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Scandal
Suguro, a respected and famous Catholic writer, finds his life scandalized by accusations that he frequents the red-light district, and he soon discovers an imposter who forces him to question his own moral character
261 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
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1838 people want to read
About the author
Shūsaku Endō
383 books1,046 followersShusaku Endo (遠藤周作), 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 been translated into many languages, including English, French, Russian and Swedish, is the failure of Japanese soil to nurture the growth of Christianity. Before his death in 1996, Endo was the recipient of a number of outstanding Japanese literary awards: the Akutagawa Prize, Mainichi Cultural Prize, Shincho Prize, and Tanizaki Prize.
(from the backcover of Volcano).
(from the backcover of Volcano).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
November 28, 2018
One of the main themes of this book is that of the ‘doppelganger’ or double, a long-standing theme in great literature. We’ve seen it in Dostoevsky and Jose Saramago in books called The Double. It’s in Conrad’s The Secret Sharer and in Nabokov’s Despair. Even Henry James got in on it in his relatively little-known novel, The Jolly Corner.
In Scandal, our main character is a very famous Japanese novelist who, being Catholic, writes on moral and religious themes. (Much like the author himself, author of Silence, who is considered a Catholic novelist and sometimes called ‘the ‘Graham Greene of Japan.’)
The novelist starts to hear rumors that he has been seen hanging out with prostitutes in the red-light district of Tokyo. Not only that, but some of his supposed actions may have involved under-aged girls, a S&M crowd, semi-strangulation fantasies and orgies. At a literary award presentation he is confronted by a prostitute who claims she recognizes him from the district. A sleazy journalist is on his tail trying to get a compromising picture of him that he could use for blackmail or for a career-making story for the journalist that would ruin the novelist’s reputation.
Sex is the second major theme. In his career of writing novels, the main character has never written about sex. He and his life-long spouse have a very proper, old-fashioned relationship and they have never even talked about sex. Suddenly the novelist feels that he’s missed out on something important all his life and left it out of his novels. It’s as if he starts to believe “I’m a novelist. A novelist who has to dirty his hands in the deepest recesses of the human heart. I have to thrust my hands in, even if I find something in there that God could never bless.” He also asks “What’s the lesson that this realm of filth is trying to teach me?”
He starts hanging out in the red-light district looking for his double. He meets a woman who was a friend of a prostitute who killed herself in a self-inflicted S&M fantasy. He and the woman start meeting for lunch and exchanging letters to discuss sex in which she shares her single (bizarre/horrifying) sexual fantasy with him. He finds himself thinking too much about a college-age woman his wife hired to clean his office. By the way, he’s 65, a bit late for male mid-life crisis by American standards, but, hey, this is Japan, so maybe things are different. In fact, he’s old enough that he and his old friends play the “who’s going to go next game” when they meet.
The novelist thinks: “When one of us novelists passes the age of fifty, we may be impressed by what our old friends write, but we are no longer influenced by their work.”
Back to the double – is it simply someone who happens to look almost identical to the novelist? Is it the novelist secretly leading a double life and pulling the “unreliable narrator” trick on us? Is it all a hallucination? Stay tuned…
A good read and it kept my attention all the way through.
Tokyo's red light district from dreamstime.com
Photo of the author from Goodreads
In Scandal, our main character is a very famous Japanese novelist who, being Catholic, writes on moral and religious themes. (Much like the author himself, author of Silence, who is considered a Catholic novelist and sometimes called ‘the ‘Graham Greene of Japan.’)
The novelist starts to hear rumors that he has been seen hanging out with prostitutes in the red-light district of Tokyo. Not only that, but some of his supposed actions may have involved under-aged girls, a S&M crowd, semi-strangulation fantasies and orgies. At a literary award presentation he is confronted by a prostitute who claims she recognizes him from the district. A sleazy journalist is on his tail trying to get a compromising picture of him that he could use for blackmail or for a career-making story for the journalist that would ruin the novelist’s reputation.
Sex is the second major theme. In his career of writing novels, the main character has never written about sex. He and his life-long spouse have a very proper, old-fashioned relationship and they have never even talked about sex. Suddenly the novelist feels that he’s missed out on something important all his life and left it out of his novels. It’s as if he starts to believe “I’m a novelist. A novelist who has to dirty his hands in the deepest recesses of the human heart. I have to thrust my hands in, even if I find something in there that God could never bless.” He also asks “What’s the lesson that this realm of filth is trying to teach me?”
He starts hanging out in the red-light district looking for his double. He meets a woman who was a friend of a prostitute who killed herself in a self-inflicted S&M fantasy. He and the woman start meeting for lunch and exchanging letters to discuss sex in which she shares her single (bizarre/horrifying) sexual fantasy with him. He finds himself thinking too much about a college-age woman his wife hired to clean his office. By the way, he’s 65, a bit late for male mid-life crisis by American standards, but, hey, this is Japan, so maybe things are different. In fact, he’s old enough that he and his old friends play the “who’s going to go next game” when they meet.
The novelist thinks: “When one of us novelists passes the age of fifty, we may be impressed by what our old friends write, but we are no longer influenced by their work.”
Back to the double – is it simply someone who happens to look almost identical to the novelist? Is it the novelist secretly leading a double life and pulling the “unreliable narrator” trick on us? Is it all a hallucination? Stay tuned…
A good read and it kept my attention all the way through.
Tokyo's red light district from dreamstime.com
Photo of the author from Goodreads
September 15, 2018
There's a wonderful moment in Vladimir Nabokov's Strong Opinions. It's part of a transcript from an interview conducted sometime in the mid-1970s.
If only Shusako Endo had felt the same way. His penultimate novel, Scandal, is so tightly woven around the concept that it hamstrings itself. Here's the story, roughly: A mid- 20th century Japanese Christian writer, not unlike Endo himself, whose novels are highly popular investigations of sin in modern man, is close to death when he realizes that he has neglected an entire aspect of human nature. That is, the dark, selfish, often cruel impulses that can overtake us in the midst of passion, desire, erotic pursuit. Author Suguro has so thoroughly expunged such darkness from his life and works that his critics say he is missing something elemental in his work.
But Suguro has paid a price for such deep Christian piety. So much so that his dark, carnal side has split off in a Jekyll-and-Hyde manner to go roving unchecked through Tokyo's pleasure districts. Suguro for most of the novel views this double as an imposter, someone who chance has happened to give the same physical appearance and voice as himself. And granted, in this day of faux Rockefellers grifting entire affluent communities, it's believable. Through blameless association with a number of simultaneously depraved and compassionate individuals--paradoxes in Suguro's view--he is able to run his double to earth. Only when he does so, when he witnesses himself sexually abusing a young servant, does he acknowledge the terrible split rending his psyche.
The passages in which Endo considers human eroticism and kinkiness in light of Christian virtue are not without interest. Sadly, however, self forgiveness is something that Suguro seems incapable of, thus his suffering. There's something terribly sad about this. For nowhere in Surguro's self conception, so overwhelmed by his bête noire, "sin," is there room for self forgiveness. All Suguro can think of is how tainted he is, how he has failed morally, how he is in the end just like all the other human filth.
