Shusaku Endo's novel Silence, first published in 1966, endures as one of the greatest works of 20th-century Japanese literature. Its narrative of the persecution of Christians in 17th-century Japan raises uncomfortable questions about God and the ambiguity of faith in the midst of suffering and hostility.

Endo's Silence took visual artist Makoto Fujimura on a pilgrimage of grappling with the nature of art, the significance of pain, and his own cultural heritage. His artistic faith journey overlaps with Endo's as he uncovers deep layers of meaning in Japanese history and literature, expressed in art both past and present. He finds connections to how faith is lived amid trauma and glimpses of how the Gospel is conveyed in Christ-hidden cultures.

Listening Length

9 hours and 44 minutes
Author

Makoto Fujimura, see all
Narrator

Ova Saopeng
Audible release date

January 31, 2017
Language

English
Publisher

Oasis Audio
ASIN

B01N4R2VK8
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible narration with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you buy the Kindle book.

Your audiobook is waiting!

Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.

Learn more about Membership

List Price: ~~$23.09~~

You Save: $2.89 (13%)

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

People who viewed this also viewed

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

People who bought this also bought

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Related to this topic

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 44 minutes
Author	Makoto Fujimura, Philip Yancey - foreword
Narrator	Ova Saopeng
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	January 31, 2017
Publisher	Oasis Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B01N4R2VK8
Best Sellers Rank	#78,565 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #15 in Religious Intolerance (Audible Books & Originals) #40 in Religious Literature Criticism #52 in Japanese History (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

5 star		81%
4 star		15%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Blest One

An important message "for such a time as this."

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

How does one deal with disappointment and failure in his or her faith as a Christian? Are there lessons to be learned from them, and do the types of failure and suffering eschewed by the world (and our christian culture) actually deepen our faith in ways that wouldn't happen otherwise? These are questions that Silence and Beauty puts persons, places, and images to as Makoto Fujimura draws us into his own journey of personalizing Endo's novel Silence. In so doing, Makoto gently stirs up the reader's own reflections and inner conflicts related to the hiddenness, ambiguity, and beauty of what he calls fumi-e culture, so captivatingly and mystically expressed in Silence (and yes, you should read Endo's novel before this book). Silence and Beauty does much to frame and contextualize the times that the novel describes, translates it into Endo's times, and ultimately reveals relevance to our own. Perhaps Makato says it best on page 165: "In a world where religious freedom is increasingly considered a frontline issue, we will do well to learn from the multifaceted stories that Endo crafted to deal with such a time as ours". Makato proves that art can inform faith, and gives us a timely message of true, deep, and lasting encouragement for those open to receiving it.
I hardly ever post a product review, but this book inspires my heartfelt recommendation.

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

A. H. Wagner

Highly insightful commentary by a Japanese-American artist on Christianity in Japan and Shusaku Endō’s novel Silence

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

The story of how this book came to be is just as interesting as the book itself. Its title and inspiration come from Shusaku Endō’s 1966 novel Silence, about a Portuguese Jesuit who goes on a mission to Japan in the 17th century and faces the terrible choice of either recanting his faith or, if he does not recant, watching Japanese Christians endure brutal torture. If you haven’t read Silence yet, I highly recommend that you do so before diving into Silence and Beauty; however, Makoto Fujimura does include a synopsis of the novel at the end of his book to provide some context. Or…now that Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation is out, you can go see the movie. It’s an excellent adaptation, true to the novel’s themes, and therefore very difficult to watch, but well worth at least one viewing.

Silence and Beauty relates Japanese-American artist Makoto Fujimura’s experience of becoming a Christian while in Japan studying nihonga, a traditional style of Japanese painting. Although these subjects may seem unrelated, Fujimura’s study of traditional Japanese art exposed him to the history of Christianity in Japan through his discovery of the fumi-e. Fumi-e (“stepping images”) are relief depictions of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary that the Tokugawa shogunate ordered suspect Japanese to trample on; those who refused to trample were identified as Christians and tortured. This discovery led Fujimura to Endō’s novel, in which the fumi-e are a prominent element of the plot. Years later, a conversation with Martin Scorsese about his film adaptation of Silence inspired Fujimura to write a book using Endō’s novel as a framework for reflections on his own experience with Christianity and Japanese culture.

As a bilingual Japanese-American who has lived in Japan and the United States and shares Endō’s Christian faith, Fujimura is uniquely qualified to discuss both the cultural and religious aspects of Silence in a way that Western readers can understand. His commentary offers rare insight on how Japanese culture influenced the shape of Christianity in Japan and how Christianity, in turn, continues to shape Japanese culture to this day. I had never thought of Christianity having any significant influence on Japanese culture, as less than one percent of Japanese are Christians. Fujimura admits his is a “radical notion,” but it is certainly intriguing: “Endō …wrote in a country haunted by Christ, and this historical mark, like the footprints in the wooden frames of a fumi-e, remains indelible—but it is concealed, hidden within the Japanese psyche; this explains the psychological and sociological reality that affects Japan today. Further, I present here the most radical notion: Japan is still a Christ-hidden culture, haunted by the past, with a developed sense of hiding well what is most important. Endō, an archaeologist of cultural trauma, begins to dip into the mud, scooping up the elements of broken shards of the culture of Christianity in Japan, and discovers, in my mind, the essential beauty and humanity of Japan.”

