Profile of Shusaku Endo on Famous Like Me

Shusaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shusaku, March 27, 1923 to September 29, 1996) was a renowned 20th Century Japanese author who wrote from the unique perspective of a Roman Catholic Japanese. Together with Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Shotaro Yasuoka, Junzo Shono, Hiroyuki Agawa, Ayako Sono, and Shumon Miura, Endo is categorized as one of the Third Generation, the third major group of writers who appeared after the Second World War. His mother converted when he was a small child, and raised the young Endo as a Catholic.

Endo studied French literature at the University of Lyon from 1950 to 1953.

His books reflect many of his childhood experiences. These include the stigma of being an outsider, the experience of being a foreigner, the life of a hospital patient, and the struggle with tuberculosis. However, his books mainly deal with the moral fabric of life. His Roman Catholic faith can be seen at some level in all of his books, and it is often a central feature. Most of his characters struggle with complex moral dilemmas, and their choices often produce mixed or tragic results. In this his work is often compared to that of Graham Greene. In fact, Greene has personally labeled Endo one of the finest writers of the 20th century.

Bibliography

• White Man (1955)
• Yellow Man (1955)
• The Sea and Poison (1957): Set largely in a Fukuoka hospital, during World War II, this novel is concerned with lethal vivisections carried out on downed American airmen. It is told from the first-person point of view of one of the doctors, and the third-person perspective of his colleagues who cut open, experiment on, and kill the six crew members. This is based on a true incident. It was made into the 1986 movie Umi to dokuyaku, directed by Kei Kumai and starring Eiji Okuda and Ken Watanabe.
• Wonderful Fool (1959): A story about a kind, innocent but naive Frenchman visiting post-war Tokyo.
• Volcano (1960)
• The Girl I Left Behind (1963)
• Foreign Studies (1965)
• Silence (1966): Endo's most famous work and generally regarded as his masterpiece. It is a historical novel, telling the story of a Portuguese missionary in early 17th century Japan who becomes an apostate.
• The Golden Country (1970)
• Upon The Dead Sea (1973)
• A Life of Jesus (1973)
• When I Whistle (1974)
• The Samurai (1980): A historical novel, relating the Embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga to America and Europe in the 17th century.
• Scandal (1986): Set in Tokyo, the book is about a novelist who finds himself caught up in the scandal of the title.
• Deep River (1993): Set in India, it chronicles the physical and spiritual journey of a group of Japanese tourists who are facing a wide range of moral and spiritual dilemmas in their respective lives.

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