Ce carte interesantă! Eu nu am avut tangențe cu cărți despre culturi asiatice până acum, iar pe aceasta am ajuns să o citesc ca propunere pentru un club de carte. Și pot spune că am rămas plăcut impresionată.

Povestea este despre gheișa Sayuri, care, ani mai târziu, alege să își spun�� povestea de viață unui prieten bun, scriitor. Își deapănă trecutul, încă din copilărie, când era o simplă fetiță ce locuia într-un sat de pescari. Din cauza problemelor financiare, dar și familiale, fata și sora sa vor ajunge în Kyoto. Dar, pentru că frumusețea le deosebește, una din fete va ajunge în zonele rău famate ale orașului, în vreme ce Chiyo va avea șansa să devină gheișă. O vom însoți pe parcursul acestei transformări, aflând câteva dintre secretele frumoaselor gheișe.

Primele 200 de pagini au mers incredibil de ușor, am fost fascinată de poveste, efectiv. Însă, încet, povestea a început să mi se pară problematică, judecând cu mintea unui european al secolului nostru. Îmi este greu să văd obiectiv unele aspecte și să trec peste faptul că fetele acelea ajungeau să întrețină bărbați care le puteau fi tați, ele fiind minore... A fost o bătălie morală pentru mine să trec peste niște pasaje.

Din păcate, am simțit că am fost dezamăgită de final. A fost surprinzător, dar grăbit și, aș îndrăzni să zic ca nedorit. Aș fi vrut un altul, mi se părea mai cinstit, după câte am îndurat timp de 500 de pagini. Totuși, cum spuneam, fiind prima carte despre obiceiurile asiatice pe care o citesc, a fost o surpriză cu adevărat plăcută. (Am devenit curioasă și de film acuma

Very entertaining, but kind of made me gag. Everything was written in this faux-asian "My heart ached like cherry blossom petals floating on the river..." bullshit.

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.

The world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean. Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may face or suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper.

A historical account of a young Japanese girl and the trials and tribulations that she faces on her path to becoming and working as a geisha.

The novel mostly centres around the theme of the hardships and challenges that Chiyo Sakamoto
has to face right from a very ripe age of 8-9. The narrative is gripping, the story is engrossing, and transports you to a different time and place (off-course with the good imagination that we readers possess). However, this is a long book (longer than most), lasting 500 odd pages and it did take some good amount of time to finish it. The novel, in the first 100-150 odd pages was a bit slow, but it eventually picked up pace towards the latter half.

Overall, I'd say it is a commendable work of evoking a vanished world in great detail. And once again, as many historical fiction novels point out the struggles of a woman / girl, Memoirs of Geisha also did the same via great imaginative empathy.

This book is yet another example of how indefatigable a woman can be. Even after constantly being tormented and being unbearably suppressed, a woman can stand her ground.
Not just stand, but make her way through it with a bang!
The vivacity of a woman's spirit, portrayed in the book, is utterly commendable and shows how overwhelmingly resilient a woman can be.

Looking forward to watching the 2005 movie adaptation now; read that the movie was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won 3 out of them, which makes me more excited to watch the movie.

Coming to the rating, I'd round off my 3.75 stars to 4! (again emphasizing on the need for a decimal rating system on GR, haha!)

I am so glad to have re-read this masterpiece.Arthur Golden's exquisite writing effortlessly transports readers to the mesmerizing world of Kyoto's geisha culture. Golden's meticulous attention to detail and seamless interweaving of historical elements into the narrative are commendable. Hatsumomo stands out as one of the most compelling literary villains, embodying pure malevolence. Chiyo’s journey becomes a shared odyssey as she grapples with the hardships of life, tradition, and rivalry. At its core, the narrative is a poignant tale of survival, hope in the face of great adversity, and resilience.
Such beautiful writing! Sheer joy to read.

“Adversity is like a strong wind. I don't mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”

read it quite long time ago. i mention it sometimes to my tourists which i guide through gion area in Kyoto. but this year i will not tell the story...this year i will not wonder in Japan. nice read

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.

I read this book back when it first came out. I never wrote a review of it because when I first joined GR I didn't really know what it was all about. It took a bit before it sunk in for me.

Now GR members get spammed at times. The newest form of spam is review bumping. I didn't even know that existed because..well I'm a slow learner. I kept noticing the same person's reviews on my thread. Several times a day. All day. For weeks. Someone finally pointed out to me that they are bumping their reviews. Then I saw several status updates from people posting about how it was driving them bonkers.

Now my friend Kat decided to take a stand..she made a awesome little badge to show we are all fabulous..not just the top reviewers, and my friend Kelly has a great idea..we are gonna spread some love. Everyone on GR is Goodreads Fabulous.

Here's my friend Argona's review for this book. Her's is much better than anything I could have written..Go show her some love.
Argona..you are Goodreads Famous baby!
n  n

Si les soy completamente honesto, me cuestioné por mucho tiempo la calificación que merecía esta novela. Me senté a pensar en los personajes, la ambientación, los diálogos, la narrativa, las descripciones y todo me encantó.

Es de esos libros que aprendes mucho conforme disfrutas de la historia. Además me encanta que se nota la buena investigación que conllevó este libro porque a la medida que vas viendo que sucede con Sayuri o Mameha, te van describiendo el mundo Geisha.

¡Fascínate!

Si te gusta la cultura japonesa y las novelas históricas este es un básico. Si podría decir que es de las mejores novelas historias que he leído.

The Book Report: The politics of the okiya, or geisha house, closely examined through the rise of Chiyo, an unpromising girl sold into slavery by her peasant family, to become Sayuri, a sought-after and renowned geisha in pre-WWII Kyoto.

