Being a social butterfly... (Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden)

Member Name: saucy_molecule

Product:	Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Date:	05/08/03 (251 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful language, fantastic storytelling, developed characters

Disadvantages: none

As the final week of my first year at uni was drawing to an end, during a shopping trip to Newcastle with my boyfriend I decided to treat myself to some new books to keep my mind occupied when I was at home. For me, Waterstone’s is an Aladdin’s cave and the books are its jewels. With the offer of 3 for 2 on ‘Summer reads’ amongst others, I couldn’t resist. I bought ‘1984’ by George Orwell, ‘The Rice Mother’ by Rani Manicka and this, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ by Arthur Golden. The RRP of the book is £6.99 and the ISBN no. is 0-09-977151-9. So, now that you know where to find it, why would you want to?

As soon as you open this book, it grabs you and pulls you deep into a story that is so exotic and intoxicating that you cannot imagine the places and happenings that it describes. The essential story could be the plotline to the generic ‘chick-lit’ genre; young girl falls in love with a man, only for him to seemingly reject her and his best friend fall in love with her. However, you soon discover that this simple outline cannot nearly do the story or the book any justice. It tells the story of a young girl, Chiyo, who is taken from her fishing village of Yoroido at the age of nine, along with her older sister, Satsu, to the city of Gion. There she is sold to an okiya, which is a house that geisha live in. At first, she didn’t know what had happened to her older sister, but later found that she had been sold to a whorehouse.

As a young girl, Chiyo, is used as a maid within the household. The main geisha of the house, Hatsumomo, is renowned for her beauty within the district of Gion and the rivalry between her and another geisha, Mameha. However, within the okiya, Hatsumomo treated Chiyo and another girl, Pumpkin, appallingly. Within the story, we come to know that this is mainly because she is jealous of Chiyo, as even as a little girl Chiyo is very beautiful, and possesses
grey/blue eyes instead of the usual brown. This causes Hatsumomo to trick Chiyo in a number of ways and get her into as much trouble as possible. Chiyo herself feels that if it weren’t for Hatsumomo’s interference then she and Pumpkin would have been able to build upon the fledgling relationship they had when they were children. However, as they grow older, she discovers that Pumpkin feels that it is Chiyo’s fault as much as Hatsumomo’s that their friendship weakens and this hurts Chiyo as much as anything else that happens within her life.

There are three events within Chiyo’s childhood that are of the most significance. Firstly, she discovers where her sister is and together they plot to run away. Unfortunately, Chiyo is prevented from leaving and this causes her misery in her situation to deepen, leaving her without any hope of ever leaving the okiya. The second event that eventually determines the course of her whole life, is a meeting between herself and a man she knows as ‘The Chairman.’ Her ensuing attachment to this man affects everything about her life from that point on; her dreams, ambitions, behaviour, thoughts, everything.

The third, and possibly most important, event is the decision of the famous Mameha to take Chiyo under her wing and guide her in the ways of the geisha. Chiyo believes this to be part of Mameha’s own plan to annoy and frustrate Hatsumomo, who has taken Chiyo’s friend, Pumpkin, to be her own ‘little sister.’ The story then follows a large part of Mameha and Chiyo’s endeavours as they try to establish Chiyo as a successful geisha. Part of the transformation is to take a different name, Sayuri, as well as learning how to make the most of her own body to achieve what she wants.

Sayuri quickly discovers exactly what she wants, and how she thinks she can get it. However, unfortunately for her, other people get in the way with their own plans,
hopes and wishes and cause her pain, heartache and disappointment. She practically ignores the help and care she receives time after time from a man she knows as Nobu, because her sights are so firmly fixed upon the Chairman. However, when at last she does become resigned to the fact that Nobu is her destiny, and not the Chairman, her fortunes take yet another change.

The simple story is woven over the top of a base that contains beautiful metaphors, mostly uttered by Sayuri herself, and a mystical background of soft magic and fortune-telling. It lends an exquisitely faint unfamiliarity to the story that seems to wake up your senses and provides a refreshing change to the current ‘chick-lit’ trend of stories, though they do have their place.

The story works so well because it is so elegant and expressive in its language, that the unfamiliar Japanese words and customs soon become easily understood and imaginable. This is not a book where you have to turn back to the first few pages in order to remind yourself what everything meant. Things are explained simply and you remember them, which only adds to the enjoyment of the story as you can concentrate on what is happening without getting caught up in the intricacies.

The characters are thoroughly developed within the book. Characters such as Pumpkin who may initially seem simple, turn out to be far more complex. Hatsumomo and Mameha are completely created - we understand the way they act and why and how they might react to different situations. Hatsumomo is cruel and self-obsessed, while Mameha is kind but stronger than she might seem and they both act accordingly within Golden's storytelling. Nuances of character are not forgotten. The Chiyo/Sayuri character herself is portrayed expertly, at all times appearing both fragile and determined, quiet yet engaging.

The story of Geisha is fascinating. These women were brought up from a very early age to learn how to a
ct, dance, speak, move, dress and look exactly as how was expected for them to entertain men. Sayuri speaks of many different things that she has experienced, from watching Hatsumomo applying her makeup, to how her virginity was bought by the highest bidder while she is an apprentice, and then later on when she becomes a geisha it is not expected, but accepted, that a geisha is willing to sleep with the men she entertains and lurid stories are told freely between men and geisha. The things she describes are so strange to western ways of thinking that while I was reading, I couldn’t help thinking, “She has been sold to a whorehouse, like her sister, just one of a different calibre.” But Sayuri does not see it like this, and even comments on how Western women cannot understand the choice she made to become a geisha – but she insists that while it was not a decision that she herself made, it is still the only thing she could possibly do. The other choice of being a maid was something she couldn’t even consider.

This is not a book that is easily described within an opinion. It is a book that has to be read to be fully understood and appreciated. Though some people have commented that their doesn't seem to be a definite plot ie., there is no catastrophic event that provides a pivotal point for the book; I don't think that this detracts from it. The book is semi-autobiographical - I say semi because the character is fictitious, but the way in which it chronicals Chiyo-Sayuri's life gives it the feel of an autobiography.

I believe that most people would enjoy this, men and women of all ages, though perhaps younger teenagers should perhaps read it as they get older because there may be some issues that may be difficult for them to understand, such as the feelings that Sayuri has as well as the more physical descriptions within the book. It is definitely a story that should be re-read and enjoyed on several occasion
s.

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