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The Final Martyrs
All the salient qualities that distinguish the superb work of Japanese writer Shusaku Endo are on full display in this new collection of eleven stories written over the course of almost thirty years. The themes are akin to those in the author's novels (Silence and The Sea and Poison, for example): the martyrdom of Roman Catholics in Japan; coming to terms with old age - a compound of infirmity, fear, and pangs of nostalgia; the incongruity of Japanese travelers in Europe; spiritual doubt and sexual yearning; and, clearly, elements of autobiography, particularly of Endo's lonely boyhood unhappiness over the strife between his parents that ended in divorce. There is no other contemporary Japanese writer who has achieved such a balanced blend of things Western with those inherently Japanese. As John Updike comments in The New Yorker, Endo's work is "sombre, delicate, startlingly emphatic." It is also uniquely moving in its compassionate exploration of the human condition.
220 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 1994
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About the author
Shūsaku Endō
384 books1,046 followersShusaku Endo (遠藤周作), born in Tokyo in 1923, was raised by his mother and an aunt in Kobe where he converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of eleven. At Tokyo's Keio University he majored in French literature, graduating BA in 1949, before furthering his studies in French Catholic literature at the University of Lyon in France between 1950 and 1953. A major theme running through his books, which have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Russian and Swedish, is the failure of Japanese soil to nurture the growth of Christianity. Before his death in 1996, Endo was the recipient of a number of outstanding Japanese literary awards: the Akutagawa Prize, Mainichi Cultural Prize, Shincho Prize, and Tanizaki Prize.
(from the backcover of Volcano).
(from the backcover of Volcano).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 28, 2018
The decorous atmosphere of death and decadence lingers on the pages of Endo's short stories in 'The Final Martyrs'; as Endo himself states, the condensed form of the short story represents the purest distillation of a writer's aesthetic and beneath the theme of Christianity which so dominates Endo's oeuvre lies a preoccupation with our mortality; whether it be the tortures experienced by the Christians in 'The Final Martrys', for whom death was path towards paradise, a release from the pain of life, whether it be the horors of the torture chamber or the hopelessness of their existence, or of Chiba, whose reaches am emotional apotheosis upon realising that all the beings who he loved most; his mother, brother and dog, are dead, but that he is able to keep them alive via his memories and love.
The fallibility of the Christian characters is another theme which is key to understanding Endo's works and reflective of his fraught relationship with Christianity. The stories are full of Christians who are unable to act in accordance with the values espoused; whether it be the cruelty of the villagers towards the cowardly Kisuke, or even of Kisuke's own apostasy, which serves as a betrayal to his fellow Christians, the majority of whom undergo tortures rather than give up their beliefs, or of the Spanish priest in 'Shadows' whose fervour and piousness only runs skin deep, as the narrator finds out when he finds out he is in a relationship with a woman; the sense of timorousness he felt before the priests is replaced with incredulity at his betrayal and hypocrisy.
Indeed Endo's accounts of human frailty and deception are interspersed with moments of beauty, fulminous flickers of beauty beneath an endless expanse of emptiness;
"A large bank of leaden clouds spread over the city, and only one slice of sky to the West glimmered a milky white, spilling a few beams of faint, forlorn light."
And so, for Endo, true grace lay in our ability to recognise these brief moments of beauty, not in the egotistical fervour of so many Christians or in the superficial vulgarity of the rich Japanese tourists in 'Japanese in Warsaw; an encounter with a lachrymose missionary as he climbs a hill, the reverberations of the church bell on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Lyon, the slow shimmer of sunlight as a couple sit on a park bench; this are the moments which, for Endo, imbue our life with meaning,
The fallibility of the Christian characters is another theme which is key to understanding Endo's works and reflective of his fraught relationship with Christianity. The stories are full of Christians who are unable to act in accordance with the values espoused; whether it be the cruelty of the villagers towards the cowardly Kisuke, or even of Kisuke's own apostasy, which serves as a betrayal to his fellow Christians, the majority of whom undergo tortures rather than give up their beliefs, or of the Spanish priest in 'Shadows' whose fervour and piousness only runs skin deep, as the narrator finds out when he finds out he is in a relationship with a woman; the sense of timorousness he felt before the priests is replaced with incredulity at his betrayal and hypocrisy.
