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The Sea and Poison
The Sea and Poison: Peter Owen Modern Classic | Shusaku Endo
4 posts | 8 read
On the first day of First Surgery's project, three prisoners were scheduled for operations. The aims of the vivisection experiment were described as follows: 1. Saline is to be injected into the blood stream. The quantitative limits of such a procedure before death occurs are to be ascertained. 2. Air is to be injected into the veins and the volume at which death occurs is to be ascertained. 3. The limit to which the bronchial tubes may be cut before death occurs is to be ascertained. Set in a Japanese hospital during the last days of World War II, the story centers on the medical staff who offer to assist in a series of vivisections--experimental operations on live U.S. prisoners of war. The Sea and Poison won the Akutagawa Prize when it was published in Japan in 1958 and established Shusaku Endo in the forefront of modern Japanese literature. Today it remains as startling and, sadly, as relevant as ever.
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plemmdog
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While I was somewhat familiar with the gruesome history of Nazi human experimentation during WWII, I wasn't aware of similar atrocities committed by the Japanese until reading this. A chilling look at how we are all capable of evil, given the circumstances. Endo's clarity of description and prose is powerful. The detachment necessary to become a successful physician or military officer inevitably comes at a cost. Not for the faint-hearted.

stretchkev I still think about this one years after reading it. Endo makes it so clear how easy it is to slip into something evil. 3y
plemmdog @stretchkev I can‘t believe I discovered Endo until this past year 3y
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RebL
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My son, who minors in East Asian Studies, insisted I read this book. However impactful an examination of morality in an immoral world it may be, it is not the book I‘d recommend to someone with demonstrated vasovagal response.

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SqueakyChu
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I‘m at a part of this book that is dealing with helplessness in an immoral world. It‘s making me feel very uncomfortable. Sometimes I wonder the same thing.

SqueakyChu I just finished this book. Wow! 5y
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SqueakyChu
Sea and Poison | Shusaku Endo
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I just started this book tonight. I am so happy to be reading contemporary #JapaneseFiction again. My favorite genre! I am positive I‘ll like this book.

arubabookwoman That is one of my favorites by Endo. 5y
SqueakyChu @arubabookwoman Oh, good! I‘m really liking it so far. 5y
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