I read this book for the Goodreads' book club Diversity in All Forms! If you would like to join the discussion here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This is a realistic-fiction story about geishas in Japan. The book is based off of a lot of research the author did and what their lives were like. The book was very good and detailed their everyday experiences. Geisha's whole purpose was to be trained to beguile the most powerful men. Their whole life as a geisha is to be surrounded by men.

In a small Japanese fishing village of Yoroido, on the coast of the Sea of Japan, a child Chiyo Sakamoto 9, lives with an ancient father, dying mother and older sister Satsu in a dilapidated home, leaning over a cliff the year 1929, things are tough and will get harder, as the Great Depression is about to commence...the impoverished family needs help and the two sisters are sold. Pretty Chiyo with beautiful eyes, to become a geisha after a long apprenticeship and the unlucky, plain Satsu, an abused prostitute....In a house that never becomes a home, in the former royal capital of Kyoto, in the section called Gion where most geisha live, and the tea houses to entertain rich men, there the scared girl is under the complete control of three money- hungry women, who show no pity Granny, (she has coins in her heart) the matriarch and her two adopted daughters, Mother the real boss and Auntie, they love nicknames, both are as unfeeling as Granny. The only genuine geisha in residence is stunning Hatsumomo, as beautiful as she is detestable and takes an odd, instant hatred to the little girl and torments her nonstop. One day while doing an errand, the child starts crying in the streets, her miserable life has no joy, a man known as the chairman , the owner of an important electronics business stops and comforts Chiyo, leaving her his monogrammed handkerchief, it will be the most prized possession the girl has, at last someone cares... she falls in love and this will remain forever. After an aborted escape try with her sister, she falls from the roof of a neighbor's house injuring herself, things become even more dismal, Chiyo is demoted to a lowly maid in the house, no more school to learn her profession, to the elation of cruel Hatsumomo. Still life is cloudy and is never foreseen, even the fortune -tellers, the geisha go to often can't predict accurately... the most successful , glamorous, admired geisha in Kyoto , Mameha, becomes her "Big Sister", a mentor that can help any woman rise to the top, how strange. Her name is changed later to "Sayuri", she returns to school, becomes a fine dancer and does a solo at the annual celebrations in the local theater, her poster is painted by a famous alcoholic artist in town, the career prospers, but the chairman, that Sayuri constantly meets in the tea house parties, ( where the men get drunk on Sake, listen to stories told, watch the singing the dancing and music played by the geisha) is rather distant, and doesn't recognize the grown- up woman ... Gruff Nobu, scarred and disabled in a war, the chairman's best friend and second -in -command at the electronics firm, likes Chiyo/Sayuri , he her love can never interfere, too much respect for his colleague, and they are so close, it is a sad, hopeless situation for Chiyo/ Sayuri ... The years roll by, and war is on the horizon, change is coming, it always is...the now renowned geisha, awaits...The most famous, popular, geisha Mineko Iwasaki, now retired, ( one of the characters is based on her, in the novel) greatly helped Mr. Arthur Golden , in research, revealing to him in confidence, the secrets of the mysterious life of these women for the first time much to her later regret...

عن الحب و الحرب ، عن جمالية الفنون و مرارة الإتجار في البشر ، ممتهنات أقدم مهنة عرفها التاريخ :

جميلات الدعارة الراقية كما تسمى اليوم
من هن حقيقة فتيات الغايشا في اليابان
!
الغيشا في الاصل هن المضيفات من الفتيات اللاتي يقمن بإحياء الحفلات والمآدب عن طريق الأغاني والرقصات التقليدية اليابانية والعزف على آلة الـ”شاميسين“ وغيرها من الفنون.