Silence and Beauty is highly illuminating to the themes in Endō’s novel and to the more subtle aspects of Japanese culture I was not aware of. Fujimura also sheds light on the life of Shusaku Endō, drawing from memoirs and interviews to interpret the author’s motivation and inspiration for writing Silence, which I found especially fascinating. If you want to understand more about Silence, its author Shusaku Endō, the mysterious relationship between Japanese culture and Christianity in Japan, or at least one of the above, you can’t have a better guide than Makoto Fujimura.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Best book I have read this year.

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Silence by Shusaku Endo is one of those books that is not easily forgotten. I read it a couple years ago and I rarely go more than a couple weeks without referencing it.

Makoto Fujimura is a very well known artist, famous in many Evangelical circles for being a famous artist that is well known outside of Christian circles. Fujimura grew up in the US, but after college was accepted into a Japanese graduate program to study art. The first student to ever be accepted into this graduate program that did not grow up through the Japanese national art system. Fujimura became a Christian while studying art in Japan, a country with a very low rate of Christians.

Silence and Beauty is an interesting book. It opens with a bit is spiritual memoir. Fujimura details how Shusaku Endo and his book Silence impacted his early faith. And unsurprisingly there is a long exploration of both Endo and Silence. That is done in the context of a rich sociological and historical study of Japan. And all of that is wrapped up in a defense of beauty and art as essential to Christianity. (I was reminded at times of of Francis Spufford's Unapologetic and Brian Zhand's Beauty Will Save the World.)

At this point, this is the best books I have read this year. I have not previously read anything by Fujimura. But I will read more. I have ordered Silence so I can re-read it. (Silence is not available on kindle, and I previously listened to the audiobook, so I have ordered the paperback.) Once I am done I am going to re-read Silence and Beauty again. I am not going to detail the book much more this time, but will write another review later.

As a note, this is a nicely designed hardcover book. There is a velum looking dustcover and several pages of color art in the middle of the book. I was encouraged to pick up the Hardcover, and I am glad I did to see the full color art. But I purchased the Kindle edition Sunday when it was released so I can highlight the many passages that I wanted to highlight. The Kindle edition has the same art, but the art is in line with the book where the images are talked about instead of being gathered together in the middle of the book. If you view the images on a tablet they are full color. But obviously, if they are viewed on an eink Kindle, they will be in black and white.

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Mark Meynell

Pointers to seeing suffering in a new light, through the lens of a great novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a beautiful book about a truly important book - Silence. Which is appropriate enough, in the light of the title. Fujimura writes evocatively and movingly - of his own Christian testimony, his own parallels as a Japanese Christian with Shusako Endo, and his appreciation of Endo's remarkable novel.

The key issue for both writers is the place of suffering within Christian theology and experience. And their insights, while far from comfortable or neat, are very helpful. Fujimura's style is sometimes elusive and circular - perhaps reflecting his Asian heritage, and artistic sensibilities - which is not perhaps everyone's cup of tea. But as a stimulus for reflection, prayer and perseverance, as well as an aide to thoughtful engagement with an essential 20th Century novel (Silence has been SO important to my own journey) this is an excellent book and I thoroughly commend it. It has also helped me gain insight into Fujimura's remarkable art itself.

For what it's worth, I would read this only after reading the novel, or perhaps Martin Scorsese's new movie.

One person found this helpful

Brilliant thought provoking rwead giving me a new area of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

Brilliant thought provoking rwead giving me a new area of history, I knew nothing except ww2 about Japan or the japanese

Bridget Folkard

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

Really beautiful

David

Revelatory

Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Will change your perspective on beauty,suffering and silence. A must read Makoto is the voice this generation of artists need I can’t stop reading his writings. Thank you Mr. Fujimura

Amazon Customer

A Thoughtful & Wonderful read

Reviewed in Canada on October 23, 2016

Verified Purchase

Outstanding book about Faith & Suffering by Japanese Christians with lessons for all Christians especially those in countries where christians are persecuted. Part of the book is a commentary & exposition on the book "Silence" by Shusako Endo which in & of itself is an excellent book.

See all reviews

Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Read & Listen

Enjoy a free trial on us $0.00

Buy with 1-Click $20.20

People who viewed this also viewed

People who bought this also bought

Related to this topic

Product details

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Enjoy a free trial on us

$0.00

Buy with 1-Click

$20.20