There are frequent passages of interest: such as when Suguro considers certain Buddhist and Freudian precepts that closely align with his Christian views. But he can never see the forest for the trees. He is too self involved. He cannot for the life of him understand how God can love beings simultaneously both so wretched and so beautiful. That is his failing, and in the end he seems ready to take it to the grave. Recommended with reservations.
Q: Would you care to comment on how the Doppelgänger motif has been both used and abused from Poe, Hoffman, Andersen... Which Doppelgänger fictions would you single out for praise?
VN: The Doppelgänger subject is a frightful bore.
If only Shusako Endo had felt the same way. His penultimate novel, Scandal, is so tightly woven around the concept that it hamstrings itself. Here's the story, roughly: A mid- 20th century Japanese Christian writer, not unlike Endo himself, whose novels are highly popular investigations of sin in modern man, is close to death when he realizes that he has neglected an entire aspect of human nature. That is, the dark, selfish, often cruel impulses that can overtake us in the midst of passion, desire, erotic pursuit. Author Suguro has so thoroughly expunged such darkness from his life and works that his critics say he is missing something elemental in his work.
But Suguro has paid a price for such deep Christian piety. So much so that his dark, carnal side has split off in a Jekyll-and-Hyde manner to go roving unchecked through Tokyo's pleasure districts. Suguro for most of the novel views this double as an imposter, someone who chance has happened to give the same physical appearance and voice as himself. And granted, in this day of faux Rockefellers grifting entire affluent communities, it's believable. Through blameless association with a number of simultaneously depraved and compassionate individuals--paradoxes in Suguro's view--he is able to run his double to earth. Only when he does so, when he witnesses himself sexually abusing a young servant, does he acknowledge the terrible split rending his psyche.
The passages in which Endo considers human eroticism and kinkiness in light of Christian virtue are not without interest. Sadly, however, self forgiveness is something that Suguro seems incapable of, thus his suffering. There's something terribly sad about this. For nowhere in Surguro's self conception, so overwhelmed by his bête noire, "sin," is there room for self forgiveness. All Suguro can think of is how tainted he is, how he has failed morally, how he is in the end just like all the other human filth.
There are frequent passages of interest: such as when Suguro considers certain Buddhist and Freudian precepts that closely align with his Christian views. But he can never see the forest for the trees. He is too self involved. He cannot for the life of him understand how God can love beings simultaneously both so wretched and so beautiful. That is his failing, and in the end he seems ready to take it to the grave. Recommended with reservations.
May 21, 2019
Antiquated concepts of sexuality and psychology on full display, though not very interesting. Is this the Asian Graham Greene? Let us pray not...
(12.1.17) Read the impressive Deep River instead. Way better novel.
(12.1.17) Read the impressive Deep River instead. Way better novel.
September 14, 2018
Liked the novel. Did not lead me to love it. But that can not be taken as a minus. It is a great book dealing with a great theme.
The Theme: Every man has a Mr. Hyde hiding inside his own personality. The man - every man/woman - is a combination of both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In common man's language the human being is a combination of both good and bad. Spiritually speaking we can say that every saint has a sinner residing in himself/herself.
Seemingly a simple theme. But it is presented in an interesting manner to last a 250 pages book without any element of boring or preaching. In fact lot of psychology is thrown in the novel. But it moved smoothly along the plot of the novel.
Reasons for not giving the extra star: I am a bit skeptical of psychoanalysis and anything related to psychology. This novel bases itself on a finding of psychoanalysis and the entire plot is skillfully woven around it. Also the other element of psychoanalysis (libido) gets an extra dash in the whole novel. That in a way put me off. But the novel as such was racy and thoroughly likable.
Extra Information: This is also a novel about the Christian concept of sin and grace.
The Theme: Every man has a Mr. Hyde hiding inside his own personality. The man - every man/woman - is a combination of both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In common man's language the human being is a combination of both good and bad. Spiritually speaking we can say that every saint has a sinner residing in himself/herself.
Seemingly a simple theme. But it is presented in an interesting manner to last a 250 pages book without any element of boring or preaching. In fact lot of psychology is thrown in the novel. But it moved smoothly along the plot of the novel.
Reasons for not giving the extra star: I am a bit skeptical of psychoanalysis and anything related to psychology. This novel bases itself on a finding of psychoanalysis and the entire plot is skillfully woven around it. Also the other element of psychoanalysis (libido) gets an extra dash in the whole novel. That in a way put me off. But the novel as such was racy and thoroughly likable.
Extra Information: This is also a novel about the Christian concept of sin and grace.
August 4, 2015
Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι σαν να είμαι μέσα σε τοπίο του Ogata Kōrin στην αρχή. Κάθεσαι κάτω από τις κερασιές και χαζεύεις ένα ήσυχο ρυάκι. Αλλά υπάρχει κάτι απροσδιόριστο μέσα στην ηρεμία του τοπίου. Κάτι που σε κάνει να κοιτάς ανήσυχα πίσω από τον ώμο σου. Κάτι κακό που παραμονεύει αλλά δεν καταλαβαίνεις τι είναι. Όταν δε αρχίζεις να κατανοείς; τρομάζεις ακόμα περισσότερο.
Μια κάθοδος στον Άδη του ανθρώπινου μυαλού, καταπιεσμένες αισθήσεις που ψάχνουν να βρουν διέξοδο. Ψυχολογικό θρίλερ; ερωτικό; το δράμα της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης; δεν ξέρω. Mind games.
Σίγουρα θα διαβάσω ακόμα κάτι από αυτόν τον συγγραφέα. Η μετάφραση του Αύγουστου Κορτώ εξαιρετική αποδίδει όλη την ατμόσφαιρα του ζόφου και της παρακμής.
Μια κάθοδος στον Άδη του ανθρώπινου μυαλού, καταπιεσμένες αισθήσεις που ψάχνουν να βρουν διέξοδο. Ψυχολογικό θρίλερ; ερωτικό; το δράμα της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης; δεν ξέρω. Mind games.
Σίγουρα θα διαβάσω ακόμα κάτι από αυτόν τον συγγραφέα. Η μετάφραση του Αύγουστου Κορτώ εξαιρετική αποδίδει όλη την ατμόσφαιρα του ζόφου και της παρακμής.
March 27, 2009
Hi there,
My name is Ophelia. But there's something else about me that I'd like you to know. You see there's a story why I exist, and I'm not talking about natural birth here. Mia's too shy to tell you this story. And since I'm the bitch one, I guess it's a pleasure hehe
Mia was born in a modest family, I didn't say her family is economically challenged because they're not but hey how much do you think a Protestant priest earns? Certainly not that much. The fact that her father decided to serve in nearly isolated regions meant she and her family were isolated from schools as well and her parents then sent her to live with an aunt.
She's the eldest in her own family, but the youngest in her auntie's. She's quite spoiled by her uncle and cousins and when she's back to her family she felt like a stranger. And it's not until the adolescent that she's aware of burdens as a Priest' daughter.
If you're a Priest' daughter:
- Thou shall attend the church' service every Sunday no matter what values you take regarding your personal relationship with God.
- You were expected to recognise every church elders and gives salute as you saw them across the street.
- Thou shall not wear anything 'inappropriate' any time you're in the public (Mia once told it's not appropriate for a Priest' daughter to wear a short though she was actually buying eggs and vegetables for lunch omg).
- Thou shall be a 'good' girl, never swearing at people, always smiling and oh darn it .. basically you're expected to be an Angel!
- Thou shall not skip classes or else your teachers will swiftly notify your Priest father.
- Thou shall not inquire anything that related to sexuality, especially when one of your distance cousin who is a gay expelled from the Church because of his sexual preference.
- Thou shall not put excessive make up or you'll end up gossiped by the whole community as a 'mischief daughter'.
I guess all those burdens were too much for the overprotected and sweety Mia. That's when I, Ophelia, was born. Everything she's limited into, I fought no boundaries. Don't get me wrong, she's aware of my existence and she accepted me long long time ago. Why you think she's comfortable with her physical body now? It's because of me .. ME!!
Schizophrenia, split personality, unconscious mind. You name it. You can spend lots of money to consult psychologist, psychiatric, Priests, Monks, Muslim Clerics and others but I believe there are more than one soul in each body. The bad and the good. The bitch the angel. The child the adult. Mia accepted me, you dare to accept your other half?
regards,
Ophelia
My name is Ophelia. But there's something else about me that I'd like you to know. You see there's a story why I exist, and I'm not talking about natural birth here. Mia's too shy to tell you this story. And since I'm the bitch one, I guess it's a pleasure hehe
Mia was born in a modest family, I didn't say her family is economically challenged because they're not but hey how much do you think a Protestant priest earns? Certainly not that much. The fact that her father decided to serve in nearly isolated regions meant she and her family were isolated from schools as well and her parents then sent her to live with an aunt.
She's the eldest in her own family, but the youngest in her auntie's. She's quite spoiled by her uncle and cousins and when she's back to her family she felt like a stranger. And it's not until the adolescent that she's aware of burdens as a Priest' daughter.
If you're a Priest' daughter:
- Thou shall attend the church' service every Sunday no matter what values you take regarding your personal relationship with God.
- You were expected to recognise every church elders and gives salute as you saw them across the street.
- Thou shall not wear anything 'inappropriate' any time you're in the public (Mia once told it's not appropriate for a Priest' daughter to wear a short though she was actually buying eggs and vegetables for lunch omg).
- Thou shall be a 'good' girl, never swearing at people, always smiling and oh darn it .. basically you're expected to be an Angel!
- Thou shall not skip classes or else your teachers will swiftly notify your Priest father.
- Thou shall not inquire anything that related to sexuality, especially when one of your distance cousin who is a gay expelled from the Church because of his sexual preference.
- Thou shall not put excessive make up or you'll end up gossiped by the whole community as a 'mischief daughter'.
I guess all those burdens were too much for the overprotected and sweety Mia. That's when I, Ophelia, was born. Everything she's limited into, I fought no boundaries. Don't get me wrong, she's aware of my existence and she accepted me long long time ago. Why you think she's comfortable with her physical body now? It's because of me .. ME!!
Schizophrenia, split personality, unconscious mind. You name it. You can spend lots of money to consult psychologist, psychiatric, Priests, Monks, Muslim Clerics and others but I believe there are more than one soul in each body. The bad and the good. The bitch the angel. The child the adult. Mia accepted me, you dare to accept your other half?
regards,
Ophelia
May 28, 2025
What was all that about? For a while the tale of a wicked doppelganger plaguing the life of the successful writer Suguro kept me interested. Were the rumours and accusations about his private life being made because of his apparently pious Christian faith? Would it all lead to an attempt at blackmail? Was Suguro really the gentle, well-mannered married man he wanted to be seen as?
The trips into Tokyo's sleazy side, the Shinjuku area, the sado-masochism and paedophilia, the furtive probing of the tabloid journalist Kobari, Suguro's unwise relationship with the schoolgirl Mitsu, they were all coming together nicely. And then psychiatry stepped in and flooded the plot with psychological, philosophical and even some theological mumblings. They seemed to go on and on, slowing the plot, deadening the tension. The story livened itself toward the end when Suguro was lured into a Yoyogi hotel by the old pimp Mrs. Naruse and persuaded to spy on a naked Mitsu being assaulted by the mysterious doppelganger. But what is meant to be the final answer? Who is the doppelganger? Is there a doppelganger? Is Suguru split between a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde? Does Suguro have a monstrous side after all?
I will never know. However, it was an interesting read and I am quite happy to accept that my confusion is all down to my lack of understanding and not to the author's muddled fantasy.
The trips into Tokyo's sleazy side, the Shinjuku area, the sado-masochism and paedophilia, the furtive probing of the tabloid journalist Kobari, Suguro's unwise relationship with the schoolgirl Mitsu, they were all coming together nicely. And then psychiatry stepped in and flooded the plot with psychological, philosophical and even some theological mumblings. They seemed to go on and on, slowing the plot, deadening the tension. The story livened itself toward the end when Suguro was lured into a Yoyogi hotel by the old pimp Mrs. Naruse and persuaded to spy on a naked Mitsu being assaulted by the mysterious doppelganger. But what is meant to be the final answer? Who is the doppelganger? Is there a doppelganger? Is Suguru split between a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde? Does Suguro have a monstrous side after all?
I will never know. However, it was an interesting read and I am quite happy to accept that my confusion is all down to my lack of understanding and not to the author's muddled fantasy.
April 22, 2022
Ο Σουγκουρο, γνωστός συγγραφέας προσεγγίζεται από μια μεθυσμένη γυναίκα σε μια τελετή βράβευσης και ισχυρίζεται ότι τον γνωρίζει προσωπικά, μιας κι επισκέπτεται την πιο κακόφημη περιοχή πορνειων του Τόκιο.
Στην προσπάθεια του να βρει τον απατεώνα/σωσία του που του εκθέτει την εικόνα, αρχίζει να επισκέπτεται αυτή ακριβώς την περιοχή.
Θα ανακαλύψει την αλήθεια?
Κι όταν την ανακαλύψει, θα την αντέξει?
Η Ιαπωνική κουλτούρα είναι τόσο διαφορετική από την δυτική. Το ίδιο συμβαίνει και με τη λογοτεχνία.
Σε αυτό του το βιβλίο ο Endo μας μιλά για τις κρυφές επιθυμίες και τις μυχιες σκέψεις που έχει ο καθένας από εμάς και κατά πόσο αυτές μπορεί να διαμορφώσουν μια πτυχή του εαυτού μας.
Ο ήρωας, βρίσκεται στη δύση της ζωής του, γεγονός που τον κάνει να αναλογιστεί συμβάντα του παρελθόντος και να αναζητήσει απαντήσεις σε ερωτήματα που δεν γνώριζε ότι τον απασχολούσαν.
Η ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου είναι αρκετά υποβλητική με υφερπον ερωτισμό.
Το ενδιαφέρον στοιχείο του είναι το γεγονός ότι ο ήρωας είναι Χριστιανός συγγραφέας στην Ιαπωνία, οπότε ο συνειρμός ότι ο Endo έχει χρησιμοποιήσει και αυτοβιογραφικά στοιχεία είναι εύλογος.
Στην προσπάθεια του να βρει τον απατεώνα/σωσία του που του εκθέτει την εικόνα, αρχίζει να επισκέπτεται αυτή ακριβώς την περιοχή.
Θα ανακαλύψει την αλήθεια?
Κι όταν την ανακαλύψει, θα την αντέξει?
Η Ιαπωνική κουλτούρα είναι τόσο διαφορετική από την δυτική. Το ίδιο συμβαίνει και με τη λογοτεχνία.
Σε αυτό του το βιβλίο ο Endo μας μιλά για τις κρυφές επιθυμίες και τις μυχιες σκέψεις που έχει ο καθένας από εμάς και κατά πόσο αυτές μπορεί να διαμορφώσουν μια πτυχή του εαυτού μας.
Ο ήρωας, βρίσκεται στη δύση της ζωής του, γεγονός που τον κάνει να αναλογιστεί συμβάντα του παρελθόντος και να αναζητήσει απαντήσεις σε ερωτήματα που δεν γνώριζε ότι τον απασχολούσαν.
Η ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου είναι αρκετά υποβλητική με υφερπον ερωτισμό.
Το ενδιαφέρον στοιχείο του είναι το γεγονός ότι ο ήρωας είναι Χριστιανός συγγραφέας στην Ιαπωνία, οπότε ο συνειρμός ότι ο Endo έχει χρησιμοποιήσει και αυτοβιογραφικά στοιχεία είναι εύλογος.
June 28, 2012
Noah Cross (John Huston) in Chinatown: "I don't blame myself. You see Mr Gitts (sic), most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and at the right place they're capable of ...anything."
I have a weird habit of avoiding Shusaku Endo. I'm always finding his "Samurai" in used bookshops and never buying it. But that will all change now because I really enjoyed this.
Aged Catholic writer (nobody say "the Japanese Graham Greene") is haunted by a lascivious doppelgänger. This doppelgänger is taking his leery face and old-man genitals to all of Tokyo's naughtiest BDSM nightspots. Our aged Catholic writer is, as you'd expect, gaining a nasty reputation. What does it mean? Can he discover the truth before the slimy reporter?
Interesting questions, interesting ending. Fun times in Tokyo.
I have a weird habit of avoiding Shusaku Endo. I'm always finding his "Samurai" in used bookshops and never buying it. But that will all change now because I really enjoyed this.
Aged Catholic writer (nobody say "the Japanese Graham Greene") is haunted by a lascivious doppelgänger. This doppelgänger is taking his leery face and old-man genitals to all of Tokyo's naughtiest BDSM nightspots. Our aged Catholic writer is, as you'd expect, gaining a nasty reputation. What does it mean? Can he discover the truth before the slimy reporter?
Interesting questions, interesting ending. Fun times in Tokyo.
January 25, 2011
An aging Japanese Catholic novelist with a dark side writes a novel about an aging Japanese Catholic novelist confronting his dark side. An interesting psychological plot with several promising characters ultimately diffuses in simplistic Catholic guilt. Plot spoiler: the Doppelganger did it.
September 12, 2020
This 1986 novel by Shusaku Endo is a departure from a lot of his previous work, mainly historical fiction. Protagonist Suguro, a modern-day novelist similar in many respects to real-life Endo, receives an award for his writing at age 65. Leaving the ceremony he’s accosted by a drunken woman who blurts out that the revered Catholic author frequents a brothel in Shinjuku’s infamous Kabukicho district. Suguro, now convinced a doppelganger is out there bent on sullying his reputation, will seek out this double. Or is he actually him? Complicating the matter and stirring Suguro’s turmoil is a young girl he hires as an assistant and also a Madame Naruse, who volunteers as a nurse at a hospital for children by day, but by night is driven by a predilection for sadomasochism.
Although some parts didn’t cohere for me, I liked the story for its setting (Tokyo) and for how Endo maybe reveals aspects of his own character through the prose. But certain descriptions or words had me questioning the accuracy of the translation—I can’t put my finger on why I felt this exactly; they just didn’t seem like Endo’s. All in all, though, it’s a compelling read, and I’ve always been a sucker for doppelganger tales told to cast light on persona and bad behavior.
Although some parts didn’t cohere for me, I liked the story for its setting (Tokyo) and for how Endo maybe reveals aspects of his own character through the prose. But certain descriptions or words had me questioning the accuracy of the translation—I can’t put my finger on why I felt this exactly; they just didn’t seem like Endo’s. All in all, though, it’s a compelling read, and I’ve always been a sucker for doppelganger tales told to cast light on persona and bad behavior.
December 21, 2012
okay, not really stunning. what for a catholic writer comes off as "daring, and gripping descent into sin", is for the modern reader, elicts a reaction . probably more valuable for some theorizing about the nature of artists-- Erich Fromm and the Frankfurt School than any real literary merit.
Endou, a member of international PEN, and part of the "Japanese literary establishment," spends too much time talking about 'the psychology of the aging writer' and not enough plot
the characters are supposed to interact, Mr. Endou!
do innocent-looking schoolgirls not have tricks up their sleeve?
does the possibility of REAL LOVE not tear at your heart!
well of course Mr. Endou has passed away.
so let us not speak too ill of a deceased individual's work.
a portrait of 1980s culture
street-side group dancers
a member of the literary establishment
Shinjuku sexual establishments
various forms of perversion
thoughts on love and death
no plot no plot no plot
3/5
May 4th 2013, further commentary;
as UK's top reviewer mentions one of the appeals of this book is that it shows how much Haruki Murakami is indebted to the establishment Endou. separately, I have noted artists whether rock musicians / writers tend to be fascinated by the theory of the book. it is an artist's artist book;
this is a book that has come out of the "Japanese literary establishment" so to speak; the same JLE that tried to suppress Haruki Murakami and eventually acceded to this overwhelming international appeal, and that consists of two hundred cranky old men and women discussing matters of literary production as if they are, so to speak, the direct heirs of Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki. now to some degree an establishment exists as well in NYC, covered by John Updike in his Beck at Bay book, but obviously London and NYC don't have quite the same level of specialization or power over the publishing industry as the bright minds of Kamakura/Tokyo.
because it is a writer's writer book or a "book of books," the work lacks general appeal and probably won't make that much of an impact to a generalist reader. Endou takes up the podium, so to speak, and fills the work with the abstract concerns of an elderly writer, his lifelong theme Christianity/morality, and deals with artistic theory as well. if you want your books filled 1/2 with "theory of creativity/theory of artists", then it is valuable to you in that regard. but otherwise, no real use to the wide audience.
