Japan

Beautiful silk thread produced

from spinning silkworm cocoons.
 
SILK
(excerpt)

by

Alessandro Baricco
 Alessandro Baricco is an Italian writer,
composer, producer and director who was
born  in 1958. Although he had already
written several books before Silk, this was
the novel which confirmed him as one of
the most significant writers of his
generation. In 1994, he and a few friends
established a school of narrative techniques
in his home town, Turin, where students
come to learn first how to write, and then
how to write like him. He currently lives in
Rome with his wife and two children.
SILK takes place in Japan. It
tells the story of Hervé
Joncour, a French silkworm
merchant during the 19th
century. . It was first published
in English in 1997, and a new
translation by Ann Goldstein
was released in 2006.
Characters of the Story

◦ Hervé Joncour- a French adventurer with a

dangerous mission to smuggle silk worm from
Japan.
– Hara Kei’s mistress - where Joncour fall in love
◦ Hara Kei – a Japanese man where Joncour buys egg.
- Helen – Joncour’s wife
Summary
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
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. 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.