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118th out of 348 books
—
1,243 voters
The Samurai
One of the late Shusaku Endo’s finest works, The Samurai tells of the journey of some of the first Japanese to set foot on European soil and the resulting clash of cultures and politics.
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
April 17th 1997
by New Directions
(first published 1980)
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In The Samurai, Endo tells his story from the point of view of two different characters: Father Velasco, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, and Hasekura, a minor Japanese warrior, who is generally referred to in the text as “The Samurai.” Father Velasco is attempting to spread Christianity in Japan in the 17th century. He convinces the local shogun to send a delegation of Japanese to Nueva Espana (Mexico) for the stated purpose of opening up trade relations, but also to give Velasco more authority...more
The book was somewhat slow and boring. The author juxtaposes the culture and mindset of a European padre and a Japanese samurai, nearly two polar opposites. The theme that ties the entire book together is religion. On the one hand, Japanese are Buddhists and have been fairly isolated from Western influences. On the other hand, the Catholic church is making strong efforts to proselytize around the globe, maybe in good faith, maybe for trade purposes. Whatever the case, several Japanese and this p...more
It's about these samurais,
and their other guys.
There was also this priest,
who's not important, not in the least.
Okay I kinda lied,
cause for this priest some guys died.
They were on an awesome mission to Spain,
but they failed, it all went down the drain.
They even became Christian for the mission,
but none of the samurai did it of their own volition.
Back in Japan they be persecutin,
and all the Christians were in hidin.
The priest guy didn't go back,
cause Japan was all whack.
The samurai totally feared...more
and their other guys.
There was also this priest,
who's not important, not in the least.
Okay I kinda lied,
cause for this priest some guys died.
They were on an awesome mission to Spain,
but they failed, it all went down the drain.
They even became Christian for the mission,
but none of the samurai did it of their own volition.
Back in Japan they be persecutin,
and all the Christians were in hidin.
The priest guy didn't go back,
cause Japan was all whack.
The samurai totally feared...more
Well, I guess everyone expects me to be delighted by a Japanese writer...and they will be right :). It is a great book, although his novel Silence treats the same major theme, the clash between two different cultures, and of all these two involve, at social, economic, human level. It also shades a special light on Christianity, as I myself for a long time have wondered why the christianity was considered the slaves' religion (and not in the sense that its early adopters were especially the slave...more
An amazing book. This novel is consummate historical fiction, taking the reader into another time with details and humanity presenting a very specific and strange era as understandable and unforgettable. Endo is often called "the Japanese Graham Greene" because he is Catholic and his topics deal with Catholicism/faith and the modern world. In this book he goes so deep into showing some religious history and Japanese history and how they intertwined in the age of exploration (and actually some Me...more
Nov 04, 2010
Jeff
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everybody
Recommended to Jeff by:
Van C. Gessel
Shelves:
from-japan,
historical-fiction
If you have never read anything by Endo Shusaku, stop reading this and go get one right now. Seriously. At this point, if you are still reading, I assume you are either familiar with Endo or you are just bad at following directions. Either way, here we go.
