Stefan's review
The Sea and Poison
by Shusaku Endo
Stefan's review
The Sea and Poison by Shusaku Endo
Stefan's review
rating:
Pretty good, but it feels strangely unfinished. Exploring the different motivations for someone to actively or passively participate in war crimes is an interesting concept for a novel. Sea and the Poison is very episodic and rushed, which prevents it from being a true classic.
The story is told from the point of view from a number of characters in a Japanese hospital, as they perform medical experiments on POW's. They all have their reasons, but the novel is too short to really get deep into the psychology of accepting such a situation. It makes for a nice double bill with the later writings about the obedience experiments by Stanley Milgram though.
Still the subject alone is fairly courageous for a Japanese writer in 1958 to tackle and it was an interesting read while it lasted. It's certainly worth a read and I'll be sure to pick up more from Endo in the future.
The story is told from the point of view from a number of characters in a Japanese hospital, as they perform medical experiments on POW's. They all have their reasons, but the novel is too short to really get deep into the psychology of accepting such a situation. It makes for a nice double bill with the later writings about the obedience experiments by Stanley Milgram though.
Still the subject alone is fairly courageous for a Japanese writer in 1958 to tackle and it was an interesting read while it lasted. It's certainly worth a read and I'll be sure to pick up more from Endo in the future.
