Filed under: Books
I have just finished reading Geisha, A Life, written by former geisha, (Or former geiko) Mineko Iwasaki.
The book is extremely captivating from beginning to end and her life is so different from anyone else’s, that it’s impossible to stop reading. So far, this is the best book I have ever read for many reasons.
Rande Brown has done an excellent job translating the book from Japanese to English and the vocabulary is so precise and descriptive and everything is written so well! This was one of the reasons why I loved the book so much. The precision of the vocabulary and the vast word choice makes this book already a must-read.
The book was not only written because Mineko wanted to tell her story since she became a maiko, (Apprentice geiko) but also to cover the lies that Arthur Golden promoted with his bestseller, Memoirs Of A Geisha. In his novel, he writes that geiko sell themselves like prostitutes, (Actually he depicted the life of an oiran, [High-class courtesan] instead of the life a geiko. The mizuage, for instance, in his novel, means the deflowering of a girl, [Just like how the oiran use the term] when it actually means the transition from maiko to geiko.) when that isn’t true at all. After Arthur Golden announced through his novel that Mineko Iwasaki had helped him write the novel, (Geiko have to vow not to tell anyone about their lives) when he sweared not to do that, she was shocked, and sued him for that. The later editions didn’t come with Mineko Iwasaki’s name.
The story is about how Masako Tanaka (Her name before she became a geiko), born to a poor family, decided to help her parents out by allowing them to sell her to an okiya (Or geisha house). She was 6 at the time, and the adult world was new to her. She meets with some older sisters (Who she has never heard of), and we follow her life as she abandons her childhood and moves on to adulthood mentally and physically. She puts every detail of her life down, be it when she hid around in closets because she was too shy of somebody or when men tried to abuse her while she was walking around through the streets of Kyoto. The ending is quite sad, but it’s a true story, and not everything about the world is wonderful.
I felt like the book was so great because tradition and values is all about what the book is about. I learned a lot about traditional Japan reading this book, and I loved every single moment I was reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in Japanese culture or in the life of Gion’s greatest geiko. This is definitely the best book I’ve ever read, and if you have the chance to pick it up, go ahead! You won’t regret it!
