Silk
(Alessandro Baricco)
Short and fine as its name, this novel tells the story of a man whose job is to travel, to cross the work in search of silkworms. The story evokes some elements of the era of gold fever, except there is no fever and no gold wither, there is a tradition passed on as a concern and a vocation to eb cultivated. Herve Joncour will become a singular tradesman, who will embark on long journeys and cover huge distances in search of the precious treasure, a fragile and valued cargo of silkworm eggs for the textile industry which gave him this job. His labours bare fruit and his life acquires a pronounced and sustained level of progress. In this period, he falls in love and marries, but this in no way modifies his exotic traveller's life. After some years of economic and emotional stability, one day the textile industrialist withdraws his financial support for a new trip to Japan, convinced that this cargo of silkworms will be lost. The impetuous traveller decides to undertake this journey anyway, at his own expense. Something has happened to him on his previous trips to Japan which impells him to return. Love is the mystery which lingers beneath the surface of this tale. Silk is without a doubt a love story, but unlike traditional love stories, here the love is a mystery which reveals itself at the end of the book, like a supernatural illusion which gives a tragic dimension to the story. A sentimental and melancholy novel which overcomes the risk of being kitsch, to become one of the most beautiful and refined stories currently around.
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