kemudian dia memutuskan katolik adalah agama terakhirnya.

Berbeda dengan agama suku yang bersifat lokal, agama seperti islam dan kristen sejak mula tidak dimaksudkan atau berhenti pada daerah agama itu diturunkan. Istilah dakwah ataupun penginjilan adalah bukti bahwa ke...more Beginilah Shusaku Endo memandang kekristenannya. Ia seperti baju setengah pakai. Artinya, kekristenan yang diperolehnya secara temurun adalah pergumulan yang belum selesai. Sempat menjadi penganut nihilisme di masa mudanya, sampai kemudian dia memutuskan katolik adalah agama terakhirnya.

Berbeda dengan agama suku yang bersifat lokal, agama seperti islam dan kristen sejak mula tidak dimaksudkan atau berhenti pada daerah agama itu diturunkan. Istilah dakwah ataupun penginjilan adalah bukti bahwa kedua agama ini memang misioner. Misi-misi penyebaran merupakan keniscayaan.

Saya kira soalnya bukan pada islamisasi atau kristenisasi. Tapi lebih pada kesadaran majemuk, adanya keberagaman yang memberikan ruang argumentasi pada setiap ideologi. Menempatkan yang satu dan menghormati yang lain untuk membawa argumentasinya. Pada posisi inilah, yaitu kebebasan yang menghasikan kemajemukan yang tidak pura-pura. Tidak ada suatu kuasa yang membungkam yang lain, sehingga ruang argumentasi tersedia dalam kehidupan antar umat beragama. Kasus-kasus kekerasan agama yang belakangan banyak muncul di Indonesia, salah satu penyebabnya adalah ruang argumentasi yang ditutup oleh kekuasaan.

Hening karya Shusaku Endo sangat kaya dengan pergumulan dan pertanyaan iman yang terkadang menggugat itu tapi minim dalam pemaparan konteks sosial dimana kisah berjalan.
Kisah berpusat pada Rodrigues, Yesuit Portugis yang dikirim ke Jepang untuk membantu Gereja setempat dan untuk mencari tahu keadaan mantan gurunya, Ferreira, yang dikabarkan telah murtad karena tidak tahan menanggung siksaan.

Persilangan dengan teks-teks terdahulu, seperti kisah Yudas dalam pengkianatan terhadap Yesus yang diwujudkan oleh Endo dalam diri Kichijiro, adalah bagian penting pergumulan Endo dengan kekristenannya. Kichijiro adalah juga Petrus yang berulangkali menyangkal imannya.

Mengenai mereka, para petani jepang yang martir menjadi pertanyaan menarik bagi pembaca, apakah benar karya injil tidak benar2 jatuh ke tanah yang subur karena jepang diibaratkan sebuah rawa-rawa karena sudah tertanam kepercayaan lokal tapi pertanyaannya kenapa para petani yang sedeharna itu kuat menahan siksaan mahaberat demi imannya? apakah ini sebuah bentuk fatalisme karena berat hidup yang harus meraka tanggung?

Pertemuan Injil dengan Jepang tidaklah seperti pertemuan Adat Batak dengan Injil misalnya. Kedatangan Injil ke Jepang pada mulanya bukan ancaman. Ternyata kemudian menjadi ancaman adalah akibat bisikan Belanda dan Spanyol yang merupakan rival Portugis di tanah tersebut.

(less)

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Mar 15, 2011 Valeria Wicker rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book by accident while looking for novels by Maria Amparo Escandon. Since I was teaching Tokugawa Japan to ninth graders at the time, this seemed like a worthy and pertinent read. What I discovered is that this novel would have made an excellent companion in English class to what the students studied in history. They would have learned much about the landscape and lifestyles in Japan and just how "closed" to Westerners the islands became under Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The best part is that f...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Cristina Montes rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 19, 2010 Kaeli rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion-spirituality, philosophical, other-cultures, intellectually-stimulating

A provocative book that guts the life of a man as he wrestles with the dualistic nature of his personal and professional callings, Silence delves into both the internal world of struggle and its external manifestations. Ultimately, his convictions lead him on a journey that redefines the rest of his life. His personal calling – to pursue Christ-like responses and exemplification in the face of opposition as well as his professional calling, which he accepted for his life with the vow of priestho...more

