Goodreads : 5/5
Language : English
Genre : History
Hi guys , my first book review will be about one of my favorite books "Memoirs of a Geisha " , i gave it 5 stars in goodreads .I was obviously slowly reading it because it was at some point so tiring ( not in its negative meaning)
First i should mention that i'm an asian culture lover so maybe my passion to discover about the culture pushed me to read this book .
Let me enlighten the title at first place :
Geisha or traditional Japanese female entertainer who acts as hostesse and her skills include performing various arts such as classical music, dance, games and conversation, mainly to entertain male customers ..
Memoirs : in this book , the main character will be talking about her journey as a Geisha including all the struggles to become one . ( at some point it'll look as it's a real autobiography but well Arthur Golden made it clear that its was fiction )
The main character or the speaker in this book is Chiyo (this was her birth name ) until she has been called Sayuri ( her Geisha's life name) for some reasons .
Chiyo (or Sayuri) has a hard childhood , her father gave up on her along with her sister Satsu to Geisha houses ( not same house ) , and ends up by struggling alone after , since even her sister decided to go on her own way . Here's the hardships start , it wasn't an easy way neither glamourous to become a geisha as she used to think . She had to overcame jalousy , competition and the slavery way in the geisha house . Here she had to deal with different kinds of characters and people ( Hatsumomo , Pumpakin , Granny , the okiya's Mistress and the antie )
The deviant point of Sayuri life was obviously being (kind of adopted) by Japan top Geisha Mameha who helped her to start training as a real geisha and end up the maid days .
The struggles didn't end here , but the life as geisha was even harder . From "The misuage " to "getting a Danna " all those words you will discover along the book ( i'm not revealing everything i hope) .
For a Geisha , love was prohibited and sex was never her own choice , but Sayuri had that different image , a geisha who has done everything to reach her loved one ( the chairman : he wasn't that influecual for me to be called the main hero but he was obviously Sayuri's reason to overcome alot of barriers ) . This quote from the book maybe summed up it up : “Can't you see? Every step I have taken, since I was that child on the bridge, has been to bring myself closer to you. ”
I should mention that i'm satisfied with the end though it wasn't a happy one , maybe because i was expecting a worse one but i find it realistic . Also my favorite caracter was Mameha ( don't judge me ) but i really liked the strong personality she had since "being a geisha" was never being an independant free woman .
I was mainly facinated in this book by Arthur Golden writing's style , i felt like hearing every sound , smelling , feeling , touching the textures . The book just throws you into an old japanese street and makes you get lost into it .
Note that the book had his screen adaptation , here's the link of the trailer ( don't get spoiled if you haven't read it yet )
I haven't watched it yet but maybe i'll made a Book vs Movie article later on .
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