Indeed Endo's accounts of human frailty and deception are interspersed with moments of beauty, fulminous flickers of beauty beneath an endless expanse of emptiness;
"A large bank of leaden clouds spread over the city, and only one slice of sky to the West glimmered a milky white, spilling a few beams of faint, forlorn light."
And so, for Endo, true grace lay in our ability to recognise these brief moments of beauty, not in the egotistical fervour of so many Christians or in the superficial vulgarity of the rich Japanese tourists in 'Japanese in Warsaw; an encounter with a lachrymose missionary as he climbs a hill, the reverberations of the church bell on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Lyon, the slow shimmer of sunlight as a couple sit on a park bench; this are the moments which, for Endo, imbue our life with meaning,
January 30, 2020
Rereading Silence at the start of the year reminded me that there are a lot of books by Endo that I haven’t read. There’s quite a lot there hasn’t been translated, but I found a copy of The Final Martyrs in the library and decided to make that my first Endo Short Story read (I know, I did my EE on him and I haven’t even read his short stories!)
The Final Martyrs is a collection of eleven short stories from 1959 (before Silence was published in 1966 to 1985. The titular story is a historical piece that inspired Silence, but the rest of the short stories were set in the present, now recent past. Settings range from Japan to Warsaw to Dalian, China. Many include autobiographical details, something that makes sense when you read the afterword, where Endo writes that he has “forged intimate familiar ties with these characters, who reflect portions of myself.”
Of the eleven short stories, the two that left the greatest impression on me were:
1. The Final Martyrs: Kisuke, a known coward and proto-Kichijiro character, is the first in his village to apostatise under torture. But like the character that comes after him, Kisuke returns to the brothers that he betrayed.
2. The Last Supper: Endo uses the concept of the last supper to deal with guilt and sin in a very modern way. This story was haunting and it’s going to stick with me for some time.
My overall sense of this book is that though it was written over a long period of time, there is a lot less wrestling with God than what you get in Silence. Perhaps it’s because a lot of the books have older protagonists looking back on their lives, but though the stories deal with the similar themes of belonging, youth/life, and death, they don’t deal with the question of God’s existence as much. It’s as though he’s wrestling with ideas within Christianity than with Christianity, if that makes it a bit clearer.
While I wouldn’t recommend this as an introduction to Endo’s work (Silence is still my number one recommendation), fans of Endo’s fiction and those looking to explore the one of the ways Japanese people interpret Christianity should read this collection.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
The Final Martyrs is a collection of eleven short stories from 1959 (before Silence was published in 1966 to 1985. The titular story is a historical piece that inspired Silence, but the rest of the short stories were set in the present, now recent past. Settings range from Japan to Warsaw to Dalian, China. Many include autobiographical details, something that makes sense when you read the afterword, where Endo writes that he has “forged intimate familiar ties with these characters, who reflect portions of myself.”
Of the eleven short stories, the two that left the greatest impression on me were:
1. The Final Martyrs: Kisuke, a known coward and proto-Kichijiro character, is the first in his village to apostatise under torture. But like the character that comes after him, Kisuke returns to the brothers that he betrayed.
2. The Last Supper: Endo uses the concept of the last supper to deal with guilt and sin in a very modern way. This story was haunting and it’s going to stick with me for some time.
My overall sense of this book is that though it was written over a long period of time, there is a lot less wrestling with God than what you get in Silence. Perhaps it’s because a lot of the books have older protagonists looking back on their lives, but though the stories deal with the similar themes of belonging, youth/life, and death, they don’t deal with the question of God’s existence as much. It’s as though he’s wrestling with ideas within Christianity than with Christianity, if that makes it a bit clearer.
