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jellybeaniesyuksssss 's review for:
Geisha of Gion
by Mineko Iwasaki
Memoirs are a tricky one to rate because they're essentially someone else's life. In this case, though, the rating is not a rating of her life, but rather, the sort of writing and narrative structure that falls flat.
For one, the title of the book led me to think that it was going to be about 99% of her Geisha life, and not necessarily extensive dives into the before and after, and as someone else has already commented, about whether she farts after being hospitalised. Nevertheless, still an interesting read and I would say that her writing is (obviously) more representative of the Japanese style of writing that most Japanese authors have. This already makes it better than Arthur Golden's book, which is arguably one of the few books I would unhesitatingly toss into the flames of hell. There are also some lovely bits I really liked, wherein she included conversations with her clients and patrons e.g., with the professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy.
The narrative structure, however, is all over the place. I am completely fine with memoirs that jump the gun (cases in point: Kalanithi's 'When Breath Becomes Air,' or Westover's 'Educated.') But for some reason, Iwasaki and her editor must have thought to shoehorn every single bit from her life's most major and acute incidents. The end result: it doesn't go too deeply, yet it doesn't clock itself as surficial either. What we get is this odd straddling between the two, a kind of liminality that I'm not entirely comfortable with.
Here's what I'm really trying to say; her novel feels reactionary and defensive. Oftentimes when you read memoirs, you get a glimpse of how the person thinks of themselves and especially of the anger or misery that may beget their souls during incidents years past. Yet, because of Golden's highly unethical and repulsive piece of whitewashed history, Iwasaki seems to have garnered this as a response to that. Unfortunately, her tone comes across as largely angry and placating. It's fine if she factually lays out her life and her achievements, but it certainly sounds like she's not giving us a dimensional view of her life, and instead, picking bits to dig back at Golden.
If she is willing to publish another novel which goes much more in-depth, I would be very up for reading it. This, however, barely allows me to skimp a glimpse of the Geisha culture.
*Also, the picture placements could be better.
For one, the title of the book led me to think that it was going to be about 99% of her Geisha life, and not necessarily extensive dives into the before and after, and as someone else has already commented, about whether she farts after being hospitalised. Nevertheless, still an interesting read and I would say that her writing is (obviously) more representative of the Japanese style of writing that most Japanese authors have. This already makes it better than Arthur Golden's book, which is arguably one of the few books I would unhesitatingly toss into the flames of hell. There are also some lovely bits I really liked, wherein she included conversations with her clients and patrons e.g., with the professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy.
The narrative structure, however, is all over the place. I am completely fine with memoirs that jump the gun (cases in point: Kalanithi's 'When Breath Becomes Air,' or Westover's 'Educated.') But for some reason, Iwasaki and her editor must have thought to shoehorn every single bit from her life's most major and acute incidents. The end result: it doesn't go too deeply, yet it doesn't clock itself as surficial either. What we get is this odd straddling between the two, a kind of liminality that I'm not entirely comfortable with.
Here's what I'm really trying to say; her novel feels reactionary and defensive. Oftentimes when you read memoirs, you get a glimpse of how the person thinks of themselves and especially of the anger or misery that may beget their souls during incidents years past. Yet, because of Golden's highly unethical and repulsive piece of whitewashed history, Iwasaki seems to have garnered this as a response to that. Unfortunately, her tone comes across as largely angry and placating. It's fine if she factually lays out her life and her achievements, but it certainly sounds like she's not giving us a dimensional view of her life, and instead, picking bits to dig back at Golden.
If she is willing to publish another novel which goes much more in-depth, I would be very up for reading it. This, however, barely allows me to skimp a glimpse of the Geisha culture.
*Also, the picture placements could be better.