1st time reading this author, Arthur Golden.
You'd think it was written by a female. It was a bday gift to Jeff from another male and they both read it (so it's not just a chic book). Janet read it, too.
Takes place in Kyoto, Japan, during the Great Depression & WWII. It's a Cinderella story about a young girl growing up poor in a seaside village who's father sells her into slavery and the life of a geisha in training, an apprentice. She withstands all the odds against her, including an evil, beautiful nemesis who trys to thwart Sayuri's (the heroine) every move. Destiny & fate are common themes running throughout. The book is beautifully written in a metaphorical, allegorical, lyrical prose. It's a first person narrative and was painstakingly translated from Japanese into English over a period of months. The ending will blow you away. I was shocked & a bit disappointed at how the author totally twisted the story at the very end. Hope this encourages you to find out for yourself what the hell I'm talking about.
Golden came across as being clever with this move. One Halloween in college I dressed as a geisha, complete with temporarily dyed black hair wrapped up in a twisted bun, my face painted white, and a kimono. I didn't even know what a geisha was at that time. This book delves into the Japanese culture and human nature in general. It's breathtakingly beautiful in that one gets the pictoral sense of actually seeing the nature scenes (envisioning the cherry blossoms, the streams and bridges).
Just finished it in time to see the film that's out in theatres now. However, the film's reviews aren't nearly as good as the book; typical. The book is filled with metaphors, as Sayuri describes her many thoughts as such; almost written poetically.
Really lovely.
I rate it:
