Memoirs of a Geisha

Amazon.com

According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly assume--it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must master the arts of music, dance, clever conversation, crafty battle with rival beauties, and cunning seduction of wealthy patrons. After earning degrees in Japanese art and history from Harvard and Columbia--and an M.A. in English--he met a man in Tokyo who was the illegitimate offspring of a renowned businessman and a geisha. This meeting inspired Golden to spend 10 years researching every detail of geisha culture, chiefly relying on the geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous.

The result is a novel with the broad social canvas (and love of coincidence) of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen's intense attention to the nuances of erotic maneuvering. Readers experience the entire life of a geisha, from her origins as an orphaned fishing-village girl in 1929 to her triumphant auction of her mizuage (virginity) for a record price as a teenager to her reminiscent old age as the distinguished mistress of the powerful patron of her dreams. We discover that a geisha is more analogous to a Western "trophy wife" than to a prostitute--and, as in Austen, flat-out prostitution and early death is a woman's alternative to the repressive, arcane system of courtship. In simple, elegant prose, Golden puts us right in the tearoom with the geisha; we are there as she gracefully fights for her life in a social situation where careers are made or destroyed by a witticism, a too-revealing (or not revealing enough) glimpse of flesh under the kimono, or a vicious rumor spread by a rival "as cruel as a spider."

Golden's web is finely woven, but his book has a serious flaw: the geisha's true romance rings hollow--the love of her life is a symbol, not a character. Her villainous geisha nemesis is sharply drawn, but she would be more so if we got a deeper peek into the cause of her motiveless malignity--the plight all geisha share. Still, Golden has won the triple crown of fiction: he has created a plausible female protagonist in a vivid, now-vanished world, and he gloriously captures Japanese culture by expressing his thoughts in authentic Eastern metaphors.

Book Description

In this literary tour de force, novelist Arthur Golden enters a remote and shimmeringly exotic world. For the protagonist of this peerlessly observant first novel is Sayuri, one of Japan's most celebrated geisha, a woman who is both performer and courtesan, slave and goddess.

We follow Sayuri from her childhood in an impoverished fishing village, where in 1929, she is sold to a representative of a geisha house, who is drawn by the child's unusual blue-grey eyes. From there she is taken to Gion, the pleasure district of Kyoto. She is nine years old. In the years that follow, as she works to pay back the price of her purchase, Sayuri will be schooled in music and dance, learn to apply the geisha's elaborate makeup, wear elaborate kimono, and care for a coiffure so fragile that it requires a special pillow. She will also acquire a magnanimous tutor and a venomous rival. Surviving the intrigues of her trade and the upheavals of war, the resourceful Sayuri is a romantic heroine on the order of Jane Eyre and Scarlett O'Hara. And Memoirs of a Geisha is a triumphant work - suspenseful, and utterly persuasive.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Download Description

Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion - the geisha district of Kyoto - with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets. And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms. Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuance and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers.

Customer Reviews:

Couldn't put it down.......2007-09-03

Absolutely one of the best novels I have ever read!!! I actually tried to get done at work as quickly as possible so I could get home and read this book. Such a wonderful story with compelling characters made me want to read and read and read this book. When I finished it, I was sad it was over. I'm still hoping for another page turner from this author.

Amazing storytelling.......2007-08-26

This was a fascinating book about the probable life of a successful geisha before and after WWII. I especially liked reading about the customs: the traditions, the ceremonies, the hierarchy of the okiya, the history behind the kimono and the symbolism behind the face paint and hair-dos. Made for a very interesting read and a great story, too!

I give very few books a rating of 5 !.......2007-08-06

I have given To Kill a Mockingbird a 5 and this book a 5. You may think they are nothing alike - but to an avid reader who reads everything from Dickens to Kellerman I look for a book to touch my soul, to peak my curiosities, to effect me. This book did that. I highly recommend it. Especially before watching the movie. I first read it many years ago, in a matter of a day or so. Just loved it. Then just recently watched the movie, which was slightly different but very well done. Romance, mystery, shock, laughter, tears, sadness, happiness. You will love, care about and hate the charachters. It will touch your heart.
Heidi, avid reader

POSSIBLY THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN.......2007-08-05

Okay, so after 2,400 reviews there's nothing that I'm going to be able to say that will ad to plot, character or even writing style. but trust me when I tel you that if you want a read that will absolutely consume you for three days or more (depending on how fast you read), you HAVE to pick up Memoirs of a Geisha. The narrator's voice sounds exactly like a child's would if she was telling this tale, and matures as the girl herself matures into a stunning young geisha. It's the best read of my year so far, and I probably won 't find another book I like as much for several years to come.

