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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
After reading "Memoirs of a Geisha", I promptly purchased this autobiography to see what all the hullabaloo was about.
I can definitely understand why Mineko Iwasaki felt angry, but at the same time I feel she overreacted a bit. Arthur Golden took her stories and twisted them into his own fictional version, using stories about herself and others she knew as the basis for his characters, but I can only say that the worst he did was paint geisha to be much more sexually deviant than they really were. The comparison she made between herself and Sayuri are loose at best.
I feel she wrote this not only to set the record straight that geisha were entertainers, not escorts or prostitutes, but also to shed light on a life she chose to lead. Yes, she may have been an extremely busy woman, but she knew what she was getting into and enjoyed it immensely. She was a dancer first and foremost, and that passion rings heavy throughout the book.
I can definitely understand why Mineko Iwasaki felt angry, but at the same time I feel she overreacted a bit. Arthur Golden took her stories and twisted them into his own fictional version, using stories about herself and others she knew as the basis for his characters, but I can only say that the worst he did was paint geisha to be much more sexually deviant than they really were. The comparison she made between herself and Sayuri are loose at best.
I feel she wrote this not only to set the record straight that geisha were entertainers, not escorts or prostitutes, but also to shed light on a life she chose to lead. Yes, she may have been an extremely busy woman, but she knew what she was getting into and enjoyed it immensely. She was a dancer first and foremost, and that passion rings heavy throughout the book.
I really enjoyed this book - probably because I have more than a passing interest in Japanese culture. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about Geisha having read Memoirs of a Geisha, and is really interested in this subculture.
Hmmm. I'm in a quandary as to how to review this book.
Some background, both to my position and the memoir itself. I read [b:Memoirs of a Geisha|929|Memoirs of a Geisha|Arthur Golden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409595968l/929._SY75_.jpg|1558965] many moons ago, in a time where both my own and popular conscience were not as switched on to the concepts of own voices or representation as we now (thankfully) are. I loved that book. I still have my copy and until recent years thought of it fondly. I've never reread it, as I don't tend to do that, but my opinion on it has changed as my conscience has grown and I've become aware of the controversy surrounding the book. That controversy was probably why I bought this memoir, but I'm not sure as it's sat in my TBR pile for a number of years. But basically, Arthur Golden took one woman's accounts of life as a geisha, used them in his novel whilst breaking their confidentiality agreement in the process, and in so doing managed to misrepresent not only the individual but all geisha by fuelling the Western view of them as simply high-class prostitutes. Which is apparently very much not the case, so much so that the woman in question took legal action against him. And then she wrote her own memoir to reclaim her story and set the record straight. That woman was Mineko Iwasaki.
So here we have the memoir. But do I review it in the context of the Golden controversy or on its own merit?
I'll do both. In short, this book sets the record straight (or Iwasaki's version, which could be claimed to be damage limitation for the geisha name...but I don't think that's the case, given that she is long out of the geisha life and would gain nothing from that. In fact, she'd have gained more from telling the truth if it concurred with Golden's version, because it would have been a much more scandalous and juicy expose). This book is a detailed (and I mean detailed) look at the world of geiko (the more accurate title for geisha working in the Gion district), filled with all you could ever wish to know about life in the okiya, the training, the art forms geiko must master, the kimonos they dress in and of course, what they actually do. And *spoiler* sex work isn't one of them. From that perspective, this book is a fabulous deep-dive into that world at a point in time.
But as a memoir, this fell flat for me. Part of that may be the translation, but that can't be the whole reason. I found that, compared to how deep we get into the minutiae of geiko life, we only skim the surface of Iwasaki. She leaves her family as a young child to enter this world, someone close to her dies horribly, there is attempted rape, and whilst she divulges these she does so in a detached way. Even her more positive experiences are dealt with briefly, usually by her reminding us how great and successful she was, before being tossed aside. There is a lack of emotional depth to this book. Instead, we are presented with a woman who seems to believe her own hype, who feels she can't put a foot wrong and that anyone who thinks she has is simply jealous. At times she is very judgemental of others, but doesn't seem to feel the need to turn those standards on herself. She has an affair with a married man for years, but her sister who left the okiya in debt to get get married is turned into a monster not because she's a horrible person (though, she is) but because she dared to return, and as a divorced woman no less.
I just couldn't warm to her at all, and at times found her pretty boring. Which is strange given that she was the besteverdontyouforgetitsosuccessfulgreatestever geisha that ever lived, which at the very least would imply that part of her skillset is to make people feel happy, comfortable and entertained in her presence. I know you don't need to love everyone who ever set pen to paper, but this disconnect between the basic qualification of a successful geisha and the woman we are presented with made me question the validity of certain aspects of her story. But maybe that's just down to the writing...perhaps she is an astonishing geiko, but just a mediocre writer.
I don't know. Told you I didn't know how to review this.
