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.’