Less Hollywoodization than the movie.......2007-07-31

I must say many factual parts were well-researched, and the author succeeded in portraying a life of geisha who survived in the early 20th century. Overall, the story is entertaining and enjoyable even to Japanese. I was very impressed by how well the author described beautiful kimonos and how Japanese people behave.

However, as a native of Japan, I found some awkward descriptions here and there. I found it hard to believe that so much use of poetic metaphors from someone like Sayuri, a geisha. My guess is that the author elaborated most metaphor parts based on the facts in order to make the story more romantic. Some elaboration was O.K., but the author did too much of it and made the story less realistic. The author attempted to convince readers that all geisha are not prostitutes by explaining that there are classes of geisha ranging from lower class prostitutes to higher class successful geisha who had privilege of luxury and more freedom supported by their "Danna". It was nice of the author that he makes efforts to correct many foreigners' "misconceptions" about geisha to protect their dignity, but his novel failed to do it. Why "mizuage" was involved in exchange of money and the geisha's feelings are the least of concerns? Owned by "Danna", whom the geisya does not necessarily love, provided main source of income from him that allows luxurious life in exchange of her sexuality is no different from a definition of prostitute. Since it is a fictional story, I should not expect too much accuracy and understanding of Japanese from an American after all.

The movie was disappointing though I know many westerners loved it. I admit, the scenery and music was extraordinarily beautiful, but frankly, I was disgusted by Hollywoodization of the original. Ironically, the movie only strengthens my "stereotypes" of how western males think of Japan ( ;-P).

Average customer rating:

What a suprise
Life as I've never known it
Masuda's Memoirs
Loved it...but how sad!
Geisha Good

Autobiography of a Geisha
Sayo Masuda
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0231129513

Amazon.com

Sayo Masuda's Autobiography of a Geisha offers a story of unremitting hardship faced by a hot-springs geisha, a virtual indentured sex-slave in pre-World War II Japan.

Born in 1925, Masuda began work as a nursemaid at age 5 and suffered a childhood of emotional and material poverty. She was then sold to the Takenoya geisha house in Upper Suwa at age 12. While her food and clothing were provided for by Takenoya, she was subject to constant verbal abuse as an apprentice. At one point, she was heaved down the stairs by her "Mother" (the name she uses for the proprietor of the geisha house) and nearly lost a leg. During her recovery, she attempted suicide and further injured herself.

Eventually, Masuda mastered the art of seduction as a geisha. The middle portion of the narrative is taken up with stories of her successful campaign for a danna (patron), of her brother's tragic suicide, and of her star-crossed love affair with a Japanese politician.

Autobiography of a Geisha, translated for the first time into English by G. G. Rowley, was published in Japan in 1957 and has been in print in Japan steadily ever since. The tale is rendered in a simple English prose to reflect Masuda's own, untrained style (she did not have schooling and she only learned to write hiragana script later in life). For Western readers, Masuda's autobiography is a gift: a glimpse into the dark reality behind one of the most shrouded institutions in Japanese culture. --Patrick O'Kelley

Book Description

The glamorous world of big-city geisha is familiar to many readers, but little has been written of the life of hardship and pain led by the hot-springs-resort geisha. Indentured to geisha houses by families in desperate poverty, deprived of freedom and identity, these young women lived in a world of sex for sale, unadorned by the trappings of wealth and celebrity.

Sayo Masuda has written the first full-length autobiography of a former hot-springs-resort geisha. Masuda was sent to work as a nursemaid at the age of six and then was sold to a geisha house at the age of twelve. In keeping with tradition, she first worked as a servant while training in the arts of dance, song, shamisen, and drum. In 1940, aged sixteen, she made her debut as a geisha.

Autobiography of a Geisha chronicles the harsh life in the geisha house from which Masuda and her "sisters" worked. They were routinely expected to engage in sex for payment, and Masuda's memoir contains a grim account of a geisha's slow death from untreated venereal disease. Upon completion of their indenture, geisha could be left with no means of making a living. Marriage sometimes meant rescue, but the best that most geisha could hope for was to become a man's mistress.

