Book Review: ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ by ‘Arthur Golden’- “The Vicissitude That Life Is”

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Some years back my friend returned from Japan and talked about a group of peculiar women he saw there. Their faces were painted to resemble a doll. He told me they were “geishas”, and was confident the foreign term held meaning along the lines of prostitutes. This alien world threw me into a trance, thus compelling me to read more about it. The first book that I stumbled across was this scintillating novel. The story covers all the facets of a geisha but does so by embroiling a mesh of emotions and an engaging plot. Here’s a review of the book I couldn’t put down.

Introduction

Name of the book: Memoirs of a Geisha

Authored by: Arthur Golden

Genre: Historical fiction

Adaptations: Memoirs of a Geisha (movie)

Language: English

Synopsis (Spoiler alert!)

The novel starts with Chiyo, a lively but thoughtful nine-year-old resident of Yoroido in Japan. Yoroido is a small town by the sea, where the mean of livelihood is fishing. Chiyo’s father too, is a fisherman, a passionate one at that, but otherwise lacks the vibrancy in life. Besides her father, Chiyo has a mother and a 15-year-old sister, Satsu in her family. Chiyo inherits her lambency and blue-grey coloured eyes from her mother, and Satsu is bequeathed by her father’s personality.

In a devastating turn of events, Chiyo’s mother falls ill. As the days pass by, she is debilitated by her weakness. Chiyo laments the situation and interestingly meets a man named Mr Tanaka who Chiyo takes an instant liking to. The events that then unfold lead Chiyo to believe that after the death of her mother, Mr Tanaka will adopt both the sisters.

The day finally arrives which Chiyo believes will show her a new home. She reaches a new home but it was in the faraway land of Gion, Kyoto-the birthplace of geisha. Scarier than that was the fact that she was separated from her sister. So at the tender age of nine and fifteen, Chiyo and Satsu were conveniently sold by their father. Sold into Nitta okiya, Chiyo meets “Mother” (the proprietress of okiya), “Auntie” (subordinate of Mother), and “Granny”.

All hell breaks loose when the beautiful Chiyo comes across Hatsumomo, who is a geisha of the same okiya and happens to be the most successful geisha in Gion. She is beautiful and Chiyo is nothing short of starstruck, her beauty is unparalleled. For some reason, Hatsumomo doesn’t hide her acrimony against her fan.

The disdain is realized when Hatsumomo launches multiple propagandas to torture Chiyo and is adamantine to denigrate her publicly. Amid all this chaos, Chiyo finds a girl her age, Pumpkin, and makes friends with her. Together they go to school to learn all the arts of being a geisha (playing shamisen, dancing, singing, etc.)

One day Chiyo finds her sister, who was sold into prostitution, and she hurriedly discloses the plan of running away. As fate would have it, Chiyo fails to reach the station. Now that she tried to elope, she is not eligible to be a geisha because it damaged her and her Mother’s credibility. Demoted to being a maid, she runs all errands.

Distraught by her fate, she grieves everything. But there a man, called Chairman, motivates her. Chiyo is intrigued and finds her motto. But due to the demotion, she can’t be a geisha. Hatsumomo is her own nemesis and has turned many against herself. One such geisha is Mameha, another renowned top-tier geisha who to avenge Hatsumomo, undertakes Chiyo as her apprentice and Pumpkin is the unwilling protégé of Hatsumomo.

Their fates lay deeply entwined, each coming with its own master plan. The two most important people this progress leads to are the Chairman and Nobu of Iwamura Electric. Remarkably, Nobu is a disfigured man but is adorned by the Chairman and this fact is highlighted throughout. The day comes when Chiyo and Mameha are bonded to be sisters, and Chiyo is thereupon renamed Sayuri.

Sayuri becomes a huge success and is unrivalled as Hatsumomo digs her own grave and is exiled from Nitta okiya. Seeing her grand success Mother adopts Sayuri. Sayuri gets her Danna into a top-ranked General in the Japanese military. As World War 2 intensifies, everyone in the Gion district is compelled to leave the place.

Sayuri avails help from Nobu. After the war, Sayuri returns to her okiya and resumes her work. She pines for the Chairman but is adored by Nobu. After a labyrinthine series of events, finally, Sayuri and Chairman unite and the reminiscent memoir finds a good end. 

About the Author

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Arthur Sulzberger Golden (born December 6, 1956) is an American writer. Golden was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son of Ruth (née Sulzberger) and Ben Hale Golden. Golden spent his middle and high school years at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, graduating in 1974 before attending Harvard University and receiving a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art.

In 1980, he earned an M.A. in Japanese history at Columbia University, and also learned Mandarin Chinese. After a summer at Peking University in Beijing, China, Golden worked in Tokyo, before returning to the United States, where he earned an M.A. in English at Boston University.

During research for the novel, Golden conducted interviews with several geisha, including famous ex-geisha Mineko Iwasaki. After the Japanese edition of the novel was published, Golden was sued by Iwasaki for breach of contract and defamation of character. In 2000, Golden received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. 

Self Analysis

This book was a reiteration of “life is grandly unfair to some”. Seeing Chiyo tortured by Hatsumomo certainly didn’t do any good. The book captured some aspects of geisha culture perfectly. I certainly know better than to distinguish well between a geisha from a prostitute. Geisha means an artist, and they entertain rich men.

The great ordeal that is packed around kimonos, makeup, trademark white paint, and careful artistry of hairdressing was entertaining to read about. My favourite character was Mameha because she is nothing short of a genius, and deals with every obstacle that Hatsumomo hurled at the pair very arduously. She wins me over with her diligent management. 

Bottom Line

The book was riveting and compelled one to venture with Sayuri on her peregrination. Overall the arc of every character materialised brilliantly. Anyone looking to discover Japanese culture can start with this book. I recommend this book to everyone. Busts multiple myths and imparts lifelong lessons. 

My rating: 4.5 on 5

Get your copy from Amazon: Memoirs of a Geisha

Written by: Anushka Singh