A look into a different world (Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden)

Member Name: Kodang

Product:	Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Date:	01/10/01 (640 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well written, gripping

Disadvantages: see the end of my op

I have always been interested in the cultures of the east such as Japan, Korea and China so when a friend told me about this book I knew that I simply had to read it. As the title suggests, this book focuses on a increasingly rare group of women known as Geisha. So first of all – what is a Geisha? Well, many people describe them as ‘high class prostitutes’ but in my opinion, to refer to them as such does the Geisha a disservice. From a very early age they are schooled in the traditional Japanese arts such as playing the shamisen (an instrument similar to the lute with 3 strings), singing, dancing, tea- ceremony and calligraphy. The literal translation of the word geisha is ‘Person who lives by the arts’. Most of a geisha’s everyday life consists of entertaining men in traditional tea houses with these skills and the income they generate from this forms their basic pay.

The reason that the geisha have earned their reputation as professional prostitutes is that they do offer ‘other services’ for those who can afford it However, rather than tarnishing her image by sleeping with a number of rich men – a geisha will usually only have one – known as her ‘danna’ – over an extended period of time. A danna will provide his geisha with enough money to live comfortably and is also expected to give her expensive gifts such as Kimonos and jewellery. In return he will be allowed certain privileges.

This book is about the life of a Japanese geisha known as Sayuri who was sold into the trade by her father at the age of nine. Her sister, Satsu, was also sold but was not considered to be beautiful enough to become a geisha and so her fate was to live the life of a common prostitute. Written from the perspective of Sayuri herself this novel is a gripping read. Sayuri (originally named Chiyo – Sayuri is a name she was later given as a Geisha) had no idea what her fate was to
be when she was originally sold and only gradually realises what is expected of her.

The Geisha household (okiya) who bought Sayuri has another geisha called Hatsumomo who takes an instant dislike to her and delights in making the young girl’s life a misery. As Hatsumomo is the chief wage earner of the okiya everyone else takes her side and at one point it looks like poor Sayuri will never even become a geisha at all – living her life instead as a simple maid – working as a slave to the okiya. Something I found amazing was the fact that the price that the okiya paid for Sayuri was added to her ‘debts’ as well as what it cost to feed, clothe and train her to become a geisha. Until Sayuri had paid these debts off she would be effectively a slave.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I have read in some time and I simply could not put it down until I had read all of it. The only gripe that I had with it is that at first I did not realise that it was a work of fiction, believing it to be a biography. This thought was strengthened by the fact that at the beginning of the book there is a ‘note from the translator’ – describing how he had interviewed Sayuri and how she wanted to wait until all of the characters in the book had died before it was to be published. Of course this translator is fictional – but I did not realise this until the very end when Arthur Golden wrote ‘Of course the story of Sayuri is purely fictional’. I felt cheated and quite a bit stupid for not checking the name of the ‘translator’ against that of the author. Still, if you start this book knowing that it is fiction then I am sure that you will enjoy it a great deal.

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