Customer Reviews

Autobiography of a Geisha

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Not particularly for its information about geisha. There are other books with more facts. The factual information was good, and quite a bit different from the usual song and dance of most books about geisha (in that I can truly feel and understand what it is she is feeling; it's a book about a person not an occupation). The footnotes at the back of the book were fascinating and provide a lot of sources for further reading that I had not been exposed to from prior books I had read about geisha. It isn't a "geisha do this, geisha do that" type of book. It's the story of one woman who just happened to be a geisha, but more than anything she was human.

The writing is quite fluid. It's a really good translation! It's not dry or awkward in the least.

This books "speaks." I truly "feel" a real person talking (and it's a translation, too!). From reading this book, I saw someone whose life was definitely not "cherries jubilee" but worked hard, tried hard, still failed, gave up sometimes, but managed to get by. I saw someone who saw the ugliest aspects of human nature, but still saw the beauty as well. I wish the book was longer. Her life is fascinating! It's quite a detailed account with lots of anecdotes, thoughts and feelings. Boy, were things different in her time (as compared to modern day geisha!)! This isn't Kyoto...or is it?

After reading this book, I realized all the things in life that I take for granted and that I shouldn't. I really should step back, take a good look at things and try to make someone I love's life better. It's one of those rare books that makes one take a step back and reassess their lives. I'm really glad that I read it. I might read it again tonight...

(Oh, there are no pictures of geisha in this book; just a few of places. I don't think this is for people who want a "coffee table" type book. It's not an "I love dancing and art so I became a geisha" book either. She doesn't much talk about dancing or art at all.)

If you've read MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and GEISHA: A LIFE, by Arthur Golden and Mineko Iwasaki respectively, then your image of geisha is probably one of a world of glamor--high-status, highly-trained women existing in a world of glitter and flash, dealing with celebrities, scientists, movie stars of the stage and screen, mistresses of their chosen arts, and honored for their talents.

While this may be true of Kyoto geisha, this experience is not representative of all geisha, or even most geisha, as Sayo Masuda's book demonstrates clearly. Masuda was a hot-springs geisha, sold into servitude at the age of twelve, to a place as different from the glamor centers of Kyoto as it is possible to get. Though she was trained in shamisen and dance, the sexual aspect of her profession was at least as important as the artistic aspect, and she routinely met with cruelty, poverty and hunger.

I won't say this book shows what the life of a geisha was "really" like--Mineko's autobiography demonstrates that the glamor world of Kyoto was a real one. But it was not the only one, or even the majority one, and for a more comprehensive view of a different kind of geisha, this book here is indispensible. If Kyoto is all you know of the "flower and willow world," I recommend that you pick up Sayo Masuda's work, and expand your horizons.

We should keep in mind, Memoirs of a Geisha was written about a fictional character. In this book, we explore the sad life of a real character, in this instance, a hot springs geisha (or more accurately, a glorified prostitute). Her candor and reflection were fascinating. We should not expect a historical account of events from an uneducated victim of indentured servitude. I did, however, get more than I expected in the way of storytelling, as perceived by the author. If anything is the biographical counterpart to Goldman's book, this one is...absent the fancies of fiction.

The author wishes to escape her past now and has surrounded herself only with people who know nothing of her past. I only hope she has recorded her life after this book ends so that when she leaves us, the rest of her story is not lost.

Of all the books I have read on this subject, I enjoyed this one the most.

This book deserves a lot of publicity and has gone unrecognized for far too long. Masuda's account of a difficult (to say the least) existence as a geisha in a small town in Japan in unapologetic and strangely elegant. Her writing style is spare but she knows just how to convey each experience so that the full impact hits the reader. For someone supposedly so uneducated, Masuda's painfully-acquired wisdom lives on each and every page.

I was curious about a perspective on the real life of an "average" geisha and picked this up. Amazing...the translation is very well done and is quite "real". Highly recommended and it's relatively short length makes it a quick and wonderful read.

