“Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however, we may suffer them; all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper.”
Nitta Sayuri
Well, this book is on top of my list. I like the way Arthur Golden made the plot of the story, the way he used terms that is comprehensible for a person who has never set foot on Japan or never ever heard of what a kimono or a geisha is, the use of the first person to narrate the story is totally a plus, because it takes you to the persons mind and it feels like you are there to witness all that is happening in narrator’s life. Most of all, I love the twist in the end. Whew, I did not see it coming; it totally has taken me aback and had to read that whole chapter over again.
So, what is a geisha then? Webster describes it as:
Japanese from gei art + - sha person
: a Japanese girl or woman who is trained to provide entertaining and lighthearted company especially for a man or a group of men.
In the modern times, when people hear the term geisha it is always attached to prostitution. I myself had the same distorted notion but reading the pages of this book has made me realize that it is indeed an art way back 1920’s and 1930’s. This story goes back way before Geisha is appreciated as an art, where these girls are molded to learn the art of dancing like “shamisen”, singing, playing some instruments. In fact, It surprises me that as young as three years old some are already sent to the school of geisha to learn this art. Rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music, wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist. Most of all the competition with a jealous rival; for men’s solicitude and the money that goes with it. This novel, makes us enter a world where appearances are a paramount, where’ a girls virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder called “mizuage”; where women are trained to lure the most powerful men, and where love is called an illusion. The story is a creative work of fiction but with factual basis on geisha’s training levels, being a novice, apprentice and becoming a full pledge geisha, to having a “danna” to support the geisha’s financial needs. Sayuri’s character evolves from being a fisherman’s daughter full of naivety, hopes and dreams to becoming a determined and willful woman to become a geisha and even a headstrong geisha to rebel from what is being laid down upon her as her destiny. In spite of being a celebrated geisha, she remains hopeful that her one true love would recognize her or just so look at her direction when they meet, she has never given up of her dream to be with him, silently loving him for 15 years. All along, the feeling is mutual but it took them fifteen years when the time was right, when no friendships will be broken. It’s that magical moment that they have expressed their secret love for one another, the way they have look at each other in their owns special way. Goodness! Call me a romanticist but I like the twist, it was unpredictable who would have thought... that love indeed movies in mysterious ways I also like the cultures depicted into book, it makes you appreciate the richness of the Japanese cultures and traditions.
Two Thumps up for this book. . Mind you it was not the love story that enticed me into reading this book, it was the fact that it will be a movie soon; Sayuri will be portrayed by Zhang Zi yi and Mameha by Michelle Yeoh, it will be interesting to see the production of this film. It will be interesting on how the director would portray the character of Nobu and Hatsumomo, well, I’ll leave that to the directors but I’m excited to watch this film. I just saw the trailer of this film and from the looks of it's fantastic.. now i want to have a copy of the book, too bad i couldn't find any in the bookstores.
