Silk
Silk is a short novel written by the Italian journalist, playwright, professor and author Alessandro Baricco. Considered by readers as a delight of literature and by critics as an unbearably simple and naive, there is no doubt that this book has become something more than a text, as it has become part of the cult phenomena that abound in art.
The volume was first written in 1996 under the name Silk —Silk, in Italian—and as is often the case with all Alessandro Baricco titles, The book could hold a position within the surreal and dreamlike novel. This, because its poetic, subtle and simple style describes unreal characters and unconventional landscapes that enchant or despair, depending on who reads it and when.
Silk
After its launch in Milan, by the Rizzoli publishing house, Silk It quickly became an international success, being translated into several languages. In the work, Alessandro Baricco once again stood out for his crazy obsession with literary forms, always doing an exercise of telling everything with as few words as possible, although with great depth and sensitivity.
Synopsis
Silk tells the journey of Hervé Joncour, a French silkworm trader who must move to 19th century Japan to acquire several families of these lepidopterans, because the crops in the usual countries had been affected by a health crisis. When Hervé arrives at his destination, he falls in love with the feudal lord's main courtesan., with whom the transaction will be carried out.
The young and gallant man—formerly a member of the French militia—travels on several occasions to see his beloved in Japan. With each visit, his passion is exacerbated to the point of obsession. However, The negotiations for the larvae go nowhere, and the protagonist must leave. On her last visit, the Japanese woman gives him a passionate letter asking him to forget about her.
Review
It is from the letter of the young oriental woman that Hervé goes from obsession to madness. In this point, The story moves from mild erotic interactions to more explicit expressions of the loving arts, which contrasts with the rest of the text, which remains calm and ethereal for most of the narrative. Can relief of such magnitude restore health to a human being?
According to Alessandro Baricco, that's right. After falling in love, disappointment and subsequent outburst of her, Hervé Joncour recovers the integrity and lucidity that characterized him before arriving in Japan. It could be said that Silk It has the essence of a haiku: a short but profound story that is characterized by man's impressions regarding the ephemeral beauty of nature and death.
En Silk topics such as war, travel, loneliness, sadness and, of course, love. Some critics refer to the latter as a “subtle Eros” that mysteriously slides through the plot, enveloping it in a surreal aura that has fascinated some and exasperated others. Opinions about the novel have been divided between whether it is a work of genius or an overrated story.
Fragment Silk
«Stay like this, I want to look at you, I have looked at you so much but you were not for me, now you are for me, do not come closer, I beg you, stay as you are, we have a night for ourselves, and I want to look at you, I have never seen you So, your body for me, your skin, close your eyes and caress yourself, I beg you, do not open your eyes if you can, and caress yourself, your hands are so beautiful, I have dreamed of them so much that now I want to see them, I like to see them on your skin, like this, continue, I beg you, do not open your eyes, I am here”…
Versions of Silk
One of the most important adaptations of Silk es Silk, a movie version directed by Canadian screenwriter François Girard. The story premiered in March 2008, starring Keira Knightley., Michael Pitt, Kenneth Welsh, Alfred Molina, Kōji Yakusho and Sei Ashina. The film basically follows the same story as Alessandro Baricco's novel.
The film narrates Hervé Joncour's entire journey through the most exotic places described by the Italian author: from his beginnings as a French soldier to his marriage to Hélène and his subsequent work as a smuggler of silkworm larvae. In addition, reference is made to the protagonist's obsession with the enigmatic concubine of the feudal lord and the ravages of war.
Alessandro Baricco: work and life
Alessandro Baricco was born on January 25, 1958, in Turin, Italy. Since the author hates giving interviews and talking about himself, not much is known about his early life. However, several facts are known about his career. In 1993 he started working on a television program dedicated to poetry known as Love is a dart. Additionally, she collaborated in pickwick, oriented, in turn, to literature.
As a result of these experiences, the writer founded a writing technique school, which he carried out together with other associates. The place was named after the protagonist of The catcher in the rye, by author JD Salinger, that is: Holden. Baricco's novels have always been considered full of imagination, impossible characters and surreal scenes..
Other books by Alessandro Baricco
Novels
- Castelli di Rabbia — Crystal Lands (1991);
- Oceano mare — Ocean sea (1993);
- City (1999);
- Without blood (2003);
- Homer, Iliad (2004);
- Questa storia — This story (2007);
- Emmaus — Emmaus (2009);
- Gwyne (2011);
- Three Times in the Dawn (2012);
- The Young Wife (2016)
Theater
- Novecento, monologue (1994);
- Davila Roa (1995);
- Spanish partita (2003)
Anthologies
- Crónache dal grande show (1995);
- Barnum 2. Another chronicle of the great show (1998);
- I barbarian (2006)
Test
- The genius in flight. His musical theater of Rossini. Il Melangolo (1988);
- Einaudi (1988);
- Next (2002);
- Hegel's soul and the Wisconsin cows (2003);
- The Barbarians. Essay on mutation (2008);
- The Game (2018);
- What we were looking for (2021)
Others
- Introductory note and appendix to Heart of Darkness (1995);
- Totem, with Gabriele Vacis and Ugo Volli (1999);
- Totem 1 with a video cassette (2000);
- Totem 2 with a video cassette (2000);
- The scatole of Totem (2002);
- Introduction to Ask the Dust by John Fante (2003);
- City reading — Three western stories (2003);
- The last tour (2003);
- City reading project. The show at the Romaeuropa Festival (2003)