A heartbreaking story of a Japanese low class Geisha.Her trials and trepidations,the cruelty that was imposed to her,makes this book sad and at the same time interesting.When you read about Geishas, like the book Geisha a Life, you really see the difference, of " were you come from".It is a human story of suffering, here you read and almost feel the pain.You want to take the character out of the book and hold her in your arms,and rock her until all pain is gone.Read it and you will not be sorry.
Unlike Geisha a life were Iwasaki writes I,me,myself and only I arrogance and attitude,here is survival at its coar.

This book almost brought me to tears. It really, really did. Sayo's life, as depicted in her memoir, was filled with such unhappiness and pain that I just can't figure out how she was able to live through it. And she did.

The book starts out with Sayo's earliest memories, working as a nursemaid, knowing no kindness, only sorrow and pain. Finally she is sold to a geisha house, where she is tormented by her Elder Sisters and the Mother of the house. She eventually has enough of the geisha life and heads out into the world, only to be stricken with poverty and more pain. The rest of the story weaves the tale of her becoming a prostitute, involved with a Korean gang, finding forbidden love, and her beloved brother's suicide. Even until the very end of the book, she has nothing and no one. It is only in the new epilogue do we find out that Sayo was able to make a fine living by becoming a chef and opening a bar/restaurant.

This book was so moving and touching. It shows that the life of geisha weren't all glamor, kimono, white faces, and popularity. This book actually shows the pain and suffering certain geisha went through. I think because of this, this book changed my life. It showed me how good my life is and how I should never take anything for granted. I should do everything in my power to help other people who are less fortunate than I am, which was a point stressed very much so by Sayo.

The writing was strong and fluid, never once wavering and I'm sure it stayed true to the power of the Japanese version. I felt for the characters in this book and how tragic their lives were. All in all, this was a great book. Heartwrenching, but great. It really, truly was.

This is an absolutely wonderful read. If you are looking for a book solely about the geisha life this is not the book to read rather this book focuses on the hardships faced by one little girl who was forgotten in this world. I highly recommend reading this book.

I stumbled upon this autobiography after finishing "The Blond Geisha" by Jina Bacarr. After finishing that work of fiction, I decided to get a non-fictional, true-life book on the life of a Geisha. Sayo Masuda's story didn't disappoint. What we are treated to is a person, who, in effect, was treated as a non-person. To come from such a background as she was, "sold" to a family, to be treated not much better than dirt, to be taunted, teased and abused, would wreck anyone's mind. Clearly, Ms. Masuda was "damaged goods." How she survived to become a Geisha, is beyond me.

Overall, I must say that I found Ms. Masuda's story a good read. Considering that this woman's educational level was no more than that of an early Elementary School child makes her story even more remarkable. She did what she felt she had to do to survive!

Dog-eat-dog comes to mind in the world of the Geisha. Behind all the smiles, instrument playing and dancing, it's a competition. After all, these Geisha were earning their keep. It struck me that while she was plying her trade, the emotion love had never, ever entered her mind, until she ended up taking care of her little brother, who tragically took his own life when he became turbucular (apparently, their Dad died of the same disease). Her brother's death really took a terrible toll.

Autobiography of a Geisha is a good, compelling, novel. Read this and get a glimpse of a real Geisha's world! Congratulations to G. G. Rowley for such an expert translation of this work into English for all of us to experience!

My rating for this book: 5 stars! (4 stars for the story, 1 extra star for the translation!)

If you want to learn more about the life of geisha, this isn't quite the book for you. Much of this memoir doesn't concentrate on the details of geisha life, which I was sad about. After having read the fictional 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and Mineko Iwasaki's autobiography 'Geisha of Gion', I was hoping to see more into the life of a lower-ranked geisha, because the other books fictional or not were about geisha that were more lucky.

Personally I wouldn't have forgiven my mother for what she did if I had a mother like the one in this book, because Masada's childhood was simply heartbreaking. Poor little girl. For a memoir, this was a good book, and the afterword made it even better, I was happy to find out what happened to this geisha in particular. 3.5/5 stars for this book. The writing is clean and the story is interesting, so as a memoir it's a good read. If it had more information on the life of these lower-level geisha, I would have given it a higher rating.