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    Martha Glorie Manalo Wallis
    Alessandro Baricco was born in 1958 in Turin, Italy. He is a renowned novelist whose third novel, Silk, became a bestseller in Italy. The novel follows Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who travels the world in the 19th century buying silkworm eggs to trade, including four journeys to Japan. On one trip, he falls in love with the mistress of Hara Kei, a Japanese nobleman. The story explores the cultural differences between France and Japan as well as themes of adultery and the classical mythological tradition through its hero's journey plot.

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    Alessandro Baricco was born in 1958 in Turin, Italy. He is a renowned novelist whose third novel, Silk, became a bestseller in Italy. The novel follows Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who travels the world in the 19th century buying silkworm eggs to trade, including four journeys to Japan. On one trip, he falls in love with the mistress of Hara Kei, a Japanese nobleman. The story explores the cultural differences between France and Japan as well as themes of adultery and the classical mythological tradition through its hero's journey plot.

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    Alessandro Baricco was born in 1958 in Turin, Italy. He is a renowned novelist whose third novel, Silk, became a bestseller in Italy. The novel follows Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who travels the world in the 19th century buying silkworm eggs to trade, including four journeys to Japan. On one trip, he falls in love with the mistress of Hara Kei, a Japanese nobleman. The story explores the cultural differences between France and Japan as well as themes of adultery and the classical mythological tradition through its hero's journey plot.

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    242 views5 pages

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    Martha Glorie Manalo Wallis
    Alessandro Baricco was born in 1958 in Turin, Italy. He is a renowned novelist whose third novel, Silk, became a bestseller in Italy. The novel follows Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who travels the world in the 19th century buying silkworm eggs to trade, including four journeys to Japan. On one trip, he falls in love with the mistress of Hara Kei, a Japanese nobleman. The story explores the cultural differences between France and Japan as well as themes of adultery and the classical mythological tradition through its hero's journey plot.

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    SILK
    Alessandro Baricco

    A. AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND

    • Born in Turin, Italy (1958)


    *Before he became famous*
    • He is a student of Music and Philosophy
    • He started his career in advertising and as an opera critic for national newspapers in
    Italy
    *At present
    • Scoula Holden (1994)
    • La Republicca

    SILK (Seta)
    • 3rd Novel
    • Bestseller in Italy: over 300,000 copies to date
    • 27 Languages

    REPORTERS NOTES: Alessandro Baricco was born on January 25, 1958 in Turin, Italy. He is a director,
    performer, and Italy's most famous contemporary writer, whose novels have been translated into a
    wide number of languages. He currently lives in Rome with his wife and two sons. He studied philosophy
    and earned a diploma in piano at university. After a short time working as a copywriter for an ad agency,
    he started his writing career as a music and cultural critic for the Italian press. He has also written plays
    and essays and hosted television programs on opera and literature. In 1991 he founded a training
    program for writers, The Holden School. He has a great interest in publicly reading his work

    B. SYNOPSIS

    Key Events:
    • Silk worm trade in the 19th Century
    • Epidemic: silkworms
    • Hervé Joncour goes on four journeys to Japan to buy silkworm eggs
    • Strange romantic destiny

    C. PLOT SUMMARY

    HERVÉ JONCOUR

    • Lavilledieu, France
    • Helene
    • Travels the world buying silkworms

    CIRCUMSTANCES

    • Epidemic of pebrine ( a silkworm disease caused by a fungus )


    • Baldabiou suggests a solution: Japan

    JAPAN (1st Trip )

    • Hara Kei with a mysterious young girl (mistress)


    • Herve Joncour falls inlove with the mistress

    JAPAN (2nd Trip)

    • Aviary of exotic birds


    • Joncour leaves a glove for Hara Kei's mistress
    • The mistress gives Joncour a love note that he did not understand until he returned back
    to his country with the help of madam Blanche, "Come back, or shall I die"
    JAPAN (3rd Trip)

    • Hara Kei's mistress releases the birds.


    • Sex by proxy
    • Silkworm egg transaction via an associate

    JAPAN (4th Trip)

    • Joncour arrives and finds Hara Kei's village devastated


    • A young boy appears and gives Joncour the glove that he had dropped on the pile of the
    mistress's clothes
    • Joncour follows the young boy to the refugee's camp
    • Hara Kei denies Joncour welcome but Joncour refuses to leave
    • Joncour sees the body of the boy hanging from a tree
    • Hara Kei threatens Joncour with a gun
    • The boy was killed because he was carrying a message of love
    • Hara Kei orders him to never come back

    LOVE LETTER

    • Woman to her beloved master


    • Madam Blanche gives him some of her trademark blue flowers
    • Joncour retires from the silkworm egg business
    • Baldabiou leaves Lavilledie suddenly
    • Helene dies several years later

    BLUE FLOWERS

    • Joncour learns that his wife was the author of the letter.

    REPORTERS NOTES: Hervé Joncour travels the world buying silkworm eggs and eventually travels as far as
    Japan. He buys eggs from Hara Kei, a French-speaking nobleman. Joncour falls in love with his mistress.
    During his second visit to Japan, Joncour learns about the aviary of exotic birds that Hara Kei has built; he
    leaves a glove for Hara Kei's mistress to find in a pile of clothes. Hara Kei's mistress gives him a love note
    written in Japanese that says, "Come back, or I shall die."

