I loved the romantic parts but I just wished it was more and I also found this book to long and some parts were realy boring , but overall I realy enjoyed it and now I finally know what an geisha is

چطوری این کتاب انقدر خوب بود آخه، همم!؟
لذت بردم از این کتاب، از تمام اون تصاویر و خاطرات رنگارنگ و زیبایی که لزوما همیشه هم با خوشی و سعادت همراه نبودن اما اونقدر گرم و عزیز بودن که چشم رو نوازش میدادن و به دل می نشستن

شده تا حالا با یه کتاب زندگی کنید!؟ اگر شده پس به احتمال زیاد الان دلتون برای اون کتاب تنگ شده. درست مثل همین دلتنگیِ بازیگوشی که هنوز هیچی نشده کنج دلم جا خوش کرده و منتظره ببینه من دوباره کی می رم سر وقت این کتاب! چقدر با این کتاب به من خوش گذشت
^^
یادگاری از کتاب

اکنون می دانم زندگیمان هیچ وقت پایدارتر از موجی نیست که از پهنه ی دریا برمی خیزد. مبارزات و پیروزی مان هرچه باشد, هرگونه که آنها را از سر گذرانده باشیم, مثل قطره ای مرکب بر روی کاغذ می دود و راه خودش را می یابد

-----
پ.ن : یه نکته راجع به ترجمه بگم. از اونجایی که من مدت هاست عادت کردم این سبک از کتاب ها رو همزمان با نسخه ی انگلیسی شون بخونم باید بگم که ترجمه سانسور داشت، حالا نه خیلی زیاد ولی در حد سه-چهار صفحه اینجا و اونجا، یکی دوتا پاراگراف سانسور شده بود که جای حرفی هم نداره. اما در کل از هر لحاظ ترجمه ی عالی و با کیفیتی بود

'Memoirs of a Geisha' is an incredibly exquisite novel to read. The life of the Japanese geisha Sayuri, the main character, in 1930's Japan is so realistically described I believed at times I was reading an actual memoir. The writing is as liquid and lovely as an ornamental pond with a small designed waterfall. Reading this book is entirely all delight - which it shouldn't be considering the subject is about forced formalized prostitution. However, Arthur Golden is a beautiful writer, and luckily, his main protagonist (based on a real geisha's interview) Sayuri is a fighter, the type of woman who made lemonade from lemons.

She was born with the name Chiyo, but she kept it only as long as she was an ordinary little 9-year-old girl, daughter of a small village fisherman, living in a typsy shack by the ocean with her dying mother and older sister, Satsu. After her mother took to her bed with cancer, her father sold her and Satsu to a rich industrialist, who in turn quickly sold them into prostitution in Kyoto, Japan. Satsu ended up performing as a low-end prostitute immediately, being transferred to a very low-class house, but Chiyo is given to a high-class okiya, a place where geishas were trained and indentured for life. Chiyo has a destiny she is forced to embrace because she has the luck to be a beautiful child with grey-blue eyes, and poor parents sick with bad health.

She struggles against her dictated fate and succeeds in derailing the house's owners, Granny, Mother and Auntie, from their plans to train her as a geisha. She does this with with an attempt to run away, intending to return to her parents. Instead the escape ends in disaster and she is returned to the okiya by the neighbors, all of whom fully support the okiyas and the geisha system, because without the money produced by the party-girls, there would be a lot of suppliers and other businesses which would struggle to lure wealthy businessmen to spend. So, although she is returned to her owners, she is in disgrace. Granny and Mother make the decision she is too much of a risk to train as a geisha, an education which will cost the house thousands of dollars by the time Chiyo is a teen. She becomes a maid, cleaning and polishing while watching the magnificent geisha, Hatsumomo, already in place and supporting the entire house through the entertaining of men in tea-houses and invitations to appear on the stage in plays.

