Geisha : A Life

Geisha : A Life
by Mineko Iwasaki

Geisha : A Life
List Price: $25.00
Our Price: $7.28
You Save: $17.72 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.40 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Mineko Iwasaki
Edition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2002-10-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account

Book Reviews of Geisha : A Life

Book Review: Truth vs. Fiction
Summary: 3 Stars

I found this book to be extremely intriguing and informative. Quite possibly fabricated in some aspects, but when your trying to learn about a culture that has so much secrecy behind it you read into whatever you can find. The secrecy is probably what makes it so fascinating to begin with!

In attempts to preserve something thats so important to a culture the author may or may not have been entirely truthful with things. A case of "what should be" or what is expected of the geisha vs. what actually exists. The depiction over the years of the geisha has resulted in a bit of a smeared reputation, I think her desire to preserve the name may have overwhelmed the actual fact. Not to mention the desire to market the concept probably alters the cultural differences to an "americanized" standard that will sell books.

Regardless I enjoyed this book very much I suspect there is truth beyond the story, but who really knows?

Summary of Geisha : A Life

No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story -- until now.

"Many say I was the best geisha of my generation," writes Mineko Iwasaki. "And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave." Trained to become a geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other "women of art" in Kyoto's Gion Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and wealthy statesmen alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life. And by the time she retired at age twenty-nine, Iwasaki was finally on her way toward a new beginning.

Geisha, a Life is her story -- at times heartbreaking, always awe-inspiring, and totally true.


Now in her 50s, Mineko Iwasaki was one of the most famed geishas of her generation (and the chief informant for Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha). Her ascent was difficult, not merely because of the hard, endless training she had to undergo--learning how to speak a hyper-elevated dialect of Japanese and how to sing and dance gracefully while wearing a 44-pound kimono atop six-inch wooden sandals--but also because many of the elaborate, self-effacing rules of the art went against her grain. A geisha "is an exquisite willow tree who bends to the service of others," she writes. "I have always been stubborn and contrary. And very, very proud." And playful, too: one of the funniest moments in this bittersweet book describes a disastrous encounter with the queen of England and her all-too-interested husband.

Revealing the secrets of the geisha's "art of perfection," this graceful memoir documents a disappearing world. --Gregory McNamee

Subjects Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Subjects Books
Alanna ImageAlanna
by Tamora Pierce
Oxford University Press; Published: 1984-12; Hardcover; Book
Seabiscuit ImageSeabiscuit
by Laura Hillenbrand
Random House Audio; Published: 2003-06-05; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.87
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Revolution: A Manifesto ImageThe Revolution: A Manifesto
by Ron Paul
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2008-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops: $21.00
" Have A Nice Day " Image" Have A Nice Day "
by Mick Foley
HarperCollins; Published: 2000; Audio Cassette; Book
Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health ImageTaking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health
by Toni Weschler
Collins Living; Published: 2006-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops: $24.95
Ella Enchanted ImageElla Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
HarperCollins; Published: 1997-05-30; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $16.06
Price in other shops: $17.89
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time ImageThree Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Tantor Media; Published: 2006-06-01; MP3 CD; Book
Best price: $16.89
Price in other shops: $29.99
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban ImageHarry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J. K. Rowling
Scholastic Press; Published: 1999; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (3) ImageHarry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (3)
Cover-to-Cover; Published: 2001; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $202.99
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Japanese Edition ImageHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Japanese Edition
by J.K. Rowling
Published: 2000; Tankobon Hardcover; Book
Similar Books and other products
The History and Art of the Geisha ImageThe History and Art of the Geisha
Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops: $9.99
Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile ImageGeisha: Beyond the Painted Smile
by Peabody Essex Museum
George Braziller; Published: 2004-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.07
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel ImageThe Tale of Murasaki: A Novel
by Liza Dalby
Anchor; Published: 2001-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops: $14.95
Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageMemoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops: $19.94
The Secret Life of Geisha ImageThe Secret Life of Geisha
Release date: 2005-11-29; DVD
Best price: $1.30
Price in other shops: $19.95
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha ImageWomen of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha
by Lesley Downer
Broadway; Published: 2002-04-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $15.95
Memoirs of a Geisha ImageMemoirs of a Geisha
by Arthur Golden
Vintage; Published: 2005-11-22; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $7.99
Autobiography of a Geisha ImageAutobiography of a Geisha
by Sayo Masuda
Columbia University Press; Published: 2005-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $20.95
Geisha of Gion ImageGeisha of Gion
by Mineko Iwasaki, Rande Brown
Pocket Books; Published: 2003-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.40
Price in other shops: $14.92
Geisha ImageGeisha
by Liza Dalby
University of California Press; Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.04
Price in other shops: $22.95