According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly assume--it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must master the arts of music, dance, clever conversation, crafty battle with rival beauties and cunning seduction of wealthy patrons. After earning degrees in Japanese art and history from Harvard and Columbia--and an M.A. in English--he met a man in Tokyo who was the illegitimate offspring of a renowned businessman and a geisha. This meeting inspired Golden to spend 10 years researching every detail of geisha culture, chiefly relying on the geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous.

The result is a novel with the broad social canvas (and love of coincidence) of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen's intense attention to the nuances of erotic maneuvering. Readers experience the entire life of a geisha, from her origins as an orphaned fishing-village girl in 1929 to her triumphant auction of her mizuage (virginity) for a record price as a teenager to her reminiscent old age as the distinguished mistress of the powerful patron of her dreams. We discover that a geisha is more analogous to a Western "trophy wife" than to a prostitute--and, as in Austen, flat-out prostitution and early death is a woman's alternative to the repressive, arcane system of courtship. In simple, elegant prose, Golden puts us right in the tearoom with the geisha; we are there as she gracefully fights for her life in a social situation where careers are made or destroyed by a witticism, a too-revealing (or not revealing enough) glimpse of flesh under the kimono, or a vicious rumour spread by a rival "as cruel as a spider."

Golden's web is finely woven, but his book has a serious flaw: the geisha's true romance rings hollow--the love of her life is a symbol, not a character. Her villainous geisha nemesis is sharply drawn, but she would be more so if we got a deeper peek into the cause of her motiveless malignity--the plight all geisha share. Still, Golden has won the triple crown of fiction: he has created a plausible female protagonist in a vivid, now-vanished world and he gloriously captures Japanese culture by expressing his thoughts in authentic Eastern metaphors.

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is going into foxy's book box :o)

Taken out of Foxy737's bookbox.

I absolutely loved this book, I thought it was beautifully written with a great cast of characters. I did find myself a little horrified by some of the things that happened to the Geisha. The image of Japan during the period was very evocative and wonderfully detailed. I'm now sending this out as a mini bookray to

willowfae
mellowdaisy
anna1000

I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to willowfae to begin bookray.

Wow. This book is amazing. I'd seen the film and there were certain bits of it that I didn't understand as I didn't know much about the life of a geisha or Japanese customs. But reading the book made everything fall into place.

Part way through reading it I left it at a friends house and had to wait nearly a week to get it back. I really missed it during that week. Or rather I really missed being immersed in Gion. Golden's narrative is superb and his ability to paint the sights, sounds and smell of, what is to most of us, an alien world is quite remarkable.

I thought about whether I should give this a 9 or 10, but in the end decided it had to be a 10.

Posted onto mellowdaisy today.

This arrived in the post this morning and I'm very much looking forward to starting it, just halfway through another ring book at the moment and then I'll be on to this one. Thank you Willowfae for sending it to me, and to niccijl for starting the ring!

Well, what can I say?! I thought this was a fabulous story and I was lost within it the whole way through. I felt so involved in Sayuri's journey through life and I just couldn't put the book down (which was difficult since I read it mostly in my lunch breaks at work)! I really want to see the film now as I'm interested in how they've portrayed it on screen, and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone - I think it's the first book that I have given 9 out of 10!

I have PMed anna1000 and will get it in the post as soon as I have an address.
EDIT: I've had no reply from anna1000 but I think she's offline at the moment so I was going to pass this on to my mum who seemed interested but she's changed her mind! I might offer it up again and see if anyone else is interested, otherwise I'll keep hold of it until I find somewhere to release it or someone else requests it!

Received in the post today, thank you mellowdaisy, can't wait to read it but have a couple of rings to read first.