Deep River

The acclaimed author of Silence offers a religious vision combining Christian faith with Buddhist acceptance in the story of a group of Japanese tourists who converge at the Ganges River, in an India vividly brought to life.
From Publishers WeeklyJapanese novelist Endo combines a harsh critique of the emptiness in modern lives with a religious vision of spiritual rebirth.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library JournalA trip to India becomes a journey of discovery for a group of Japanese tourists playing out their “individual dramas of the soul.” Isobe searches for his reincarnated wife, while Kiguchi relives the wartime horror that ultimately saved his life. Alienated by middle age, Mitsuko follows Otsu, a failed priest, to the holy city of Varanas, hoping that the murky Ganges holds the secret to the “difference between being alive and truly living.” Looking for absolutes, each character confronts instead the moral ambiguity of India's complex culture, in which good and evil are seen as a whole as indifferent to distinction as the Ganges River, which washes the living and transports the dead. This novel is a fascinating study of cultural truths revealed through a rich and varied cast. Endo, one of Japan's leading writers, (The Final Martyrs, LJ 9/1/94) skillfully depicts the small details of life, investing them with universal significance. Highly recommended.
Paul E. Hutchison, Bellefonte, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.