Some background, both to my position and the memoir itself. I read [b:Memoirs of a Geisha|929|Memoirs of a Geisha|Arthur Golden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409595968l/929._SY75_.jpg|1558965] many moons ago, in a time where both my own and popular conscience were not as switched on to the concepts of own voices or representation as we now (thankfully) are. I loved that book. I still have my copy and until recent years thought of it fondly. I've never reread it, as I don't tend to do that, but my opinion on it has changed as my conscience has grown and I've become aware of the controversy surrounding the book. That controversy was probably why I bought this memoir, but I'm not sure as it's sat in my TBR pile for a number of years. But basically, Arthur Golden took one woman's accounts of life as a geisha, used them in his novel whilst breaking their confidentiality agreement in the process, and in so doing managed to misrepresent not only the individual but all geisha by fuelling the Western view of them as simply high-class prostitutes. Which is apparently very much not the case, so much so that the woman in question took legal action against him. And then she wrote her own memoir to reclaim her story and set the record straight. That woman was Mineko Iwasaki.
So here we have the memoir. But do I review it in the context of the Golden controversy or on its own merit?
I'll do both. In short, this book sets the record straight (or Iwasaki's version, which could be claimed to be damage limitation for the geisha name...but I don't think that's the case, given that she is long out of the geisha life and would gain nothing from that. In fact, she'd have gained more from telling the truth if it concurred with Golden's version, because it would have been a much more scandalous and juicy expose). This book is a detailed (and I mean detailed) look at the world of geiko (the more accurate title for geisha working in the Gion district), filled with all you could ever wish to know about life in the okiya, the training, the art forms geiko must master, the kimonos they dress in and of course, what they actually do. And *spoiler* sex work isn't one of them. From that perspective, this book is a fabulous deep-dive into that world at a point in time.
But as a memoir, this fell flat for me. Part of that may be the translation, but that can't be the whole reason. I found that, compared to how deep we get into the minutiae of geiko life, we only skim the surface of Iwasaki. She leaves her family as a young child to enter this world, someone close to her dies horribly, there is attempted rape, and whilst she divulges these she does so in a detached way. Even her more positive experiences are dealt with briefly, usually by her reminding us how great and successful she was, before being tossed aside. There is a lack of emotional depth to this book. Instead, we are presented with a woman who seems to believe her own hype, who feels she can't put a foot wrong and that anyone who thinks she has is simply jealous. At times she is very judgemental of others, but doesn't seem to feel the need to turn those standards on herself. She has an affair with a married man for years, but her sister who left the okiya in debt to get get married is turned into a monster not because she's a horrible person (though, she is) but because she dared to return, and as a divorced woman no less.
I just couldn't warm to her at all, and at times found her pretty boring. Which is strange given that she was the besteverdontyouforgetitsosuccessfulgreatestever geisha that ever lived, which at the very least would imply that part of her skillset is to make people feel happy, comfortable and entertained in her presence. I know you don't need to love everyone who ever set pen to paper, but this disconnect between the basic qualification of a successful geisha and the woman we are presented with made me question the validity of certain aspects of her story. But maybe that's just down to the writing...perhaps she is an astonishing geiko, but just a mediocre writer.
I don't know. Told you I didn't know how to review this.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Questa è un'autobiografia, quindi non ci si deve aspettare una trama super-complicata, nemmeno una trama super-avvincente, perché questa è la vita vera.
Inoltre, proprio perché la Iwasaki ha deciso di far scrivere la sua biografia per correggere le storture scritte nel libro "Memorie di uan Geisha", il libro dà molte spiegazioni su come funzioni la vita di una geisha, in grande dettaglio-
Quindi, se siete interessati a entrare nel mondo delle geishe senza leggere un saggio ma un'autobiografia per conoscere le curiosità di una vera geisha, questo è il libro che fa per voi. Se volete la storia romanzata di una geisha, cercate altrove.
Inoltre, proprio perché la Iwasaki ha deciso di far scrivere la sua biografia per correggere le storture scritte nel libro "Memorie di uan Geisha", il libro dà molte spiegazioni su come funzioni la vita di una geisha, in grande dettaglio-
Quindi, se siete interessati a entrare nel mondo delle geishe senza leggere un saggio ma un'autobiografia per conoscere le curiosità di una vera geisha, questo è il libro che fa per voi. Se volete la storia romanzata di una geisha, cercate altrove.
Good, not great. I enjoyed the glimpse into the life of geiko/geisha, but the translation did feel clunky at points.
A wonderful portrait into the lives of traditional japanese society and customs. It as lovely to follow Mineko down her life's path, and ultimately to understand more about geisha (geiko's) traditions and customs.
At many points in her story, she often became side tracked with facts and history. This was relevant to her information, but often seemed out of place or awkward. The last 50 or so pages also felt a bit rushed and out of place compared to her earlier recitations. But overall, a very informative and entertaining read.
At many points in her story, she often became side tracked with facts and history. This was relevant to her information, but often seemed out of place or awkward. The last 50 or so pages also felt a bit rushed and out of place compared to her earlier recitations. But overall, a very informative and entertaining read.