Day 84: Memoirs of a Geisha

Friday, November 27

I finished Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden several days ago, but I wanted to wait until after I watched the movie to share my thoughts. Of course, the movie was not as good as the book, but isn’t that always the case! On to the review…

This book is a sort of auto biography of the fictional character, Sayuri. Although born Chiyo-chan in a small fishing village in the early 1900’s, her family sold her to an “okiya” or geisha house when she was nine years old. The first third of the book is about the trials and tribulations that took this daughter of an old fisherman, to be one of the most beautiful geisha Japan had ever seen. The descriptions of the cruelty and triumphs this young lady underwent made this book next to impossible to put down.

Along the way, you find yourself wishing you too could become a geisha. To be dressed to the nines, made up every night, and paid to attend one fabulous party after another. About that time you have decided to move to Japan, you are reminded of what life as a geisha is really like. Flirting with men you find repulsive, being “owned” by the mother of the okiya for all the “debts” she feels you owe her, and the worse, having your most precious gift auctioned off like cattle at the livestock barn. I felt like I was a on a roller coaster of emotions as to whether I pity or envy the life of Sayuri.

After her “mizuage” went for the highest price in history, Sayuri spent years loving the man that had been kind to her as a child. The one man that was untouchable since his business partner and literal life saver is in love with Sayuri and desires to become her danna, or provider/lover.
The book takes Sayuri through World War II when she works as a cloth dyer for a kimono maker and to the reopening of the geisha districts. Once back as a geisha, the reader is drawn further into the geisha world as the American soldiers enter the picture and life goes back to being a constant party. As the book grows closer to an end, a trip to a vacation island, finds Sayuri at the turning point of her life!

This book is a wonderful display of self discovery and the power of positive thinking! While there are a few scenes that are on the mature side, I highly recommend this book for anyone over the age of 18. The history of the book alone is informative and intriguing, add to that a wonderful story line and I give this book four out of five stars!

With love,
Eli
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