More wot I have read…

Silence by Shusaku Endo

This was a book written in 1966 but in such a way as it felt like translations from letters written by the characters. It was interesting to appreciate another part of history that I was not aware of, but the narrative itself did not engage me at all.

‘A Japanese Catholic, Endo tells the story of two seventeenth-century missionaries attempting to shore up the oppressed Japanese Christian movement. Father Rodrigues has come to Japan to find the truth behind unthinkable rumours that his famous teacher, Ferreira has renounced his faith. But, after his arrival, he discovers that the only way to help the brutally persecuted Christians may be to apostatize himself.’

Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure by Daniel Polansky

More of romp through a fantasy world this story was quite silly, but it had diverting characters and rollicking action. A bit of time waster.

‘Welcome to Low Town.

Here, the criminal is king. The streets are filled with the screeching of fish hags, the cries of swindled merchants, the inviting murmurs of working girls. Here, people can disappear, and the lacklustre efforts of the guard ensure they are never found.

Warden is an ex-soldier who has seen the worst men have to offer; now a narcotics dealer with a rich, bloody past and a way of inviting danger. You'd struggle to find someone with a soul as dark and troubled as his.

But then a missing child, murdered and horribly mutilated, is discovered in an alley.

And then another.

With a mind as sharp as a blade and an old but powerful friend in the city, he's the only man with a hope of finding the killer.

If the killer doesn't find him first.’