inside of a dog

Some random questions on "Silence"

My feelings about the book could be summed up as : "Not a book I would have chosen in a bookshop, but I'm glad I read it". How would you describe your reaction to the book?

The Japanese apostate,Kichijiri, is a puzzling figure.
What did you make of him? Did he seem realistic? (in as much as we can judge characters in such a foreign culture)
What do you make of his assertion that if he had lived in a time without persecution, he would have lived a normal life as a faithful Christian?
The unanswerable question – how would YOU react in these circumstances?

I left the book with a feeling that although I had learned a lot, I had not really understood what made the various characters “tick”. Do you feel the same? If so, do you think it is a deliberate ploy by the writer, or simply a Japanese approach to writing? What did you make of faith as a driving force for the Portuguese priests? I would have liked to know more about the Japanese Christians and how they felt. Did the book give you much insight into the persecuted church?

What did you make of the assertion by the Japanese that the "tree of Christianity would never flourish in the swamp of Japan"? Was this answered satisfactorily by the Portuguese?

posted by Ian @ 10:41 PM