Chiyo's arrival in the okiya is inauspicious, and her introduction into the horrible world of all-female hatreds and politics comes at a heavy price. She attempts to run away back to the family that sold her into slavery in the first place, which shows that kids don't think in logical patterns; fortunately, she falls off the roof and breaks her arm. Her friendship with a fellow slave, Pumpkin, thus begins, and with it the events that will lead her into rivalry with Hatsumomo, the okiya's lead geisha, and ultimately into her new identity as Sayuri, a full-fledged geisha.

Golden treats us to the full world of geisha, including its roots as slavery and its unpalatable customs, such as misuage, the ritualized and monetized deflowering of barely pubescent girls as a preparatory step to their ascent into geishahood.

Sayuri lives through the tribulations of having only a minimal say in the men she must serve as companion, as hetaira, as whore; she falls in love with one man, whom she cannot, for good reasons, pursue a relationship with; and she uses her wits, her wiles, and her body to survive and thrive during the national trauma of WWII and its aftermath. By the end of the story, Sayuri is a free woman, possessed of a life many many women across the world would envy, and telling us the remarkable and astonishing story of a slave girl's rise to wealth and position.

tt
My Review: Quite a lovely book to read, and really very nicely made. Well, except for that whole missing bit that we like to call “World War Two.” The author spends what, five pages maybe, on the *entire*second*world*war. One whole star off for that, so we're down to four.

Then there's the whole issue of sourcing. Golden interviewed an actual reitred geisha and used her life as a basis for his novel. Nothing untoward there, is there? Well, apparently so...the lady was acknowledged in the book and she was subject to death threats and other reprisals. She sued Golden and the publishers, claiming breach of contract, and got an out-of-court settlement. Then she went on to publish her memoirs! After getting the settlement for having her privacy broached! Oh gross. Greed is a turn-off for me, and so, despite the fact that Golden didn't do jack poop wrong, half a star off. Three and a half, for those counting along.

But the last half star vanished more recently than I read the book (back in 1999). It went away because Arthur Golden's source, Mineko Iwasaki, painted in her memoir a very very different picture of her life and that of a modern geisha than Golden did. Different enough that I felt the novel, representing itself as an accurate portrayal of a geisha's life, was flying false colors. It's fiction, so changing stuff up is normal and acceptable, but the background of the book is what made it interesting, the world of the okiya and its rituals and its rhythms were the *point* of my reading the book...and the source herself, in a polite Japanese way, said “pfui” to it.

And now we're at three stars. All of them, at this point, are for Arthur Golden's pretty, pretty sentences.

If words can come off a page and stun you senseless, this is the book to read. When Chiyo a young peasant girl was sold to the Nitta okiya in Kyoto to one day become a geisha. She could not imagine the depths of the water in the sea her life would embark. From the harsh treatment from Hatsumomo, the primary geisha of the house; to apprentice geisha Mameha as her big sister; to the shamisens; to the tea houses; to the Japanese dances; to the hands of Nobu-san the cold kind business man; and finally to the chairman a man of great compassion and understanding. She will lead you thru the great depression and World War II seen thru the eyes of someone who experienced great wealth, kindness, longing, pain of suffering, loss, friendship, betrayal, and extreme poverty. As you read you will meet Sayuri (formally called Chiyo). An excellent read.

Quotes:

I knew he noticed the trees, and the mud, and the children in the street, but I had no reason to believe he'd ever noticed me.

She may have been cruel as a spider, but she was more lovely chewing on her fingernail than most geisha looked posing for a photograph.

"Never forgot them, Chiyo-chan," she said. "They're all that's left of your childhood."

This is why dreams can be such dangerous things: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely.

"I'd like to be as cooperative as I can." Mameha replied, " but I'd have difficulty arranging such a thing, since you haven't yet agreed to be Sayuri's mizuage patron. If her integrity is in doubt..........well, Sayuri will be presenting ekubo to a great many men. I'm sure most will be skeptical of stories they hear from Hatsumomo."

"I never seek to defeat the man I am fighting," he explained. "I seek to defeat his confidence. A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory. Two men are equals - true equals - only when they both have equal confidence."

This one is going to be a bit difficult for me to review. I enjoyed it, but it was kinda weird. It was interesting, but kind of slow. The historical fiction aspect is interesting, but I have seen many reviews critical of the actual truth of it all.

The pros:
- Very good storytelling - Each chapter was its own short story and I found it easy to read and stay interested.
- Characters - I was invested in the characters. In fact, I was so invested I could feel my loathing for one of the bad characters curdling in my very soul. It's usually a good sign when you want to reach into the book and smack a character.
- The setting and the history - it was fascinating to learn about Geisha culture in pre-WWII Japan and how different it is from anything in American history.

The Cons
- This one may not be fair because it is probably historically accurate, but the Geisha culture made all the male characters seem like creepers. So, even when there is one you are supposed to like or who is supposed to be a hero, you know that he is all about pre-pubescent, up-and-coming Geisha and hoping to be able to deflower as many as possible. Just skews things a bit.
- Kind of slow - even thought I thought the storytelling was great, there were a few times where it started to drag and I was ready to move on to the next part of the story.
- Accuracy - Without Goodreads, I would have probably never have known this, but it seems there is some question as to the accuracy of the account in this book. Often, other, more reliable titles are suggested. But, was this supposed to be a non-fiction memoir, a story based on some facts surrounding the Geisha culture but equal parts fact and fiction, or just a completely made up story? I am not completely sure, but it should provide some interesting follow up research.

So, I am going to go with 4 stars because it was an interesting story and despite some slow spots and creepers, it was pretty entertaining. Also, questions/controversy over its accuracy might actually raise the entertainment value!