While I wouldn’t recommend this as an introduction to Endo’s work (Silence is still my number one recommendation), fans of Endo’s fiction and those looking to explore the one of the ways Japanese people interpret Christianity should read this collection.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
September 21, 2019
There are eleven short stories in this collection. After having read already five of his novels, I began reading this collection. And almost all of the five novels I came across in a nutshell form or in some episodic form in the form of short stories. Obviously, the stories had been written earlier and later he had developed a few of them into full fledged novels. In a way, it was a kind of repetition. But I was very happy to go through the repetitions; to re-live the reading experience that accompanied me as I read Silence, Deep River, Scandal.
The themes dealt in Endo's stories are my favourite themes - East vs West; Christianity/Catholicism vs Japan; theme of sickness and death.
If you like/love these themes, you should not miss Shusaku Endo. Do get a copy of his book, any of his book.
The themes dealt in Endo's stories are my favourite themes - East vs West; Christianity/Catholicism vs Japan; theme of sickness and death.
If you like/love these themes, you should not miss Shusaku Endo. Do get a copy of his book, any of his book.
July 9, 2025
These are some magnificent stories. Before this, I have only read Silence, and so the titular story was pretty familiar space. The other stories, however, range pretty widely, and they are all of great quality. Often, Endo uses the first person to meditate on the times before and during World War II, and many of these stories are set in Manchuria. These stories often sound like the rambling memories of an old man, but they come to places of wisdom on life that seems very particular to Endo. All the themes seem very Japanese and very Christian to me, which is fascinating to me as a Christian (priest) myself but also as someone interested in Japanese Christianity. Where do the cultures overlap? What parts of Japan can answer questions put forward by Christianity, and vice versa? Endo's stories are rich in themes of sacrifice, love, devotion, fear, forgiveness, and a quiet, beautiful holiness. I recommend these stories to any Christian but especially to those who enjoy Japanese culture.
September 24, 2016
A 3.5-star book.
Reading this 11-story “The Final Martyrs” by Shusaku Endo, I think, should be a delight for those Endo newcomers due to its each story’s appropriate length and fine translation by Dr Van C. Gessel as approved by his published six translations of Endo’s works. (p. 2) Taken from his first story as the book title, the story itself has since portrayed his observes on Japanese Roman Catholics.
I wondered if Endo has read Maugham in Japanese, English or French (he studied at the University of Lyon), I had no information. However, I enjoyed reading his second story, Shadows, with admiration and wonder because he has proved himself as an avid reader when, surprisingly, he mentions one of the great writers in the twentieth century in this paragraph:
But how should I phrase it? Exactly how did it happen? Even now I had no idea. I don’t know how to interpret what gradually took place within your heart. Somerset Maugham has a novel called ‘Rain,’ in which a clergyman bit by bit violates the restrictions on his behavior and begins to love a woman. Maugham attempts to explain that whole process from without, using the image of long, monotonous rain. As a literary technique it is superb, but I cannot bring myself to employ such manipulation when I think about what you did. … (p. 46)
In fact, Maugham has written a short story called ‘Rain’ (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). As for those who have never read this famous story, this should interest them to find this Maugham volume to read it for sheer delight or literary comparison. I mean we of course would like to see if we can enjoy reading the story “Rain” and understand what Endo means.
Again, for the elderly, they might have a go with his third story ‘A Fifty-year-old Man’ vs. his eighth one ‘A Sixty-year-old Man’ so that they can see if they’re concerned with the same character, similar settings, practical viewpoints and so forth.
To be concise, I would not try to say something on all stories in this introductory Endo, that is, before reading his longer works like ‘The Golden Country,’ ‘Scandal,’ ‘The Sea and Poison,’ etc. By the way, I found his last story ‘The Box’ subtly touching and incredibly informative as we can see from this excerpt:
When I sleep over in my office, the first thing I always do, after waking up in the morning and washing my face, is feed some seed and greens to the tiny birds I keep. Then it’s my habit to give the plants some water. But last summer, a female editor who had come to my office on business, told me: ‘Did you know that when you’re watering your plants, if you talk to them they can understand you? You probably think that’s nonsense, but give it a try.’ A gentle-hearted, married woman brought up in the downtown shitamachi district of Tokyo, she is very fond of plants.
