Though I knew what was coming because I'd seen the film, I still really enjoyed this. Like others here, I found it poetic, dreamy and like silk itself.
I'd like to ask - Was there any significance or symbolism in the girl in Japan having western eyes?
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Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl
I was wondering how they turned a novella into a full-length movie. However, after finishing it I could visualize it.
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I watched it when it first came out so it was some years ago, but I think they did a good job (though it seems most reviewers disagree). The film was languid and very arthouse period romance. I seem to remember it having a hazy, melancholic quality that I liked. One thing about the film though is that the wife Hélène was played by Keira Knightley, she of having just starred in Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean and Atonement. As I watched I knew it stretched credulity that she'd have signed on just to play this minor-character supporting wife and that made it easy to solve what was going on before the reveal. I think if I'd read the book first I wouldn't have deduced the twist ahead of time.
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Originally Posted by BelleZora
I also liked the repetition of the voyage. I'm not sure I would have appreciated it nearly as much had I not interspersed my reading of Silk with a couple of chapters from The Iliad. When I returned to Silk, the cadence and repetitions felt like an echo. Had I been reading The Odyssey I wonder if the sense of déjà vu would have been even stronger.
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That's an interesting thought BelleZora; thinking about it, it's interesting to compare and contrast this to The Odyssey. The bewitching woman in Japan could be seen as a sort of Circe, and Hervé a sort of Odysseus but without protection from her enchantments. Like Circe, the woman is somewhat menacing since she caused the death of her innocent servant and the strife of Hervé and Hélène, though I don't think it's fair to cast her as the sole cause of the couple's problems because for that Hervé is more to blame.
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Originally Posted by ccowie
Some have mentioned liking or disliking the repetition in the journey descriptions. I actually liked it, but must admit that every time I read the little phrase "crossed the 2000 mile steppe" I had a flash of Tim Cope.
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I thought the same thing! It was especially fresh in my mind since I just watched the documentary series of Cope's journey last month.