Memoirs of a Geisha
Registered by wyldanthem of Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA on 10/18/2006
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction -- at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful -- and completely unforgettable.
Rob Marshall (of Chicago fame) directed the movie version of Memoirs of a Geisha, and I thought I should read the book before seeing it. So far the prescreening reviews have been amazing - coming from a book this good, it's no surprise.
I was swept away by the characters and flow of Arthur Golden's story, and I truthfully can't wait to see whether the colorful kimonos, elegant hair styles, and haunting makeup in the film live up to the glorious pictures Golden painted in my mind. The story is filled with creative imagery - "It was a big box of a building, with a roof that didn't seem quite substantial enough, but made me think of a lid fitted onto the wrong pot" (p. 194) - and powerful lines - "Hopes are like hair ornaments. Girls want to wear too many of them. When they become old women they look silly wearing even one" (p. 295) - that presented sometimes the most complicated of human emotions in the simplest way.
One of my favorite passages:
But it wasn't just my imagination that was stimulated; my thirst for knowledge was quenched, too - I feel like I learned quite a bit about Japanese culture, albeit a small part of it. Although Sayuri says that geisha are pretty much the equivalent of prostitutes, they go through much more than their Western counterparts, that's for sure!
I also enjoyed Golden's way of explaining different Japanese terms and phrases, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at this statement: "Kabuki is a relatively young art form; it didn't exist before the 1700s" (p. 150). Relatively young indeed! One day I hope to watch a true Kabuki performance in Japan. My father saw one while he was stationed there with the Army and, though he's never been a fan of the arts, he always says there's nothing as beautiful on this side of the globe. Until that day, however, I'll have to settle for books and movies such as Memoirs of a Geisha. If they were all as good as this story, I suppose I wouldn't have much to complain about.
I was swept away by the characters and flow of Arthur Golden's story, and I truthfully can't wait to see whether the colorful kimonos, elegant hair styles, and haunting makeup in the film live up to the glorious pictures Golden painted in my mind. The story is filled with creative imagery - "It was a big box of a building, with a roof that didn't seem quite substantial enough, but made me think of a lid fitted onto the wrong pot" (p. 194) - and powerful lines - "Hopes are like hair ornaments. Girls want to wear too many of them. When they become old women they look silly wearing even one" (p. 295) - that presented sometimes the most complicated of human emotions in the simplest way.
One of my favorite passages:
"From time to time at elegant parties, I've been introduced to some young woman or other in a spelendid dress and jewelry. When she learns I was once a geisha in Kyoto, she forms her mouth into a sort of smile, although the corners don't turn up quite as they should. ... This woman is thinking, 'My goodness ... I'm talking with a prostitute...' A moment later she's rescued by her escort, a wealthy man a good thirty or forty years older than she is. Well, I often find myself wondering why she can't sense how much we really have in common. She is a kept woman, you see, and in my day, so was I." (p. 291)
But it wasn't just my imagination that was stimulated; my thirst for knowledge was quenched, too - I feel like I learned quite a bit about Japanese culture, albeit a small part of it. Although Sayuri says that geisha are pretty much the equivalent of prostitutes, they go through much more than their Western counterparts, that's for sure!
I also enjoyed Golden's way of explaining different Japanese terms and phrases, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at this statement: "Kabuki is a relatively young art form; it didn't exist before the 1700s" (p. 150). Relatively young indeed! One day I hope to watch a true Kabuki performance in Japan. My father saw one while he was stationed there with the Army and, though he's never been a fan of the arts, he always says there's nothing as beautiful on this side of the globe. Until that day, however, I'll have to settle for books and movies such as Memoirs of a Geisha. If they were all as good as this story, I suppose I wouldn't have much to complain about.
Journal Entry 3 by wyldanthem at Community Yardsale in Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA on Friday, May 18, 2012
Released 11 yrs ago (5/19/2012 UTC) at Community Yardsale in Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Planned release at a community yard sale just outside Lancaster, Pa. The sale will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ish), but I will have a box of FREE BookCrossing books available until the last one finds its next reader! If any local BookCrossing Hunters want details about the location, just PM me!
To the finder of this book:
Hello, and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing — maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!). And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using one of the previous journallers as your referring member.
Feel free to read and keep this book, pass it on to a friend, or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels — you'll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.
Happy reading!
To the finder of this book:
Hello, and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing — maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!). And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using one of the previous journallers as your referring member.
Feel free to read and keep this book, pass it on to a friend, or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels — you'll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.
Happy reading!
