Good story with the expected moral points. Interesting insight into relationships.

I saw the movie adaptation of another Endō novel (Silence) so the dark, careless immorality described in this book was expected. I wasn’t wowed by it, and I’m not sure that I liked it per se, but I do appreciate this. Definitely worth researching Unit 731 for more info on Endō’s inspiration.

The Sea and Poison is the third book by Shūsaku Endo that I have read, and while it isn't quite as good as Silence and The Samurai — both written after this book — it is does at least explore themes beyond Endo's comfort zone. Religion takes a backseat in this one, and Endo chooses instead of write about the Japanese's role and atrocities in the Second World War, as well as personal liabilities and accountabilities for those acts.

Instead of setting the story on the battlefields, however, the story is set in a hospital, where doctors perform vivisections on American POWs. The protagonist is a doctor that was somehow involved in those horrific experiments, and it is about how he, along with his colleagues, chooses to deal with the murder of the POWs for the sake of the war.

The premise of the book may sound gruesome, but the book is actually surprisingly subtle. It is, after all, written by a Japanese writer. Or perhaps Endo just hadn't found it in himself to write about violence and torture — two areas that he wrote so well in Silence and The Samurai. The Sea and Poison takes a more muted, stoic approach to the work that the doctors performed secretly, as well as the subsequent toll it took on the individuals involved.

Honestly, if the book had been longer, I may not have been so kind. However, Endo's story here is short and to the point. A very economic telling of a haunting tale that resonates deep in the mind longer after the story is done.

Човек трябва да контролира какви текстове допуска до съзнанието си, защото животът е кратък и количеството книги, което може да прочете е ограничено.

bravo deda endo napisali Ste tako dobru moralno kompleksnu i bizarnu knjigu kao da Ste znali da će mi se dopasti

The beginning does much to lure you into complacency, which allows the ending to grip you so thoroughly. The story conjures up a lot of hard questions and I love a book that really makes me think and search my heart.

Something I've long been aware of is that circumstance does not remove stain from the soul. For an individual, the ends do not justify the means. For a collective, the ends justify the means. That is a supremely harrowing thought to me that we lose our faces and identities when weighed for the "greater good". Does anyone have the authority to decide for anyone else the worth of their conscience? I do not think so, not ever.

These are the types of things this book has made me consider. I look forward to reading more of Endo's works.

I like how this book was structured (Part 1 set in the present, Part 2 composed of testimonies from vital characters, and Part 3 set in the past) but I found the story and its impact wanting. We are introduced to Japanese health workers during WW2 who participated in the vivisection of American prisoners for medical research. Bioethical concerns aside, the book also concerns the role of guilt and conscience in our lives and how scary it would be if people believe they can get away with anything. Endo's prose is sparse and good.