Deep River

Short Review: This is a challenging book. Not challenging in the same way as Endo's Silence, but still challenging. What does it mean to follow God? How does that change between cultures? What does it mean for other religious people to attempt to follow their own religious principles? How does Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Agnostics deal with the problem of evil.

Deep River attempts answers these questions and is more successful with some than others. I am resistant to the flat reading of Deep River that reads it only as a suggestion that all faiths achieve their own form of enlightenment by their own path. I can see how some get to that reading, but I think there is more going on in the book than is accounted for by that reading.

I don't think this has the same brilliance as Silence, but it is still very good. And I think worth a second reading.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/deep-river-shusaku-endo/