|
According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the
word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly
assume--it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in
the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must
master the arts of music, dance, clever conversation, crafty battle with
rival beauties, and cunning seduction of wealthy patrons. After earning
degrees in Japanese art and history from Harvard and Columbia--and an M.A.
in English--he met a man in Tokyo who was the illegitimate offspring of a
renowned businessman and a geisha. This meeting inspired Golden to spend 10
years researching every detail of geisha culture, chiefly relying on the
geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous.
The result is a novel with the broad social canvas (and love of coincidence)
of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen's intense attention to the nuances of
erotic maneuvering. Readers experience the entire life of a geisha, from her
origins as an orphaned fishing-village girl in 1929 to her triumphant
auction of her mizuage (virginity) for a record price as a teenager to her
reminiscent old age as the distinguished mistress of the powerful patron of
her dreams.
|
|
Books about Japanese geisha from
Amazon.com
|