To be frank, I was skeptical about her remarks. I thought it was ridiculous, but at the same time I felt there was a chance that plants that plants had some kind of special faculty, so that even if they could not understand human speech, they might be sensitive to the wishes we expressed for them.
… (p. 182)
Believe it or not! If you would like to know what happens, please find a copy and read on.
Reading this 11-story “The Final Martyrs” by Shusaku Endo, I think, should be a delight for those Endo newcomers due to its each story’s appropriate length and fine translation by Dr Van C. Gessel as approved by his published six translations of Endo’s works. (p. 2) Taken from his first story as the book title, the story itself has since portrayed his observes on Japanese Roman Catholics.
I wondered if Endo has read Maugham in Japanese, English or French (he studied at the University of Lyon), I had no information. However, I enjoyed reading his second story, Shadows, with admiration and wonder because he has proved himself as an avid reader when, surprisingly, he mentions one of the great writers in the twentieth century in this paragraph:
But how should I phrase it? Exactly how did it happen? Even now I had no idea. I don’t know how to interpret what gradually took place within your heart. Somerset Maugham has a novel called ‘Rain,’ in which a clergyman bit by bit violates the restrictions on his behavior and begins to love a woman. Maugham attempts to explain that whole process from without, using the image of long, monotonous rain. As a literary technique it is superb, but I cannot bring myself to employ such manipulation when I think about what you did. … (p. 46)
In fact, Maugham has written a short story called ‘Rain’ (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). As for those who have never read this famous story, this should interest them to find this Maugham volume to read it for sheer delight or literary comparison. I mean we of course would like to see if we can enjoy reading the story “Rain” and understand what Endo means.
Again, for the elderly, they might have a go with his third story ‘A Fifty-year-old Man’ vs. his eighth one ‘A Sixty-year-old Man’ so that they can see if they’re concerned with the same character, similar settings, practical viewpoints and so forth.
To be concise, I would not try to say something on all stories in this introductory Endo, that is, before reading his longer works like ‘The Golden Country,’ ‘Scandal,’ ‘The Sea and Poison,’ etc. By the way, I found his last story ‘The Box’ subtly touching and incredibly informative as we can see from this excerpt:
When I sleep over in my office, the first thing I always do, after waking up in the morning and washing my face, is feed some seed and greens to the tiny birds I keep. Then it’s my habit to give the plants some water. But last summer, a female editor who had come to my office on business, told me: ‘Did you know that when you’re watering your plants, if you talk to them they can understand you? You probably think that’s nonsense, but give it a try.’ A gentle-hearted, married woman brought up in the downtown shitamachi district of Tokyo, she is very fond of plants.
To be frank, I was skeptical about her remarks. I thought it was ridiculous, but at the same time I felt there was a chance that plants that plants had some kind of special faculty, so that even if they could not understand human speech, they might be sensitive to the wishes we expressed for them.
… (p. 182)
Believe it or not! If you would like to know what happens, please find a copy and read on.
May 13, 2018
Although the title of the book seems non-accurent, since it only speaks of the martyrs' in the first of the eleven stories it contains, it's a reading that helps to understand part of Japanese culture during some periods of time. The narrative shows the beliefs and weaknesses of the protagonists. It interpellates about the reactions to harsh realities, such as persecution, war, fidelity, even loneliness and disappointment.
Aunque el título del libro me parece poco acertado, pues sólo habla de los mártires en el primero de los once relatos que contiene, es una lectura que ayuda a comprender parte de la cultura japonesa durante ciertos periodos de tiempo. La narración pone sobre la mesa las creencias y debilidades de los protagonistas. Interpela sobre las reacciones ante realidades duras, como la persecución, la guerra, la fidelidad, incluso la soledad y la decepción.