يقال إن بداية هذا الفن كانت في عصر إيدو في القرن السابع عشر حين بدأت الفتيات العاملات في محلات الشاي بكيوتو واللاتي كُنَّ يقدمن الحلوى والشاي، بمحاكاة عروض مسارح الكابوكي وأصبحن يؤدين عروض الرقص والعزف كنوع من الترحيب بزائري المعابد البوذية والشنتوية والسائحين. ولا تزال ثقافة الغيشا باقية إلى الآن في عدة مجالات ومنها السياحة حيث يتم الاستفادة من ثقافة الغيشا بشكل أساسي في كيوتو وطوكيو وأيضاً في نيغاتا وأكيتا وغيرها من المناطق الأخرى. لكن لطالما ارتبط اسمهن بالدعارة و تسلية أهم الرجال من الدولة.

هن في الواقع مراهقات حسناوات يتم تبنيهن للعيش داخل الاوكيا و هي منازل للرعاية و وتكوين فتيات الغايشا المستقبليات من خلال تلقيهن دروس في الفن و الرقص و الرسم و الاتيكيت ، مقابل أخذ نسبة من أجورهن في المستقبل بعد أن يصبحن غايشات ناجحات.

تبدأ الرواية بسرد الواقع المرير للفتاة الجميلة نيتا التي سيصبح اسمها في بعد سايوري، فقر أسرتها المدقع و مرض أمها الذي لا أمل في شفاءه اضطر أبيها بيعها هي و اختها الكبرى لرجل ثري سيأخذهما للعيش في إحدى الأوكيات .

فعلا تدخل الفتاة الصغيرة و تبدأ رحلة معاناتها لتصبح غايشا ، علاقاتها المتعددة نجاحاتها إخفاقاتها و الأهم من كل هذا مشاعرها الدفينة في كل موقف و التي أغلبها حزينة و موجعة، حتى قصة حبها الوحيدة عانت كثيرا لتصل للعيش رفقة حبيبها كخليلة لأنه كان متزوج و كان هو عائلها أو الدانا كما يطلق على معيل الغايشا آنذاك ..

رحلة طويلة للبحث عن الاحترام و عن مكانة بين ذالك المجتمع المغلق و إثبات الذات و إثبات نجاحها ك غايشا.

بعد بحثي عن تاريخ الغايشا في اليابان وحقيقة هذه الحياة الحافلة و السرية، وجدت أن مكانة الغايشا بين النساء كانت مهمة ومحترمة، فالغايشا الناجحة هي صاحبة المال و السلطة تستمده من الدانا أو معيلها أو من معارفها المتعددة و للأسف في أكثر من مصدر فتيات الغايشا كن خليلات أهم رجال الأعمال و السياسة خصوصا في القرن العشرين.

أحببت الرواية جدا فهي أقحمتني في عالم كان مجهولا بالنسبة لي بتفاصيل متعددة و أسلوب سرد فريد للثقافة اليابانية.

2022
I didn't think that I'll re-read this book but Lisa of Troy's read-along group has this book selected for May so why not? I listened mostly and have a book for reference. It's such a slow story but I think it works for this fictionalized memoir.

Memoirs of a Geisha follows Chiyo's life which begins in a small fishing village. She and her older sister, Satsu were taken from their parents with the promise of a better life (their mother is terminally ill). They were shortly sold, Satsu into prostitution and Chiyo to a geisha house. Chiyo became Sayuri and trained in various traditional arts and became an apprentice geisha (maiko).

I'm not going to lie, this book has parts that made me very uncomfortable. The selling virginity to the highest bidder and having sugar daddy (danna). Bidding ceremonies and prostitution were outlawed in 1956. I try to remove my opinion and consider it part of history and old culture (pre and during WWII). It wasn't easy, but overall it's a good (difficult) story.

A ReadAlong group with Lisa of Troy.

2014
2 ⭐
DNF. Bought this paperback for a long flight, but never finished it.

Memoirs of a geisha is what I'm talking about! the type of historical fiction I like. I'm so very glad I read it. I really enjoyed learning about Japan culture during WW2. Not sure its a favorite read but very enjoyable.

