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Book Review Title Memoirs
Of A Geisha Fiction-Net Rating Buy It - Buy This Book Cover Story Summoning
up more than twenty years of Japan's most
dramatic history, the geisha's story
uncovers a hidden world of eroticism and
enchantment, exploitation and degradation.
It moves from a small fishing village in
1929 to the glamorous and decadent Kyoto
of the 1930's and on to postwar New
York. We Say Whenever
a novel about a particular culture is
written by an author who is not a member
of that culture, I hesitate to read it. I
have been terribly disappointed by the
various attempts to glamorise, patronise
or bash various cultures through what many
consider to be a great piece of
literature. Seldom is an author able to
just tell the story. I was completely
prepared to dislike Arthur
Golden's
novel, Memoirs
Of A
Geisha.
As a second-generation Japanese-American,
I was determined to find fault with this
book. No such luck. Arthur Golden's novel,
Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel written
with incredible insight and honesty.
It is
apparent that Golden has done his
homework. Certain sights or smells or
images can cause me to remember an event
in my childhood. Memoirs Of A Geisha
conjured images of my trips to Japan to
visit my grandparents. The descriptions of
the food eaten, the houses and the daily
life brought back memories that I had long
forgotten. The main character, Sayuri is
created so skillfully that she was able to
explain certain aspects of Japanese
culture with an ease I envy. Whilst Arthur
Golden was honest about his character's
life, I was not offended by the way her
life story was told. Most
'foreigners' cannot understand how the
wives of prominent Japanese men could
stand having their husbands visit the
Geisha, and the common belief is that a
Geisha is just a high class prostitute.
For those that want to keep believing that
a Geisha is a prostitute, this novel will
not really change their mind. However, for
those who really want to understand the
world of a Geisha, this book will
enlighten and educate. Most Americans do
not remember that marriages born of love
were the exception in Japan. I imagine
that in an arranged marriage, many women
welcomed the relief a Geisha could provide
and for a poor peasant girl, the life of a
Geisha meant a life of comfort versus a
life of poverty and hardship. A
woman's life in Japan during World War Two
compared with women all over the world was
really no different despite the many
attempts to place cultural boundaries on a
woman's experience. It is all a matter of
perspective. Memoirs Of A Geisha is not
only about the life of a Geisha, it is
also about the experiences of a woman
faced with difficult choices. I could not
wait to finish reading this novel and I
when I was finished, I didn't want it to
end. I would
rate Memoirs Of A Geisha as one of the
best books I have ever read. It was well
worth the time and I encourage everyone to
read it. Review by: Yumi Nagasaki-Taylor Buy It - Buy This Book |
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