Aunque el título del libro me parece poco acertado, pues sólo habla de los mártires en el primero de los once relatos que contiene, es una lectura que ayuda a comprender parte de la cultura japonesa durante ciertos periodos de tiempo. La narración pone sobre la mesa las creencias y debilidades de los protagonistas. Interpela sobre las reacciones ante realidades duras, como la persecución, la guerra, la fidelidad, incluso la soledad y la decepción.
May 10, 2010
I didn't like all these stories but I still enjoyed this collection a lot. I love the way Endo gets under the skin of the characters he writes about. He brings them to life so wonderfully. And he writes about universal themes like finding one's place in the world, loneliness, faith or the lack of it etc. This makes it not only a fitting introduction to one of Japan's greatest writers, but also permits us to share in some of the insights he offers. At times, I was surprised and challenged.
April 20, 2011
"... He never disappoints." -Anthony Thwaite
and totally agree with him. Since my first encounters with Endo, he had me stunned and charmed and simply can't get enough of his works. You'd find that with Endo, human are human with their weird yet fascinating conducts and minds. Lovely.
and totally agree with him. Since my first encounters with Endo, he had me stunned and charmed and simply can't get enough of his works. You'd find that with Endo, human are human with their weird yet fascinating conducts and minds. Lovely.
November 30, 2025
(3.5 of 5) Most of the semi-autobiographical characters found in these eleven short stories appear in Endo’s other works like Silence, Deep River, Foreign Studies, and Scandal, albeit with more detail and some variation. In the story “Shadows”, the protagonist writes about the “major rivers that have given shape to my life.” He continues, “I've written a number of different novels over the years by thrusting my hands into those rivers. I've plucked up objects that have been deposited at the bottom of my river, washed the dirt from them, and arranged them all together. There are many important objects there that I still haven't dredged up.”
Endo’s rivers are aging and mortality, memory, longing, the corrosive power of hidden sin and guilt, and the failings of Christians and grace and forgiveness extended. He explores these themes in his familiar settings of Japan, Manchuria, and Lyon.
I’ll revisit “Shadows”, which describes the way a priest’s unyielding standards and dogged religious certainty impact a young man who feels he cannot possibly live up to them. When the priest hypocritically betrays his own standards, the ripple effects of disillusionment and anger in the young man’s life feel resonant for many in my generation.
Endo’s rivers are aging and mortality, memory, longing, the corrosive power of hidden sin and guilt, and the failings of Christians and grace and forgiveness extended. He explores these themes in his familiar settings of Japan, Manchuria, and Lyon.
I’ll revisit “Shadows”, which describes the way a priest’s unyielding standards and dogged religious certainty impact a young man who feels he cannot possibly live up to them. When the priest hypocritically betrays his own standards, the ripple effects of disillusionment and anger in the young man’s life feel resonant for many in my generation.
July 20, 2023
A contemplative, atmospheric collection of inner dialogue stories mixing Christianity and Japanese culture (the author being a Japanese Christian) touching on many themes. Immensely enjoyable, though the contemplative inner dialogue type of story is my wheelhouse and what I used to write in college in my fiction writing program, so I may be biased toward that type of writing. It's well done and I would read it again some day (and I very rarely re-read books).
December 23, 2012
My final selection of Endo's works for the year long reading of his works on LibraryThing.com.......The themes in these stories included Endo's usuals: Catholicism in Japan, martyrdom, loyalty, aging, facing mortality, parental conflict, and disappointment in the frailties of humanity. The foreword to this collection was written by the author. He indicates that many of the characters went on to be featured in his novels. He also confirmed that much of his writing is autobiographical, which adds an interesting layer to the understanding of the themes. Frankly, I think Endo is a very good writer, but was clearly driven to seek resolution to his own philosophical, spiritual, and personal issues. Consequently, his plots, characters, and themes are repetitive, more so than other authors, in my opinion. So, just read a couple of novels and you will be satisfied without being frustrated.