    During Joncour's third visit to Japan, Hara Kei's mistress releases the birds from the aviary. Joncour and Hara
    Kei's mistress have sex by proxy. Hara Kei conducts the silkworm egg transaction via an associate and does
    not say goodbye when Joncour leaves. When it is time for Joncour to make a fourth trip to Japan, war has
    broken out. He finds Hara Kei's village burned to the ground. A young boy appears and gives him the glove
    that he had dropped on the pile of Hara Kei's mistress's clothes. He follows the boy to the place where the
    refugees from Hara Kei's village are camping.

    Hara Kei denies Joncour welcome but Joncour refuses to leave. The next morning, Joncour sees the body of
    the boy hanging from a tree; Hara Kei has executed him for carrying the glove to Joncour and bringing him
    back to the village. Joncour hastily procures a supply of eggs but leaves far too late in the season to transport
    them to France. The silk mills sit idle that year.

    One day, he receives a letter written in Japanese. He takes it to Madame Blanche. It is an erotic love letter
    from a woman to her beloved master. Madame Blanche gives him some of her trademark blue flowers.
    Joncour retires from the silkworm egg business; he and Hélène have three daughters. Baldabiou leaves
    Lavilledieu suddenly and is not heard from again. Hélène dies of a fever several years later. On a visit to her
    grave, Joncour sees Madame Blanche's blue flowers there. He visits her and learns that his wife is the author
    of the letter.
    D. CHARACTERS

    • HERVÉ JONCOUR- The protagonist of "Silk". He is a former military officer who becomes
    a trader of silkworm eggs.

    • THE MISTRESS- She is an unnamed concubine who Herve Joncour becomes obsessed
    with.

    • BALDABIOU- He is the one who wants to send Herve to China because Japan was no
    longer safe and good eggs were available in China

    • MADAME BLANCHE- She is known for giving the small blue flowers that she wears to
    her clients, and translate the note for Herve as: "Come back, or shall I die"

    • HELENE- She is the faithful wife of Herve Joncour who is left behind in France after
    Herve travels to Japan for silkworm eggs

    • HARA KEI- He is a local baron who lives in the Japanese village and it is where Herve
    buys eggs.

    E. OBJECTS/PLACES

    • Lavilledieu
    Lavilledieu is a town in the southern part of France. Baldabiou arrives there as a stranger;
    Hervé Joncour is a long-time resident who was probably born there.

    • Shirakawa
    Hara Kei's village is located near Shirakawa. It is where Hervé Joncour meets the men who
    escort him to Hara Kei.

    • The Aviary
    Hara Kei builds an aviary in his village and stocks it with exotic birds. His mistress unlocks
    the aviary to set the birds free but they eventually all return.

    • Lake Baikal
    Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world (by volume). It is located near the
    border between Russia (a European culture) and Mongolia (an Asian culture). It is given
    four different nicknames: "the sea" in Chapter 12, "the demon" in Chapter 19, "the last" in
    Chapter 31, and "the holy" in Chapter 43.

    • Café Verdun
    Café Verdun is Baldabiou's favorite establishment; he visits it so often

    F. THEMES

    • Classical Mythological Tradition


    • Cultural Differences
    • Adultery

    G. POINT OF VIEW

    • Presented from the point of view of Herve Joncour.


    • The bulk of the chapters follow his character, but very rarely does Joncour speak aloud
    or express his thoughts.
    • The narration tends to focus on what Joncour does and how the people around him
    react to it.

    H. STYLE

    In the style of an old-fashioned fable, Alessandro Baricco has crafted a beautiful and
    mesmerizing novella.

    • all of the narrations are presented in the third person

    • the book is heavy on plot and light on insight into characters’ motivations or
    commentary about the world

    I. QUOTES

    • "Baldabiou had divulged the secrets of the trade without making difficulties. He
    derived far greater amusement from this than from making a sackful of money. Teaching.
    Having secrets to impart. That's the way he was." Chapter 6, pg. 8-9

    • “And carefully he brought Time to a halt, for as long as he wished.”


    ― Alessandro Baricco, Silk

    • “And a while later:


    'It is a strange sort of pain.'
    Softly.
    'To die of yearning for something you'll never experience.”
    ― Alessandro Baricco, Silk

    • “Sooner or later you'll have to tell the truth to someone.”


    ― Alessandro Baricco, Silk

    • Reasons get forgotten.”


    ― Alessandro Baricco, Silk

    J. LITERARY APPROACH

    Silk, ostensibly a historical romance, participates in the classic mythological tradition.

    The story contains many elements that are found in myths:

    • protagonist on a hero’s journey - Herve Joncour

    • item of great value - the mistress of Hara Kei

    • evil king - Hara Kei

    • mysterious mentor - Baldabiou

    • mother figure - Madame Blanche

    • faithful wife - Helene Joncour

    The hero heeds a call to adventure, makes a journey to a fabled land at the ends of the earth, makes
    great sacrifices, saves his people, and acquires wisdom. Like many heroic figures of myth, Hervé Joncour
    is a soldier when he is called by destiny.

    K. GUIDE QUESTIONS

    • What does the protagonist feel? why does he feel this way? What specific parts in the
    text tell you this?

    • What does the girl feel? Why do you think so? Why did she do what she did?
    • How did you feel when you were reading the text? Do you think what they were
    experiencing was love or lust? How can you tell?

    • There seems to be a whole different conversation going on between Herve and the girl,
    and yet not a word is spoken. How are they able to communicate with each other?

    • Why doesn't Hara Kei know what is going on?

    • What are the complications involved and what are the obstacles can you predict in the
    relationship?

    • What does the cup symbolize?

    • What is the significance of the glances between Herve and the girl?

    • Do you find the text romantic? Why or why not?

    • What does this reveal about the possible attractions of being with someone from a
    different place?

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