Personal Review on Memoirs of a Geisha
My friend and I have just recently finished reviewing the novel Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden (1997) as part of our assignment and I am eager to share my opinions about the story with others. Well, we come upon this book while searching
through the Internet on list of books that were made into movies. This book
caught our attention because apparently it is our first time to actually read a
book related to the culture of the Japanese people. After finding out that the movie
version of this book had won three Academy Awards in 2005 along with a Golden
Globe award and several others, our interest in reading this book has grown
deeper. True to the numerous achievements it have achieved in the film
industry, this book proved to be a great piece of artwork/literature as we soon
find ourselves immersed in the story, turning page by page with our
anticipation growing more than the last. In the beginning, we were dubious in
whether we should read the book as the story was told in about 430 pages, all
fully filled with words. But, it turns out that the contents are really
attention-grabbing, exceeding our expectations and we would for sure regret
deeply if we have chosen not to review this book at that moment. Below are some of my views about the story. I find this novel interesting and fascinating. Reason is because I have never been exposed to any culture of the Japanese people before.
By reading this book/novel, it actually helps me to understand better about the Japanese culture and provides me with information that I would never have think of existing in this world. Given that I am a Malaysian and having no idea at all about the Japanese culture, it simply means that I am actually not in the position to judge the authenticity and accuracy of the culture told in this book/novel. In addition, the story itself is categorized as historical fiction so I think it would be excusable if there are inaccuracies in the information provided by the story. Considering the legal actions that Mineko Iwasaki took towards the writer regarding this book/novel, I am actually quite convinced that the contents are somewhat reliable. The writer, Arthur Golden interviewed Mineko Iwasaki when writing this book/novel and the contents in their conversations are the main source for the stories told in the book/novel.
Frankly said, the contents in the story are something new to me. Before reading this book/novel, I have the mindset/understanding that geishas are no different from prostitutes but this book/novel has proved me wrong. Although the book/novel is a historical fiction, it has somehow manage change my view about geishas. From my understanding after reading this book, geishas are a few classes higher than prostitutes. They 'sell' their skills in arts such as singing and dancing as forms of entertainments to their patrons. This would very well explains how the word ‘geisha’ comes about as ‘gei’ is art and ‘sha’ refers to the doer or person. Looking at the definition, geisha would simply mean a person who is selling her art (skills) or in our modern world now, they are actually quite similar to an entertainer. An apprentice geisha can debut at the age as young as 14 but will only be a full-fledged geisha once she reaches 18 years old.
So, what do you think? Aren't these details about them interesting? More reviews coming up, but most probably will take a few weeks time. =) Have a nice day, people!
By reading this book/novel, it actually helps me to understand better about the Japanese culture and provides me with information that I would never have think of existing in this world. Given that I am a Malaysian and having no idea at all about the Japanese culture, it simply means that I am actually not in the position to judge the authenticity and accuracy of the culture told in this book/novel. In addition, the story itself is categorized as historical fiction so I think it would be excusable if there are inaccuracies in the information provided by the story. Considering the legal actions that Mineko Iwasaki took towards the writer regarding this book/novel, I am actually quite convinced that the contents are somewhat reliable. The writer, Arthur Golden interviewed Mineko Iwasaki when writing this book/novel and the contents in their conversations are the main source for the stories told in the book/novel.
Frankly said, the contents in the story are something new to me. Before reading this book/novel, I have the mindset/understanding that geishas are no different from prostitutes but this book/novel has proved me wrong. Although the book/novel is a historical fiction, it has somehow manage change my view about geishas. From my understanding after reading this book, geishas are a few classes higher than prostitutes. They 'sell' their skills in arts such as singing and dancing as forms of entertainments to their patrons. This would very well explains how the word ‘geisha’ comes about as ‘gei’ is art and ‘sha’ refers to the doer or person. Looking at the definition, geisha would simply mean a person who is selling her art (skills) or in our modern world now, they are actually quite similar to an entertainer. An apprentice geisha can debut at the age as young as 14 but will only be a full-fledged geisha once she reaches 18 years old.
So, what do you think? Aren't these details about them interesting? More reviews coming up, but most probably will take a few weeks time. =) Have a nice day, people!
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