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Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion.
Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion - the geisha district of Kyoto - with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets.
And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms.
Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuance and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers.
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Previews available in: English Spanish French Korean
Subjects
Social life and customs, Literature, Open Library Staff Picks, Prostitution, Fiction, Historical fiction, Geishas, Women, History, Fictional Works Publication Type, Japan, Historia, Mujeres, Ficción, Japan, fiction, Fiction, historical, Large type books, Fiction, historical, general, Historical Fiction, Social conditions, Reading Level-Grade 11, Reading Level-Grade 12, Mœurs et coutumes, Histoire, Manners and customs, American fiction, Translations into Korean, Korean language materials, Fiction, generalTimes
20th centuryShowing 11 featured editions. View all 71 editions?
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Memoirs of a Geisha
November 22, 2005, Vintage
Mass Market Paperback
in English
1400096898 9781400096893
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Memoirs of a Geisha: a novel
2005, Vintage Books, Vintage
Paperback
in English
- Vintage contemporaries movie tie-in ed.
0307275167 9780307275165
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Memoirs of a Geisha Uk
June 4, 1998, Trafalgar Square
Paperback
- New Ed edition
0099771519 9780099771517
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Work Description
A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction--at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful--and completely unforgettable.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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July 12, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
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