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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I'm glad I read this book and not "Memoirs of a Geisha" (after I watched the movie, I understood it'd be filled with misconceptions (above all, the fusions of the totally distinct terms and professions that are "oiran" and "geisha"), which I could not tolerate as a true Japanese culture-and-literature lover). I wanted to learn more about the real concept of geisha and the details of their practices and business, and this book gave it all to me. It also broadened my views on such concepts as beauty and aesthetics, and how the Japanese regard them. I was left stunned and enamoured. Ms Iwasaki seemed like a person I could easily relate to, which brought me even more joy as I read through her memoirs. I would recommend this book to anyone who is in love with Japanese culture and wishes to know more about their lifestyle, philosophy, and traditions.
emotional
informative
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Medical content
Actual rating of 3.5
Once I reached the end of this book, I realised that I did enjoy it. At first I found it jumped around a lot and random things kept popping up disrupting the story the author was was telling at the time. A little slow to start.
I found Mineko to come across wuite arrogant at times, Im not sure if this is is just how she is or it came across that way due to translation.
I enjoyed reading about Mineko's life and I like that she cleared up some common misconceptions about the world of Geiko.
Once I reached the end of this book, I realised that I did enjoy it. At first I found it jumped around a lot and random things kept popping up disrupting the story the author was was telling at the time. A little slow to start.
I found Mineko to come across wuite arrogant at times, Im not sure if this is is just how she is or it came across that way due to translation.
I enjoyed reading about Mineko's life and I like that she cleared up some common misconceptions about the world of Geiko.
I liked this book. The tone was very different from 'Memoirs of a Geisha,' and while it very quickly became clear Mineko Iwasaki is no writer, I enjoyed reading about her thoughts and experiences. The structure is a little strange, with a lot of repetitions and sometimes blocks of information in the middle of a story, but all in all a very nice read.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Beautiful story, wonderfully written. If you’re looking to learn more about the practice of the Geisha, this book is perfect for that.
informative
medium-paced
Eh bien on apprend ce que font les geisha. Avant je ne savais pas, je les prenais pour des prostituées. Univers toxique de femmes, hiérarchie indépassable. Ça parle beaucoup des habillements (kimono). L'écriture est simpliste. Autrement c'est un bon livre, c'est dépaysant. J'ai adoré la mère adoptive de Mineko qui lui dit tout le temps de ne pas s'en faire il n'y a pas de problème elle se charge de tout, quand Mineko a des soucis.
Très étrange de choisir d'être hôtesse de soirée comme ça ??? Encore vous me direz si c'était juste être hôtesse de soirée, ça serait un métier, mais non sa vie entière est consacrée de A à Z à cette carrière, matin midi soir nuit tout le temps.
Très étrange de choisir d'être hôtesse de soirée comme ça ??? Encore vous me direz si c'était juste être hôtesse de soirée, ça serait un métier, mais non sa vie entière est consacrée de A à Z à cette carrière, matin midi soir nuit tout le temps.
emotional
informative
slow-paced
I really enjoyed reading this, and my only complaint is that it left me wanting more: more details, more stories, more photos. I particularly loved the descriptions of her outfits.
Les maiko et les geiko divertissant des personnages provenant de tous les horizons, elles se doivent d’être des diplomates hors pair. Ce qui ne veut pas dire que nous sommes des carpettes !
We are de facto diplomats who have to be able to communicate with anyone. But this doesn’t mean we are doormats.Lu en français et en anglais cote à cote.
Iwasaki n'est pas écrivain de métier, admettons-le ; entre elle et Arthur Golden, en termes de maîtrise artistique de la prose, Golden arrive presque certainement en tête. Or, en termes de précision, Iwasaki s'élève bien au-delà de tout ce que Golden a tenté d'accomplir : parsemé d'apéritifs secs, rempli de bribes alléchantes de détails culturels et étonnamment complet, les mémoires d'Iwasaki—autorisés et rédigés par la femme elle-même, une baise-toi à la langue acérée à l'orientalisme exploiteur pas cher de Golden—est bien plus intéressant que l'exotisme sensationnaliste colporté par Golden.
Au cours de nos trois siècles d’histoire, une convention tacite ancrée par la tradition et le caractère sacré de notre profession nous a imposé le silence. L’heure est toutefois venue pour moi de dévoiler nos secrets et de raconter ce que vivent les habitantes du monde des fleurs et des saules. On a dit de moi que j’étais la plus grande geisha de ma génération. Certes j’ai recueilli les plus beaux des succès, mon destin a été jalonné d’extraordinaires défis et de merveilleuses gratifications, et pourtant les astreintes de ce qui est plus qu’une profession, mais un véritable sacerdoce, m’ont finalement poussée à le quitter. [...] Il est temps de lever les voiles du mystère qui plane autour de la vie des geishas. Je veux briser un silence vieux de trois cents ans. Je vous invite à me suivre dans le monde des fleurs et des saules, le monde de Gion-Kobu.