Hatsumomo is so important to the survival of the entire okiya, she is permitted every angry vengeful attack on everyone who displeases her. She is careful to maintain her appearance and dancing, singing and music lessons, keeping within the boundaries for her behavior by the traditions of the institution of the geisha - a Japanese word which means 'artist entertainer'- but her angry neurotic spite leads her to abuse every member of the house, especially those whose beauty or geisha apprenticeship threaten her place in the hierarchy of the house. She has hopes of being adopted as Mother's daughter, which means she would inherit the okiya upon Mother's death.

When Hatsumomo's number one Kyoto competition, Mameha, an independent geisha supported partially by a danna, shows up in the okiya one day, offering to become Chiyo's older sister, an official designation in geisha culture of a personal trainer, it changes Chiyo's path once again. No longer a maid, she is given a new name - Sayuri.

While these momentous happenings are shifting Sayuri's life around like a windblown leaf, the Depression is causing starvation throughout Japan. However, Japan's industrialists are doing well, so the geishas are also doing well since they are hired to entertain the wealthy industrialists. It isn't until near the end of WWII the geisha enclaves feel the upheaval all of Japan, including the industrialists, soon feel because of losing the war. Meanwhile, Sayuri, who has decided to be the best geisha she can be, is having to defend herself against the malicious attacks by Hatsumomo against her character and reputation. If she cannot build her clientele list or if she loses a single male supporter, she could end up in rags once again, scrubbing toilets and starving. Only one can be left standing...whoever becomes Mother's adopted daughter. Game on...

I have used current idioms for my review, gentle reader, but Sayuri's narration, and Golden's words, are far more eloquent and beautiful than my more mundane review. I should also mention, that while Sayuri eventually embraced the geisha life, had to be one for survival, and the book emphasizes the Fine Arts a geisha are trained in, fully describing the makeup, clothes and the ceremonial work behind being a professional companion, along with the cultural environment and traditions of mid-20th century Japan, she believes sex is far down the list of what is expected of a geisha. I do not share the geisha viewpoint in this. There would not be a geisha institution if not for the sexual desires and hierarchical dog-pack requirements of rich men. It simply boils down to whether a girl is a high-priced talented courtesan or a street whore by the price she charges for her services and what effort she makes at providing an illusion of having a good time with horrible men.

Examples of Golden's superb writing ability :

"The path from our house followed the edge of the sea cliffs before turning toward the village. Walking it on a day like this was difficult, but I remember feeling grateful that the fierce wind drew my mind from the things which troubled me. The sea was violent, with waves like stones chipped into blades, sharp enough to cut. It seemed to me the world itself was feeling just as I felt. Was life nothing more than a storm that constantly washed away what had been there only a moment before, and left behind something barren and unrecognizable?"

"During those first few days in that strange place, I don't think I could have felt worse if I'd lost my arms and legs, rather than my family and home. I had no doubt life would never again be the same. All I could think of was my confusion and misery; and I wondered day after day when I might see Satsu again. I was without my father, without my mother--without even the clothing I'd always worn. Yet somehow the thing that startled me most, after a week or two had passed, was that I had in fact survived. I remember one moment drying rice bowls in the kitchen, when all at once I felt so disoriented I had to stop what I was doing to stare for a long while at my hands; for I could scarcely understand that this person drying the bowls was actually me."

The world of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is unforgettably mesmerizing.


Below is a link to a geisha dance to a Lady Gaga song: Bad Romance

https://youtu.be/Hvwu80LT9To


This is a BBC/A&E production of the history of geishas:

https://youtu.be/4b4khFSChd4

What a disappointment. Why is it that in most books' reviews, only the marginal niche fans vote massively, upholstering the average score so unfairly. Unless, it is the romantics who do read diversely that in their unbiased way, gave the book four to five stars. Even people who gave the book the same score as me must have done so for different reasons. Maybe the ending threw them. Maybe I'll never know. I'm left scratching my head as to why this book is considered the best historical fiction on this site.

