Memoirs of a Geisha

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(On the scale of 10)

Enchanting. Erotic. Devastating. Fascinating.

When I finished reading this book, there were two things that I found tough to digest. First, Memoirs is Arthur Golden’s first book. Second, Sayuri, the protagonist, is an invented character.

Memoirs of a Geisha is the most absorbing book I have read in months.

Golden, an American, has done a brilliant job of describing Japan as it was back in 1920’s and during the World War II. Memoirs is a story of young girl, daughter of a poor Japanese fisherman, whose life takes an unprecedented turn when her mother falls sick and her father agrees to sell his two daughters in the hope of their better future. The little girl called Chiyo finds herself in an okiya in the town of Kyoto, in the Geisha district called Goin. Hereafter begins her struggle to survive in the world of beauty, greed, lovelessness, cheating, manipulation, and revenge. At nine, Chiyo finds herself repulsed by her new surroundings and tries her best to get back to her little fishermen village. With time, she learns to accept her circumstances and then after an intriguing meeting with a gentleman, she decides to become a geisha. Geisha is an artisan and it is not easy to be one. Little Chiyo, who grows to become the famous geisha Sayuri, suffers innumerable hardships each day of her life in the hope to meet the intriguing gentleman again.

The beauty of the book is not so much in the story, which frankly is that of every second soap opera, but of the detailed description of the lifestyle of a geisha and of the ancient Japan. Golden’s attention to detail and knowledge of Japanese culture and history has to be marveled. The descriptions are so deep and intense that I refuse to believe that Golden never knew a Sayuri even after reading the author’s note clearly stating the fact. Golden uses fascinating analogies from protagonist’s past and future to describe her present feelings. The poetic thoughts of Sayuri are also a pleasure to read.

I highly recommend this book. If you have seen the movie, let me tell you…it does not even begin to compare with the book. The depth of the story and the characters is lost in the movie. And this I say, when I actually enjoyed watching it. However, trying to compare the two would be like comparing a peacock’s rain dance with a sparrow hopping around the bird feeder.