Memoirs of a Geisha is a book that started out with great potential but petered out and left me feeling rather worn out and uninterested. The shift in character development, plot interest and writing style happens about 2/3 through with the book. By that time you’re committed to finding out what happens. I found myself wanting to be finished with the book but not having the interest to continue reading.
Memoirs of a Geisha is about Chiyo/Suyuri who is sold into a okiya (geisha house) at the young age of 9. She is a beautiful girl with exceptional blue-grey eyes.
Because she is so beautiful, she is the target of the jealousy of the okiya’s current geisha, Hatsumomo, who tortures her in psychological and physical ways and makes young Chiyo’s life utterly miserable.
In an attempt one day to relieve her misery, Chiyo goes to the river to cry and meets a man who we know as the Chairman. The Chairman changes Chiyo’s life forever and becomes an important focal point for her to cling to as she goes through the trials and tribulations of her life.
Things that didn’t ring true for me:
• Hatsumoto’s single minded obsession with Chiyo/Suyuri. She was simply evil with no clear motivation. Her end-outcome was rather pitifully executed.
• WWII was glossed over as a “bad time,” but little descriptions of that time other than Suyuri having to work hard were provided. This whole section felt very flat and uninteresting to me
• The plot line comes to a tension point when Suyuri and Mameha finally outsmart Hatsumoto, but then the novel kept going. It almost felt like there were two separate books, the first a very detailed lush description of a girl growing up a very hard life and the second a young woman adrift without much clue how to proceed.
For the most part the voice rings true and is interesting and well done. And I did enjoy the book despite my disappointments. Perhaps that’s why I’m more disappointed: Because there was so much potential and it left me feeling wrung-out and deflated.
No comments:
Post a Comment