Böcker av Shūsaku Endō

From beloved Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, a newly discovered novella and five short stories of love, grief, and maternal longing

A gripping adventure story from "a masterly historical writer" about a Japanese expedition to cross the Pacific Ocean in the 17th century (David Mitchell) "A historical fiction with meanings for many cultures and all seasons, and a great travel narrative; its re-creations of place are extraordinary." ― The New York Times Book Review "All of Endo's work has been influential. He truly understands what it means to be both of ― and not of ― a place." ― Caryl Phillips, author of The Lost Child A classic of Japanese literature, The Samurai is one of Shūsaku Endo's finest and most atmospheric works, brilliantly conveying the searing traumas of faith, both lost and newly discovered. In 17th-century Japan, a ship sets sail for Nueva España as part of an envoy to expand trade with the West. Onboard are a zealous Spanish missionary, who dreams of becoming bishop of Japan, and a disenchanted Samurai seeking to recover his lost family lands. In a journey full of peril, both men's lives and ambitions hang in the balance as political machinations loom large and the terrifying persecution of Christians advances through Japan. Winner of the 1980 Noma Literary Prize, The Samurai is an intensely moving portrait of human courage and endurance, taken from a real event in history, and told with Endo's signature stark simplicity. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world's greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

In novels such as Silence, Endo Shusaku examined the persecution of Japanese Christians in different historical eras. Sachiko, set in Nagasaki in 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.

In 1613, four low-ranking Japanese samurai, accompanied by a Spanish priest,set sail for Mexico to bargain for trading rights with the West in exchange fora Catholic crusade through Japan. Their arduous journey lasts four years, asthey travel onward to Mexico then Rome, where they are persuaded that thesuccess of their mission depends on their conversion to Christianity. In fact,the enterprise seems to have been futile from the start: the mission returns toJapan to find that the political tides have shifted. The authorities are now pursuing an isolationist policy and a ruthless stamping out of Western influences.In the face of disillusionment and death, the samurai can only find solace in asavior they're not sure they believe in.

Kiku's Prayer is told through the eyes of Kiku, a self-assured young woman from a rural Japanese village who falls in love with Seikichi, a devoted Catholic man. Practicing a faith still banned by the government, Seikichi is imprisoned but refuses to recant under torture. Kiku's efforts to reconcile her feelings for Seikichi's religion with the sacrifices she makes to free him mirror the painful, conflicting choices Japan faced as a result of exposure to modernity and the West. Seikichi's persecution exemplifies Japan's insecurities, and Kiku's tortured yet determined spirit represents the nation's resilient soul.Set in the turbulent years of the transition from the shogunate to the Meiji Restoration, Kiku's Prayer embodies themes central to Endo Shusaku's work, including religion, modernization, and the endurance of the human spirit. Yet this novel is much more than a historical allegory. It acutely renders one woman's troubled encounter with passion and spirituality at a transitional time in her life and in the history of her people. A renowned twentieth-century Japanese author, Endo wrote from the perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic. His work is often compared with that of Graham Greene, who himself considered Endo one of the century's finest writers.

The river is the Ganges, where a group of Japanese tourists converge: Isobe, grieving the death of the wife he ignored in life; Kiguchi, haunted by war-time memories of the Highway of Death in Burma; Numada, recovering from a critical illness; Mitsuko, a cynical woman struggling with inner emptiness; and, the butt of her cruel interest, Otsu, a failed seminarian for whom the figure on the cross is a god of many faces. In this novel, the renowned Japanese writer Shusaku Endo reaches his ultimate religious vision.