Alex Cabe reviewed Silence by Shūsaku Endō
Effective Character Study About a Time In History I Don't Know Much About
Overall I found this effective and a good companion piece to Shogun, and does not require the reader to be religious or Catholic to see the protagonist's point of view.
The character of Kichijiro was very interesting, and I tend to think the fumie came from Rodrigues' own mind, but that God was speaking to Rodrigues to Kichijiro. Kichijiro felt like the most fleshed-out Japanese character.
I thought it was kind of jarring to switch from Rodrigues perspective to third person, and I'm not sure I understand why Endo did it.
I thought the epilogue was effective in showing how the remainder of Rodrigues' life was just a footnote after the events of the novel.