I'll pool all my misgivings from the last third of the book in this paragraph. Chiyo's outlook towards life is delusional, and is vindicated by her being united with her beau. I wonder what friends I myself would have had my life been more successful. Chiyo's memories of her past are very selective. Sometimes she wants to be a geisha, but anyway she has no choice. Her heart breaks and reseals itself over her journey in becoming one. Her infatuation with the Chairman and her laughable dressing of her repulsion to Nobu sums up the genre of romance. The book is an ungodly mess in its themes. The analogies and lesson-like counsel that passed for wisdom at the end made it all clear. This book's just an escapist dream for delusional romantics of all genders and ages. My reason for my score is mainly that at not one point did the book reel me in. I was never hooked.

I have to consider Hatsumomo, most of the book's main archenemy. She is described as stupid, but reveals herself as cunning. The latter attribute is proved beyond doubt. But her stupidity, abetted by drunkenness, only comes at the end. This was a missed opportunity to dress up a promising character. When Hatsumomo mars a kimono belonging to her rival, it's almost an act of vandalism. But we are never allowed to get the insight whether the act itself has the fuel of 30% meanness and 70% stupidity, or the other way round, or some other permutation.

I first intended to write more than I'm doing. But I want to put this book behind me quickly. I want to make two points (which is more than my favorite team can make at the moment). First, I knew that such a dishonest and cowardly book would make of the tragic Pumpkin, a mean spirited person. I knew it! Her separation from Chiyo should have been temporary. Instead, she estranges herself from joy and purpose in life in the most random way. She is very wimpy in her decision to "join the dark side". It's just not that convincing. Maybe her scavenging act early on foreshadows what the author did with her. It's not an excuse though. Second thing, the stupid and bizarre episode between Chiyo and the Baron. It should have had consequences, but it seemed like the mother of all treaties had been signed between all parties. Very inexplicable. Inexplicable but quite welcome. It's an occurrence that made me distance myself from the narrator. I don't have to be concerned with her when she troubled trouble.

This book, were it a flawed masterpiece and dealt with a genre I detest, would still have gotten more than two stars. But at no point did Memoirs reach a pinnacle or peak of sorts. No event was reciprocal, there was no theme except from a rags to riches story. Nature sometimes was described richly, but new objects of unfamiliarity and technology were glossed over, which is cool, as we're all aware of modern contrivances. It's just that everything I've mentioned makes the narrator fake. It's just sad. It means I'll never read this book again. Neither it nor I deserve it.

This book was wonderful. I absolutely love the movie, which I now need to watch!



In many ways, this was a sad story for me. I would really like to read a biography of a geisha and watch a documentary to really look into their world.





n  

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.

n

Happy Reading!

Mel

Loved the book and the writing but there was something about it that I passionately disliked as well.
I can’t explain it as I myself don’t understand it but it definitely hindered my enjoyment to the full.

I was also somewhat take aback by my sheer dislike for Sayuri. I feel like I’m the only one who actively disliked her to this extent but there were moments where I felt so infuriated by her, by her selfishness, her utter lack of loyalty, her self-importance... I just couldn’t stand her.

This started so well but then it got more and more boring with each chapter.

I was hooked on this as soon as I started reading. I found myself storming through it and totally invested in the story. Then somewhere, around half-way through, I found myself growing terribly bored. My reading rate slowed down. It started to feel like a chore, and it took me almost five months to finish it.

What happened?

The story seemed to stagnate, and the descriptions felt very similar and reused. Moreover, it didn’t seem to be going anywhere other than the obvious direction. Granted, it picked up towards the but by then I had lost interest and wanted the book to be over. It seems rather trite in a book review to complain about the length of a book, but I’m going to do it anyway: this felt too long. I have no problem with big books if they need to be big. This one felt padded out and like parts needed to be stripped back and the writing made tighter. It waffled on and I grew tired of it.

It was slow, so painfully slow

I’m disappointed because I feel like I should have loved this one and I thought I was going to. I wish I had something more positive to say, but I can’t find anything else I enjoyed about it. It had a good hook but that’s it. Consider me very unimpressed.