We start off following a young girl named chiyo who is poor and from a fishing village. Her mother is sick and about to die and her father is old and unable to take care of chiyo and her sister. They both are sold the pretty chiyo to be a geisha and her older sister to be a whore. The sister runs away from her whorehouses and chiyo never hears from her again. One immediately thought was how mean everyone was to chiyo. Most notably the houses main geisha hatzamomo. She was horrid along with mother and granny the owner of the house. The only bright spot is another young girl her age nicknamed pumpkin and a failed geisha know as aunty. Memoirs of a geisha is a love story despite all the strife chiyo who's name changes to Sayuri after becoming a geisha goes through. I as always don't want to give to much away so I'll stop the synopsis here. Sayuri survives WW2 which isn't as easy as you would think and moves to New York. All in all I think she had a great life compared to other geishas.

I'm not sure how true the story is but geishas being entertainers, I will once again state I was fully entertained. I was enthralled by every detail because if a story is told well you will most likely enjoy it even if it's about kimonos and keeping disgusting men company!

Wow, reteading this I’m realizing how fucked this actually is. But Yes, this is still my favourite book

An engrossing historical fiction novel about a girl with extraordinary eyes named Chiyo and how she became a celebrated geisha named Sayuri. The path of her life was not always easy, but like water flowing over bumpy rocks, she braves the rapids and, eventually, reaches the ocean of her dreams.

"But the truth is the afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and the worst of my life. He seemed so fascinating to me, even the fish smell on his hands was a kind of perfume. If I had never known him, I'm sure I would not have become a geisha." pg 13, ebook

It is a coming-of-age story but also a romance. Some have compared this book to the fairy tale of Cinderella. I see the comparison, but feel as if this historical fiction is better than Cinderella. Unlike the made-up fairy tale, the land and closed world of the geisha actually existed.

"After a block or two I worked up my courage and said to Mr. Bekku, "Won't you please tell us where we're going?" He didn't look as if he would reply, but after a moment he said, "To your new home." pg 41, ebook.

To be a geisha was to excel at the arts. It was to demonstrate excellence in dance, music and the art of conversation. It was a way of being, and dressing. As a geisha, Sayuri transports the men she is with to another world, the world of "Flowers and Willows".

I did some research into the history of the geisha and what I found was fascinating. From what I read, the history portrayed in Memoirs of a Geisha was rather close to the truth, minus the made-up characters.

"Because, you see, when a geisha wakes up in the morning she is just like any other woman. ... Only when she sits before her mirror to apply her makeup with care does she become a geisha. And I don't mean that this is when she begins to look like one. This is when she begins to think like one too." pg 67, ebook

The whole culture seems so exotic to me. This book is truly an escape into a different world. I, of course, adored the main character, Sayuri.

Years ago, I saw the film version of this book and remember enjoying it very much. Fortunately, I forgot most of it except for one critical moment towards the end. That, however, didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book. It is better, much better.

There's more character development, more battles with Hatsumomo, more to the conclusion. Sayuri's life completes a circle in the written version of the story — I seem to remember that the story felt a bit stunted in the film. I think I'll watch it again to see if I'm remembering it right.

"We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course. If I'd never met Mr. Tanaka, my life would have been a simple stream flowing from our tipsy house to the ocean." pg 112, ebook

There's also the development of the theme of water. The characters in the story attribute Sayuri's startling blue eyes to an abundance of water in her soul. Throughout the book, she's alluding to water — how it flows, bends and can wear down rocks. You really begin to view her life through this lens of watery inevitability.

"Here you are... a beautiful girl with nothing on earth to be ashamed of," he said. "And yet you're afraid to look at me. Someone has been cruel to you.. or perhaps life has been cruel." "I don't know, sir," I said, though of course I knew perfectly well. pg 119, ebook.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction. Memoirs of a Geisha is a surprising treat, like a sudden rainbow glinting off the water into your eyes. Blink once, and it's gone.

Like eating fancy dessert at a gourmet restaurant, Memoirs of a Geisha is beautiful, melts lightly off the tongue and will be forgotten shortly after it's done. The language is strikingly lovely, and Golden paints a remarkable picture of a time and place.

If you're looking to learn something deep about the psychology of Japanese culture, or meet nuanced characters, then I'd steer you elsewhere. The story only skims the top of the more complicated aspects of a Japan in decline, focusing mostly on a genteel lifestyle that probably seems more appealing from the outside. There's a way in which the book, written by a man and a westerner, is slightly fetishistic, but less so than you might imagine.