Endou, a member of international PEN, and part of the "Japanese literary establishment," spends too much time talking about 'the psychology of the aging writer' and not enough plot
the characters are supposed to interact, Mr. Endou!
do innocent-looking schoolgirls not have tricks up their sleeve?
does the possibility of REAL LOVE not tear at your heart!
well of course Mr. Endou has passed away.
so let us not speak too ill of a deceased individual's work.
a portrait of 1980s culture
street-side group dancers
a member of the literary establishment
Shinjuku sexual establishments
various forms of perversion
thoughts on love and death
no plot no plot no plot
3/5
May 4th 2013, further commentary;
as UK's top reviewer mentions one of the appeals of this book is that it shows how much Haruki Murakami is indebted to the establishment Endou. separately, I have noted artists whether rock musicians / writers tend to be fascinated by the theory of the book. it is an artist's artist book;
this is a book that has come out of the "Japanese literary establishment" so to speak; the same JLE that tried to suppress Haruki Murakami and eventually acceded to this overwhelming international appeal, and that consists of two hundred cranky old men and women discussing matters of literary production as if they are, so to speak, the direct heirs of Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki. now to some degree an establishment exists as well in NYC, covered by John Updike in his Beck at Bay book, but obviously London and NYC don't have quite the same level of specialization or power over the publishing industry as the bright minds of Kamakura/Tokyo.
because it is a writer's writer book or a "book of books," the work lacks general appeal and probably won't make that much of an impact to a generalist reader. Endou takes up the podium, so to speak, and fills the work with the abstract concerns of an elderly writer, his lifelong theme Christianity/morality, and deals with artistic theory as well. if you want your books filled 1/2 with "theory of creativity/theory of artists", then it is valuable to you in that regard. but otherwise, no real use to the wide audience.
August 19, 2018
I don’t really understand the critic who called Endo a ‘really great thriller writer’; whatever this novel is, and it is a good novel, I can’t see it as a thriller. To me it’s a good examination of the psychological state of ageing, longing, sexual desire and the need to repress behaviour in society. To a western reader, the Japanese horror at upsetting public morals seems almost quaint, and the ‘scandal’ in the title never really manifests itself in the destructive manner the author seems to fear. I know I am reading the book in translation, but Endo’s prose is spare and clear, his characters well-drawn and with perfect detail to really understand their behaviour. I didn’t find this ‘really gripping’ as the New York Times described the book, but I do want to read more of Endo’s works
April 27, 2024
O îmbinare a frumosului cu urâtul sau, mai bine zise, o redefinire a frumosului și a urâtului, înălțată din adâncurile subconștientului prin trimiterile la psihanaliza plăcerilor care intră în conflict cu moralitatea creștină a lui Suguro. Fascinant roman, cutremurător si brutal de transparent, Shusaku Endo creează în roman o paletă de existențe umane în întregime necenzurate și te face să te întrebi, speriat, dacă chiar așa suntem noi, oamenii.
July 10, 2023
A mix of the doppelganger theme, sexual kinks, catholicism, Freudian psychoanalysis and exploration of the human tenebrous corners. Highly westernized Japanese literature to the point it feels counterfeit. Yet, there's still a Small hint of Kawabata here and there. Not the worst of novels but not a novel I'd pick up to re-read anytime soon.
January 20, 2019
Цікава річ, яка затягує з кожною сторінкою. Поважний письменник, відомий своїми книжками з християнськими сюжетами, потрапляє в скандал. Однак він переконаний, що це підстава. Навіть більше, хтось подібний до нього дескридитує його, ходить у непристойні квартали й займається непристойними речами. Чи справді так є? Що приховує Саґуро?
Загалом, мені сподобалась атмосфера, підняті теми, особливо прихованої таємниці в людині. Ендо майстерно розкручує свій трилер, створює відчуття параної, неоднозначності й, що важливіше, падіння людської душі. Утім, падіння це умовне, адже гріх закладений від природи, за переконанням Ендо й Саґуро, вочевидь його альтер-еґо. Психоаналітичні мотиви мені видались дещо простими й застарілими, адже формула Фройд+Фром вже зовсім не дивує (хіба тих, хто вперше чує ці імена). Усе ж, лінія із японською субкультурою садизму/ мазохізму цікава. Вона відкриває двері в щось таємне, справді незрозуміле й часто бридке. Великий плюс Ендо в його намаганні більш комплексно подивитися на людську природу завдяки цим питанням. Непогана паралель між християнством, будизмом і психоаналізом щодо глибинного несвідомого та першородного гріху. З іншого боку, не усі теми мені видається гарно розкриті, хоча й це не шкодить історії. Деякі лінії лишаються нерозкритими, або точніше - закритими. Не виключаю те, що автор хотів залишити ці недомовки, натяки для чатицької роботи, його чи її фантазії.
Основний же докір мій в розробці концепту двоякості: чи справді Суґаро був шизофреніком? Чи це така метафора того, що кожен має темне начало, але не кожен готовий "дивитись у безодню"? Не скажу, що кінець змазаний, але відчутт�� легкого розчарування було. Хоча для того часу, як на мене, деякі сцени справді могли бути шокуючими, але вульгарності в романі нема - усе дуже акуратно прописано. Ендо - це не Генрі Міллер, а більше Грем Грім, автор моральних арабеск. Тому цей текст, попри все, може бути гарним прикладом розвідки на тему зла, совісті, доброчинності, але й також потворності, задоволення та людської сутності.
Загалом, мені сподобалась атмосфера, підняті теми, особливо прихованої таємниці в людині. Ендо майстерно розкручує свій трилер, створює відчуття параної, неоднозначності й, що важливіше, падіння людської душі. Утім, падіння це умовне, адже гріх закладений від природи, за переконанням Ендо й Саґуро, вочевидь його альтер-еґо. Психоаналітичні мотиви мені видались дещо простими й застарілими, адже формула Фройд+Фром вже зовсім не дивує (хіба тих, хто вперше чує ці імена). Усе ж, лінія із японською субкультурою садизму/ мазохізму цікава. Вона відкриває двері в щось таємне, справді незрозуміле й часто бридке. Великий плюс Ендо в його намаганні більш комплексно подивитися на людську природу завдяки цим питанням. Непогана паралель між християнством, будизмом і психоаналізом щодо глибинного несвідомого та першородного гріху. З іншого боку, не усі теми мені видається гарно розкриті, хоча й це не шкодить історії. Деякі лінії лишаються нерозкритими, або точніше - закритими. Не виключаю те, що автор хотів залишити ці недомовки, натяки для чатицької роботи, його чи її фантазії.
Основний же докір мій в розробці концепту двоякості: чи справді Суґаро був шизофреніком? Чи це така метафора того, що кожен має темне начало, але не кожен готовий "дивитись у безодню"? Не скажу, що кінець змазаний, але відчутт�� легкого розчарування було. Хоча для того часу, як на мене, деякі сцени справді могли бути шокуючими, але вульгарності в романі нема - усе дуже акуратно прописано. Ендо - це не Генрі Міллер, а більше Грем Грім, автор моральних арабеск. Тому цей текст, попри все, може бути гарним прикладом розвідки на тему зла, совісті, доброчинності, але й також потворності, задоволення та людської сутності.
January 6, 2019
Roman al lui Shusaku Endo pe care New York Times il caracterizeaza ca fiind "de neuitat", Scandalul aduce o poveste captivanta ce se tese in jurul unui scriitor ajuns la varsta de saizeci si cinci de ani, laureat al unui important premiu; personajul principal da, insa, ocazia unei meditatii "provocatoare si pasionante" asupra unor problematici din domeniul psihologiei, psihanalizei, dar si religiei.
Naratiunea are forta, este, pe alocuri, socanta, prin maniera directa de a infatisa, fara perdea, imagini de care ne ascundem sau pe care le ascundem in noi insine. De aceea, probabil, anumite episoade mi-au amintit de Fight Club, fara ca acest fapt sa ma dezamageasca; din contra, scrierea ramane originala, povestea e alta. Cred ca apropierea se datoreaza si unei stiinte a crearii imaginilor si secventelor dialogate, incat acestea dau, uneori, senzatia derularii unor diapozitive.
