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The Girl I Left Behind
Shusaku Endo Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Girl I Left Behind
"Tsutomu Yoshioka, an ordinary, unstudious college student in Tokyo, meets Mitsu Morita, a factory worker from the countryside, seduces her, and then leaves and shuns her. But something in her character makes him never forget her: She is always willing to help people in need of spiritual comfort. After he graduates he goes on to a medium-sized company and starts rising up the ranks aided by his real relationship with Mariko Miura, the chairman's niece and ironically, a former friend to Mitsu. At the same time, Mitsu's mysterious spot on the wrist (which Yoshioka first saw during sex with her) is diagnosed as leprosy and she is sent to a leprosarium in the backwoods... When told, Yoshioka feels his guilt at abandoning her... Can he earn forgiveness and redemption from her, even if they never meet again?

This book sends a powerful message into the heart of its readers: anyone you think is weak and useless can prove to be a great friend and savior. Shusaku Endo was raised Catholic and his theme can be deduced from reading his works."

Sergio Mendoza, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Girl I Left Behind
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance: - boatload of casual sex without love - rekindling lost love/marriage
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - vague finding self/purpose in life (i.e. no plot to book)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Brain/Body disability? - physical disability
Love problems? - Obession with uninterested person

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality - Japanese
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - a teen
Profession/status: - secretary
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a lot
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 (an average amount)
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - Japan
City? Yes
City: - dirty, grimy (like New York) - wealthy - rude people

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards - No single main character? - written like a journal/diary/letters
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to The Girl I Left Behind
The Walking Stick by Winston Graham
Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers
The Closer's Song by Christopher Cole
Small Steps by Peg Kehret
A Shining Season by William Buchanan


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