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حين كنتُ أدرس التاريخ الجاهلي في شبة الجزيرة العربية كانت هناك فقرة تتكرر دائما عن وضع المرأة في المجتمع عبارة كنت أشعر أنهم يكررونها بشكل متعمد لإهانة جنس النساء كان المؤلف يصف معاملة الرجل المرأة على أساس إنها متاع أو ما شابه حين كنت أقرأ الجيشا رنّت تلك العبارة في ذهني مسترجعة قسوة الرجل ولامبالاته تجاه هذا الكائن الحي !
أي وضع مأساوي كانت تعيشه المرأة في الهند أو الصين أو اليابان أو عند العرب أو غيرهم شرقا وغربا لم يكن يختلف !
الأنثى كانت تدور دوما في فلك الرجل تموت و تحيا لأجله !
الجيشا درّبت لتكون على هيئة لوحة جميلة يتبارز عليها الرجال وينالها أكثرهم سطوة وحظوة وذكاءا ..
هذا الوضع المأساوي ونوعية التفكير الذكوري المتوارث بلا شك يثير الحزن والحقيقة إنني طوال قرائتي لتلك الرواية أتعجب كيف كانت النساء تبيع أنفسهن بهذه الطريقة المخجلة وعلى الرغم أن الأمر مازال يمارس بأشكال مختلفة وأكثر بساطة في الكثير من الأماكن التي يخيم عليها كابوس الفقر إلا أن ما يثير الدهشة كيف أن الجيشاوات خلقن لهم عالما خاصا به قوانين خاصة تسيرها نساء غلبت عليهم شهوة الطمع والسيطرة وانتفت معها كل معاني الإنسانية !

يحكي آرثر غولدن قصة فتاة وشقيقتها والدها صياد كبير في السن بينما والدتها كانت تعاني من مرض عضال أفقدها القدرة على الحياة ومع الوقت تفقد فعاليتها ويرجع صوت الألم مجلجلا ليحرم بطلتنا الصغيرة من الشعور بالأمان ومرارة الإحساس بقرب النهاية
وفقا لذلك لم يكن هناك من يرعى الطفلة بطلة القصة وشقيقتها المراهقة ، خرجت شيو لتحضر الدواء لوالدتها ولكنها أصيبت فأحضرها الصيادون إلى رب النعمة تاناكا ، اللقاء مع تاناكا هو الذي غير حياتها إلى إتجاه آخر تماما لم يكن يخطر في بال تلك الفتاة الصغيرة
شيو كانت تتمتع بعينين رماديتين تسرق الأنظار على الرغم من إنها تسير حافية القدمين مبعثرة الشعر والملابس إلا إن السيد تاناكا انبهر بتلك العينين وبدأ يرى مستقبلا آخر سيعود عليه بالمال !
ونظرا لظروف الفقر القاهرة والمستقبل الغامض الذي يحيط بالفتاتين اضطر الأب إلى بيع فتاتيه إلى السيد تاناكا الذي باعهم بدوره،، الصغيرة لأحد بيوتات تربية الجيشاوات والمراهقة إلى أحد بيوت الدعارة ومن هنا يبدأ مشوار عذابات الطفلة التي تضاءلت أحلامها في بيت ورعاية جيدة في معية السيد تاناكا

آرثر غولدن درس أصول الفن الياباني وهذا الأمر إنعكس بشكل بارع في روايته الجيشا وفي توغله لعالم الجيشاوات الذي يقوم على تربية الفتاة لتكون راقصة وعازفة ومتذوقة للفن ومتحدثة وقادرة على خدمة الرجال في بيوتات الشاي الشهيرة التي يجتمع فيها رجالات المجتمع الراقي ، ما لفت نظري بل سلب لبي هذا الوصف الشائق والدقيق الذي اعتمده غولدن في وصف الكيمونوات وهو اللباس الذي كانت ترتديه الجيشاوات لجذب اهتمام الرجال ويمثل مبارزة حقيقية بين الجيشاوات للحصول على أفخر وأجمل أنواعها وكان غولدن يسترسل في الوصف حتى تعرف أن الكاتب نفسه مولع بهذا النوع من الفن فيصف القماش واللون والرسوم ويقوم بتحليل حركتها فتبدو وكأنها لوحة تضج بالحيوية والحياة ، لقد كان غولدن أيضا يتوغل في تفاصيل صغيرة كالصباغ الأبيض وطريقة طلاء الوجه والشفاه والعينين وكل هذه الأمورالتي تذكرك أن غولدن استغرق أعواما طوال ليكتب هذه الرواية كما فعل باموق في اسمي أحمر هذه الدقة وهذا الشعور بالمسئولية تجاه الكتابة ألا يجعلك تقف احتراما للكاتب خاصة إنه قرر الدخول إلى عالم لا ينتمي له في الحقيقة !

