sageb1
03-21-2004, 08:06 PM
Deep River was written by Endo Shosaku, a Japanese Christian of an eclectic Catholic faith.
In the book, Endo illustrates the Japanese psyche by having several characters make a "pilgrimage" tour to India.
We have a dispassionate female main character who thinks of all men as pigs rooting in a garden. Her first lover is a Christian who later becomes a heretical monk. His pantheism reflects the Gnostic tradition. During her marriage to another man of social status, she goes on vacation with him to France and meets up with her first lover, now a monk initiate.
Another character is a war vet who suffered a long march filled with the horrors of war.
One character lost his wife, and tries to track down her supposed reincarnation in an Indian village, only to abandon it due to change of address.
Then there is the typical tourist couple, both of whom are so shallow I felt pity for them: the husband is a photographer, while the wife regrets not having gone to Europe.
The tour guide is enthusiastic about India, yet suffers the tourists somewhat impatiently.
This book illustrate the mind of one of modern Japan's authors.
In the book, Endo illustrates the Japanese psyche by having several characters make a "pilgrimage" tour to India.
We have a dispassionate female main character who thinks of all men as pigs rooting in a garden. Her first lover is a Christian who later becomes a heretical monk. His pantheism reflects the Gnostic tradition. During her marriage to another man of social status, she goes on vacation with him to France and meets up with her first lover, now a monk initiate.
Another character is a war vet who suffered a long march filled with the horrors of war.
One character lost his wife, and tries to track down her supposed reincarnation in an Indian village, only to abandon it due to change of address.
Then there is the typical tourist couple, both of whom are so shallow I felt pity for them: the husband is a photographer, while the wife regrets not having gone to Europe.
The tour guide is enthusiastic about India, yet suffers the tourists somewhat impatiently.
This book illustrate the mind of one of modern Japan's authors.