Soie

     "If you held it between your fingers, it was like grasping nothing". These words describe a silken garment in Alessandro Baricco's novel Silk, and such is the slight, ethereal feel of the story that they could apply to the book itself.

     Herve Joncour is a dealer in silkworms in 1860s France. He travels to distant and dangerous Japan to buy his stock, and there falls under the spell of a concubine. Drawn back year after year, his obsession with the mysterious woman takes over his life. Herve observes his fate "like rain before his eyes, a quiet spectacle" as he concedes to destiny, eventually choosing for himself "the serene life of a man with no more needs".

     Written as if to be read aloud, this brief but beautiful novel has a fable-like quality about it. Intense, precise, effortless, but highly-charged, almost every word or image is as the stroke of a calligrapher's pen: invested with deep emotion, or conveying volumes. It would stand many re-readings, so subtle and perceptive is it, and just as in music it is the pauses or intervals between the notes which frame the sound, here it is the measured pace and brevity of the chapters, the 'blank space' which surrounds each sentence, which gives the book its haunting quality.

     A film of the book is due out soon; can it possibly be as deep and delicate as the story on which it is based, I wonder.    

Comments

[Rebecca]

What a beautifully written review, makes me long to read the book.

[Simon]

A book about material and texture - perfect for you, Karen!
Nice to be back after a couple of weeks away - especially nice to have my daily dose of Cornflower!

[Sycorax Pine]

I too really enjoyed "Silk." In fact, I think it is my favorite of the books that the "1001 Books you Must Read Before You Die" list has introduced me to....

[carole bruce]

Oh Karen, have a heart. My Visa bill is bad enough without you writing such an amazing review of 'Silk'. I wonder if I absolutely have to have it... I'm very afraid that I do. I'll make a new resolution tomorrow!