This is a rare and utterly engaging story. It tells the extraordinary tale of a geisha - summoning up a quarter century, from 1929 to the post-war years of Japan's dramatic history, and opening a window onto a half-hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation.
After hearing a lot of hype about this book, and now the film, I finally got nosey enough to want to find out what it was all about....... and I'm so glad I did.
The book is written as if the central character is an old woman, telling the tale of her life to a biographer - from childhood to present day. That tale is fascinating enough but the insights it gives into certain aspects of Japanese culture and the mentality of the time, plus the strong characters and wonderful way words are used to evoke just the right kind of mental imagery, gives the book several levels of interest and added depths of enjoyment.
It was a definite page-turner that kept me reading through the day and into the wee small hours, desperate to know what happened next, and it's certainly one that has left a lasting impression on me. Now I would like to see the film, in the hopes that it has managed to capture some of this at least.
Registering this with Book Crossing and adding it to my Swap List - let me know if you'd like it. :0)
3 comments:
I loved the film of this one, we watched it twice LOL
I have also seen the film a couple of times. It took my breathe away. Have been a little leary about reading the book, I didn't want to be disappointed. will have to get it on my list.
I read the book before the film was released, and I really enjoyed both. In the past when I've read the book before seeing the film I've been dissapointed as the book always seemed to be better, but not with this one
Post a Comment