Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden, 1997
Historical fiction HistoryContemporary fictionRomance
A fisherman's daughter in 1930s Japan is sold into a geisha house and learns to survive by turning memory, manners and performance into art. A slow, lyrical first-person voice carries longing and memory through a life shaped by performance, manners and loss.
Feels like longing, nostalgia and melancholy. About memory, identity and society.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy historical fiction told in a reflective, image-rich voice and are curious about geisha life in 1930s Japan. Be aware that the American author's fictional portrait drew a public objection from the retired geisha he interviewed.
Why read it
It offers an intimate, imagined view of a closed world and the cost of turning memory and manners into survival.
A page from the book
What the sea sounds like to a child who has never left it.
In our little fishing village of Yoroido, I lived in what I called a “tipsy house.” It stood near a cliff where the wind off the ocean was always blowing. As a child it seemed to me as if the ocean had caught a terrible cold, because it was always wheezing and there would be spells when it let out a huge sneeze — which is to say there was a burst of wind with a tremendous spray. I decided our tiny house must have been offended by the ocean sneezing in its face from time to time, and took to leaning back because it wanted to get out of the way. Probably it would have collapsed if my father hadn’t cut a timber from a wrecked fishing boat to prop up the eaves, which made the house look like a tipsy old man leaning on his crutch. Arthur Golden.Arthur Golden, an American, based the novel on interviews with retired geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who later said he had broken her anonymity and sued him.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Memoirs of a Geisha for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy historical fiction told in a reflective, image-rich voice and are curious about geisha life in 1930s Japan. Be aware that the American author's fictional portrait drew a public objection from the retired geisha he interviewed.
- What is Memoirs of a Geisha like?
- A slow, lyrical first-person voice carries longing and memory through a life shaped by performance, manners and loss. Feels like longing, nostalgia and melancholy. About memory, identity and society.
- What should I read after Memoirs of a Geisha?
- If you liked Memoirs of a Geisha, try Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Jamie Ford), The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami).
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