Novel
Silence
沈黙
Shūsaku Endō · 1966
Synopsis
Rumour has it that Father Ferreira, a Portuguese Jesuit, renounced his faith under torture in Japan. Three of his former pupils decide to enter the country secretly; in Goa, they meet Kichijirō, a Japanese man who helps them cross over, according to an American reference database. Rodrigues and Garupe land by night at Tomogi, near Nagasaki, where hidden Christians welcome them. The authorities make suspects trample a holy image; two villagers who refuse, Mokichi and Ichizō, drown in the rising tide.
Context
The novel was published in 1966 by Shinchōsha. Less than half of the book is Rodrigues's journal; the rest is made up of letters from other characters and a third-person narrative. The hero is modelled on an Italian missionary, Giuseppe Chiara, and Ferreira on a real Jesuit, Cristóvão Ferreira, who received in Japan the name Sawano Chūan. William Johnston's English translation appeared in 1969, and it is on this that the French version of 1971 was based, according to the BnF catalogue.
Who it is for
A short novel, made of letters and a diary, for those who want to read a meditation on faith tested by the suffering of others.
Prizes and reception
Tanizaki Prize in 1966; three films have been made from it, in Japan in 1971, in Portugal in 1996 and in the United States in 2016, as well as an opera in 2000.