Japanese novels are very different from American novels. In America, we tend to like an ending where the bad guy dies, the main character gets the hot girl, they have lots of kids and die happy at the age 109. In Japan, books tend to be more re...more
Japanese novels are very different from American novels. In America, we tend to like an ending where the bad guy dies, the main character gets the hot girl, they have lots of kids and die happy at the age 109. In Japan, books tend to be more re...more
This is actually one of my favorite books -- it always makes it onto my "keep near my bed" shelf -- but I hadn't read it in five years or so. I reread it in preparation for _Jacob de Zoet_, and because I had included it on a list for Elinor to read someday. I thought I'd refresh myself, and I still found it as affecting, perhaps moreso, now that the moral ambiguities of life, combined with the slow decline of religious fervor (but not belief) that accompanies a settled life, have become realitie...more
I included this book in my short course of reading about Japanese history. I don't usually include (even historical) fiction in my topical reading lists, but this came highly recommended. It is an interesting, quick read, and does work to maneuver through the 18th Century Japanese psyche. I have a feeling that no Western reader will really understand this book, however. The translation seems smooth, the narrative is there, but more than anything this is an exploration of character and Japanese Z...more
I thought after Silence this would be a letdown and it did seem to drag a bit at the beginning. As it progressed, I couldn't put it down As a big Graham Greene fan and a xenophobe of unparalleled Arizona nastiness, I was surprised at how much I came to love Shusaku Endo. What an amazing writer! The book is written from two perspectives, that of the samurai and that of a Franciscan priest. The latter, flawed as he is, demonstrates a sacrificial love for the Japanese he initially hoped to use for...more
1 like · like · see review
Jul 23, 2009
Julie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in Japanese history
Recommended to Julie by:
found it at the library
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
from-library
(Note: This is not the cover of the edition I read, but I can't seem to find the exact edition my library had.)
This book examines the interaction between feudal Japan and Western missionaries attempting to convert it, specifically some of the first Japanese to travel to the West to negotiate the rights of Christian orders in Japan. It is also about one particular man discovering and examining his faith, and the greed and ambition that can flourish even among the supposedly pious. It's a fascinat...more
This book examines the interaction between feudal Japan and Western missionaries attempting to convert it, specifically some of the first Japanese to travel to the West to negotiate the rights of Christian orders in Japan. It is also about one particular man discovering and examining his faith, and the greed and ambition that can flourish even among the supposedly pious. It's a fascinat...more
_The Samurai_ captures Endo's craftsmanship superbly. Following the voyage of Hasekura Rokuemon from the shores of Japan to the steps of the Vatican, Endo skillfully reconstructs the world of the early 17th century in a way at once picturesque and compelling. But it is his treatment of the psycologies of his characters that are most gripping. As with most Endo's works, this is a book about faith. Yet unlike _Silence_ and _Deep River_, Endo depicts faith as a drawing of the individual out of his...more
This is the fourth novel by Shusaku Enhat do which I have read as part of a year long read of his works by a group of readers on LibraryThing.com.
I have now started this review three times because I am not quite sure what to say. This story is another effort on Endo's part to illuminate the failure of Christianity to take hold in Japan. It is the story of a samurai who remains faithful to his mission to the death. It is the story of a priest who remains faithful to his mission to the death. It...more
I have now started this review three times because I am not quite sure what to say. This story is another effort on Endo's part to illuminate the failure of Christianity to take hold in Japan. It is the story of a samurai who remains faithful to his mission to the death. It is the story of a priest who remains faithful to his mission to the death. It...more
The Samurai is a deeply sad novel. On the surface, it is an historical travelogue, detailing Japanese warrior Rokuemon Hasekura's journey from his homeland to Rome in 1613. The story, based on historical facts, occurs at the height of the persecution of Christians in Japan. A low-level warrior, Hasekura is ordered by his superiors to join a Japanese envoy that hopes to secure an audience with Pope Paul V. Their objective is to reassure the Pope of his superiors' willingness to suspend the persec...more
This book is still one of the greatest books I have ever read, but I once gave it to an avid reader who was also a fundamentalist, and she couldn't read it.
Too . . .what, tedious? Too Japanese?
In a sense, this book shows why Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."
If you REALLY believe in Jesus, this will give some idea how you must take up your Cross and follow him.
But then, you don't really believe in Jesus, do you. . .
Too . . .what, tedious? Too Japanese?
In a sense, this book shows why Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."
If you REALLY believe in Jesus, this will give some idea how you must take up your Cross and follow him.
But then, you don't really believe in Jesus, do you. . .
Hmmm... Maybe I was not in the right frame of mind when I started reading The Samurai, but I just could not get into it. I put it aside after about 70 pages due to work commitments, but more so because I didn't feel I was giving the book justice. I came back to it and read it more easily, but the characters didn't jump out at me. Maybe it was the translation. It was hard to feel any affection for the protagonist, the Samurai, or any of the characters. The character of the Samurai is overpowered...more
I want to give this 3.5 stars... it's very well written and an interesting tale. The introspection that we get with the two main characters and their reflections on their respective cultures is outstanding.
