Silence

Endō Shūsaku · 1923–1996 · Japan

Originally Chinmoku (Japanese) · translated by William Johnston

Why it matters

A Portuguese missionary in seventeenth-century Japan faces persecution and the agonizing question of whether God is present or absent in suffering. Endō's masterpiece of faith and doubt, and its most searching test of belief.

At a glance

Clear narrative surface carrying heavy theological and moral weight.