Deep River (novel)
Deep River (深い河 Fukai kawa) is a novel by Shusaku Endo published in 1993. When he died in 1996, only two novels were chosen to be placed inside his coffin. Deep River was one of them.
Plot summary
The story traces the journey of four Japanese tourists on a tour to India.[1] Each of these tourists goes to India for different purposes and with different expectations. Even though the tour is interrupted when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by militant Sikhs, each of these tourists finds their own spiritual discovery on the banks of the Ganges River.
One of the tourists is Osamu Isobe. He is a middle-class manager whose wife has died of cancer. On her deathbed she asks him to look for her in a future reincarnation. His search takes him to India, even though he has doubts about reincarnation.
Kiguchi is haunted by war-time horrors in Burma and seeks to have Buddhist rituals performed in India for the souls of his friends in the Japanese army as well as his enemies. He is also impressed by a foreign Christian volunteer who helped his sick friend deal with tragic experiences during the war.
Numada has a deep love for animals ever since he was a child in Manchuria. He believes that a pet bird he owns has died in his place. He goes to India to visit a bird sanctuary.
Mitsuko Naruse, after a failed marriage, realizes that she is a person incapable of love. She goes to India hoping to find the meaning of life. Her values are challenged by the awaiting Otsu, a former schoolmate she once cruelly seduced and then left. Although he had a promising career as a Catholic priest, Otsu’s heretical ideas of a pantheistic God have led to his expulsion. He helps carry dead Indians to the local crematoria so that their ashes can be spread over the Ganges. His efforts ultimately lead to his peril as he is caught in the anti-Sikh uproars in the country. Meanwhile, Mitsuko meets two nuns from the Missionaries of Charity and begins to understand Otsu's idea of God.
Characters
- Isobe
- Tanaka – head nurse
- Mitsuko
- Numada
- Kiguchi
- Enami
- Mr. Sanjo
- Mrs. Sanjo
- Otsu
- Keiko
- Chamuda – Indian Goddess
- Kali – Indian Goddess
Film adaption
A film based on the novel (also named Fukai kawa) was made in 1995. It was directed by Kei Kumai.
In popular culture
In Lost episode Sundown, Dogen, leader of the Others at the Temple is seen reading the novel.
References
- ↑ Pace, Eric (30 September 1996). "Shusaku Endo Is Dead at 73; Japanese Catholic Novelist". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2011.