إن الأمر لم يقتصر فقط على الدخول لذلك العالم ولكن بحبكة مشوقة لم تنتهي عند عذابات تلك الصغيرة مع منافستها التي لم تألو جهدا في زعزعة وجودها في الأوكيا ولا بفكرة الهرب التي ظلت تراودها للبحث عن حياة حرة وكريمة تلك الفترة المظلمة التي حولتها إلى خادمة مهانة
حين تخلى عنها الأب والأخت برق أمل وحيد كان دافعا لها لكي تصبح الجيشا الأكثر شهرة في تاريخ الجيشاوات
بل بهذا الأمل الذي يخلقه الحب ليصبح هو الدافع الرئيسي لإحتمال كل ما لا يمكن أن يحتمل ، إن اللقاءات التي جمعت بين سايوري ورجلها الوحيد كانت من أجمل المشاهد الدافئة والحميمية وإن كانت لقاءات متباعدة وقليلة وتحمل القليل من الأمل والكثير من اليأس ..

كان غولدن متفوقا في رسم شخصياته الخيالية وكأنها شخصيات حقيقية ، إن تفرّد الكاتب جاء في المساحات التي قدمها لكل شخصية كتب عنها قد تكون صفحات كثيرة وقد تكون أسطر قليلة وعلى الرغم من أن سايوري هي الشخصية المحورية في هذه الرواية إلا أن حضور الشخصيات الأخرى كان متساويا من حيث قوة تأثيرها على مجريات السرد غولدن الأم التي تدير الأوكيا بجشعها وتسلطها
وهاتسومومو المنافسة الجميلة التي ظهرت كالأنثى الحية تبدل جلدها حسب ما تقتضيه مصالحها الشخصية أحببت جدا طريقة رسم هذه الشخصية المتحركة حيوية مجنونة مليئة بالغرابة والإدهاش , الفارس النبيل الرئيس , البارون القبيح المنفوخ كبالون والدكتور الذي تفوح من أسطر غولدن حين يتحدث عنه رائحة المستشفيات
ومامها الأنثى الجميلة العاقلة نموذج للجيشا المثال التي كانت تزاحم بنضج الأنثى ذات التجارب
ونابو آه من تلك الشخصية إنها بالفعل من أروع وأعظم شخصيات الرواية على غرابته وتصرفاته العنيفة التي كانت ترافق صفات أخرى نبيلة
لا أدري لم إستدعت هذه الرواية سيرة تلك النساء الصينيات ( بجعات برية ) كنتُ أفكر في الرابط بين الروايتين
ربما هو عالم الشرق أو ربما هي الأنثى المهانة ولعلها العذابات التي عانتها الصغيرة أو قد يكون ذلك النوع المتفرد من المتعة والتشويق الذي حصدته في الكتابين عن عالمين مختلفين عني تماما !

