{"title":"Shusaku Endo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShusaku Endo's\u003c\/strong\u003e novels delve deeply into the complexities of faith, identity, and the human condition. His works often explore the tensions between Eastern and Western cultures, weaving rich narratives that challenge readers to reflect on morality and spirituality within a historical context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect profound, contemplative stories such as \u003cem\u003eSilence\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e, where Endo's nuanced characters confront suffering, doubt, and redemption with remarkable subtlety and emotional depth.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-samurai-by-shusaku-endo-9780241307465","title":"The Samurai","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA superb historical novel by one of Japan's greatest novelists\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1613, Father Pedro Velasco's dream came true. He set sail with a small group of Japanese Samurai, first for Mexico, then Spain, then Rome. Velasco could speak Japanese and his zealous hope was to become bishop of a converted, Catholic Japan. They were the first Japanese ever to cross the Pacific. Velasco's mission, along with that of the Samurai, was to use Western trade to turn Japan into a Christian country. This epic journey was filled with incredible danger and hardship, underwritten solely by faith...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn exciting, imaginative dramatization of real events, Shusaku Endo's great work, \u003cem\u003eThe Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e, is also a profoundly personal one, reflecting on his beliefs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46250153345260,"sku":"9780241307465","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241307465.jpg?v=1741539202"},{"product_id":"portraits-of-a-mother-by-shusaku-endo-9780300279436","title":"Portraits of a Mother","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom beloved Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, a newly discovered novella and five short stories of love, grief, and maternal longing.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShūsaku Endō, widely considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, is known for his historical novels, which masterfully probe the encounters between the cultures and religions of East and West from a Japanese Catholic perspective. A salient and curious theme in his work is the unique image of a maternal God, and a concomitant sense of loss and longing for maternal love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eConfronting the Shadows\u003c\/em\u003e, the semiautobiographical novella discovered at the Endō Museum in Nagasaki in 2020, is Endō's most personal work and the interpretive key to his entire oeuvre. It tells the story of Suguro, an aspiring novelist who was separated from his mother after his parents' divorce. Desperate to understand the woman his mother was, he sets out to retrace her footsteps, only to find himself face to face with his own demons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAccompanying the novella are five stories, each disclosing the intricacies of the sacred feminine and the apprehensions and joys of familial love. Endō once again beams bright light into the hidden corners of the human heart in this remarkable new collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853288788204,"sku":"9780300279436","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24792103482294.jpg?v=1759195211"},{"product_id":"sachiko-by-shusaku-endo-9780231197311","title":"Sachiko","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn novels such as \u003cem\u003eSilence\u003c\/em\u003e, Endō Shūsaku examined the persecution of Japanese Christians in different historical eras. \u003cem\u003eSachiko\u003c\/em\u003e, set in Nagasaki during the painful years between 1930 and 1945, is the story of two young people trying to find love during yet another period in which Japanese Christians were accused of disloyalty to their country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the 1930s, two young Japanese Christians, Sachiko and Shūhei, are free to play with American children in their neighbourhood. But life becomes increasingly difficult for them and other Christians after Japan launches wars of aggression. Meanwhile, a Polish Franciscan priest and former missionary in Nagasaki, Father Maximillian Kolbe, is arrested after returning to his homeland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEndō alternates scenes between Nagasaki—where the growing love between Sachiko and Shūhei is imperilled by mounting persecution—and Auschwitz, where the priest has been sent. Shūhei's dilemma deepens when he faces conscription into the Japanese military, conflicting with the Christian belief that killing is a sin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki looming in the distance, Endō depicts ordinary people trying to live lives of faith in a wartime situation that renders daily life increasingly unbearable. Endō's compassion for his characters, reflecting their struggles to find and share love for others, makes \u003cem\u003eSachiko\u003c\/em\u003e one of his most moving novels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853294391532,"sku":"9780231197311","price":52.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/8029813482270.jpg?v=1759195533"},{"product_id":"the-sea-and-poison-by-shusaku-endo-9781805332428","title":"The Sea and Poison","description":"In 1950s Japan, Doctor Suguro is carrying on a humdrum practice in a small town still recovering from the war. A quiet, withdrawn individual, he has a horrific secret in his past: during the war he participated in an experimental operation on a downed American airman, carrying out a vivisection which led to his agonising death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs we move from the seemingly tranquil, civilised present back into the wartime past, we learn more about the people involved in the operation. There's sensitive Suguro, whose acquiescence at the time has left him with an agonised conscience; Toda, a worldly colleague who readily participated in order to advance his career; and Ueda, a nurse who had no power to resist the plans of her male colleagues - nor any pity for the enemy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on real events, this spare, harrowing novel is a profound exploration of the pressures of conflict, the moral numbness of conformity, and the painful legacy of violence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288998199532,"sku":"9781805332428","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/d8cfec55742f6e0800d0978c8589796b.jpg?v=1770602265"},{"product_id":"silence-by-shusaku-endo-9781805330783","title":"Silence","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFather Sebastian Rodrigues sets sail for Japan in 1640. He is on a mission to find one of the Portuguese Jesuits that went before him, a spiritual example to the younger priests, and disprove the shocking rumours that this man has betrayed his faith. Embarking full of idealistic fire, Rodrigues soon finds that life in this strange land will challenge his convictions, too. For the Tokugawa shogunate has banned Christianity and expelled all the missionaries from Japan— and the believers who remain must worship in secret or face torture and execution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by the author's own experience as a Japanese Catholic, this masterpiece of historical fiction, hailed as one of the twentieth century's finest novels, tells a harrowing story of compassion, doubt, and enduring faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'His masterpiece' - Los Angeles Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Endo's great gift to his readers...is to dignify ambiguity.' - Caryl Phillips\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47496516862188,"sku":"9781805330783","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781805330783-silence.jpg?v=1775798312"},{"product_id":"deep-river-by-shusaku-endo-9781805331551","title":"Deep River","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEndo is one of the world's greatest novelists\u003c\/em\u003e - Washington Post\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA group of Japanese tourists journey to the sacred River Ganges, each on a secret personal pilgrimage. Widower Isobe mourns for the devoted wife he neglected; gentle children's writer Numanda seeks out the bird he believes saved his life; Kiguchi is haunted by his time as a soldier along the Highway of Death; and Mitsuko reconnects with the classmate she tempted away from the church and cruelly discarded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the softly lapping shores of the river—where the faithful come to bathe during their final moments—self-knowledge is sought and memories put to rest. Set against a rich backdrop of 90s India, \u003cem\u003eDeep River\u003c\/em\u003e is a beautifully moving story showing Endo at the height of his powers as a chronicler of religious experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47932140749036,"sku":"9781805331551","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781805331551-deep-river.jpg?v=1783853987"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/shusaku-endo.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}