“Adversity is like a strong wind. I don’t mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”
Memoirs of a Geisha starts with a fictional note from the so-called “translator” of the memoir, a New York University professor named Jakob Haarhuis, who interviews the retired geisha Nitta Sayuri. She narrates her past in a flashback format, at times referring to her present. The story is set in the time setting of World War II.
Before she becomes a geisha with her own geisha name, Nitta Sayuri is just a fisherman’s daughter named Sakamoto Chiyo in a small village called Yoroido. With her mother sick and her father penniless, her parents has no choice but to sell Chiyo and her sister Satsu. They are separated; Chiyo, with her pretty face and blue-gray eyes, is sold to an okiya (geisha house) in Gion, a geisha district in Kyoto, while Satsu is sold to a bordello in a prostitution area. Chiyo nearly runs away with her sister, but in attempt to do so she falls down from her roof and thus fails. This causes her to fall into a depression of some sorts, and while she is tearful by a bridge in Gion, a chairman of a big electric company takes notice of her and cheers her up by buying her an ice cone and giving her some money. Since then, Chiyo is determined to become a geisha so the Chairman will notice her. In her endeavors, she must prevail under the constant bullying and schemes of an older and jealous geisha, Hatsumomo, who will stop at nothing to crush her.
This novel has a sublime storytelling. No doubt Arthur Golden took time to research a geisha’s daily habit, their ways of life, enlightening us of how tough their line of work is. The descriptions and metaphors used are detailed, and while reading it one could envision the bright colors and details of the kimono worn by each geisha; cringe at the uncomfortable way they have to sleep (using some sort of wooden support for their neck instead of normal pillows) so they do not ruin their hairstyles, as they can only get their hair styled about once a week; and perhaps, at times, blush while encountering a particularly naughty joke they share with their patrons.
But the novel does not only excel in the details of its storytelling; it has a plot undeniably exciting. The subtle attacks and schemes pulled by both sides (Mameha and Sayuri against Hatsumomo and Pumpkin) are more often than not cruel, and it all gets more complicated when you involve their relationships with their patrons and the politics in the okiya itself. Throw in a love triangle (or mainly a triangle, although some affairs with other men are there) and the drama ensues.
The only disappointment I have towards the book is on how shallow Sayuri and the Chairman’s romance is. After reading it through, I keep wondering if it is supposed to end that way. In certain moments you can almost see how Sayuri puts the Chairman on a pedestal and how he is so perfect in her eyes–but in the end, he seems like a cardboard cut-out of a prince charming: not real and two-dimensional.
Nevertheless, Memoirs of a Geisha is no doubt worth reading. The beautiful imagery used throughout the whole novel as well as the scheming and plotting done by each character brings the story to life. Even the main character and narrator, Sayuri, is no saint and perfectly human–a character every reader will be able to sympathize with. Through her eyes, the story of a small country bumpkin transforming into a legendary geisha appears magical and ever-enchanting.
Rating: 8.5/10
