SOURCE: Rimer, J. Thomas. “That Most Excellent Gift of Charity—Endô Shûsaku in Contemporary World Literature.” Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 27, no. 1 (April 1993): 59-66.

In the following essay, Rimer discusses Endō's meaning for a largely Western reading audience.

There is no question but that, in the United States at least, Endô Shûsaku has attained widely-recognized status as a world-class writer. His more recent books to arrive in English translation, in particular The Samurai and Scandal, have received lengthy reviews in such widely-read publications as the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other similar publications by which status is doubtless conveyed and measured in this country. Translations into other European languages have been effective as well in spreading real interest in his work.

The problem for Western reviewers, however, comes in finding an appropriate means to dismember Endô's...