Deep Riuer is one of Shusaku Endo's most powerful works, culminating in his ultimate religious vision, with new insights into Christianity and its meaning to the Japanese. Five ordinary Japanese-each on a spiritual quest-gather on the banks of the Ganges in India. Isobe, jarred by the death of the wife he barely noticed during her lifetime, is searching for proof of her
reincarnation. Kiguchi, a survivor of the horrific jungle fighting in Burma during World War II, wishes to bring peace to the souls of his war comrades. Numada, recovering from illness, is an author of children's books about animals and nature who seeks communion with nature. The beautiful-but often cruel-Mitsuko has come searching once agairl for Otsu, the pious
Christian believer she first seduced during their college days. Once again she will try to separate him from his God. Leading the tour is Enami, a young man torn between his own feelings
for India and his compassion for his troubled countrymen. Endo ruthlessly probes the moral dilemmas facing each and paints a vivid picture of the river and its deep significance to the Indian culture-and its surprising effect on the five tourists as they seek the meaning of life and love in the flow of the Ganges.