Dincolo de anumite scene mai greu sau mai usor digerabile, interesant mi-a parut modul in care se face legatura intre aspectele ce privesc natura identitatii umane si arta, fie ca e ea literatura sau pictura. Pe de-o parte e prezentata arta ca propovaduitor al unor idei si artistul ca misionar, iar pe de alta parte, arta ca "floare a raului" si artistul ca "estet al uratului".
Scandalul... e titlul unei carti nescrise.
Naratiunea are forta, este, pe alocuri, socanta, prin maniera directa de a infatisa, fara perdea, imagini de care ne ascundem sau pe care le ascundem in noi insine. De aceea, probabil, anumite episoade mi-au amintit de Fight Club, fara ca acest fapt sa ma dezamageasca; din contra, scrierea ramane originala, povestea e alta. Cred ca apropierea se datoreaza si unei stiinte a crearii imaginilor si secventelor dialogate, incat acestea dau, uneori, senzatia derularii unor diapozitive.
Dincolo de anumite scene mai greu sau mai usor digerabile, interesant mi-a parut modul in care se face legatura intre aspectele ce privesc natura identitatii umane si arta, fie ca e ea literatura sau pictura. Pe de-o parte e prezentata arta ca propovaduitor al unor idei si artistul ca misionar, iar pe de alta parte, arta ca "floare a raului" si artistul ca "estet al uratului".
Scandalul... e titlul unei carti nescrise.
May 18, 2019
Shusaku Endo has been called the Japanese Graham Greene, I'm not sure he can live up to those standards, but there are some commonalities between the authors. And that mostly has to do with religious themes. to be honest I found Endo's best known work, Silence, to be some what portentous-Greene often wrote thrillers, or what he called entertainments, to pay for his serious meditations on life that were less financially successful. That being said, Scandal (1986), may not be an exotic thriller, but is quite successful as a writer's grappling with the darker sides of the individual-and in this case a Christian writer of literature in Japan. The doppelganger theme has been dealt with by many writers throughout the ages, and this one deals with Endo focusing on the deeper darker sexual urges of humans. The story takes place in Tokyo in the 80s, specifically in the red light district of Shinjuku, Kabukicho, as well as in nearby districts such as Harajuku, Omotesando, and the writer's office in Yoyogi. The book also has an informative introduction from critic Damian Flanagan that provides some insight into the themes and context of the novel in Endo's career.
March 22, 2007
trompe l'oeil: visual deception, in which objects are rendered in extremely fine detail emphasizing the illusion of tactile and spatial qualities.
This book posits a fictional trompe l'oeil. An aging nominally-Christian novelist starts seeing his double around the city. Strange gossip begins to swirl about the writer, that he is engaged in debauchery, pedophilia, orgies, cruelties. The writer suspects this double is impersonating him and seeks to meet him in order to unmask him to a journalist who is threatening to write a scathing article about the writer and to ruin his career. The ending of this novel is fascinating and involves the writer watching through a peephole as his double molests a young schoolgirl. Is this actually himself, his dark side, or another man? Themes of sadomasochism, the coexistence of innocence and corruption, and the beauty of ugliness are also artfully explored. This is a shocking and fascinating read. Not a candidate for OBOC!
This book posits a fictional trompe l'oeil. An aging nominally-Christian novelist starts seeing his double around the city. Strange gossip begins to swirl about the writer, that he is engaged in debauchery, pedophilia, orgies, cruelties. The writer suspects this double is impersonating him and seeks to meet him in order to unmask him to a journalist who is threatening to write a scathing article about the writer and to ruin his career. The ending of this novel is fascinating and involves the writer watching through a peephole as his double molests a young schoolgirl. Is this actually himself, his dark side, or another man? Themes of sadomasochism, the coexistence of innocence and corruption, and the beauty of ugliness are also artfully explored. This is a shocking and fascinating read. Not a candidate for OBOC!
June 21, 2010
One of my favorite books ever. Endo is called the "Japanese Graham Greene" because he happens to be Catholic. That is a sad over simplification. This book, more than some of his others, does have some similarities to Greene, by way of "guilt," but in that sense it reminds me more of Tolstoy's "Resurrection." This book is haunting and terrifying and reads a little like a darker Murakami (Haruki) novel. I read this right after "Sputnik Sweetheart" and I felt there were some weird harmonies between the two. This is one of Endo's last books and it feels like a writer's dark confession.
May 19, 2019
I love the Freudian notion that there is a mysterious soup of desires and emotions boiling in our spirit while we live our ordinary, rule-bound lives. This novel was like a Freudian textbook. I loved it from opening to ending.
October 8, 2023
O carte ciudată, cu care nu am rezonat suficient cât să o facă de neuitat pentru mine, poate nu a fost timpul ei. Simt că nu am pătruns prea bine în roman.
Mi-a plăcut mai mult romanul “Tăcere” al autorului.
Mi-a plăcut mai mult romanul “Tăcere” al autorului.
December 17, 2017
nu e un roman simplist ...
June 9, 2025
Yapon yazıçısı Syusaku Endonun “Qalmaqal” romanı müəllifin ən qalmaqallı və provokativ əsəri hesab edilir.
Əsərin baş qəhrəmanı, həmçinin müəllifin alter-eqosu hesab edilən Suquro əxlaqi davranışı, dini inancına görə cəmiyyət tərəfindən hörmətlə qarşılanan məşhur yazıçıdır. Lakin o, bir gün özü barədə qəribə şayiələr eşitməyə başlayır: sən demə, bu qocaman yazıçı gecə həyatına atılıb, sado-mazoxist əyləncələrdə iştirak edir. İttihamlar onun nüfuzuna xələl yetirir və Suquro həqiqəti üzə çıxarmaq üçün oxşarının izinə düşür. Bu axtarış onu insan ehtiraslarının və riyakarlığının gizləndiyi qaranlıq yerlərə aparır.
Suquro çıxdığı yolda təkcə ətrafındakı insanları deyil, özünü də yaxından tanımağa başlayır. O, insan təbiətinin ziddiyyətləri ilə qarşılaşır, yalnız kağız üzərində deyil, real həyatda da günah və saflıq, inanc və ehtiras arasında incə sərhədlərin olduğunu öyrənir.
“Qalmaqal” romanı insanın öz kölgə tərəfi ilə necə üzləşdiyini və gerçək “mən”inin nə qədər mürəkkəb və təzadlı ola biləcəyini təsvir edir. Burada həmçinin yazıçının xristian inancı ilə yapon cəmiyyətinin ənənəvi dəyərləri arasındakı təzad da öz əksini tapıb.
Əsas mövzu doppelqanqer (şeytanın əkizi, ikili kimlik) davranışdır. Necə olur ki, cəmiyyət qarşısında əxlaqlı, nüfuzlu biri kimi tanınan insanın daxilində gizli qaranlıq meyllər - seksual fantaziyalar, basdırılmış çirkin arzular olur?