February 4, 2010
I love reading Shusaku Endo, Catholic author, Asian Christian, renowned as one of Japan's greatest novelists and one of the foremost writers of his generation in the world. This series of short stories is not as dark as the title would indicate, and it is not as dark as some of his better known novels. These stories are mostly written in the context of 20th century Japan. At times autobiographical, they explore the themes of human weakness, frailty, vulnerability, interwoven with startling sacrificial love. The Christ that Endo shows us through his characters is that of the suffering servant -- despised, rejected, foreign, ugly, smelly and pathetic -- totally incomprehensible to the Asian mind. How could this kind of person be worshiped as a god? Endo shows us how.
December 6, 2016
I think Endo's best work is probably as a novelist, but this is still a strong collection of typically guilt-laden short stories. For me, the first one was the weakest as it covered very similar ground to 'Silence' but did not really add anything new and, in fact, was the most simplistic of the bunch. I like Endo when he gets autobiographical as in the novel 'Scandal' and he does that quite a bit here. By using a character virtually identical to himself as narrator, you can never be quite sure if he's pulling your leg or not. The standout stories for me were 'Shadows', 'Japanese in Warsaw' and 'A Sixty-year-old Man'.
August 30, 2016
Having recently been blown away by "Silence" and enjoying "The Girl I Left Behind", I thought it was time to look into a short story collection of Endo's works.
Like most short story collections this one was a somewhat mixed bag, however, there wasn't any stories that really stood out. It was a bit of a disappointment after reading the aforementioned titles, since they were emotionally charged and provided interesting insights. These seemed like unpolished ideas that he would later develop into longer works.
Like most short story collections this one was a somewhat mixed bag, however, there wasn't any stories that really stood out. It was a bit of a disappointment after reading the aforementioned titles, since they were emotionally charged and provided interesting insights. These seemed like unpolished ideas that he would later develop into longer works.
December 8, 2008
Bener-bener cerita yang mengasyikan buat dibaca, alur ceritanya menarik dan berbeda, walaupun ada kesamaan latar belakang yang sedikit membosankan
pada beberapa cerita mungkin karena dikaitkan dengan latar belakang sang pengarang. Gw sangat tertarik pada cerita tentang seorang lelaki tua yang sakit2an karena suka mabuk2an. Ternyata terdapat penyebab yang mengerikan dari kecanduan alkoholnya dan juga bagaimana seorang relawan asing bisa mendatangkan kedamaian pada lelaki tua tersebut.
pada beberapa cerita mungkin karena dikaitkan dengan latar belakang sang pengarang. Gw sangat tertarik pada cerita tentang seorang lelaki tua yang sakit2an karena suka mabuk2an. Ternyata terdapat penyebab yang mengerikan dari kecanduan alkoholnya dan juga bagaimana seorang relawan asing bisa mendatangkan kedamaian pada lelaki tua tersebut.
January 26, 2009
This book is a collection of short stories, many of which were the basis for longer writings, some of which have strong autobiographical content. I love Endo's writing for his consistency of themes and exploration of human nature and human experience through them- you are not walking in shifting sand when you read this author. Is it just me, or are elements of the short story 'Life' strikingly similar to The Kite Runner?
December 14, 2010
dece stories, neat to read about manchuria in the winter & a new persecutued class in japan i did not previously know about - christians, they legit tortured them... never came up in east asian classes about burakumin/ainu people.
"I think plants must converse with each other, and I have the impression that trees and rocks and even postcards saturated with the thoughts of men all speak to one another in hushed voices.
"I think plants must converse with each other, and I have the impression that trees and rocks and even postcards saturated with the thoughts of men all speak to one another in hushed voices.
September 8, 2014
I picked it randomly from the city library, but it did not fail me.
Though I am not a christian, and do not by any chance know any Japanese people, what he depicted in the book is, as put by John Updike, empathetic. After all, the themes of faith, childhood scars, and the fearing of aging, the sense of guilt and gnaw of the conscience are common to all human beings.
Though I am not a christian, and do not by any chance know any Japanese people, what he depicted in the book is, as put by John Updike, empathetic. After all, the themes of faith, childhood scars, and the fearing of aging, the sense of guilt and gnaw of the conscience are common to all human beings.