No woman in the three-hundred year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition, and by the sanctity of our exclusive calling. But I feel it is time to speak out. I want you to know what it is really like to live the life of a geisha, a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and richly glorious rewards. Many say I was the best geisha of my generation; I was certainly the most successful. And yet, it was a life that I found too constrictive to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave. It is a story I have long wanted to tell.Bon, ce n'est pas tout à fait vrai, n'est-ce pas ? Masuda Sayo était la première.
In order to write his beloved-in-the-West book, Arthur Golden conducted a series of interviews with a retired geisha, and used her life story as the basis for the book. Upon reading the book, however, the geisha—Iwasaki Mineko—was horrified at Golden's twisting of her words in order to suit a Western narrative. Golden made millions of dollars off his exploitation of Iwasaki, her culture, and her art, but this book is the real Memoirs of a Geisha (although Iwasaki prefers the term geiko, a more specific word used in the Kyoto area where she lived and trained).
I was afraid that if I didn’t maintain the professional demeanour of a maiko at all times I would simply fall apart.The detail is precise and clinical to a fault. It's easy to read Iwasaki's intense, extensive frustration at the warped portrayal of her culture and trade sold to a Western audience. One particularly incensed passage comes when Iwasaki shuts down the misconception that geisha are a higher-class form of prostitute.
Shimabara used to be a licensed quarter where women known as oiran and tayu (courtesans, high-class prostitutes) plied their trade, though they were accomplished in the traditional arts as well. A young oiran also underwent a ritual called a "mizuage" but hers consisted of being ceremoniously deflowered by a patron who had paid handsomely for the privilege.Golden wrote a horrifying scene in which his "geisha" character, Sayuri, had her virginity sold to the highest bidder. This delightful little fabrication was not an aspect of Iwasaki's life, as she firmly states; ironically, Golden himself claimed that his book was in part intended to refute the misconception that geisha are prostitutes. Ironic, how that played out.
The facetious stereotype of geisha as expensive prostitutes reminded me inexorably of the Western perception of a Middle Eastern harem. For example:
This is why the whole notion of “geisha houses” being dens of ill repute is so ridiculous. Men are barely allowed inside these bastions of feminine society, let alone permitted to frolic with the inhabitants after they arrive.That also essentially describes a harem—it's certainly not anything like the orgiastic depictions in Western media, but rather a term referring to women's living quarters.
I figured if I was enjoying myself, then the customers were probably enjoying themselves as well, and didn’t go out of my way to try to please them.Iwasaki is incredibly proud (and justifiably so), which makes her memoir a bit off-putting if you're expecting a demurely humble woman eternally grateful for the opportunities afforded to her. No, Iwasaki worked her ass off to get where she was, and she wants us all to know it: she was an artist, and the best of the lot. Iwasaki trained from childhood to get where she did, and ended up leaving the trade at the age of 29 due to the eternally demanding nature of the profession. Reading her descriptions of what she had to endure, I can't blame her.
They begged me not to quit. But they didn’t offer to change anything. [...] As I expected, my retirement sent shock waves through the system. But not in the way I intended. In the three months after I retired, seventy other geiko also quit the business. I appreciated the gesture, though it seemed a little late to be showing solidarity with me at that point. And the powers that be didn’t change a thing.For what it's worth, Iwasaki Mineko successfully sued Arthur Golden. I hope she was able to get at least some closure.
So we support the dance but it does not support us.
[Iwasaki Mineko]
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Mineko Iwasaki is a badass and fuck the author of The Memoirs of a Geisha
informative
slow-paced
props to Mineko Iwasaki for writing this novel as an “actually what happened was” after a white man tried to tell her story and to tell it in a wholly inaccurate way in memoirs of a geisha 👏🏼
if you’re looking to learn more about the geisha/geiko lifestyle and history, or if you just want to support a woman who took her story into her own hands, you should definitely pick this up
i love it for what it is but i can’t end there because i do have some criticisms. this book is LONG, y’all. it is so detailed and sometimes reads like a historical document. i thought i was picking up a memoir but there’s not any emotional depth. it fell short in terms of my reading experience but i did learn a ton of information and i’m glad i read it