"Memoirs of a Geisha": reviews, film adaptation

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Arthur Golden's classic best-seller Memoirs of a Geisha, which received overwhelmingly positive reviews from most of the world's fiction critics, hit bookstores in 1997 and is still one of the best-selling novels of the past millennium. According to rumors, the writer received about ten million dollars for his work, not counting the profit from the film adaptation. The novel has been repeatedly reprinted in huge editions.

Rave reviews for "Memoirs of a Geisha" came from acclaimed director Rob Marshall, writer Jonathan Franzen and Jonathan Safran Feuer.

The novel has become a classic in its genre, inspiring many creative people around the world.

Arthur Golden

Arthur Golden was born to Ruth and Ben Golden, members of the influential Oakes-Sulzberg family. The parents of the future writer were the owners of the famous newspaper The New York Times.

Arthur graduated with honors from the elite private "Baylor School for Boys" and entered Harvard University in the Department of Oriental Art History.

In 1979, Golden graduates, acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese Art History. A year later, Arthur Golden received a master's degree in Japanese history from Columbia University, and also graduated with honors from a course in northern Chinese.

Working in Japan

Summer 1981 the writer spends at the University of Beijing, where he reads a separate course of lectures on the theory of art. When the contract expired, Golden moved to Japan and got a job as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, while working on a scientific monograph on the history of Japanese fine art. A close acquaintance with the culture and customs of Japan arouses in Golden a keen interest in this country. The writer feels the need for a creative rethinking of the accumulated experience and impressions.

Mineko Iwasaki

In the late 1980s, Golden began to hatch the idea of writing a novel about traditional Japanese customs, choosing as the main theme the fate of geishas in Japanese society in the late thirties. Among the representatives of this profession he interviewed was Mineko Iwasaki, one of the legendary geisha who worked at that time. Taking an obligation from Golden not to disclose the information communicated to him, she agreed to a series of lengthy conversations, during which the writer learned a lot of material for hisforthcoming novel.

When the book was released in 1997, Golden did include Mineko's name in the acknowledgment section, which caused the former geisha a number of problems. The Japanese public condemned her for violating the "principle of silence" and divulging secret information. This led to lengthy legal proceedings, during which Golden still had to pay the Ministry of Economics some money.

One of Mineko's main complaints about the text of the novel was the traditional customs of Japan misinterpreted by the American writer. The geisha claimed that Golden invented most of them himself, and the very fact of this fiction not only offends the people of Japan, but also makes the writer a slanderer, for which he should be held accountable.

Memoirs of a Geisha

The novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" was released in 1997 and instantly became a bestseller, becoming the top seller in 1997 in England, the US and many European countries. Over the next three years, the book went through several reprints and was translated into 30 languages of the world, receiving laudatory reviews from most literary critics of well-known periodicals.

To such enthusiastic reviews of Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, reviews from many figures of culture and art have joined. Obviously, the reason for this popularity of the novel lies in the psychological plot of the book.

The plot of the novel tells about the fate of two poor sisters, whom their mother is forced to sell"dealer". The older sister becomes a geisha, the younger one is forced to become a prostitute. Later, the story focuses on a girl who has chosen the path of a geisha.

The love story of a free man for an unfree woman instantly resonated in the hearts of millions of readers around the world, making Arthur Golden one of the most sought-after writers of the late twentieth century.

Criticism

Reviews for "Memoirs of a Geisha" have been monophonic in the history of its sales since its publication. Critics have traditionally noted the innovation and courage of the novel, the authenticity in depicting the life of the population of Japan. Golden received special praise for his "masterful depiction of the details of the culture and life of the countries of the East", which was especially appreciated by his readers.

At the time of the release of the novel, only James Clavell, who published the novel "Shogun" in 1975, managed to carry out such a large-scale work on the artistic description of Japan. After Shogun, there was a lull in world literature: practically no one wrote about Japan, and Golden's novel became a "breath of fresh air" in the system of literary views on the Land of the Rising Sun. In the first week of sales, the publishers were literally inundated with letters with rave reviews for Memoirs of a Geisha. Many readers called the novel "the work of the century" and "a brilliantly written picture of Japanese life."

Such opinions spread in literary circles only added to the already overwhelming popularity of the novel.

Screening

Ten years after the release of the novel, the famous Hollywooddirector Rob Marshall decides to direct the film from a screenplay written by Golden himself in collaboration with young screenwriter Robin Swicord.

Reviews for Memoirs of a Geisha, transferred to film, were overwhelmingly negative. Western film critics noted the excessive length of the film and focusing the viewer's attention on "completely inappropriate things", while reviewers in Japan and China were unhappy with the "inaccurate depiction of ancient customs in the tape."

Also, representatives of Asian cinema were embarrassed by the fact that all the roles of prostitutes in the film were performed by actresses of Chinese origin. A petition was even sent to the director demanding an official apology to the people of China, but the famous Japanese actor Ken Watanabe took the side of Rob Marshall, saying that "talent has no nationality."

Book reviews

Arthur Golden's novel received and continues to receive a huge amount of feedback. It is characteristic that reviews of the book "Memoirs of a Geisha" are mostly positive. The novel caused a negative reaction only among Japanese traditionalists who disagreed with the interpretation of the national customs of their homeland in the text of the book. The rest of the reviews are written in a positive way. The novel has become incredibly popular among the female half of humanity, as, first of all, it reflects the strength of the female spirit and strong-willed desire to achieve the goal.

Guys' reviews of "Memoirs of a Geisha" areadmiration for the feminine essence. Men are sincerely surprised when they realize how many difficulties a woman can endure and still remain herself.

Real Memoirs of a Geisha

After the release of the sensational novel by Arthur Golden, offended by the "slander of the writer" Iwasaki decides to write "a true story about the very events of his life." After several years of work, the novel “The Real Memoirs of a Geisha” comes out from under her pen, reviews of which, to the displeasure of the opponents of the novel, were not positive.

The novel significantly lost to Golden's work both in terms of plot and in terms of artistic expression. The book failed to win the hearts of readers in the United States and Europe, gaining little popularity only among conservative Japanese circles, despite all attempts to boost sales of the novel through advertising, interviews and television spots. Reviews for The Real Memoirs of a Geisha left much to be desired.

However, despite the failure of the book in the US, it managed to become a bestseller in the UK and Russia, almost catching up with Golden's novel in sales and popularity.