Masuda also tells of her life after leaving the geisha house, painting a vivid panorama of the grinding poverty of the rural poor in wartime Japan. As she eked out an existence on the margins of Japanese society, earning money in odd jobs and hard labor -- even falling in with Korean gangsters -- Masuda experienced first hand the anguish and the fortitude of prostitutes, gangster mistresses, black-market traders, and abandoned mothers struggling to survive in postwar Japan.

Happiness was always short-lived for Masuda, but she remained compassionate and did what she could to help others; indeed, in sharing her story, she hoped that others might not suffer as she had. Although barely able to write, her years of training in the arts of entertaining made her an accomplished storyteller, and Autobiography of a Geisha is as remarkable for its wit and humor as for its unromanticized candor. It is the superbly told tale of a woman whom fortune never favored yet never defeated.

Customer Reviews:

What a suprise.......2007-05-04

I was expecting a difference from Memoirs, but WOW! What an intresting and sad life for these women. Makes me more than ever to be proud to be born an AMERICAN woman!

Life as I've never known it .......2007-04-23

The flavor of a Japan gaijin -- and many locals -- never see. I've always loved the romanticized versions of geisha life, but this portrays the everyday, humdrum details as well as the not-so-pleasant aspects. I pay lots of lip service to the luck I had being born in the latter half of the twentieth century, with enough money to allow me to get an education and chart my own life. Reading this makes me realize again that, for many people, my life is beyond luxurious.

Masuda's Memoirs.......2007-04-12

I ran across this while browsing in the library so I decided to check it out. Interesting story about Sayo Masuda and her life as a poor girl from Japan who winds up becoming a Geisha in the hot springs district. I didn't find the story particularly sad, in fact, I really didn't feel any kind of emotion while reading this story. Her experiences and recollections gave good insight into her life as a Geisha and her life after she left the profession. She struggled but eventually overcame. OK. The writing style really made this a reader-friendly story and the translation was quite good. I couldn't help but think of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha while reading this. Worth a read.

Loved it...but how sad!.......2006-08-15

This is an absolutely wonderful read. If you are looking for a book solely about the geisha life this is not the book to read rather this book focuses on the hardships faced by one little girl who was forgotten in this world. I highly recommend reading this book.

Geisha Good.......2006-03-04

I thought Masuda did a great job describing her life the many joys, losses, hardships, etc. I was a bit disappointed that her actual Geisha years weren't described. It's a good story if your into autobiography books and culture.

Memoirs of a Geisha: A Portrait of the Film

Average customer rating:

A nice accompaniment to the film
Visually Stunning
Behind the scenes in photos and text to recreate Japan's geisha
Memoirs from Memoirs of a Geisha
Wonderful movie

Memoirs of a Geisha: A Portrait of the Film
Peggy Mulloy
Manufacturer: Newmarket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1557046832

Book Description

A stunning visual companion to the highly anticipated new film from director Rob Marshall (Chicago), based on the international bestseller by Arthur Golden—a major holiday release from Columbia Pictures.

Featuring over 150 full-color photographs and drawings, this lavishly illustrated book captures the artistry and romance behind the exquisite new film from Rob Marshall, the director of the Oscar®-winning film Chicago, starring Ziyi Zhang (House of Flying Daggers) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai).

Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Rob Marshall (Chicago) and produced by Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick, and Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Robin Swicord and Doug Wright, Memoirs of a Geisha features an all-star Asian cast including Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Koji Yakusho (Shall We Dance?), Youki Kudoh (Snow Falling on Cedars), and Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern).

Based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha is a sweeping romantic epic set in the mysterious and exotic world that still casts a potent spell today. The story begins in the years before WWII when a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a servant in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang). Beautiful and accomplished, Sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by her secret love for the one man who is out of her reach (Ken Watanabe).

The Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook explores the intricate process of re-creating the period and world of the geisha. Special sections showcase production design, makeup, choreography, and costumes, featuring kimonos created especially for the movie by five-time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Colleen Atwood. Sidebars throughout also provide fascinating historical background on the geisha culture.

