Pretty good stuff, you might need to a be a chick. The movie looks promising but the reviews are generally negative (the accents are terrible)

"We don't become geisha because we want our lives to be happy, we become geisha because we have no choice"

Memoirs of a Geisha is a sensual novel Golden weaves as an actual memoir of a Japanese woman. The definition of the term memoir in the beginning sets the tone and point of view of the novel but also fools me into believing it was an actual account of a real person's life. In that respect, we could say that it is very successful. Though it postulates as a tragedy, it is ultimately a fairy tale.

The novel is narrated by Chiyo, a young destitute girl from a fishing village who is sold to become a geisha, very far away in the town Kyoto; the training is harsh and made even worse by a beautiful yet cruel geisha named Hatsumomo. Chiyo from the start has startling beautiful eyes of an unusual grayish color. It is harrowing to read how horrible Hatsumomo can be, it gets tedious, I think Golden dwelled on that too long. Chiyo would grow up to be a famous geisha renamed Sayuri under the tutelage of a famous geisha Mameha

Though Chiyo/Sayuri lives up to the nickname "Little Miss Stupid", I suppose she's only a child, fantasizing about impossible things and wasting years of her life on reveries. It's sad but I can also relate or at least understand. Desperation like hope is a universal feeling

I've always tried to block out the idea that geishas were not as many think just high class Japanese prostitutes but the novel burst my bubble. Geishas are not prostitutes per se but they are prostitute-ish, sex is involved to a degree, they are like professional mistresses. The whole idea of a "danna" (rich man who dotes on his favorite geisha) felt pretty icky. The whole chapters devoted to Sayuri and her sister (mentor) setting up two men to bid for her "mizuage" (uhhh virginity) was just wrong

"Every step I have taken has been to bring myself closer to you."
In fact, even the most idealized romance in Sayuri's mind, the one she has for the "Chairman" is quite twisted

Even though I like how it plays out, the whole thing was scripted for a storybook ending which should have given me clues that this work, no matter how vibrant, was rooted in fiction

The novel makes me long to return to Japan to see a more traditional beauty, maybe in Kyoto where the bulk of the story takes place. I want to see the beautiful geishas so intrically described (kimonos and hair and hair pieces). I have no doubt Gion has changed and become modern but I wouldn't mind catching a glimpse of the okiyas and teahouses where the characters from this novel spend most of their time

Quotable
"...dreams are such dangerous things: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely"
"I stumbled onto the courtyard to try to flee my misery, but of course we can never flee the misery that is within us""


I had been meaning to read this book for a while, thanks Lucy for letting me borrow (moi cheap, and lazy), it is as she say quite girly but good. I found it engaging but I have a bias with my interest of all things Japanese

In an age dominated by visual arts, I could not help but imagine many of the chapters in a cinematic way with stage direction, dialogue and actor mannerisms. This is reinforced in the buzz (or rather backlash) around the movie adaptation by Rob Marshall (Chicago) starring Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe



Spoiler: Ebert and Roepert (split on thumbs up) actually give away part of the movie when they reveal that Yeoh's character (the Geisha Mameha) eventually helps Sayuri with her debts and takes on her education

Links
- reviews - Memoirs of a Geisha

Posted	Tuesday, January 03, 2006 @ 12:08:17 PM (1102 days ago)
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