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Jun 25, 2010 gieb marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Membaca review teman-teman terhadap buku ini, saya jadi benar-benar tertarik untuk membacanya. Di beberapa review, saya melihat ada ketidaksetujuan kepada usaha pemaksaan keyakinan kepada orang lain. Ya. Tentu mempunyai keyakinan adalah hak asasi setiap manusia, termasuk tidak mempunyai keyakinan juga merupakan hak asasi manusia. Tetapi saya berpikiran, bahwa ketidaksetujuan teman-teman tentang usaha pemaksaan itu, seperti sedang bercermin terhadap keyakinan yang dianut sekarang.

Kita memang sep...more

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Sandy Tjan Ya, saya juga terhitung produk Kristenisasi. Agama Katholik yang dibawa misionaris Belanda baru dianut oleh 3 generasi keluarga saya. Sebelumnya merek...more Ya, saya juga terhitung produk Kristenisasi. Agama Katholik yang dibawa misionaris Belanda baru dianut oleh 3 generasi keluarga saya. Sebelumnya mereka penganut agama lain. Dan ketika terjadi konversi pada generasi pertama, ada konflik yang tajam dengan generasi sebelumnya, karena menerima agama baru tersebut dinilai sebagai 'pengkhianatan' atas kepercayaan dan tradisi leluhur yang sudah ribuan tahun umurnya, jauh lebih tua dari agama Kristen.

Memang kita semua adalah produk konversi, karena tidak ada satupun agama besar di Indonesia yang merupakan produk lokal. Bagaimana kalau dulu Walisongo dilarang untuk berdakwah oleh penguasa yang notabene Hindu? Tentunya Indonesia tidak akan menjadi negara berpenduduk Islam terbesar seperti sekarang. Bagaimana kalu dulu Indonesia tidak pernah dijajah oleh bangsa-bangsa Barat? Kemungkinan tidak akan ada daerah-daerah yang mayoritas Kristen di Indonesia seperti Manado, Flores dll. Dan dari sejarah yang saya baca memang tidak semua aktivitas konversi itu berlangsung dengan damai tanpa konflik.

Kalau ada diantara kita sekarang yang tidak suka pada pemaksaan/penyebaran keyakinan pada orang-orang yang kebetulan sudah mempunyai iman yang lain, saya rasa itu suatu usaha untuk mempertahankan status quo yang sudah terlanjur mengkristal selama berabad-abad. Kalau status quo tersebut digoyang, maka dikhawatirkan akan timbul kebencian atau bahkan kekerasan yang bernuansa SARA.

"Nah, logika Nietzsche ini membantu kita untuk membuat iman itu tidak tumbuh atas tafsir tunggal sang imam. Imam-nya bilang bahwa si A halal untuk dibunuh, maka muridnya tanpa bertanya langsung membunuh. Karena tidak pernah belajar dari awal. Hanya mengalami pendidikan instant."

Saya setuju dengan saudara Gieb bahwa kalau kita perlu tahu mengenai ajaran dan sejarah agama yang kita anut sekarang. Kalau perlu juga mempertanyakan secara kritis iman tersebut. Karena kalau tidak agama cuma akan jadi emblem primordial yang kosong (dan juga secara potensial menjadi sumber perpecahan dan kekerasan).(less)
Jun 28, 2010 08:43pm

DahliaNagaDanBukanDahliaPinky hadeeeeeh...tidak setuju -isasi2 itu justru mungkin karena kita produk hasil hal2 tersebut han :D
Jun 28, 2010 09:32pm

Sep 24, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

This books offers a fair historical background of Japanese treatment of early Christians...the hunting, humiliation, and torture. Specifically it follows Father Rodriguez who travels to Japan in the name of the church, but really with the intention to find his mentor who was rumored to have apostatized (or at least answers to his questions of his mentor). Once there, Rodriguez finds that his own understanding and faith are being tried in the same way as his mentor's had been. Thematically, there...more

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