Customer Reviews:

A nice accompaniment to the film.......2007-07-13

Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" is one of my all time favorite novels. The fictional story about a popular geisha named Sayuri was spellbinding and well researched. I was thoroughly disappointed in the film adaptation because the director Rob Marshall who ruined the story completely by having the cast speak in perfect American english. I wasn't thrilled with his choice for the protagonist of the story Ziyi Zhang as Sayuri. I will admit that the film was visually stunning. As an accompaniment to the film, there is an interesting coffee table book about the film by Peggy Mulloy. The book contains photos from the film and behind the scenes. I couldn't help but noticed that the behind the scenes material in this book can also be viewd on the bonus dvd to "Memoirs of a Geisha". That is the biggest flaw with this book. The book offers nothing new to the reader that wasn't mentioned on the dvd. I will say that the photographs are absolutely gorgeous especially the ones with Gong Li in them.

Visually Stunning.......2006-11-10

If you loved the movie and you collet movie memorabilia, this book is a
necessity. The photo reproductions are beautiful and the text is good. I would have pefered more coverage and background of the principal stars of the film though. This though is a minor complaint. Recommended.

Behind the scenes in photos and text to recreate Japan's geisha.......2006-04-20

Director Bob Marshall brought Arthur Golden's literary classic to the screen; now Peggy Mulloy's text and David James' gorgeous accompanying color photos bring MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA: A PORTRAIT OF THE FILM to the wide audience of book readers and film fans, probing behind the scenes to uncover how the filmmaker and his team re-created the geisha of Japan of the 1930s and 40s. Insights into geisha culture and screening of the movie accompany a 84-page presentation of visuals from the film in an outstanding keepsake memoir of Japanese history and culture.

Memoirs from Memoirs of a Geisha.......2006-03-17

If you liked the movie, then you'll like this book. But even if you don't like the movie, this book gives insights to things about Geishas and film making that are not in the theatre presentation.
The photos are excellent and the book itself is put together well.

Wonderful movie.......2006-02-12

The story begins in the years before WWII when a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a servant in a geisha house

Memoirs of a Geisha (Random House Large Print (Hardcover))

Average customer rating:

memoirs of a gesiha
My favorite book!
A Exciting & Quick Read
Memoirs of a Geisha
Book review for Creative Writing

Memoirs of a Geisha (Random House Large Print (Hardcover))
Arthur Golden
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0739326228
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

memoirs of a gesiha.......2007-10-10

words cannot describe how infomative and wonderfully written this book is.It gives the reader a little inside look into thier lives and how they got there and what they go thru.It also gives a look into the culture of japan and makes you want to learn more about these women and their life style.A wonderful read.

My favorite book!.......2006-08-02

This book was amazing! I loved it and learnt so much - you really feel as if it is a true story by the way it is written. Would thoroughly recommend.

A Exciting & Quick Read.......2006-07-16

The quality of a book is clear if I am able to read this book consistently and quickly.

The key elements that were significant:
- dynamic cultural background of mid-20th century Japan
- emotional depth of the protaginist
- in-depth view into the art of being a geisha
- intricate weaving of plot & characters
- descriptive details of location, costume & aura

I spent a considerable amount of spare time the past few days finishing this book. I had difficulty putting it down.

I felt as if I was literally stepping into the geisha world of the 1930s-1940s and directly witnessing it all in clear detail.

This book is definitely not mediocre.

Memoirs of a Geisha.......2006-05-25

Memoirs of a Geisha is an amazing Bildungsroman (coming-of-age) literature. When little Chiyo and her sister Satsu are faced with crisis in their house in their little fishing village of Yoroido, they both end up in different okiyas. While Chiyo in stuck in Gion, Satsu successfully gets out. Chiyo was going to be permanently resided in the Nitta Okiya, until she becomes an apprentice geisha, in which her name changes to Sayuri. Sayuri is faced with things that a normal teenager now days aren't faced with at all, but at the same time can still be related. You find that throughout this book, Sayuri is forced to go through life-changing experiences, whether she wants to or not.
As seen through Sayuri's eyes, life was about the same in the early 1930s as it is now except for the fact that it's about 70-80 years later, and we aren't faced with the same situations as Sayuri.
The author does an extremely good job in making the character realistic. At times, you actually think she is a real person. The author didn't do extremely well in describing background scenes, but you really don't need that when you have an amazing character like Sayuri to give descriptive detail on what's going on with her life, and not what's going on around her.
All in all, I would recommend this to everyone and anyone. On particular, I would single out people who are in need of a good read, but it's a fantastic book which I recommend to anyone.

