Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Here is an example of what I was hesitating about with Larry's Party, a memoir of a woman's life written by a man. I didn't object to Arthur Golden's vision of his main character, the geisha Sayuri. I did find myself tripping over a different failing, his background as a historian that kept rearing its ugly head. This bothered me particularly in the first part of the novel, when Sayuri is describing her life as a child and she stops at regular intervals to explain city design and structure to us. Like, I don't think so ... perhaps the literary device of the memoir could have been trashed altogether.

When Sayuri describes furniture as "Japanese style" after 400 pages of reading I felt like hollering at our author "but of course! We've been in Japan for 396 pages now! What are the chances that the furniture isn't Japanese style?!! How can I suspend my disbelief if you keep interrupting?".

But in the defence of a historical point of view on a mysterious world, I did feel that I was witnessing an insider's view of a multi-layered life. So I learned something, even through my protesting. Some of the characterization was flat, like the evil geisha Satsu and then I was aware that the intricacies of female competitiveness and negativity were perhaps not so clearly perceived. On the other hand, the politics of geisha life and of the men in their sphere was very well thought out and described, so I recommend this book for that.

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