Deep River

This is a beautiful story of 5 people searching for the inner peace that has eluded them throughout much, if not all, of their lives. The cause of their inner turmoil comes from a variety of sources but their emptiness and incompleteness is very real. Shusaku Endo introduces us to each of them seperately and then has them all, for seperate reasons, journey to India. They are in a guided tour that will supposedly show them a number of Buddhist shrines and historical sites. Their trip leads them to the Ganges River where they initially off at and then are all drawn to its' sacredness. The author gives us a serene glimpse of a sort of peace descending upon the 5 pilgrims. It may not be the peace they sought or would recognize, but it seems to be the peace they needed. Shusaku Endo is a Japanese Christian who writes challengely about his own faith. To me, the core of his message in "Deep River" is the universal nature of faith and the universal nature of God. He exists for all of us but we come to know Him through the religion of our culture. Thus the Hindus, Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, etc are all seeking the same ultimate oneness with God (i.e.; peace) but they are each traveling different paths outlined through them in a theology passed along through the millennia. To illustrate his point, Endu shows us the five seperate tales of redemption and has them all come to salvation at a Hindu holy site. God DOES work in mysterious ways.

Reading this novel by Shusaku Endo was a great experience, a spiritual experience to be precise. It is like a pilgrimage to the holy river Ganges which Christians should consider pagan and unchristian. Besides, the filth, pollution and the unhygienic surroundings are all there. But there is a surrounding aura of love, peace and regeneration. Ganges, the Mother of India despite all filth, is a mother with plenitude and gentleness. This novel is the story of a group of Japanese tourists to India. The various characters are brought to light in the background of the teeming life and activity around Ganges in the city of Varanasi. Each character has a past that is heavy on the person. The river Ganges called 'the river of humanity' and 'the river of love' has a great depth of meaning for each one of them. It is indeed a deep river from which they all gain consolation, liberation and a new birth. The characters like Isobe, Kiguchi, Numanda, Mitsuko and Otsu vary in their backgrounds and interests. Most of them do not have much in common except for Mitsuko and Otsu. Each of them has a story and their lives do not cross much. The plot of the novel in this respect is most unusual. All of them converge on the banks of river Ganges in pursuit of rejuvenation.India, where the ancient civilization flowered on the banks of the great river Indus, serves as the backdrop for the novel. Most of the events take place in Varanasi, on the banks of the river Ganges in the months of October-November 1984. The dark forests, the natural environment, the peaceful temples with their gods and godesses, the lively idols of Kali and Chamunda, the crowded city of Varanasi, the various river ghats of Ganges with all the droppings of dogs and cows and the filth, the cremation ground with the smell of burning flesh, the river itself with milky tea-colored water, and the dusty isolated villages with communal wells become very lively to the reader. The band of scrawny children crying out for Bakshish, the snake charmer with the cobra and the mongoose, the sadhoos and godmen giving blessings to the devotees, the wedding procession of the rich couple in the holy city are fit to create strong impressions in the mind. The political background of the time, such as the assassination of Indira Gandhi the prime minister and the subsequent riots in New Delhi, the funeral and the immersion of her ashes in the river Yamuna are clearly brought out. Endo has a deep knowledge of India, its people and their ways of thinking.Shusaku Endo is known as the Graham Greene of the East. But, though his novels can be considered Catholic, they are controversial. His deep knowledge of Christianity in the West and in the East makes it easy for him to write very powerfully. His earlier novels dealt with problems of faith and God, of sin and betrayal, of martyrdom and apostacy in Japan. The present novel seems to focus mainly on the depth of the spirituality of the East which the western mind fails to compre

Life is but a continuous struggle and battle to find our true identities. This is Endo's work of art, which draws us deep into the river. Sometimes, your life is destroyed because you are honest; you try in vain to find the meaning of life. How difficult it often is to live a life so passinately. Otsu never throws his faith in God even though it leads him to destroy his life. The way he lives is the way his will has chosen.This novel is incredible, fascinating, and even destructive. What a fine writer Shusaku Endo is!

This novel is nothing short of remarkable. The dowdy, uneducated, and banal Mitsu comes to embody the only thing that can elevate every one of us beyond the base and undignified morass we all seemingly inhabit. That thing, of course, is selfless love or in a word, compassion. This book wasn't a "good read". No. It was more than that. It actually enabled something in me that I believed had long ago disappeared to reemerge. It was there lying latent within me; I think that might be the case with a good number of people.

Endo takes leads you into to the lives and hearts of 5 Japanese tourists. Their journeys will amaze and intrigue you, and when you come out on the other side, you will realize that he has led you on a journey through your own soul; a masterpiece. Prerequisite: SILENCE