Daily Bookshot: Quiet Jesus, I’m Reading
June 24, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Daily BookShot
I picked this up from the sorting office not more than an hour ago and I’m still staggering around ‘drunk’ with bookish intoxication. It’s one of the books I ordered a few days ago, and I’m really, really, really excited about reading it.
In case you can’t tell from this tight shot of the exquisite cover (no artist credit. Designed in-house?), this is Shusaku Endo’s Silence (Peter Owen), and although I’ve never read any of the works from this Japanese writer before, this is a novel I’m hugely looking forward to reading (I may have briefly mentioned that already 
)). Check out the blurb:
Silence is the story of an idealistic Portuguese Jesuit priest, Father Sebastian Rodrigues, who in the 1640s sets sail for Japan determined to help the brutally oppressed Japanese Christians and to rediscover the truth about his former mentor, who is rumoured to have rejected ‘glorious martyrdom’ and apostatized. But once faced with the reality of religious persecution Rodrigues is himself forced to make an impossible choice: whether to abandon his flock or his God.
Fantastic, and what’s more this most recent edition from Peter Owen Publishers also comes with a foreword from Martin Scorsese. Does reading life get much better than this? I think not!
The hardest part now is putting this novel in its rightful place at the bottom of my reading pile and waiting patiently until it comes up. Emm…wouldn’t it be a real shame if I accidentally toppled the pile and forgot what books went where? )
Peter Owen | 2007 (UK) | £10.95 | PAPERBACK | 320 PP | ISBN 9780720612868
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
I do like Peter Owen Publishers, and thoroughly recommend The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas, which they publish.
Although the price there is listed as £10.95, I feel I should draw your attention to the sales info on their website:
I’ve bought quite a few titles this way. Great books, greater price.
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Thanks for the positive comment but just to say The Ice Palace is £9.99 – see http://www.peterowen.com/pages/modclas/icepal.htm . And Stewart is right to draw attention to the sales info, there bargains – and great books – to be had for anyone wishing to buy direct
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Stewart – Thanks for the added info. Wasn’t relevant to me at the time (using Waterstones vouchers) but I could have mentioned it.
Micheal – Nice of you to drop by, and thank you for the kind words. If the point about the price of ‘Ice Palace’ was directed at me, I didn’t quote a price for this title. The pricing information above relates exclusively to ‘Silence’
Warmest
Rob
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Yeah, I was referring to the price of Silence too. Can see how it could be misunderstood.
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That’s a wonderful cover for a wonderful book. One of the most moving books I’ve ever read. I get choked up just thinking about it. Hope you enjoy it.
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Teresa – You’re not helping my patience any, with trying NOT to read this right now *folds arms and taps foot on floor*. Seriously though thank you for making it sound all the more inviting.
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My mistake, yes RRP of Silence is £10.95
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I read this book about a year and a half ago, and found it very moving. I’ll look forward to your review.
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