Müəllifin katolik olması əsərin süjetinə duz-istiot qatır: Endo günah anlayışını təkcə teoloji müstəvidə deyil, psixoloji və sosial mənalarda da araşdırır. İmic və real kimlik arasındakı fərqlə yapon cəmiyyətindəki riyakarlıq və etik standartları tənqid edir.
Qadın obrazlar həmişəki kimi kişi obrazlar üçün güzgü rolunu oynayır: sadəcə günah simvolu deyil, həm də kişinin “əsl mən”ini üzə çıxaran arxetiplər kimi çıxış edirlər.
Əsərin atmosferi narahatedicidir, narrativ psixoloji triller elementlərini xatırladır. Məqsəd erotik səhnələrlə şoka salmaq deyil, günahın psixoloji və mənəvi çəkisini göstərməkdir. Bu da klassik Dostoyevski yanaşmasıdır: günahın özü yox, günah etmə potensialı daha qorxulu ab-hava yaradır.
Bəli, bütün yollar Dostoyevskiyə aparır.
Əsərin baş qəhrəmanı, həmçinin müəllifin alter-eqosu hesab edilən Suquro əxlaqi davranışı, dini inancına görə cəmiyyət tərəfindən hörmətlə qarşılanan məşhur yazıçıdır. Lakin o, bir gün özü barədə qəribə şayiələr eşitməyə başlayır: sən demə, bu qocaman yazıçı gecə həyatına atılıb, sado-mazoxist əyləncələrdə iştirak edir. İttihamlar onun nüfuzuna xələl yetirir və Suquro həqiqəti üzə çıxarmaq üçün oxşarının izinə düşür. Bu axtarış onu insan ehtiraslarının və riyakarlığının gizləndiyi qaranlıq yerlərə aparır.
Suquro çıxdığı yolda təkcə ətrafındakı insanları deyil, özünü də yaxından tanımağa başlayır. O, insan təbiətinin ziddiyyətləri ilə qarşılaşır, yalnız kağız üzərində deyil, real həyatda da günah və saflıq, inanc və ehtiras arasında incə sərhədlərin olduğunu öyrənir.
“Qalmaqal” romanı insanın öz kölgə tərəfi ilə necə üzləşdiyini və gerçək “mən”inin nə qədər mürəkkəb və təzadlı ola biləcəyini təsvir edir. Burada həmçinin yazıçının xristian inancı ilə yapon cəmiyyətinin ənənəvi dəyərləri arasındakı təzad da öz əksini tapıb.
Əsas mövzu doppelqanqer (şeytanın əkizi, ikili kimlik) davranışdır. Necə olur ki, cəmiyyət qarşısında əxlaqlı, nüfuzlu biri kimi tanınan insanın daxilində gizli qaranlıq meyllər - seksual fantaziyalar, basdırılmış çirkin arzular olur?
Müəllifin katolik olması əsərin süjetinə duz-istiot qatır: Endo günah anlayışını təkcə teoloji müstəvidə deyil, psixoloji və sosial mənalarda da araşdırır. İmic və real kimlik arasındakı fərqlə yapon cəmiyyətindəki riyakarlıq və etik standartları tənqid edir.
Qadın obrazlar həmişəki kimi kişi obrazlar üçün güzgü rolunu oynayır: sadəcə günah simvolu deyil, həm də kişinin “əsl mən”ini üzə çıxaran arxetiplər kimi çıxış edirlər.
Əsərin atmosferi narahatedicidir, narrativ psixoloji triller elementlərini xatırladır. Məqsəd erotik səhnələrlə şoka salmaq deyil, günahın psixoloji və mənəvi çəkisini göstərməkdir. Bu da klassik Dostoyevski yanaşmasıdır: günahın özü yox, günah etmə potensialı daha qorxulu ab-hava yaradır.
Bəli, bütün yollar Dostoyevskiyə aparır.
August 24, 2021
this book was not at all what i was expecting. it’s categorized as a thriller, which is why i initially decided to read it, but it ended up being a lot more philosophical than i expected. i think i need to read it again at some point in the future because it’s definitely a book that requires full focus and i glossed over it too much.
side note: a Catholic priest gave this book to me, which made the reoccurring theme of catholic guilt a lot more interesting to observe while reading
side note: a Catholic priest gave this book to me, which made the reoccurring theme of catholic guilt a lot more interesting to observe while reading
January 24, 2020
Роман о стареющем писателе-христианине (автор изображает себя), который оказывается впутан в странные события с его двойником, за которым скрываются его потаенные страхи и желания. Думаю, это невероятно христианский роман, надолго мне запомнится.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2017
A 3.5-star book.
I found reading this 9-chapter novel “Scandal” by Shusaku Endo more enjoyable than his “Silence” (Taplinger, 1980); this one has been translated by Van C. Gessel while the other by William Johnston. I’m not sure if such translations from Japanese have had any significant effect on their readers’ understanding and reading motivation, I mean this should have had supportive evidence, probably, from some research degree projects. However, I think this is only a tentative idea, a tip of thought that raised from what I sometime felt why I preferred some with readable translations.
Indeed, I didn’t know what to say regarding its review but I thought I should do it anyway so that my GR friends know and decide themselves to read it or not. From this psychological thriller, there is a famous respectably married 65-year-old novelist named Sugaro allegedly accused of his frequent visits to the porn district in Tokyo, his portrait exhibited there by a drunken woman. He ardently denies any visit or his picture ever allowed anywhere. While reading on, I think this is a kind of double identity (presumably suffered from dual personality) that instantly reminds me of those two notorious characters penned by Robert Louise Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange...) The facts on his identity as such are based on: 1) His own consciousness of working, staying at home with his wife, meeting Madame Naruse, and so on that play major role, most of the episodic phenomena narrated by Endo, and 2) Another under the guise of himself incredibly similar in bodily stature and appearances.
While reading each chapter, I sometime felt as if I had encountered sequential episodes in the guise of dream-like phenomena, for instance:
A ripple of laughter skittered over the hall. Sugaro was elated as he glanced towards the doorway at the centre of the auditorium. Then suddenly he blinked his eyes furiously.
He was there. The face identical to Sugaro’s own was poised near the doorway, looking towards Sugaro with its mocking smile. It was the same experience he had had on the night of the prizegiving.
‘The asset of being a good listener … is built into the liability of being a poor speaker. … This is what I have repeated to myself over the years as I have written my novels.’
He felt a chill and blinked his eyes again. But this time the man did not vanish as he had before. The derisive smile. A smile that taunted Sugaro. That obscene smile – yes, it was the expression in the portrait at the exhibition.
… (p. 135)
In brief, if you know and read his works, this is another interesting one for you since you can enjoy reading his story with stunning, lively dialogs; you may like all characters who happen to meet and talk to this unhappy Catholic writer called ‘Sensei’, such an honorific title, by those who know and respect him.
I found reading this 9-chapter novel “Scandal” by Shusaku Endo more enjoyable than his “Silence” (Taplinger, 1980); this one has been translated by Van C. Gessel while the other by William Johnston. I’m not sure if such translations from Japanese have had any significant effect on their readers’ understanding and reading motivation, I mean this should have had supportive evidence, probably, from some research degree projects. However, I think this is only a tentative idea, a tip of thought that raised from what I sometime felt why I preferred some with readable translations.
