Sunday, March 05, 2006

Memoirs of a Geisha


By Arthur Golden

I had been wanting to read this book for a couple of years when I finally picked it up about a month ago, because the movie was out and I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie.

While reading Memoirs of a Geisha, I really had a difficult time understanding the concept of what a Geisha is. I, like many other Americans, assumed a Geisha was a prostitute, but this is not exactly correct. The character telling her story, Sayuri, describes a Geisha as a "kept woman." I suppose this is an accurate description, but usually kept woman are married to the men that keep them, though I suppose not always. A working Geisha, on the other hand never marries. Geisha were beautiful young women who were masters of the Japanese arts of dancing, music, and tea ceremony. They used these skills to entertain men who paid them for their company. Though they were not prostitutes, there was a sexual aspect to it in the suggestion of bare skin and female sexuality. But a respectful Geisha would never accept money from a man for sex for just one night. They would instead set up a more long term relationship with a man, who would pay the Geisha's living expenses, classes, and give extravagant gifts in exchange for "privileges". The man was then called a Geisha's danna.

The novel follows Sayuri as a young girl when she is first sold by a man she trusts to start her training as a Geisha. She is very stubborn in the beginning and overcomes many obstacles to get where she ends up. The story is not just of Sayuri's life as a Geisha, but there is also a love story at the core of the book. When she is a teenager she meets an older man who becomes the focus of her life and the motivation for everything she does.

This book is wonderful in its richness of detail. The rituals and traditions that went into being a Geisha are described in a wonderfully unique way. Sayuri tells the reader what it was like to be a Geisha from the type of clothing she wore to the hair styles she wore to the food she ate, even to the different relationships she had with men. The novel truly transcends the reader to a different time and place. I lost myself in this book and had trouble putting it down.

I have not yet seen the movie. I did not rush out to the theaters after I had heard a few discouraging comments from people who had seen the movie and read the book. People who had read the book were terribly disappointed by the movie, however I am still interested in seeing the movie. First of all, I am just curious how different the movie is from the book. I also think the movie could assist me in visualizing things like the clothing and the setting. I also think that the movie just looks like a beautiful movie, visually.

I loved this book and I think you all would enjoy it as well.

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