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clameron's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
radagast_the_brown's review
it's not that the subject matter wasn't interesting -- but gosh, it just wasn't moving forward at any particular pace.
mindsplinters's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 4/30/2024. A very much so non-fiction book about exactly what the title says but more, this book covers not just the history of the glorious fabric, silk, but also the history of the creatures who make it and the people who have studied it and worked with it and obsessed over it. It is thorough in a way that astounds and goes to lengths I had not expected. Honestly, picking up the book, I expected something simply along the lines of the silk trade/Silk Roads and uses of the fabric. Not so much. Prasad goes much further - not only covering the social history but also the biology and the economy and the variety of silks that have existed and continue to exist in this world.
From ancient cities and fossils to modern medical uses and "spider goats," Prasad takes her time and gives equal weight to each section of the umbrella concept of silk. The bulk of the book breaks down into the three main silk-producing creatures - the varieties of silkworms/caterpillars from all over the world, the various mollusks that create fibrous anchors that become "seasilk" (in particular the very endangered pen shell), and the wide range of spiders. Environments, the ways the products differ and compare, the history of use and cultivation - nothing escapes her searching eye. This can make it a bit heavy in places and it is certainly not a quick read but it is more than worth it if you have any interest in the way humans and nature and art and manufacturing intersect. Unlike things like linen and cotton, silk has always had its own mystique and allure. Discovering more about the history and construction of it only makes it more wonderous. Seriously. How many of us, as children, would make faces and go ewww when thinking about stuff coming out of worm and spider butts? But then go on to grow up and pay through the nose for a scarf made by that very stuff? It defies belief.
Plus some of the personalities who enter the stories of these creatures and the production of silk are just as wild and strange as any giant spider or little worm. You have the dabblers, the generalists... Then you have people like Italo Diana who was so darn into the traditional art of making sea-silk that he opened an actual school in his home to spread the knowledge? Or Termeyer who was downright obsessed with his little spider buddies that he would regularly surround himself with thousands of them while working out how to turn their silk into usable threads? Then there are the current scientists who now can play with genes and electron microscopes and chemical compositions.
As I said, this is not a light, fluffy read but it is also not impenetrable. There is a lot that is human as well as failure and success in the story of silk. It is something worth learning about - if only to make you appreciate things that were and could be. After all, silk and the current research around it might just help solve some of our plastic mess and wouldn't that be the most elegant thing ever?
From ancient cities and fossils to modern medical uses and "spider goats," Prasad takes her time and gives equal weight to each section of the umbrella concept of silk. The bulk of the book breaks down into the three main silk-producing creatures - the varieties of silkworms/caterpillars from all over the world, the various mollusks that create fibrous anchors that become "seasilk" (in particular the very endangered pen shell), and the wide range of spiders. Environments, the ways the products differ and compare, the history of use and cultivation - nothing escapes her searching eye. This can make it a bit heavy in places and it is certainly not a quick read but it is more than worth it if you have any interest in the way humans and nature and art and manufacturing intersect. Unlike things like linen and cotton, silk has always had its own mystique and allure. Discovering more about the history and construction of it only makes it more wonderous. Seriously. How many of us, as children, would make faces and go ewww when thinking about stuff coming out of worm and spider butts? But then go on to grow up and pay through the nose for a scarf made by that very stuff? It defies belief.
Plus some of the personalities who enter the stories of these creatures and the production of silk are just as wild and strange as any giant spider or little worm. You have the dabblers, the generalists... Then you have people like Italo Diana who was so darn into the traditional art of making sea-silk that he opened an actual school in his home to spread the knowledge? Or Termeyer who was downright obsessed with his little spider buddies that he would regularly surround himself with thousands of them while working out how to turn their silk into usable threads? Then there are the current scientists who now can play with genes and electron microscopes and chemical compositions.
As I said, this is not a light, fluffy read but it is also not impenetrable. There is a lot that is human as well as failure and success in the story of silk. It is something worth learning about - if only to make you appreciate things that were and could be. After all, silk and the current research around it might just help solve some of our plastic mess and wouldn't that be the most elegant thing ever?
laurenleigh's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.5
My first ARC! (Advanced Reader’s Copy, this one publishes 4/30.) This author clearly did a TON of research. It’s pretty densely packed, so if you’re into the science, genetics, and natural history elements of fabric, you’ll probably get into this. I appreciated Prasad’s attempt to humanize all this data by trying to expand on the scientists or researchers’ lives and backgrounds. I think I was looking for a stronger narrative thread to pull it all together, and I found it hard to retain all the information. Maybe it’s just because I was listening to a lot of Articles of Interest lately, but I think this could have been more successful for me as a Podcast series, where we have more time to situate these facts in the broader global history.
ngilbert's review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Silk: A World History is a high-quality entry into the micro-history genre. Befitting its subtitle, it is a truly global history of silk, from silkworms, from spiders, and even from the Pinna Nobilis fan mussel. An aspect that I appreciated was the way that the author wove in various familiar stories, and explained how silk tied into them; the gunfight at the OK Corral, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, telling the story of the material through telling the story of people. I appreciated the forward-looking section of potential future uses of silk, although many of them I would assume are farther off than may be clear in the text.
My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
tammyannesharp's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Beautifully written, informative and simply an enjoyable read.
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