I've read a few novels by Endo: Scandal, Wonderful Fool and the book you mention, The Sea and Poison. All excellent, but IMO, Silence is his best work.

This has the potential to be an incredible movie as the base material - Shusaku Endo's novel, Silence - is an absolute masterpiece.

AV Club has gone from looking like a website with its own distinct identity to looking like a generic Wordpress blog. Was that your intention?

To anyone reading this article who has a passing interest in James, I would strongly recommend a live album they released at the end of the 80's called One Man Clapping. It contains songs from their first two studios albums and is, imo, the best thing they ever did. I know that might sound like "I prefer their early…