If I hadn't paid for it, I would not have read it. Although historical fiction is not a genre I normally read or enjoy, I had high expectations for this book. Despite the controversy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It took me a long time to read and annotate it. I felt a strong connection with the characters. The author's writing style was fantastic. The characters were given more depth. The story's pace, which was languid at times, docked one star.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience. This book marked the end of my 2021 reading challenge..

n  A little girl named Chiyo (later changed to Sayuri) is forced to grow up fast after she is sold to a geisha house.n

Historical romances can go either way for me and this one most definitely went the right way. The writing was gorgeous and the characters were perfection. I hated it when I had to put this book down at the end of the night, but I knew that every time I picked it back up that I would instantly be transported back to Sayuri’s vibrant world. My favorite detail was when the author described the color and pattern on any one of the many kimonos mentioned in the story. I would pause and imagine one before me, wishing it was there so I could take my hand and gently graze my fingers across the intricate pattern worked into it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the romance hidden away in the folds of the story and was emotionally torn by the options available to Sayuri and which would be preferred. I went in to the story expecting a relationship of duty, forced by the world to benefit one and leave the other desiring more. What I received instead was a woman relentlessly pursuing her wants and desires. I still haven’t made up my mind regarding which path would have been best in the end.

Five stars to a book that left me pondering so much more.

Sem dúvida, uma das minhas melhores leitura foi “Memórias de uma gueixa”, não só pelo impacto que essa leitura me causou, mas também pelo conhecimento que me trouxe da cultura japonesa. Aprendi muito. Conta basicamente a história de Sayuri que em 1929 devido ao estado de pobreza e a saúde precária dos seus pais, é vendida ainda bem pequena (9 anos), com a sua irmã, para uma Okiya (casa de gueixas) em Kyoto. No entanto, ao chegar em Kyoto ela é separada da sua irmã e parte sozinha para viver nessa Okiya. Lá passa por todos os tipos de provações, humilhações, na tentativa de se tornar uma gueixa famosa. Ela tem que suportar Hatsumomo, uma famosa Gueixa que vive na Okiya que vê em Sayuri uma real ameaça ao seu reinado e começa então a praticar todos os atos de maldade possíveis contra ela. O enredo do livro é basicamente esse: a busca de Sayuri em ter sucesso como gueixa, ajudada por uns e atrapalhada por outros, principalmente por Hatsumono, seus treinamentos buscando a perfeição através da dança, da música, ao vestir seu quimono, ao se maquiar. Mas há personagens maravilhosos como o Sr. Presidente que em um momento de desespero a ajuda quando ela ainda era bem pequena, arrebatando o seu coração. Há também Nobo, um sobrevivente de guerra com grande sequelas físicas que também se apaixona por Sayuri. Temos também Mameha uma Gueixa muito famosa que auxilia Sayuri em seu árduo caminho para se tornar uma gueixa. Enfim há outros personagens tais como o Dr Caranguejo, uma gueixa que chamam Abóbora, há também o Barão, enfim uma gama de personagens inesquecíveis. Outra coisa que me chamou a atenção é o submundo que envolve o mundo das Gueixas, como a guerra entres elas para se ter sucesso, os interesses meramente financeiros das donas das Okiya, a venda da virgindade das gueixas para quem der o maior lance como se fosse um leilão, homens ricos, famosos e casados que procuram as Gueixas para satisfazerem seus desejos sexuais. Enfim são tudo aparências, o amor é uma ilusão, isso me enojou muito. Como já citei foi uma ótima leitura, amei esse livro, uma obra-prima de Arthur Golden, que estudou muito o mundo das gueixas e nos brindou com esse livro, que em parte pode ser um livro histórico, e parte um conto de fadas e também um livro de terror!

4.5 stars
This novel is very rich and full of diverse characters and shows a big deal of the classic Japanese tradition.

-Every character represents an aspect and an attitude of humans

-Although it is lengthy but I don't find it boring,the length of the book helped in building up the anticipation for the end,thus more satisfaction.

-some people find it insulting to women,well it is a novel not the author's belief.

-I kinda liked Hatsumomo and felt bad for her end,she was the salt of the book.

-the age of the characters along the novel is a little peculiar,and the age difference between Sauyri and the chairman is huge if left to the readers calculations.

-The writing style of the author is nice,and it seems to be affected by the meticulosity of the Japanese.

I wish i have read it before watching the movie,which i will watch again after finishing it.