![]() ![]() I loved this book because it taught me so many lessons. ![]() Golden may have captured the magic of the world of the geisha (albeit through an Orientalist lens), but Iwasaki carefully sets the word straight with no less interesting a story. Iwasaki paints the world of Gion in vivid detail, describing the colourful personalities of the other geiko, dance instructors and mentors, and patrons while also balancing the inherent drama with a pared down exploration of the business and practical aspects of growing up in the okiya that rings true. Her story may not have the same narrative resonance as Golden’s novel, but her honest examination of the world she grew up in is captivating nonetheless. Adopted at a very young age to become the heir to the Iwasaki okiya, Mineko enters the rarified world of the geisha as a means of pursuing her passion for dancing and to help her family. ![]() Memoirs may take readers behind the (heavily fictionalised and romanticised) veil of the world of the geisha of Gion, but Mineko Iwasaki’s story gets to the heart of the matter. I’m still not a big fan of biographies or memoirs, but when I found out that a rebuttal had been published by one of the geisha who had been interviewed for Arthur Golden’s novel Memoirs of a Geisha (one of my favs, even for its faults) I HAD to go and read it. ![]()
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