Another reader suggested that perhaps the superficiality of the story is intentional, and that the book, in a way, resembles a geisha. Beautiful and eager to please, yet too distant to really learn much from and ultimately little more than a beautiful, well-crafted object to be appreciated. If that's the case, Arthur Golden is remarkably clever, and I applaud him. If it's not the case, the book remains very pretty and an easy read.

Well, I finally got around to this one. & I think I understand its fan base and its subsequent literary worth; it was the "Gone Girl" of the 90's. (Only in popularity.) This time, the fairy tale (with "Girl" it seems as if we're more comfortable with the cautionary tale in the 10's) has a Cinderella and many suitors after her. It is absolutely immersive... a page turner that has as many colors as a used-up coloring book. I see the geisha in that light: like La Marilyn, the geisha are symbol of tragedy and misplaced youth and beauty.

The plot is orchestrated in that well-intentioned Great Novel tradition. A Great Expectations-meets-Great Gatsby novelty item that's as pure as winter's snow, that shimmers & attracts the senses like a ruby from some volcano deep in the Pacific. Metaphors and similes are very effectively used here, & their dual purpose is clear: it tells the life story in a very non-nebulous manner, in clear, concise, not-to-be-misconstrued mode; and the words seem authentic enough to evoke an actual geisha-- it is her telling you her memoirs, sitting there with you, drinking tea.

Also, Hastumomo, in the role of ugly stepsister, is an adversary from hell. Grrrreat character! Too bad she leaves the narrative at too-crucial a juncture (the anticlimax meaning, then, the immediate displacement of anything that did not fit into the societal standards from the board... Lame!). She is a worthy nemesis to our heroine--as voracious for fresh meat as a Great White. The feud between them two is the centerpiece of this Fanny Hill-like tale, this enormously feminist (?) text. For in Gion, Japan, the geisha are treated like a lot of women have been, like objects, pawns, or even disembodied ideas.

"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."
"I didn't know it at the time..."

Kill me.

Una niña de hermosos ojos gris traslúcido, las intrigas de una okiya y una famosa geisha que hará todo lo posible por destruirla.

Yoroido, años 30. Cuando la madre de Chiyo se encuentra al borde de la muerte, su padre las vende a ella y a su hermana Satsu al no poder hacer frente a su manutención. Las niñas son separadas al llegar a Gion y Chiyo se ve obligada a crecer en un okiya, una casa de geishas, cuya principal protagonista, Hatsumomo le hace la vida imposible nada más llegar. Separada, la niña trata de encontrar a su hermana mientras sobrevive a las trampas que le pone Hatsumomo, a su formación como aprendiza de geisha y a la difícil vida lejos de su familia.

Arthur Golden nos transporta al fascinante mundo de Japón y las geishas, donde las apariencias son lo más importante, así como la virginidad de las niñas, que son adiestradas en el arte de entretener y seducir a hombres poderosos para ser mantenidas y ascender en la escala social. Una novela narrada por una Chiyo ya anciana y que nos cuenta su vida. Una historia repleta de amor, suspense y erotismo cuyos principales temas son el poder, el sacrificio, la guerra, la pobreza, la prostitución, el sexo, la supervivencia, la traición y el dinero.

✔️ Puntos fuertes: las descripciones y la envolvente ambientación y retrato de la cultura japonesa, los personajes bien construidos (como la protagonista Chiyo y su "hermana mayor" Mahema), las intrigas de la trama, una historia cautivadora, la tensión creciente, las relaciones entre los personajes, los giros y la emotividad de la lectura.

❤ Te gustará si: buscas una lectura histórica ambientada en Japón, en el mundo de las geishas o de la época de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

لم يُخلق القبح لحواء ابدا؛لكنها حوصرت بالعبودية دوما
والعبيد هم:الذين يهربون من الحرية؛فاذا طردهم سيد بحثوا عن سيد اخر؛فالعبيد هم الذين يطلبون الحرية اما الاحرار:فيصنعونها