Review: Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
Synopsis: As a young girl, Chiyo is sold by her ailing father to the entertainment district of Kyoto. She is raised to learn the art of being a Geisha. It’s a complex and competitive world, over which Chiyo has little control.
Going into this book, I had very little knowledge of what it was about. I’ve never seen the movie, and barely knew what a Geisha was. I was intrigued by it’s popularity and found a used copy in a thrift store and decided to give it a shot.
When I started reading, I was pretty sure the book was fiction. Shortly into it, I started second guessing myself, and had to look it up to confirm. The book reads just like a memoir. There is also a translator’s note at the very beginning that, I confess, I initially skipped over. About half way though, I went back and read it out of curiosity. Then I realized the translator’s name did not match the author’s name, and I was really confused. So, I did a little research and discovered the translator’s note is also a fictional element. I thought that was a very creative touch.
I was very impressed with the way this book is written. First that it does read just like a memoir. I could very easily believe it was in fact just that. However, the fact it is non fiction makes me applaud Golden’s writing all the more. I don’t feel like I have ever read a male author who could so clearly write a female lead character. Had I not known, I would have guessed this was written by a woman. He captures all of her emotions and experiences so beautifully! So often I feel like male authors have a male lead in their books, and female authors write female leads. Golden did a phenomenal job in this respect.
Memoirs of a Geisha is not a light read. It’s pretty emotionally heavy, and a dense book. I didn’t feel like it was one I could easily pick up, read for a couple of minutes, and set aside (not that I would want to anyway…). You really needed time to dive into it. It deals with subject matter that will make you uncomfortable. (It takes place pre WWII when it was common for a young Geisha’s virginity to be sold to the highest bidder. Definitely cringe worthy.) Thankfully, those parts are not drawn out too much, and are not overly descriptive.
There is a sense of “good guys vs bad guys” in this story. The “good guys” are pretty much always good, and the “bad guys” don’t see much redemption. In that respect, I didn’t feel like there was much in the way of character development, apart from Chiyo.
Overall, I really enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha. I don’t know much about Japan or Japanese culture, so it was kind of a learning experience for me, something outside of my norm. It’s worth the read!