Obakasan cover

Obakasan

by Shūsaku Endō

Gaston Bonaparte, a young Frenchman, visits Tokyo to stay with his pen-pal Takamori. His appearance is a bitter disappointment to his new friends and his behavior causes them acute embarrassment. He is a trusting person with a simple love for others, and he continues to trust even after they have demonstrated deceit and betrayal. He spends his time not sightseeing but making friends with street children, stray dogs, prostitutes, and gangsters. This novel charts his misadventures with sharp irony, satire, and objectivity.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?