The Writer's Life 9/29 - Endo, Jack & Jill

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.“ - Edmund Burke. Although this quote does not appear in the novel, it is the basis of The Sea and Poison by the late Shusaku Endo. Set in Japan in the late stages of  WWII, it is the story of an atrocity perpetrated by doctors, interns and nurses, and the psychological effects it has on them. A captured American pilot is used in a medical experiment that will take his life. Only one of the members of the operating team is haunted by the crime, although he backed off from participation at the last minute. He tries to rationalize: “I’m only one person. What can I do with the world?” He remains haunted, however. The reaction of the others ranges from much less affected to unaffected, resigned to the horrors of the world. One seems a sociopath who, on the next to last page, muses: “The conscience of man, is that it? It seems to vary a good deal from man to man.” Readers have the privilege of being able to judge the actions objectively. The frightening question is how many would have gone along if placed in that situation. First published in 1958, the book is only 167 pages, minus many for breaks. It is unconventional, almost documentary-like. Its insight into the minds of human beings is keen. The hospital politics is fascinating. It is still being discovered, as its ranking, 604,966th, at Amazon, where twelve million books are listed, attests. 19 users have rated it, forging to a consensus of 4.7 of five. I rate it four of five. The title baffles me. I’ll take a crack at its meaning, although I've never been good at interpreting literary symbolism. The guilt-stricken intern frequently retreats to the roof of the hospital and gazes out on the sea, which remains untroubled, unaffected by the actions, the poisons of man. Each, the ocean and sin, is timeless. Endo wrote many novels, and twice received literary awards in his country. His most famous, Silence, was adapted to the screen in 1971, and has been optioned by Martin Scorsese. Liam Neeson is to star as a Portuguese priest trying to convert Japanese natives to Catholicism in the 1500's.

As I reached the corner of 7th Avenue and 9th Street in Park Slope, there were a squad car and paddy wagon parked at the curb where I usually set up the floating book shop. I detoured to 11th Street, where no parking was available. Rather than cruise around like an idiot, I decided to go to Bay Parkway, as I did last week. My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases. One gentleman, 85, reeled off a number of jokes, including one Andrew Dice Clay used about Jack and Jill each having a buck and a quarter and Jill coming down the hill with two-fifty. Another senior, a big guy, perhaps 65, spent a night in jail recently. He punched out somebody who has owed him $200 for five years. He insisted he couldn't let the bum get away with it, although he will now have to make many court appearances until he gets back the ten grand he put up as bail. He uses a debit card for just such eventualities. He asked if I'd ever been in jail. I immediately answered no, then recalled being busted for hitchhiking in Fort Collins, Colorado, while on my way to California in 1971. I was 21.

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