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Memoirs of a Geisha
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Memoirs of a Geisha
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-Angela
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Angela, very interesting comments. Personally, I really like Nobu, but you're right, there's quite a lot of horny old men in this book who are not nearly as good of people as they seem. I think it's just because of the culture at the time in Japan, but old men being attracted by girls in their young teens or even younger is still inappropriate no matter what. She did have a very hard life.
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I loved the way they explained them getting ready! I saw that in the movie before I read it and it was my favorite scene, and I think that it was my favorite part of book too. It was really cool being able to see the way they lived.
Also I found it sad the way America came in a ruined her society, not that it was like the best situation for people, but it had an elegance that got polluted when America came in.
Also I agree I really want to hear what every one else has to say about this book (not that if no one does I wouldn't just be content Suzette and I as long as there are two people ha ha) and what they have to say about what we thought about them.
Oh! One more thing! I completely loved Chiyo's original name (Chiyo ha ha) and refused to think of her by her new name. (even though I know that's who she was now, I just liked Chiyo better)
-Angela
Hi guys! I got a slow start with this book and have only just reached the halfway point. Is anybody else bothered by the writing style? There's something about the narration that makes me think it was written by a 12-year-old. The details of geisha life are pretty fascinating, but at times the story drags because of the constant pauses to explain the purpose of every hairstyle and article of clothing, and the metaphors that could have added a bit of poetry to the narrative are so overused that they just bog it down further. But the story is intriguing, moreso now that Chiyo/Sayuri's career is really starting, and I'm determined to finish it. But am I the only one who has trouble reading a poorly-written book, even if the story itself is good?
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You're right, I definitely enjoyed the second half a lot better, though the writing continued to bother me throughout. Ang, I totally agree with your complaints about the creepy old men, but I did feel for Nobu a little, especially when they revealed that the entire relationship had been set up for him only to be taken away because Sayuri hadn't been prepared to play the game. When all is said and done, he's just another pedophile, but still, poor guy! I suppose we're supposed to feel for Sayuri/Chiyo in her struggle to reach the Chairman while everyone around her is toying with her life, and maybe rejoice when they are finally together, but a twelve-year-old deciding to become a whore in the hopes that she can one day be the mistress of some random guy who bought her sweets when he saw her crying in the street is not the most endearing love story.
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I agree that I liked all the descriptions and metaphors and stuff, it made it feel like someone dictating their memoirs. But I also agree that it can be a bit frustrating when stories are not written in a particularly linear fashion.
I had a hard time liking the father too, although I could see where he was coming from trying to give his daughters a better life, he failed. Not only did he fail, but I'm pretty sure he gave them a worse life.
Pretty much everyone in this whole book screwed over Chiyo. That poor little girl was sold, enslaved, abandoned, raped, brainwashed, and whored out. The sister just leaving her. I would never leave my sister. I was so mad. But I did love this book. I'm glad I had an excuse to be pompous about reading it and shove my opinions about it in everyone else's faces because I've been pretending that I was going to read this book for a really long time and I just never did.
-Angela
I know that this book was read awhile ago, but I just have to say that the writing in this book was breathtaking! It was such a visual novel that I felt as though I could see all of the vibrant colors and lush landscape. It was also one of those novels that just sucked you in and I felt as though I were standing right next to the characters, experiencing everything with them. Even though it was heartbreaking what those women went through, the writing style was just fantastic!
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I read this book a few years ago and loved it. I own the movie, and they are both rich in texture and flavor. The writing and cultural description was breathtaking. This book is based on a real geisha's life.The men being "pedophiles" is a culture-based criticism. In Japan at that time, and in Western cultures for hundreds of years, a girl became a woman and was able to be wedded as soon as she menstrated the first time, sometimes as early as 11 and 12 years old. Henry VIII's famous wife Anne Boleyn had a younger sister, Mary, who was wedded at 12 and a mistress to Henry for many years beginning at the age of 13, bearing him two children. Physically, we are grown women at that point and able to bear children. The specific age of womanhood is a socio-culture restriction. We view it as wrong because of our culture and its views, but other countries and other cultures have very different views. Culture in Japan is VERY different from Western countries, and it's difficult to understand a culture so different from ours. It doesn't mean that what they did is right, but in their culture it wasn't wrong or creepy.
I did, however, find the Baron very creepy, and felt bad for Mameha that she loved him when he was so willing to take Sayuri without her consent. And Hatsumomo was an embodiment of the worst qualities of women.
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That being said, I think that it would be interesting to learn a bit more about Japanese culture, particularly at that time, and reread this book. I think there are a lot more, or simply different views to see things from if you have that background!
-Angela
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I knew he had interviewed one geisha in particular, and I had thought the book was based on her life. It was, however, listed as a fiction novel, so I'm sure you are right, Suzette. I did hear that the geisha he interviewed was extremely displeased with the finished work.
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It was certainly not the most flattering portrait of Japanese culture, and for a culture that reveres honor above most else, and portrait like that would be angering. I probably would have been upset too.
-Angela
Memoirs of a Geisha