June 19, 2012
Great collection of short stories from Shusaku Endo. I got this from a sale, but you can also get this book from here.
April 14, 2014
Kind of disappointed, to be honest. Not what I expected. Will still read Silence but I definitely enjoyed Ayako Miura's Shiokari Pass more. Stories lacked depth and seemed to always have the same elements just presented slightly different each time.
June 15, 2023
تاثیری که روی من گذاشت عجیب غریب بود، هر داستان رو که میخوندم تا چندروز یهو به خودم میومدم و داشتم بهش فکر میکردم
داستان ها بیشترشون تم مذهبی دارن (مسیحی) ولی نگاه اندو به دین و تاثیرش تو زندگی واقعی ادما جدید بود واسه من، بهترین داستانشم از نظر من سایه ها (shadows) بود
داستان ها بیشترشون تم مذهبی دارن (مسیحی) ولی نگاه اندو به دین و تاثیرش تو زندگی واقعی ادما جدید بود واسه من، بهترین داستانشم از نظر من سایه ها (shadows) بود
August 7, 2007
Some of the writing is quite beautiful, but I'm honestly sick of reading about Christians in foreign lands through time, so the 2 stars are more personal than an objective rating.
December 1, 2012
All of these stories are so interesting even though they have a lot of similarity. Endo really loved dogs, okay?
November 12, 2017
I like the last 2 stories best -- especially "The Box".
October 1, 2018
Beautifully painful and tragic. Each short story cuts like a knife. Another great book by Endō.
July 21, 2022
"I have the impression that trees and rocks and even postcards saturated with the thoughts of men must all speak to one another in hushed voices."
"The Final Martyrs" is the title of the first short story in this collection containing 11 powerful short stories, three of which moved me to tears.
"The Final Martyrs" is itself very familiar... as it was the germ of what later became Endo's most famous novel, "Silence."
I read the short books while queuing in the hospital for a long overdue physical checkup.
Going to the hospital can be a deeply reflective activity, as it is a place of absolutes, where the order of the day is literally life and death. One can't help but think existential thoughts when one is surrounded by extremes in health and illness, and Endo happened to suit the occasion perfectly. In fact, quite a few of the stories here take place in graveyards and hospitals.
This is my third Endo book, but it was my first time to read his shorter works. And I was surprised to find that the shorter form affected the heart more powerfully than the longer novels. The themes may be more fully fleshed out in SILENCE and THE SAMURAI, but there is much to said for brevity's concentrated impact.
Endo is a Catholic writer who captures the pain of growing up as part of a minority group where his faith used to be outlawed, punishable by torture and death. Like the best composers, Endo has written literary variations on a single theme, each grain containing an entire soul's universe. Incorporating autobiographical elements as well as historical figures like Kolbe and real Japanese martyrs, to read Endo is to experience the communion of saints in an almost palpable manner. How fortunate I feel, that his books have cast this shadow "in the river of my life."(a favorite Endo phrase)
"The Final Martyrs" is the title of the first short story in this collection containing 11 powerful short stories, three of which moved me to tears.
"The Final Martyrs" is itself very familiar... as it was the germ of what later became Endo's most famous novel, "Silence."
I read the short books while queuing in the hospital for a long overdue physical checkup.
Going to the hospital can be a deeply reflective activity, as it is a place of absolutes, where the order of the day is literally life and death. One can't help but think existential thoughts when one is surrounded by extremes in health and illness, and Endo happened to suit the occasion perfectly. In fact, quite a few of the stories here take place in graveyards and hospitals.
This is my third Endo book, but it was my first time to read his shorter works. And I was surprised to find that the shorter form affected the heart more powerfully than the longer novels. The themes may be more fully fleshed out in SILENCE and THE SAMURAI, but there is much to said for brevity's concentrated impact.
