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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Si leggete tutto di un fiato questo Seta di Baricco (100 pagine). La storia è concisa ma non per questo priva di profondità, anzi, la brevità del racconto permette all'autore di focalizzare l'attenzione sulla sostanza della storia (tra l'altro molto bella) senza perdersi in dettagli. Bello e consigliato a chi vuole farsi rapire per un pomeriggio.
I had heard so much praise about this little book: after spending a snowy morning in reading it, I have to confess I feel underwhelmed.
The beauty of the language is undeniable. It was originally written in Italian: I read a French translation, and the delicate rhythm of the sentences is quite lovely. The use of repetition obviously tries to make the narrative poetic and dream-like, and it succeeds... up to a point.
To be honest, I found it a wee bit cliché: in 1860, a French silk worm merchant travels to Japan after an epidemic contaminates the more easily acquired silk worm eggs of the Middle East. There he meets a woman and after exchanging a glance, they are in love and he must find a way to go back and be with her.
I can see how some people would find this wildly romantic and fairy-tale like. I'm sure such a story would have made a perfect Scheherazade fable, but it did not move me half as much as I had expected. Don't get me wrong: it is a charming little book! But it is incredibly superficial: there's no character development, no description of the marvels encountered by our main character during his exotic travels, nothing! Some might argue that it is not the point, and they would not be wrong, but I like my love stories with a little meat around the bone (no pun intended).
Lovely, but shallow.
The beauty of the language is undeniable. It was originally written in Italian: I read a French translation, and the delicate rhythm of the sentences is quite lovely. The use of repetition obviously tries to make the narrative poetic and dream-like, and it succeeds... up to a point.
To be honest, I found it a wee bit cliché: in 1860, a French silk worm merchant travels to Japan after an epidemic contaminates the more easily acquired silk worm eggs of the Middle East. There he meets a woman and after exchanging a glance, they are in love and he must find a way to go back and be with her.
I can see how some people would find this wildly romantic and fairy-tale like. I'm sure such a story would have made a perfect Scheherazade fable, but it did not move me half as much as I had expected. Don't get me wrong: it is a charming little book! But it is incredibly superficial: there's no character development, no description of the marvels encountered by our main character during his exotic travels, nothing! Some might argue that it is not the point, and they would not be wrong, but I like my love stories with a little meat around the bone (no pun intended).
Lovely, but shallow.
Random holiday pick up in a free book swap so read in French.
Novella with a poetic turn and a fairly overblown romantic theme. Definitely not my usual!
Novella with a poetic turn and a fairly overblown romantic theme. Definitely not my usual!
I read this on recommendation from a friend. The text pulls you in and I found that I couldn't put it down - one more chapter, then another, then another, and suddenly it was finished. For me, the story of the search for love, the longing for another place and time draws parallels with "The Alchemist." The travel across the world to find what was already there all along is enticing.
I loved the simplicity of the language and the ease with which it flowed. I agree with others who have advised you read it in one sitting. External distractions and disruptions to the story take away from the real impact of the almost poetic style as well as the message it conveys.
I loved the simplicity of the language and the ease with which it flowed. I agree with others who have advised you read it in one sitting. External distractions and disruptions to the story take away from the real impact of the almost poetic style as well as the message it conveys.
Silk is a novella told in the spare style of writers like Paulo Coelho and Italo Calvino. It is about Herve Joncour, a frenchman who buys and sells the eggs of silkworms in the mid-1800s. Because there is a blight in the European silkworm eggs, he is sent further and further abroad, eventually ending up in Japan. There he meets a women that he falls in love with, without ever hearing her speak or being intimate with her.
Most of the chapters are less than a page, and the author uses a lot of repetition in his prose to set a dramatic pace for the story. It is very eloquent in its compressed nature, and the writing is quite powerful at times. At other times, it feels a bit forced.
I can't say I loved this book, and I can't say I'll go back and read it again and again, and I can't say that it's an especially heart-rending love story (as purported from the front cover). I can say that it is a very interesting book and worth the hour that it took me to blow through it.
Most of the chapters are less than a page, and the author uses a lot of repetition in his prose to set a dramatic pace for the story. It is very eloquent in its compressed nature, and the writing is quite powerful at times. At other times, it feels a bit forced.
I can't say I loved this book, and I can't say I'll go back and read it again and again, and I can't say that it's an especially heart-rending love story (as purported from the front cover). I can say that it is a very interesting book and worth the hour that it took me to blow through it.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated