7.6 /10 1 Votes
Original title Seta Country Italy Publication date 1996 Originally published 1996 Genre Novel Adaptations Silk (2007) | 3.8/5 Goodreads Translator Guido Waldman Language Italian Published in English October 1997 Publisher RCS MediaGroup Published in english October 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Alessandro Baricco books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Silk (Italian: Seta) is a 1996 novel by the Italian writer Alessandro Baricco. It was translated into English in 1997 by Guido Waldman. A new English translation by Ann Goldstein was published in 2006.
Contents
Plot
The novel tells the story of a French silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler named Hervé Joncour in 19th century France who travels to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. His first trip to Japan takes place in the Bakumatsu period, when Japan was still largely closed to foreigners. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron. His trade in Japan and his personal relationship with the concubine are both strained by the internal political turmoil and growing anti-Western sentiment in Japan that followed the arrival of Matthew C. Perry in Endo Bay.
Adaptations
Silk has been adapted for stage and film:
Editions
Silk (English edition) by Alessandro Baricco; translated by Guido Waldman.