Geisha (Geisha - Liza Dalby)

Member Name: moloko

Product:	Geisha - Liza Dalby
Date:	09/08/01 (993 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Has a personal touch to it, Full of facts, Very interesting

Disadvantages: None!

Everywhere I look at the moment i am finding magazine articles, display stands in bookshops etc about China and Japan. It seems to be the 'in' topic of the moment, and on top of this the subject of Japanese 'Geisha' girls is very popular. I first read Arthur Goldens 'Memoirs of a Geisha' in January this year, and since then have been hooked on the Geisha life. Although Goldens book is fiction, it brings to life their hidden world and is a great story (i recommend looking at this book too). For a deeper understanding though of Geisha life, i would recommend Liza Dalby's 'Geisha'.

Dalby, author of 'The Tale of Murasaki', was the only foreigner ever to have becomme a Geisha. This is the story of her time spent as a Geisha, and the results of her years spent studying the ancient Japanese profession. Although the book is actually a non-fiction factual text, it is presented as a fiction book and is written as a story as Dalby tells of her experiences in Japan.

It's an excellent book for anyone who has never heard of Geisha before, or for anyone who has and is wondering what it is they actually do and who they are. Too many westerners have the image of Geisha as Japanese prostitutes but this is certainly not the case - they are merely 'entertainers' of powerful and wealthy men.

Dalby's book goes into great detail of Geisha life and explains everything from the basics of what a Geisha is, to explaining how the girls get their names, where they live, regional variations, dress style and their general lifestyle. It gives a colourful description of how times have changed in the Geisha world and portrays how Geisha in olden-times were very different from those now (the first Geisha were actually men!). It describes the long and difficult training many Geisha have gone through in the past and the way that young girls are taken under wing by older and more experienced Geisha who becomm
e their sisters and mothers and a whole new family set-up is arranged. It tells of the talents these young girls have (dance and music mainly) and also of what happens when Geisha women get older and leave the profession.

The book is also great for anyone interested in gender roles in Japan - Geisha women never marry and play a very different role to that of the Japanese wife. It's really interesting to see just how their lives vary from the ordinary Japanese housewive.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone of any age. It's great for students too who need a deeper understanding of Geisha life and can't find it in a normal textbook - because Dalby adds her personal views on everything we can see how things really are and the reader is touched by the lives of some of the girls, the way any other non-fiction book would be unable to do.

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