Thoughts Of A Wannabe Geisha
I've just finished Memoirs Of A Geisha, the novel, which gives me just a few days lead before I see the movie, coming soon to a theatre at the Promenade. Great thing that Toni had a copy lying around, so thank God for wise and well-read daughters.
This novel, so lush in the decadence and delicacy of japonaiserie, creates a backdrop that is so authentic that only an insider, or even better, a Japanese art and history major, can recreate. In that, this book is successful because it is truly delicious and a feast for the senses. And the author, an American male, maintained the delicate clarity of voice, of this one tragic girl blossoming into the geisha of her dreams, with quite lyrical and descriptive awareness of her surroundings, all the while maintaining her timbre and composure. However, it must be in the care of staying true to that voice that certaing things were compromised, like a limited perspective constricting the narrator's view (in this case, Sayuri, the main protagonist), so that certain major characters lack the motive and justification for their actions, which render them shallow, and the story, in certain parts, depleted.
Hatsumomo, this mean and stunningly beautiful geisha, had the potential to be this superdiva with attitude but is sadly reduced to a super catty woman, given to drunken stupors and petty fights. Her extremely mean-spirited schemes to thwart the budding career of the younger, gray-eyed Sayuri seem so uselessly expended because she ended up, from being the star and most in-demand geisha of her time, into the lowly insignificance of an easily forgotten prostitute. With all the skills and cunning required to attain the status of star geisha, you would think that Hatsumomo would be smart enough not to get found out over her forbidden fling with a lowly cook. Apparently not, because she did (get found out) and was soon kicked out of the okiya and into oblivion, proving her to be really nothing but a dolt and a drunk, which is not so convincing.
The Chairman (Sayuri's love interest), what was wrong with him? He is the one driving force behind Sayuri's mojo, but he himself was barely into the story, but rather, the idea of him only, in Sayuri's mind. Maybe the distant and cold father back in the poor fishing village is the complex behind this hopeless devotion to the boyfriend of her dreams, but that only answers for Sayuri, and not for the absent Chairman. It would have been a bit more exciting to detect even the tiniest hint of pent up lasciviousness in him. And then, of course, I'm not a best-selling author.
All in all 'Memoirs' was alluring, like a first drop of rain reverberating ripples in a quiet pond, certainly like a sip of warm green tea to cleanse a flavored palate. It's unique, it's exotic, it's not perfect, but it makes me want to be a Geisha when I grow up. And I really hope that Memoirs Of A Geisha, the movie turns up some new surprises for me.
Filed Under: Books,
This novel, so lush in the decadence and delicacy of japonaiserie, creates a backdrop that is so authentic that only an insider, or even better, a Japanese art and history major, can recreate. In that, this book is successful because it is truly delicious and a feast for the senses. And the author, an American male, maintained the delicate clarity of voice, of this one tragic girl blossoming into the geisha of her dreams, with quite lyrical and descriptive awareness of her surroundings, all the while maintaining her timbre and composure. However, it must be in the care of staying true to that voice that certaing things were compromised, like a limited perspective constricting the narrator's view (in this case, Sayuri, the main protagonist), so that certain major characters lack the motive and justification for their actions, which render them shallow, and the story, in certain parts, depleted.
Hatsumomo, this mean and stunningly beautiful geisha, had the potential to be this superdiva with attitude but is sadly reduced to a super catty woman, given to drunken stupors and petty fights. Her extremely mean-spirited schemes to thwart the budding career of the younger, gray-eyed Sayuri seem so uselessly expended because she ended up, from being the star and most in-demand geisha of her time, into the lowly insignificance of an easily forgotten prostitute. With all the skills and cunning required to attain the status of star geisha, you would think that Hatsumomo would be smart enough not to get found out over her forbidden fling with a lowly cook. Apparently not, because she did (get found out) and was soon kicked out of the okiya and into oblivion, proving her to be really nothing but a dolt and a drunk, which is not so convincing.
The Chairman (Sayuri's love interest), what was wrong with him? He is the one driving force behind Sayuri's mojo, but he himself was barely into the story, but rather, the idea of him only, in Sayuri's mind. Maybe the distant and cold father back in the poor fishing village is the complex behind this hopeless devotion to the boyfriend of her dreams, but that only answers for Sayuri, and not for the absent Chairman. It would have been a bit more exciting to detect even the tiniest hint of pent up lasciviousness in him. And then, of course, I'm not a best-selling author.
All in all 'Memoirs' was alluring, like a first drop of rain reverberating ripples in a quiet pond, certainly like a sip of warm green tea to cleanse a flavored palate. It's unique, it's exotic, it's not perfect, but it makes me want to be a Geisha when I grow up. And I really hope that Memoirs Of A Geisha, the movie turns up some new surprises for me.
Filed Under: Books,
<< Home