Memoirs of a Geisha (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Arthur Golden
- First Published: 1997
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1929-1985
- Setting: Yoriodo and Kyoto, Japan; and New York City
- Principal Characters: Nitta Sayuri, Satsu, Pumpkin, Mameha, Hatsumomo, The Chairman, Nobu
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Sexism, Love or romance, Gender roles, New York City, 1930’s, Servants, Japan or Japanese people, Japanese Americans, Apprentices
- Locales: New York, NY, Kyoto, Japan
In his literary debut, Arthur Golden parlays his academic training in Japanese history and culture into a Dickensian first- person narrative of a geisha girl’s rise to prominence in pre-World War II Japan. As a product of meticulous research, Memoirs of a Geisha provides a detailed portrait of a little-known but much mythologized profession. In other respects, the novel has its weaknesses: The characterizations are often two-dimensional and thin (as was true for Charles Dickens’s work at times), set scenes can take on a touristy aesthetic (Sayuri never forgets she is speaking...
[The entire page is 1957 words long]
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