That being said - this is not an uplifting book. It is very sad, and probably not one I'd read again soon.
The plotline drags on a bit as the characters never quite achieve their goals, but then that is sort of the point of the book.
That being said - this is not an uplifting book. It is very sad, and probably not one I'd read again soon.
The plotline drags on a bit as the characters never quite achieve their goals, but then that is sort of the point of the book.
A bit hard to get into...but quite interesting as you go on. Endo's version of the historical journey by Japanese emissary to Mexico and then Europe. As usual, Endo's writing on the uncomfortable relationship between Japan and Christianity is interesting. Mar 08
This was a good book. Slow, perhaps, but beautiful. It deserves 4 stars, but for disappointed expectations. The story begins with two men - a proud Catholic priest and a humble non-believing Samurai. I had hoped, had fully expected, this to be a tale of two men, of how their mutual encounter changed each other. Instead, it was two separate tales, of a Catholic priest who learned to right his priorities, and of a Japanese man who encountered the West and learned Christianity. Though the two men s...more
"I can't explain the existence of God logically. For God manifests His existence in the lives of each individual. In the life of every man there is something which bears witness that God lives. If I appear to you to be a schemer, then perhaps God is manifesting His existence even in the life of a schemer like me."
[Book Description:] - Endo’s Silence is already on O’Brien’s list, but The Samurai looks at the process of conversion from a very non-Western viewpoint, and really challenged my understanding of what it means to become a Christian.
My favorite book by Endo that I have read to this point. Although a kind of companion book to Silence, I found the internal struggles of the Samurai to grab me. And I found the book's conclusion to be a spiritual triumph.
My AP World History class is going to read this book, so I wanted to preview it for them. It is not at all what I expected, but was still a pretty good read. The main story, a low-ranking samurai travels the world in the 17th century with a Catholic priest and all the political and religious intrigues that accompany them, was pretty good. It seems to go a bit deeper than that, though, in terms of man's search for faith. That part might have interested me more if I were not reading it from the pe...more
I had to read this for a literature class and was pleasantly surprised! It was a bit slow to get into, but overall I really loved the story.
This was an all right book. Not one of my favorites because I'm not big on Japan history. The writing was very good though, I will give him that.
A samurai is ordered on a diplomatic mission from 17th century Japan to Mexico, Spain and Rome, instigated by manipulative Spanish priest Father Velasco who hopes to convert all Japan. The samurai reluctantly converts to further his mission and pays the price when he returns to a now xenophobic Japan. A story with many facets, alienation, faith... I particularly enjoyed this as a "person-out-of-place" story, a non-genre I am rather fond of.
A beautifully written novel of feudal Japan and the onset of Christianity. It was a thought-provoking read on religion and why we worship.
I read this in High School and was bored out of my brain....but after reading the synopsis, I may enjoy it more now.
Great book. I love the Japanese way to tell the story and the insights of the warrior and father velasco and also the interaction between both cultures....a must
Honestly, after reading Silence I had to have more. And, having finished this, I still need more. Much more.
This story is told so slowly, so sparsely, that the stillness itself becomes a character in the novel. I never get tired of exploring the interplay between vastly different cultures, and this novel does so in a very accessible and profoundly important way. I'm looking forward to reading more Endo.
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| The Samurai | 1 | 17 | Apr 03, 2010 10:17pm |
Shusaku Endo, born in Tokyo in 1923, was raised by his mother and an aunt in Kobe where he converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of eleven. At Tokyo's Keio University he majored in French literature, graduating BA in 1949, before furthering his studies in French Catholic literature at the University of Lyon in France between 1950 and 1953. A major theme running through his books, which have be...more
More about Shūsaku Endō...
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Sep 08, 2012 09:55pm