Book review for Creative Writing.......2006-04-28

Women in japan aren't just considered woman if they are pretty they are considered business opportunities. for one little girl this was just the case. with stunning blue eyes she wasn't just an ordinary japanese girl her life was about to change forever for good and for bad. A geisha is the most renouned type of woman, they get to get all dolled up and go to special parties where they are paid to sing, dance, and entertain men who come in from all over the country. If you are a good geisha you get a danna which pays for everything, housing, clothes, anything you want. for Chiyo becoming an important geisha ment life or death. either she would become the best in kyoto or she would spend the rest of her life as a made in the Nitta Okiya.
This book is a great overview of the life of japanese woman who used their looks to overcome starvation and homelessness. even though their job looks so easy all the schooling and training takes years for them to become anything better than a prostitute. if you like history and enjoy learning about other cultures this book has it all, the life of a geisha how they survived, how they became geisha, and most of all how a little fishermans daughter was able to become so much more but want it all to go back so bad. i recommend this book for everyone it has everything and i think everyone would be able to enjoy this.

Average customer rating:

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0739326872
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

Yi Ji Hui Yi Lu ('Memoir of a Geisha', in Traditional Chinese, NOT in English)

Average customer rating:

Yi Ji Hui Yi Lu ('Memoir of a Geisha', in Traditional Chinese, NOT in English)

Manufacturer: Global Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

All Chinese Books | Chinese | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 986708800X

Memoirs of a Geisha: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Average customer rating:

Another good collection of John Williams music.
A Memorable Tale
Fabulous read, especially in Japan!

Memoirs of a Geisha: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1423412206

Book Description

Six instrumental themes by John Williams from this Oscar-winning film, arranged for piano solo. Includes: As the Water * Becoming a Geisha * The Chairman's Waltz * Going to School * Sayuri's Theme * Sayuri's Theme and End Credits.

Customer Reviews:

Another good collection of John Williams music........2006-11-07

These piano versions of pieces from the score are fun to play, without being over-simplified. (My only regret is that I haven't found a version for cello and piano, as played by John Williams and Yo-Yo Ma.)

A Memorable Tale.......2006-10-17

This is a great story, made all the more compeling by the style of the writer.

Fabulous read, especially in Japan!.......2006-06-09

I started reading this book at the airport, couldn't get into it as easily, my first trip was to California, the usual trip for work, and by then I had gotten more into the story of this poor miserable Sayuri girl. Then I was on my way to Japan where the story takes place, and what's more, I actually visited Gion and I was reading the book during all this time, and I finished it on the train from Kyoto to Tokyo. It made an amazing impression on me as the story went on and I can't tell you what an effect it had when reading it in the country where it was set. I do recommend it, and I can't wait to watch the movie.

Average customer rating:

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
Manufacturer: Chatto and Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0701169699

Average customer rating:

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
Manufacturer: PENGUIN LONGMAN PUBL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0582421276

Average customer rating:

Screw the Movie, Read the Book
Beathtakingly written, I felt I was sitting with Sayuri as she told me her story
Good audio version
Not very well written, but very well told
One of the most memorable

Memoirs of a Geisha Uk
Arthur Golden
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0099771519

Customer Reviews:

Screw the Movie, Read the Book.......2006-10-25

I was so upset when I saw the movie. I had hoped for once that someone would do true justice to a book.

This book captures the very essence of the geisha lifestyle. I have met a geisha and realized that exactly what they told me was exactly what this book goes into detail about.

Sayuri, Pumpkin, Hatsumomo, Mameha. The characters are unforgetable.

Beathtakingly written, I felt I was sitting with Sayuri as she told me her story.......2006-01-25

This book was brilliant, and beautifully written. I guess the main thing you should realize is that it is fiction, although Golden based some of it on his interviews with Mineko Iwasaki, one of the best-known Geisha of her time. When the book came out she sued him for breach of contract, he had named her when he said he would not and she said he misinterpreted Geisha -that they were not high class prostitutes as she felt they were portrayed in the novel.

Whatever the situation, this is a magnificent piece of writing, and highly recommended.

