Silence by Shusaku Ends

“Lord, why are you silent? Why are you always silent...?” 
― Shūsaku Endō, Silence

Silence is filled with non-quiet moments that make you want to scream, "Dear God, please save these poor Japanese people!" It is a lesson in the decisions that religious people make to protect themselves from the torture in dictatorship ran countries where freedom of religion doesn't exist. 

Endo does a great job of helping you to feel the stress that Father Rodrigues goes through with every step of his journey from Portugal to Japan. He and his missionary companion Garpe go in good faith to find Father Ferreira a priest whom the word around the Christian world says apostatized from the Catholic Church. Rodrigues and Garpe were Ferreira's students, they don't believe that he could have become an apostate.

Many times Rodrigues talks to the Lord of Chicago, Inoue who argues that the Catholic faith is not for the Japanese. During one of those conversations Inoue argues that the Japanese don't need the christian religion, they have the Buddha, they have their religion and that the Catholic faith is a false teaching, an untruth for the Japanese. This is how Rodrigues answers: 

"'according to our way of thinking, truth is universal, said the priest... a moment ago you officials expressed sympathy for the suffering I have passed through. One of you spoke words of warm consolation for my traveling thousands of miles of sea over such a long period to come to your country. If we did not believe that truth is universal, why should so many missionaries endure these hardships? It is precisely because truth is common to all countries and all times that we call it truth. If a true doctrine were not true alike in Portugal and Japan we could not call it "true".' " - Rodrigues, Silence

Garpe, the priest and companion drowns in the ocean as Rodrigues watches, while trying to save some of their congregation before the faithful japanese are drowned themselves. Rodrigues in the end is not as strong as he believes as Garpe was to save the japanese people. The journey through his belief becomes parallel to the one that Christ took on his way to eternal life until the very end of Christ's Martyrdom. Their guide Kuchijiro fills the role of Judas. At the point right before death Rodrigues must decide what it means to save his people: for them to die for his teachings and their faith or for him to die as a martyr never backing down from his belief. 

“I did pray. I kept on Praying. But prayer did nothing to alleviate their suffering.”  ― Shūsaku Endō, Silence


This book was a powerful, hard read. It's easy to know what you believe until you must choose between death and life. Then, what will you do? Do you stand firm for your beliefs or do you choose to help others live by denying your faith? 

That is the eternal question: to die a martyr and watch others die with you, or to live and watch others live too? If you choose to live, how do you live with yourself, knowing that through the rest of your life you will know that you gave up on your beliefs. How do you choose? What would you do?



Have you read Silence? What did you take away from it? 

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Reading All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda was definitely an adventure. No, not an adventure, it's a psychological thriller. I loved every twist and turn.

Nicolette Farrell left her small close knit town when she was 18 years old after her best friend Corrine disappeared. 10 years later she gets a mysterious call from her brother and she gets sucked back in to a place she never wanted to visit again.  This thriller is written in a unique fashion. I won't tell you about that because i don't want to ruin any of the fun you will encounter.

This is the 1st book I've read of Ms. Miranda's.  I was blessed to be able to talk to her about All The Missing Girls. 

My Question: "Megan- what part of writing the story was a surprise even to you? Did your characters develop their own stories that you didn't plan?" 

Megan's Answer: "So many elements end up surprising me as I write! This is one of my favorite parts about writing too -- I love to discover something I never expected when starting out. So many of the characters ended up becoming different than who I thought they were at the start. It was like I was uncovering more about them, just as Nic was." 

The intrigue of the muse has always gotten to me. We don't control our characters, they control us. We are just their mode of transportation into the world of their story. 

Nic seems to be unemotional, selfish woman during the whole story, however if you really analyze her reactions you see she is doing everything she can just to hold her mind together. Will she decide to face her past? Will we find out where Corinne disappeared to and do we ever really know who, in that small little town who is actually telling the truth? That is what you will wonder as you go through the life of Nicolette, her family and close friends. 
*I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The written format was perfect for the story. The characters were full of depth and I felt like I could be living in the midst of them all. Not that I want to be part of a murder mind you, but they were real flesh and bone to me. I feel that is the sign of a great author! 

I am now anxiously, anticipating reading her new book, The Perfect Stranger. 

My Rating: 

It's that good!

Read it for yourself and see if you agree with me...