Endo is a Catholic writer who captures the pain of growing up as part of a minority group where his faith used to be outlawed, punishable by torture and death. Like the best composers, Endo has written literary variations on a single theme, each grain containing an entire soul's universe. Incorporating autobiographical elements as well as historical figures like Kolbe and real Japanese martyrs, to read Endo is to experience the communion of saints in an almost palpable manner. How fortunate I feel, that his books have cast this shadow "in the river of my life."(a favorite Endo phrase)
January 14, 2023
The Final Martyrs is a collection of eleven short stories that serve a variety of purposes. Some are semi autobiographical, some serve to help develop early proto-characters that will be fleshed out in his later novels, and some are merely stories that deliver Endo’s common themes, but in bite size format.
I would not recommend this as an introduction to Endo’s writing. As much as I appreciated these stories, my enjoyment was deepened by having spent time in his later novels and seeing the culmination of his years of labor in wrestling with these stories, characters, and themes.
Endo has a spectacular way of weaving the core of his faith into almost every work. This core is reflected in the fallibility of Christians contrasted against the quiet sufficiency and kindness of God. These failures are reflected in the historical fiction of “The Final Martyrs”, the semi autobiographical story of his youth in “Shadows”, and most painfully in the introspective “The Sixty Year Old Man”. Other themes include the depravity of humanity, hopelessness and empathy in old age, the inevitability of death, and more.
Reading Endo’s work is always a heavy practice for me. In doing so, I’m often faced with my own fallibility and mortality. His words weigh me down and they bring me face to face with an oft neglected reality of this life: grief. But, in reading his works, I’m invited to observe this grief with a guide who carefully and artistically navigates these somber realities for my good and growth. This is complex nature and gifting of Shusaku Endo.
I would not recommend this as an introduction to Endo’s writing. As much as I appreciated these stories, my enjoyment was deepened by having spent time in his later novels and seeing the culmination of his years of labor in wrestling with these stories, characters, and themes.
Endo has a spectacular way of weaving the core of his faith into almost every work. This core is reflected in the fallibility of Christians contrasted against the quiet sufficiency and kindness of God. These failures are reflected in the historical fiction of “The Final Martyrs”, the semi autobiographical story of his youth in “Shadows”, and most painfully in the introspective “The Sixty Year Old Man”. Other themes include the depravity of humanity, hopelessness and empathy in old age, the inevitability of death, and more.
Reading Endo’s work is always a heavy practice for me. In doing so, I’m often faced with my own fallibility and mortality. His words weigh me down and they bring me face to face with an oft neglected reality of this life: grief. But, in reading his works, I’m invited to observe this grief with a guide who carefully and artistically navigates these somber realities for my good and growth. This is complex nature and gifting of Shusaku Endo.
April 9, 2023
Shusaku Endo is a favorite author, if for no reason other than his exploring the troubling identity of being Japanese and Christian. The short story, the Final Martyrs, and others feature characters, who, like Endo himself, wrestle with being raised in his mother’s adopted faith (Roman Catholic), a tiny and often persecuted minority repressed by several Japanese governments - including the torture of those Christians who would not publicly renounce their religious belief.
I liked some of the other short stories very much: Adieu, Japanese in Warsaw,, and a few others. Certain (autobiographical) themes are repeated a bit too much: the boy who desperately avoided his parents’ discord and eventual divorce; the main character’s love of dogs; the protagonist’s yearning for young love. It was interesting to read in the introduction that Endo used this collection to experiment with different themes, some of which became the seeds of his novels.
I liked some of the other short stories very much: Adieu, Japanese in Warsaw,, and a few others. Certain (autobiographical) themes are repeated a bit too much: the boy who desperately avoided his parents’ discord and eventual divorce; the main character’s love of dogs; the protagonist’s yearning for young love. It was interesting to read in the introduction that Endo used this collection to experiment with different themes, some of which became the seeds of his novels.
April 19, 2022
A 3.5/5. A decent collection by one of the most profound and talented authors I have ever read, though his novels will remain easily his best work. These short stories may not be too notable, but are a quiet, poignant meditation on ageing and facing up to death, imbued with nostalgia, sadness but also at least a little bit of hope as found in faith.
July 23, 2020
This is a wonderful collection of short stories that is well worth reading. The characters are compelling and his tales are often deeply emotional.
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