Geisha by liza dalby - Ease Reading

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This is a really interesting book written by an American anthropologist who went to Japan and actually become a geisha. It's a really interesting insight not just into the geisha life but its cultural context as well - the history, politics, literature, class structure. The author, known as the geisha Ichigiku, really has a great love and fascination for her subject and it really shows in this book. I found it endlessly fascinating. And it's making me want to go and read Memoirs of a Geisha again.

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AD4MANT

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Pretty amazing to see the transformation of a western woman into the hallowed halls of of the geisha. She recently gave a lecture at the Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis, Missouri on the life of the geisha in Japan. An illuminating and friendly woman.

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SakuraxSyaoran59

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

AKA
~ SAKURA NO HANA, MA CON LE SPINE ~

Ho avuto la fortuna di andare in Giappone. Ho apprezzato un sacco di cose: la pulizia, la cortesia, il cibo, la cultura, i luoghi, i monumenti, le tradizioni e tanto altro. Detto questo, non ci vivrei.

Questo libro è un vero e proprio documentario sulla figura della geisha, attraverso l'esperienza di una ragazza americana che è diventata a tutti gli effetti "la prima geisha americana".
La geisha è un simbolo e un tipo di figura femminile difficilmente comprensibile per l'occhio occidentale. Qui vengono analizzate varie funzioni della geisha, il suo ruolo nella società e si approfondisce praticamente ogni aspetto della sua vita. Eppure, fatico a comprenderne appieno il valore più profondo.

Dal mio punto di vista infatti la società giapponese è piuttosto maschilista ed essere una donna in Giappone richiede una grande consapevolezza e una serie di sacrifici. Da quello che si evince, il prototipo della donna giapponese è pudica e devota prima al marito e poi ai figli. Questo è anche il suo ruolo principale nella società: prima di moglie e poi di madre. Se non sei sposata e non hai figli sei considerata insolita. E infatti la geisha è una donna diversa, che si contrappone prepotentemente alla tipica figura femminile, essendo decisa e in un certo modo sensuale. Questa distinzione netta costringe le giovani ragazze sostanzialmente a scegliere quale delle due figure incarnare e in entrambi casi l'uomo è avvantaggiato, primo perché non deve compiere alcun tipo di scelta, e secondo perché può possederle entrambe, la moglie e la geisha.

Ecco, per questi motivi, in quanto giovane e in quanto donna mi risulterebbe difficile accettare una simile realtà. Ma dopotutto è risaputo che il Giappone non si fonda sull'amore per far funzionare la società; il valore più importante è sempre il lavoro.

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PlainCasual

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Geisha was quite the interesting book.

I'd had only heard of them in an anime a few years back but they are such an intresting concept (and of course individuals).

The book itself was informative and very comprehensible, although it strongly focused on Dalby's experience within the Japanese geisha communities. I do feel like it was educational enough about the topic but the feeling that I didn't get enough information about them keeps nagging at me.

The content was fascinating and geisha life sounds like a tale from another world to Western ears. I totally understand and agree on the fact that the social role of the Geishas would be impossible to implement the same way in the West.

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RhyukxX

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I enjoyed this far more than 'Geisha of Gion', as it was much more insightful about the life of a modern geisha, and covers those outside the Kansai region. Dalby also touches on Kimono etiquette and what colours or patterns are appropriate in certain seasons. This has intruiged me so much that I've also bought her specialist book all about it!

If you want to know more about these mysterious figures, this is a fantastic read.

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ZenoxAlive

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I read it a long time ago. An amazing book. I was very drawn to the ending by the fairytale-like story of the geisha O-Yuki from Gion and the American millionaire George Morgan. I even surfed the Internet then for photographs of this couple. It turned out to be very difficult to find them, probably because this story happened in 1902, but I found them. Either way, they are incredible and it was exciting.

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dom_jo

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

So I've been wanting to read this book for ages and it most definitely did not disappoint!

This is the most accurate book on the karyukai I've ever read, free of the fetishisms and romanticisms that this topic is usually saturated with. Do not even get me started on Memoirs of a Geisha because tables will be flipped. It was refreshing to read such an invested and detailed account from someone so close and involved in this world. Dalby writes in a straight-forward way, critical, unclouded by her own affection for Pontocho. The book is almost like a textbook on the karyukai way of life, which actually does it credit. This world is veiled, secretive, and its own unwillingness to share its secrets have not helped to stem the tidal waves of confusion and misinformation (thanks again, Golden). Dalby sheds some light, dispells some myths, but ultimately does not shatter the intriguing allure of the subject matter.

My one criticism of the book is that it is incredibly dense. It is only 300 odd pages, but my god are parts of it a slog. The book being like a textbook is somewhat of a double-edged sword in this case. Still, I was so grateful for actual verified facts and solid truths that I was able to overlook the parts that were less interesting, and overall I enjoyed the read.

In conclusion, this book is like Gandalf the White riding majestically to the rescue through a dark sea of Nazgul, his staff bearing a bright light of factual accuracy.

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Riversofbeauty

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This book was brilliant.
I loved how Liza wrote about the history of Geisha in Japan and every tiny detail of the things in their life - Kimono and how it is worn, why it is worn, the way it is worn, the colours that are worn and why.
Every detail is written about and it is definately one of the best books i've read about concerning geisha - and it was even written by a non-Japanese.
It has aspects of her time as a geisha, but it wasn't too autobiographical. It forcussed mainly on geisha arts and customs itself - without being too historical.
She put an intimate approach to the way she talked about the facts of geisha.

A very highly recommended read for anybody who is as fascinated by geisha as I am, or just Japan (or other cultures) in general.

I loved it.

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liza dalby

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