The Sea and Poison by Shusaku Endo

Covers similar territory as ‘One Man’s Justice’ by Akira Yoshimura but with less conviction. The story is of a Japanese doctor who reluctantly takes part in human vivisection on American prisoners of war. Too much of the book is spent filling in back story and not enough on the aftermath of the operations/killings for the consequences and feelings of the characters to be fully developed. In the end It felt like a missed opportunity.
However, Endo has an excellent reputation, and the quality of prose and dialogue was high enough for me to give him another go.

K-S

6/10