I thought that there should be a thread for people who have read the book. So, if you want to discuss the book, here is the place to do it. What were your opinions?
"To find your daughter you must face the darkness of Hell..."
You know, I was a bit disappointed. It's a very fast read, but most of it is repetitive. It's more like a long poem than a novel. It tries to be exotic, bizarre, and sensual all at once, but I didn't really buy it. As for those thinking the mistress is a Japanese woman, you're wrong. Neither his wife and nor his mistress are Japanese. We don't know what nationality the mistress is, but we're told a million times that "her eyes did not have an Oriental slant."
shareI agree, although I think the film could well flesh it out and make it into something rather good. The story has potential and I hope the film makes the most of that, but the book itself feels like there's something lacking.
As for the mistress - she's European in the book but I think it's been confirmed that she'll be Japanese in the film (for no discernible reason).
Yeah, the mistress will be Japanese in the film.
I liked the book, but it wasn't what I was expecting. It was incredibly short, but it wasn't all bad. I really liked the character of Baldabiou, one of the few characters you really got to know.
I think they can make Silk into a good movie if they try. There is good material there, they just need to flesh out the story and characters. In a way, I think it is a good thing the book didn't go into a lot of detail, because the cast and crew will be able to take liberties with the material.
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/index.php/Lindsay_Lohan
I actually thought that the book was incredibly interesting and beautifully translated--but I could be/am very biased considering I fell in love with Baricco's work after reading Ocean Sea.
So I'm a little worried about this movie adaptation. The cast doesn't look all that great (although I do like the guy who played Nobu in Geisha), I don't know much about the director, so I'm really a little wary about this. But I guess we'll see come next year.
I agree.. the italian original is mesmerizing in its prose and delicate, like the little blue flowers between the fingers of the japanese woman in Paris.
I loved Ocean Sea and Novecento too, but I kind of lost Baricco in the latest novels.
I just got the book today....
I love it so far.
and why was that Madam with the blue flower such a bitch?
He was paying her to translate, but she said I don't want your money, I'll translate this, but don't bring me no more letters...
Why? It is not hard to read a letter,but it was really hard to find a translator. She was getting paid for it. Why was she so bitchy?
She really did a lovely job of reading that letter..
A married couple was putting her in the middle of a adultery-related spat. And you call her a bitch for disliking this?
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"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley
Um... many Japanese women have round eyes. (and I saw quite a few western women with slant eyes when I was in America/Canada/ England/France)
Well, there's a famous Japanese skater called Mao Asada. Her legs are longer than any American figure skater who is active now. But many American people have legs longer than an average Japanese.
Allessandro Barrico is probably my favorite author. His novels are increadibly unique and beautiful. The think i love about silk is the way its written the way he repeats stuff over and over. I think it's amazing. That is why i don't think this will be a very good movie. What makes the novel so good is how it's written and a movie will be just like any other romantic, love a woman who i can't talk to, type of story. Why they gotta go and screw stuff up?!
shareThinking about the novel and the possibilities and methods a movie has... I'm REALLY skeptical about how they're going to put THE SILENCE on screen. Baricco beautifully placed silence into the text through words... now, how to do that with a camera... I remain skeptical. I'm actually pretty afraid they'll turn it into a general love story (which this one is not - those who've read it know why).
share[deleted]
"Re: For those who have read the book...
by - mshonesty on Wed May 10 2006 06:39:16 I think its very possible to captivate the silence on film. I lot can be said with simple body language and its even more amplified when they're not speaking. If the actors are good enough..."
I know it's possible. :)
However, I remain very skeptical about whether they'll even try it.
Especcially the plot summary scares me. The part already quoted in this thread:
"Without speaking the same language, they communicate through letters until war intervenes. Their unrequited love persists however, and Herve's wife Helene begins to suspect."
Now... that's just wrong.
Yes, I read the book several years ago and it remains one of my favourites. At the same time as I think the descriptions and 'scenic' aspects of the book would look amazing, visually, on film, the story will be tricky to translate onto screen. For example, what is described as the story in the 'Plot summary':
'Without speaking the same language, they communicate through letters until war intervenes. Their unrequited love persists however, and Herve's wife Helene begins to suspect.'
...completely misses the point of the book, as it is very umbiguous whether the girl (mistress) has any feelings for Herve, not is there any mention of them 'communicating through letters'. It is precisely this that will fail to come across in the screenplay, I think. It would be very easy to just simplify the book and make it into a conventional love story.
AB
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I agree with the poster a few posts above that was dissapointed with the casting of the film. Originally when I heard Kiera Knightley was attached for whatever reason, I assumed she would play the role of the woman he meets in Japan. Now that I know it's not the way....eh. And whoever this Michael Pitt is...I'm not impressed.
The book was amazing to me in that I felt such emotional impact from such a short work. That's why I'm doubly torn up about the casting. I had really high hopes for the movie based on the book...but that happened to me with Posession and Correlli's Mandolin....When am I going to learn my lesson?
saucybetty.blogspot.com
I liked the book, quite a short read but it gets you thinking. I read it twice and liked it much more the second time, I started to enjoy the silence.
I think Baricco makes a lot of repetition but in a very clever way, the way facts changes as time goes by. Just like when he said "Flaubert had just started Salammbô" and few chapters later he is about to finish it or the electric light being just a hypothesis and then is everywhere.
The reader realises time is going by and time is very important in this short story.
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