Book Blog.....Memoirs of a Geisha.
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Hey there Earthlings,
Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear.
Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and
wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Book blog day Woo-Hoo.
As you should know Tuesdays is book blog day were we talk anything
and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on
Memoirs of a geisha by Arthur Golden.
Memoirs of a Geisha is
a historical fiction book published on September 27th
1997. Told in the first person Viewpoint of Geisha Sayuri (Original
name Chiyo), It follows her journey from her childhood in a fishing
village on the coast of Japan, forcibly taken to a Hanamachi in Gion
Kyoto and raised to become a Geisha before experiencing the horrors
of WW2 and being a Geisha during the hard work of rebuilding after a
harrowing defeat.
My opinion of the book
is one of both curiosity and interest. Japan is one of those
countries where its history and culture is both unusual and
mysterious. The book gives a brief glimpse into the hidden world of
the Geisha which are a prominent spot in Japanese culture but are
relatively unknown world wide. I believe that the story of Sayuri is
one of personal travel and evolution. Since we see Sayuri';s
experience as a child before becoming a Geisha, experiencing the
horror of war and eventually finding love with the Chairman.
Arthur Golden was born
on December 6th 1956 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. When he
was eight years old his parents divorced with his father dying five
years later. He spent most of his childhood living in lookout
mountain, Georgia before graduating from the Baylor school in
Chattanooga in 1974. After earning a degree in Fine art (Specifically
Japanese art), an M. A. in Japanese history, Golden spent a summer at
the Peking University in Beijing and spent some time working in
Tokyo. When he returned to the states he earned an M. A. in English
at Boston University. Golden married Trudi Legge and they went on to
have two children Hays and Tess.
After getting the
initial idea for Memoirs of a Geisha Golden spent six years over the
story rewriting it at least three times, changing the view point
until settling on the viewpoint of Sayuri. Golden had spent time
interviewing several Geisha including Mineko Iwasaki (who ended up
suing Golden when the Japanese version of the book came out for
breach of contract.....the case was settled out of court in 2003) all
of whom provided information about the world of the Geisha. After its
release Memoirs of a Geisha spent two years on the New York Times
bestseller list, its sold more than four million copies in English
alone and has been translated into thirty-two languages around the
world. In 2005 the book was made into a movie garnering three academy
awards.
My opinion of Arthur
Golden is very small and somewhat limited.......I believe he is a
fantastic writer and very knowledgeable about Japanese history and
art....Much more so than I am but hearing he faced being sued because
of citing who his sources were when he was contracted not to has put
something of a dampener on his character in my eyes.
Memoirs of a Geisha was
released as a Movie on December 9th 2005 under director
Rob Marshall and Produced by Steven Spielberg's production Company
Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment. With its production
from pre- to post-production taking place mainly in California US,
with a few spots filmed in Kyoto Japan. The movie received mixed
reviews in the western world and received somewhat negative reviews
in Japan due to its mixed casting of Chinese and Japanese actors and
actresses and its relationship to history. Despite the chaos they
won three Academy Awards (Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and
Best Costume Design), a Golden Globe (Best Original Score), A
national Board of review (Best Supporting Actress), a satellite award
(Outstanding screenplay) and three BAFTA's (Cinematography, Costume
design and the Anthony Asquith award for Achievement in film music).
Whilst I quite like the
movie I definitely feel that if more effort was put into tying more
of both Japanese and Geisha history was some how tied into the movie.
As well as using more Japanese Actors and actresses in the
roles......despite that I believe the actors and actresses did a very
good job in brining the script to life and keep a layer of mystery
and fluidity to their roles.
And there you have it a
book for all the ages, its definitely under the banner of AWESOME!!!.
So we'll be leaving this here for today please leave a comment, share
with others if you want or not Friday is random blog day and remember
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THIS IS THE
BANDERSNATCH, I'M MAMA OGRE AND REMEMBER STAY WEIRD, STAY WACKY,
STAY WONDEROUS AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON...
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