Indeed, I didn’t know what to say regarding its review but I thought I should do it anyway so that my GR friends know and decide themselves to read it or not. From this psychological thriller, there is a famous respectably married 65-year-old novelist named Sugaro allegedly accused of his frequent visits to the porn district in Tokyo, his portrait exhibited there by a drunken woman. He ardently denies any visit or his picture ever allowed anywhere. While reading on, I think this is a kind of double identity (presumably suffered from dual personality) that instantly reminds me of those two notorious characters penned by Robert Louise Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange...) The facts on his identity as such are based on: 1) His own consciousness of working, staying at home with his wife, meeting Madame Naruse, and so on that play major role, most of the episodic phenomena narrated by Endo, and 2) Another under the guise of himself incredibly similar in bodily stature and appearances.
While reading each chapter, I sometime felt as if I had encountered sequential episodes in the guise of dream-like phenomena, for instance:
A ripple of laughter skittered over the hall. Sugaro was elated as he glanced towards the doorway at the centre of the auditorium. Then suddenly he blinked his eyes furiously.
He was there. The face identical to Sugaro’s own was poised near the doorway, looking towards Sugaro with its mocking smile. It was the same experience he had had on the night of the prizegiving.
‘The asset of being a good listener … is built into the liability of being a poor speaker. … This is what I have repeated to myself over the years as I have written my novels.’
He felt a chill and blinked his eyes again. But this time the man did not vanish as he had before. The derisive smile. A smile that taunted Sugaro. That obscene smile – yes, it was the expression in the portrait at the exhibition.
… (p. 135)
In brief, if you know and read his works, this is another interesting one for you since you can enjoy reading his story with stunning, lively dialogs; you may like all characters who happen to meet and talk to this unhappy Catholic writer called ‘Sensei’, such an honorific title, by those who know and respect him.
April 14, 2017
Might have been more cutting edge in 1986; kinda stale and dated now. There is a lot of tortured, extra repressed pearl clutching regarding sex and eroticism, as, I suppose, befits the kind of devout Christian Suguro, Endo's aging writer protagonist, is.
It takes the narrative some time to develop, with the second half rapidly becoming more and more confused. Endo doesn't seem to make any substantial distinction between S&M as a niche form of sexual expression, and sadomasochism as an inherent "grain" of evil within human nature. Which, apparently, it is? Because Freud? Like I said, probably edgier in '86 (though props for the way Endo handles bisexuality).
Anyway. Gilles de Rais and Countess Bathory also get referenced as part an increasingly more and more ridiculous buildup to the entirely predictable climax. What I should have done, is make a drinking game out of every time Suguro is carried away by his instincts of a writer; that might have improved on the material. Seriously, every two pages, there was poor, repressed, tormented Suguro carrying the cross of Writer Instincts™ through the morass of humanity, all without the slightest hint of irony. (Yes, I get Suguro's self-involvement is intentionally positioned the way it is within the narrative, but in order for it to work, it also to generate interest. And it doesn't.)
In conclusion, the whole thing felt like the literary equivalent of the welcome to my twisted mind meme, with a deliberately repulsive climactic scene added in for extra shock and symbolic value. Overall well written, if not especially compelling. Similar themes, but Christianity-free and aided by more sophisticated handling, occur in Toddler-Hunting & Other Stories. Go read that instead.
It takes the narrative some time to develop, with the second half rapidly becoming more and more confused. Endo doesn't seem to make any substantial distinction between S&M as a niche form of sexual expression, and sadomasochism as an inherent "grain" of evil within human nature. Which, apparently, it is? Because Freud? Like I said, probably edgier in '86 (though props for the way Endo handles bisexuality).
Anyway. Gilles de Rais and Countess Bathory also get referenced as part an increasingly more and more ridiculous buildup to the entirely predictable climax. What I should have done, is make a drinking game out of every time Suguro is carried away by his instincts of a writer; that might have improved on the material. Seriously, every two pages, there was poor, repressed, tormented Suguro carrying the cross of Writer Instincts™ through the morass of humanity, all without the slightest hint of irony. (Yes, I get Suguro's self-involvement is intentionally positioned the way it is within the narrative, but in order for it to work, it also to generate interest. And it doesn't.)
In conclusion, the whole thing felt like the literary equivalent of the welcome to my twisted mind meme, with a deliberately repulsive climactic scene added in for extra shock and symbolic value. Overall well written, if not especially compelling. Similar themes, but Christianity-free and aided by more sophisticated handling, occur in Toddler-Hunting & Other Stories. Go read that instead.
March 27, 2009
Scandal by Endo Shusaku is about human nature and man's struggle with the flesh. Endo sees the dark side of man as inherent to his being, where "good and evil" reside simultaneously within man's soul. In every man lies the potential of evil to flourish.
The main character, a respected novelist and family man, Suguro, is thrown into a state of confusion and anxiety by a woman who claims to know him from the seedy districts of Tokyo. Seeking to clear his good name he searches for the truth. However, this search only hastens his own destruction as he becomes acquainted to a young maid employed by his household. Drawn to her young, untainted and fleshly body, and drunk with anticipation, he commits unpardonable sins - acts of salacious cruelty - as he ravages the body and mind of the young girl without conscience.
The plot is driven by one man's frantic search, as he is enveloped in paranoia, self-doubt, guilt and lust. Endo lures us in and shocks with this account of unrestrained horror. The story keeps you on edge from the first page.
The main character, a respected novelist and family man, Suguro, is thrown into a state of confusion and anxiety by a woman who claims to know him from the seedy districts of Tokyo. Seeking to clear his good name he searches for the truth. However, this search only hastens his own destruction as he becomes acquainted to a young maid employed by his household. Drawn to her young, untainted and fleshly body, and drunk with anticipation, he commits unpardonable sins - acts of salacious cruelty - as he ravages the body and mind of the young girl without conscience.
The plot is driven by one man's frantic search, as he is enveloped in paranoia, self-doubt, guilt and lust. Endo lures us in and shocks with this account of unrestrained horror. The story keeps you on edge from the first page.
May 28, 2018
Scandal is one of Endo's later works, which I believe was written as a reply to Freudian psychoanalysis as the ultimate answer to humanity's sexual urges. Endo seems to be playing with the idea of the "unconscious" as a space which makes sin and salvation possible; however, Endo also seems to be questioning the validity of the unconscious' origin as simply an Oedipal desire to be with the mother. He digs deeper into the darkness of masochism and sadism as it plays out in his characters and questions whether these can originate from biological desire. Yes, all animals have a desire to procreate, but only humans seem to long for something greater, and this longing twists the act of sex into something much filthier.
The book is a little sloppy compared to Endo's other works, especially since Endo is forcing himself into the protagonist a little too much, and his Christian message is a little heavy-handed. Still, Scandal raised some interesting questions in my mind, and I applaud Endo's attempt to break off from his usual narrative techniques.
The book is a little sloppy compared to Endo's other works, especially since Endo is forcing himself into the protagonist a little too much, and his Christian message is a little heavy-handed. Still, Scandal raised some interesting questions in my mind, and I applaud Endo's attempt to break off from his usual narrative techniques.
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