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Silence
- Narrated by: David Holt
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
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Silence
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Summary
Recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels".
Considered controversial ever since its first publication, it tackles the thorniest religious issues of belief and faith head on.
A novel of historical fiction, it is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Vonny Milonny
- 21-05-18
An excellent story
Well written and narrated, I look forward to listening to others by the same author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T
- 18-02-18
silence
I sat in silence after listening to this book.. very thought provoking. highly recommended read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Watchman
- 13-05-22
A highlight
A thought-provoking tale based on real life Japanese history that has many layers and depth of meaning. It has long lasting appeal and the characters are very human and fleshed out. Good narrator too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- paul phillips
- 30-11-16
excellent
loved it. very engaging. very good story, well told in a very minimalist execution. I'm looking forward to other books by the author.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 12-06-17
decent
I enjoyed this but I felt like it fizzled out a bit at the end
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rory
- 27-07-17
Beautiful writing, powerful messages
So this book is like nothing I've read before. It's so quietly understated, and brings to bear so many complicated issues in a way that makes you wonder what you believe and why you believe it.
Its stark narrative style makes the (many) emotive passages so poignant, and without tending to melodrama, the effect is devastating and fascinating.
It's not going to be for everyone, for sure. The prose might feel a bit dry, the premise a bit strange, some of the descriptions too graphic, but for me, that's what makes this worth reading. I'll be back to read/listen again.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. M. Poulain
- 22-11-21
A Religious Quandry
**spoiler alert** An incredibly moving read, the novel sets up an intriguing contrast between the desire of missionaries to do good vs spread christianity in a way that I don't think has any bible based solution. The different characters demonstrate differences in their "weakness" from Kichijiro, to Garrpe with different issues of how they could have been good christians in another time without persecution, and why God would send such trials that the men and priests could not endure.
The titular Silence is interesting and the resolution of why God is silent is interesting as an interpretation. I was really reminded of 1984 in parts with the mental and physical tortures ongoing to change someone's ideology but that might just be because I recently read that book. The idea that Christianity didn't really take root in Japan because of their inability to understand the concepts of a God who is not human or of the earth is interesting but I can't seem to find any references to it outside of Silence.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Macwoman
- 21-08-17
Perils of a missionary
An unusual book about Portuguese missionaries in Japan. Not a wide appeal but if you find religion and belief interesting this will be for you. The danger of trying to persuade others of your faith turns out to be that they may end up persuading you. The Japanese were a hard case for spreading Roman Catholicism. They were not irreligious - had a strong faith of their own that worked for them, and the missionaries arrived in an arrogant frame of mind, not understanding the land or the people. The parallels with Islamic State are clear enough - the assumption there is only one right way to live, plus a common belief in martyrdom - some have described it as a death cult. I found the book challenging on many levels, and the ending may surprise you.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- ms
- 13-06-17
Very Dark Memory
Hard to hear such a story but well done. Finished the Book and glad to have done so. Definitely an interesting look at the whole meaning of religion and a good reason not to go there. Not uplifting but this subject isn't so go in with your eyes open.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 22-06-18
Heavy-going listen but picks up eventually
Found this very heavy-going for the first half, the second half grew on me immensely. It's not a frivelous read so it's something best left for when you're in the right mindset to really take in what's going on.
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