Geisha : A Life
by Mineko Iwasaki
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Book Reviews of Geisha : A Life
Book Review: Find another book to read
Summary: 1 Stars
Memoirs of a Geisha was one of my favorite books of all time; So when I learned that Mineko Iwasaki wrote an autobiography of her life as a geiko I went out immediately and bought the book. I was thoroughly disappointed.
Not only is the book hard to read with all the Japanese terminology but Mineko drones on and on about the most unimportant details. For example, she spends half a page describing the proper way to open a door and enter a room including which hand to use and where to put it on the door. She focuses on the mundane while skipping over her personal relationships, funny anecdotes, and nightly experiences. Very little is mentioned about her starting her own nightclub or what went on each night as she worked without a day off for 5 years.
Mineko's main focus as a geiko was dancing. She did everything in her power to become the best dancer in Gion. She eventually succeeded in doing so but ostracized her peers, her friends, and even her biological family.
Her arrogance and ignorance can also be quite appalling and annoying to read about. Mineko openly gave away envelopes of money as tips without ever checking to see how much money they contained. She was oblivious to the world and people around her. Her sole concern was herself and becoming the best geiko and didn't care how many toes she stepped on along the way. Mineko is not particularly beautiful, can be quite rude and vindictive at times, and openly admits in the book that she was not very good at entertaining customers. Consequently, I have yet to figure out why this woman was such a legend. I personally would not have paid thousands of dollars to spend a few precious minutes in her presence.
If you are interested in learning about Japanese culture or about the lives that geisha lead, I highly recommend finding another book to read. This book was a waste of time, money, and was overall incredibly boring.
Book Review: Geisha, A Life (not "The Life")
Summary: 4 Stars
As the previous reviewer has pointed out, this is merely an account by one geisha. It is Mineko's version of her own life as a geisha and should not be seen as a representative account of geisha in general.
I find it troubling that in discussion of a foreign culture, there is a tendency to generalize. The geisha community is quite an exclusive group and holds on to its own customs and stringent etiquettes. Nevertheless, it is not a homogenous community in that the personality, background, aptitude, and fortune of geishas differ greatly. Mineko was fortunate to have the support and care of so many people. I am sure there have also been geishas like Arthur Golden's Sayuri; perhaps there are others who are more unfortunate and has to resort to selling their body for money.
Mineko's account of her life is engaging and thoroughly enjoyable, even though it often comes across as self-aggrandizing. Unlike "Memoirs of a Geisha," which I find stiff and uninspiring, this book has a good flow to it and keeps you going.
I would really like to read a book about geisha written not by geishas, but by someone who has close contanct with them, such as their hairdresser, maid, or their patrons. Such a book would help bring a new perspective into this now anachronistic group that still fascinates many.
Book Review: "Geisha.....a question mark"
Summary: 3 Stars
Like most of the readers out here, I too read "Memoirs of a Geisha" and was enthralled with it. Although technically fictional, the book still contains broad and specific strokes of information that allow us entry into the "floating world" therefore giving it credence and credibility. Mineko Iwasaki's book also allows us a view into the life of geiko but, as with most autobiographies, the story is told from the most advantageous point of the living author. In Ms. Iwasaki's case, her story is interesting but also questionable.
To begin, she has recollections of conversations between people where she wasn't even present which adds that element of embellishment. Additionally, though people accuse her of not understanding her position as atotori, I believe she fully understood what this meant but the real question is why was she supposedly chosen at such a young age. The concept of Madame Oima meeting Mineko, then aged three, and having a sudden feeling that she'd just met her atotori and therefore needing Mineko at all costs smacks of something more necessitating than honorific. I suspect highly that Mineko's family ancestry was just the required lineage of titles Madame Oima needed since Mineko tells us directly that the Iwasaki okiya was in financial trouble. She glosses over that point rather quickly.
Mineko does an excellent job in pointing out the artistry and value of the kimono. What she doesn't indicate is that the kimono is not the property of the geiko but that of the house. Only those in highest ranking positions are allowed to "own" a kimono outright and she was one of those who was allowed this ownership.
Where the story falls flat is in it's telling all around. It moves from subject to subject without real flow and much of it centers around repetitious information. Mineko wants us to understand Japanese culture but she herself appears to have been very closed about understanding other cultures. Her disgust with Prince Charles' faux pas over signing her fan without her consent indicates her inability to make allowances for the ignorance of someone else but she makes no such excuses for her own ignorance. She's vain, arrogant and ambitious making her perfectly human and therefore exactly the point of her book. Geisha is a fantasy world.
I recommend this book for a few reasons. One, it allows for an alternate perspective even if questionable. Secondly, it gives insight into the workings of the mind of someone from another culture and shows just how vast differences in perspective can be. Finally, it reveals that beneath the calm and always polite veneer of Japanese society, there exists true human nature....a thing we all possess regardless of culture.
Book Review: Poorly written
Summary: 1 Stars
I read this book a few months ago and was very disappointed. I had read "Memoirs of a Geisha" several years ago, while living in Japan and really enjoyed it - I thought this book might be similar. Not only is it very poorly written, the author comes across as arrogant and ignorant at the same time. Arrogance isn't a compelling characteristic in any culture, but it's particularly undesirable in Japanese culture. I kept reading though, expecting the book to get better - it didn't.Book Review: A Geisha's Life Revealed...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm half Japanese and grew up in Japan. In order to appreciate this book, you must have an understanding of the Japanese culture. It's not fair to compare this book to "Memoirs of a Geisha" which is completely fiction and written by an American. In the Japanese culture, a Geisha's life has always remained under a cloud of mystery and secrecy. For a Geisha to reveal any part of her life is strictly forbidden and considered taboo. Many Japanese still do not know much about a Geisha's life even though the tradtion has been around for centuries. What we know is based on assumptions or what our grandmothers have whispered to us. When Mineko Iwasaki wrote this, it became controversal in Japan and had many Kyoto Geisha houses angry with her. When the Japanese media contacted Geisha houses for interviews or comments, they were met with a wall of silence.
If you decide to read this book, look at it like you're peeking into another country's culture. Remember the Geisha has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, since the samurai days. For a tradtion to survive this long must say something about how tradtions are kept for other generations to see and not just read about in a history book.
I don't want to give out much about the book, but if you want a better understanding of a tradtion that has been kept alive for centuries and if you want a glimpse into the Japanese culture, give this book a read. The book flows and the author has a way of writing that draws the reader into her life.