Arthur Golden is the author of the best-selling novel Memoirs of a Geisha published in 1997. His book, which lasted two years on the bestseller list of the New York Times, had circulation of 4 million copies and was translated into more than 30 languages.
Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of a girl Nitta Sayuri, who gets into the geisha house as a maid. Having determined at all costs to be one of them, she grows up in one of the most famous geisha house in Japan, obtaining intelligence, beauty and charm, which will subdue even the most powerful men. While telling the story, Golden describes in detail the life of the geisha, her relationships with others. Moreover, he tells the reader about the difficulties in learning about overcoming all challenges, which will allow the main character to fulfill her dream.
The life of the geisha is a tragic fight against being a person without a right to vote, which means to belong to the man she cannot choose herself. Without a doubt, Memoirs of a Geisha is also a “great encyclopedia”, which allows us to learn many historic moments ruling at that period of time. Not only does the novel contain informative and interesting information about the past years, but also provides a chance to penetrate into the inner world of the heroine, who has a very long path of suffering as well as joy and happiness.
From Memoirs of a Geisha the reader learns that geisha loves the art, and it is not easy to become a famous geisha as it difficult to become a famous actor or director.
Geisha almost does not have a right to speak her mind about whom to entertain, and serves those men, whom “Mama” and their head decide to be appropriate for her. Little girl’s dreams become dangerous for her and the setting of the story reveals that fact.
The action takes place after the World War I and till the World War II. The main character says that “Dreams are very dangerous: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes they consume us completely” (Golden 122). This happens each time when a person lives in close connection with his or her inner world and blindly follows the dreams that became old and meaningless in the time span.
The relations between the main characters are influenced by outer circumstances, which is followed by geisha’s suffering .Her agony is an inseparable part from heroine’s life that makes a strong impact on geisha’s soul in future. The girl wants to get away from suffering, but she cannot do it because it is within her Nitta Sayuri becomes a victim of the situation and circumstances and strives to survive. She compares her life to a storm, which always wipes out everything that was real just a moment ago and shows the world something desolate and unrecognizable
These words prove the fact that a lot of things happen to a person and just little sense is uncovered in the course of time. Greater part of characters’ life is empty because of fulfilling Mama’s and head’s orders, which influences the life of a beautiful girl that manages to suppress her dreams through it. Therefore, the book is quite specific because of its perception.
When reading the novel, a reader may encounter a culture shock, which is reflected in the text. This is due to the fact that Japanese culture is very different from the European one, especially way of life, culture, traditions and customs. However, while reading the book it is possible to understand the tragedy of geisha’s life due to the fact that she always struggles throughout the life.