Sayuri's mother died when she was a child, and her father sold her into slavery -you get the impression this was done because he knew he would die soon too and wanted to make sure his daughters were looked after. They were sent to the Gion district in Kyoto and Sayuri taken in to an Okiyo (Geisha House) as a maid. Her sister was not so attractive and was sent to be a prostitute in a different district.

Sayuri nearly ruined her chances of becoming a Geisha by being rebellious and trying to run away. When she realized that 'outside' there were very few opportunities for her, she decided she wanted to become a Geisha and was taken under the wing by an older 'sister' -a well known Geisha.

From this she rose to become one of the most famous Geisha of all time. During this time she entertained many men -but not ina sexual way. The Geisha were entertainers but not prostitutes -they were kept women by a successful man who they would join with in a ceremony -although not marriage.

Through all this she is in love with a man who appears to not know she is alive.

The descriptions are wonderful, the writing colourful, I really felt I was there.

Highly recommended.

Good audio version.......2006-01-22

Be aware that this audio tape is an abridged version of the book, so it's missing some material. The most important parts are here, though, and if you're a fan of audio books and tapes, which a lot of people like to listen to while they're commuting or travelling in their cars, this one is fine if you don't mind the fact that it's not the entire book. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is that it is an abridged version.

I had a few other comments about the story. I don't read much fiction these days, sticking mostly to history and nonfiction, but I made an exception for this novel since I am a student and teacher of a couple of Japanese martial arts, and I'd absorbed some small knowledge about things like geishas during my studies. And I'd heard about how good the novel was.

I wasn't disappointed. I found Golden's book about a geisha during the 1930s, when the geisha tradition and culture was already dying, to be an accurate, detailed, and well written story about the life of what could have been a typical geisha. For me it's reminiscent of Yasunari Kawabata's famous novel, Snow Country, a bittersweet story about a love affair between a wealthy Tokyo playboy and a provincial geisha in a remote mountain town. Kawabata won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1968. The bittersweet quality derives from the fact that the geisha knows that although by most standards she is still young, she is past her prime and is one of the last of a dying breed.

Like Kawabata's novel, Golden's novel sensitively and realistically portrays the world of the geisha during a time when it was already waning. Golden shows that, contrary to western stereotypes of geishas as ordinary prostitutes, they were highly cultured and educated, trained in music, poetry and the arts, and more than able to hold their own and intelligently converse on many subjects with their often wealthy and powerful clients.

I understand this is Golden's first book. It's a fine debut by a new author and I hope it won't be his last. It will be interesting to see what he does next after such a spectacular debut.

By the way, an interesting little side note here. I've studied a little Japanese, and Japanese is replete with epithets, slang, and various and sundry derogatory words relating to people's mental, moral, and physical shortcomings. One funny aspect of this is how reptiles and especially turtles come in for a lot of abuse. Calling someone a turtle, for example, means you're saying they're slow or unintelligent. And if you call someone a "deb game," it translates literally as "a turtle with buckteeth." But the actual meaning is a "peeping tom."

Not very well written, but very well told.......2006-01-05

Don't expect wonderful English sentences or great literary prowess, the book doesn't have it. Then again, it is written in the way of a memoir of a geisha.
The book could have been a little better with some more depth, a better look into the main character.

It is the best book however to get a good view on how the world of the geisha worked. A fascinating, sometimes hard for us to understand, world of girls who start learning at an early age (sometimes 3 already). If you are interested in this aspect of Japanese culture, this novel is a must.

One of the most memorable.......2005-11-24

I have to say, I had preconceptions about what a geisha truly was and was therefore a bit hesitant to buy the book when it was published a while ago. The production of the movie urged me to read the book before watching the movie. It is truly a great book that I couldn't put down, even for one second, from start to finish.

A truly wonderful story filled with the most detailed descriptions of everything, which makes you feel like you're actually there in the scene, watching everything unfold right before your eyes. With twists and turns at every corner, each page leaves you wanting more.

It is a story (fictional) about a young girl, Chiyo, who was forced into slavery at a okiya at the age of 9 and was separated from her family and sister, Satsu, who was also sold to prostitution. The story follows Chiyo's life at the okiya, from being threatened by the successful geisha, Hatsumomo, as a young slave to her success as a geisha, under the name Nitta Sayuri, and her secret love for the Chairman whom she met as a child.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books