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A review by graciegrace1178
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
4.0
4.00 stars. Boy this took a while to finish bc this is 1) hecka long and 2) my check-out periods were continually interrupted by other readers at my library. But I DID IT! HA HA HA! (Might be the longest book I read this year if I decide to ignore The Tale of Genji til 2022.)
WIL
1) Casual renaming. Okay, this is way specific and more a compliment of the culture than the book itself but OH MY GO D . The fact that geishas can take a SERIES of different names as they ascend the ranks? And each of the names MEANS something and is either inauspicious or auspicious? GENIUS. I LOVE. I only wish they could keep their other names too, for certain situations. I dunno, I just really love the idea of multiple names and names that can grow and change WITH the name-haver. (No this isn't reflective of my personal experience at ALL. Whatever would make you think that?)
2) Hatsumomo as a steller antagonist. She's the WORST oh my god. Super well written as pure evil. She was SO FRUSTRATING. A plus job, Golden.
3) Epithets. HECK YEA BRING THE EPITHETS BACK. I've commented this before but EPITHETS ARE PART OF WHAT MAKES A STORY GREAT. This isn't technically epithets, but it is consistent description attached to particular characters: Grey-eyed Chiyo for example. Round-faced Pumpkin. etc. etc.
4) Poetic similes and metaphors: "I felt as the waves of the ocean must feel when clouds have blocked the warmth of the sun."
"Beauty itself struck me as a kind of painful melancholy"
"When a woman walks she should give the impression of waves rippling over a sandbar"
"more terrified of fire than beer is of a thirsty old man." *chef's kiss* fantastico
5) Clear thematic statements:
"those who are beautiful and talented bear the burden of finding their own way in the world."
"Destiny isn't always like a party at the end of the evening. Sometimes it's nothing more than struggling through life from day to day...it is cruel...but none of us can escape destiny"
6) feminist ideas. As hesitant as I am to include this here, I'm gonna do it anyway. Analyzing the value of a woman's virginity and realizing that the entire concept of virginity would not exist naturally? Thank you. It's about time someone said that in literature. Also, the whole "women exist for male consumption" idea that doesn't sit right with Sayuri? Same sort of thing. It's re-analysis of cultural norms, and i am HERE for it. Also: "I think he must've interpreted this as a kind of consent." - p 420 killed me. spfiaowifoishfafpqoupouwpefjqa
WIDL
1) It's horrible but,,, I wanted Sayuri to fail. Because of THESE sorts of sections specifically:
"What if I came to the end of my life and realized that Id spent every day watching for a man who would never come for me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be to realize Id never really tasted the things I'd eaten or seen the places Id been because Id thought of nothing but the Chairman when while my life was drifting away from me. And yet if I drew my thought back from him, what life would I have? I would be like a dancer who had practiced since childhood for a performance she would never give."
Chiyo. Sayuri. Babe. Your life would go on whether or not the Chairman was there waiting for you as you'd hoped. I mean, yea it's great to hold onto hope and all that, but lass, your life would MEAN something regardless of whether or not it concluded as you'd hoped. Lack of a fairytale ending doesn't lessen the value of a person or her experiences. This REALLY bugged me.
NEUTRAL GROUND:
1) A western perspective on an eastern concept. Most of the critiques here are saying Golden portrays the geisha as prostitutes....but? He doesn't? He makes a very clear delineation between the two and makes a large effort to emphasize the training, geishas go through for this perpetuation of cultural art. It's meant to be artful and tasteful. Because Sayuri is just a kid, sometimes that culture can be lost in translation, but that doesn't mean Golden didn't put it in the text at all. The artfulness is mostly shown in the older character's perspectives. And yea, that could be read as Golden's way of satirizing the whole process, making these older people think tradition must survive purely for tradition's sake (antiquated ideas of the old people trope), but he's not trying to demonstrate that at all. No, for him it's about paying proper homage and representing the geisha both as an art form and a real struggle for the girls forced into it.
WIL
1) Casual renaming. Okay, this is way specific and more a compliment of the culture than the book itself but OH MY GO D . The fact that geishas can take a SERIES of different names as they ascend the ranks? And each of the names MEANS something and is either inauspicious or auspicious? GENIUS. I LOVE. I only wish they could keep their other names too, for certain situations. I dunno, I just really love the idea of multiple names and names that can grow and change WITH the name-haver. (No this isn't reflective of my personal experience at ALL. Whatever would make you think that?)
2) Hatsumomo as a steller antagonist. She's the WORST oh my god. Super well written as pure evil. She was SO FRUSTRATING. A plus job, Golden.
3) Epithets. HECK YEA BRING THE EPITHETS BACK. I've commented this before but EPITHETS ARE PART OF WHAT MAKES A STORY GREAT. This isn't technically epithets, but it is consistent description attached to particular characters: Grey-eyed Chiyo for example. Round-faced Pumpkin. etc. etc.
4) Poetic similes and metaphors: "I felt as the waves of the ocean must feel when clouds have blocked the warmth of the sun."
"Beauty itself struck me as a kind of painful melancholy"
"When a woman walks she should give the impression of waves rippling over a sandbar"
"more terrified of fire than beer is of a thirsty old man." *chef's kiss* fantastico
5) Clear thematic statements:
"those who are beautiful and talented bear the burden of finding their own way in the world."
"Destiny isn't always like a party at the end of the evening. Sometimes it's nothing more than struggling through life from day to day...it is cruel...but none of us can escape destiny"
6) feminist ideas. As hesitant as I am to include this here, I'm gonna do it anyway. Analyzing the value of a woman's virginity and realizing that the entire concept of virginity would not exist naturally? Thank you. It's about time someone said that in literature. Also, the whole "women exist for male consumption" idea that doesn't sit right with Sayuri? Same sort of thing. It's re-analysis of cultural norms, and i am HERE for it. Also: "I think he must've interpreted this as a kind of consent." - p 420 killed me. spfiaowifoishfafpqoupouwpefjqa
WIDL
1) It's horrible but,,, I wanted Sayuri to fail. Because of THESE sorts of sections specifically:
"What if I came to the end of my life and realized that Id spent every day watching for a man who would never come for me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be to realize Id never really tasted the things I'd eaten or seen the places Id been because Id thought of nothing but the Chairman when while my life was drifting away from me. And yet if I drew my thought back from him, what life would I have? I would be like a dancer who had practiced since childhood for a performance she would never give."
Chiyo. Sayuri. Babe. Your life would go on whether or not the Chairman was there waiting for you as you'd hoped. I mean, yea it's great to hold onto hope and all that, but lass, your life would MEAN something regardless of whether or not it concluded as you'd hoped. Lack of a fairytale ending doesn't lessen the value of a person or her experiences. This REALLY bugged me.
NEUTRAL GROUND:
1) A western perspective on an eastern concept. Most of the critiques here are saying Golden portrays the geisha as prostitutes....but? He doesn't? He makes a very clear delineation between the two and makes a large effort to emphasize the training, geishas go through for this perpetuation of cultural art. It's meant to be artful and tasteful. Because Sayuri is just a kid, sometimes that culture can be lost in translation, but that doesn't mean Golden didn't put it in the text at all. The artfulness is mostly shown in the older character's perspectives. And yea, that could be read as Golden's way of satirizing the whole process, making these older people think tradition must survive purely for tradition's sake (antiquated ideas of the old people trope), but he's not trying to demonstrate that at all. No, for him it's about paying proper homage and representing the geisha both as an art form and a real struggle for the girls forced into it.