17
Apr
2009
Deep River by Shusaku Endo
Shusaku Endo is unique. His books incorporate his sense of Catholic-Japanese spirituality in their themes. There’s probaly only half a million Catholics in Japan, and another half a million Christians. And yet he is a prized Japanese writer, a prized human writer for that matter, because of the intricacies with which he imbues his characters, making them dynamic people you might meet anywhere, at any time.
Deep River is the story of a Japanese tourist group in India. Each character in the group is distinct from each other, but their lives intertwine to create one tale.
Isobe has recently lost his wife due to cancer. He’s still reeling from her death, and the guilt he feels from ignoring her throughout their marriage. He was a man of few words, even in the privacy of their own home, and was always uncomfortable with simple things like holding her hands, and her habit of talking to plants.
Mitsuko is volunteering at the hospital where Isobe’s wife is dying when we briefly first meet her, two chapters before her own story begins. She’s kind of a bitch, and we come to understand that this really isn’t anything new. She toys with Otsu, a “square” while in college, turning him away from Christianity to her bed. Just ’cause. Not really even just because he can. Just ’cause. She goes on to marry a boring executive, but ends up divorcing him. Her path of cynicism spirals from there.
Numada writes fables most people assume are children’s books due to the anthropomorphized animals he uses as central characters. He writes these stories out of a yearning he has, even as an adult, to speak to, and be comforted by, living creatures. Numada has just spent two years in a hospital suffering a relapse of TB, which led to pleural effusion. He finally got better after a risky operation, during which his pet bird died. Numada believes, deep down, the bird died in his place.
Kiguchi’s story is my favorite, I think. He is a veteran of WWII, having survived the Burmese Highway of Death by doing the only thing available to him. He is haunted by these memories. The reason I like his story the best is its resolution, which I won’t name here. But suffice it to say that solace can be found in watery rebirth in all sorts of cultures and beliefs.
Otsu has turned into a failed seminarian, largely due to Mitsuko, who lets remember, hasn’t grown into a better person as she’s aged. The two are reunited as he is working in India. He transports bodies of the poor dead to the Ganges river, which is a job no upstanding Hindu would do. He has rejected the Catholicism of his youth, but not the equality and charity that lies in the heart of its teachings.
Everyone finds a little something in India. Some sort of strengthening rebirth. Even Mitsuko is able to leave a better person.
If you like this book/author, you might like:
(my reviews in blue)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Saving Fish From Drowing by Amy Tan
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh
Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Thou Art That by Joseph Campbell
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra
Other works by Shusaku Endo:
Wonderful Fool
The Sea and Poison
The Girl I Left Behind
Silence
The Final Martyrs
When I Whistle
Stained Glass Elegies
The Samurai
A Life of Jesus
Scandal
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