Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) - Trigger warning

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There are books that destroy you and then there are books that totally destroy you. This is definitely the second kind.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a first person account of the little girl Chiyo from a remote fishing village who has an old father and a mother on her death bed. Chiyo and her sister are sold and find themselves in the Gion district (Geisha district) of Kyoto. The book is a no holds barred account of her journey from being Chiyo the little carefree girl, to Chiyo the lowly maid in an okiya (a Geisha's home) and to Sayuri, a well known and sought after Geisha. The time period the book traces is from 1929 to post war years of Japan - a period from prosperity to near ruin and then rising from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix. 

Little Chiyo is all of 9 years old when she is torn away from her family and finds herself in the cruel world of the okiya, where she has to glance over her shoulder lest she get stabbed (figuratively) in the back. The world of the Geisha is highly competitive, the training tough, the demands many, the punishments cruel and the pay-offs few and far in between, if you are lucky. Chiyo finds herself at the receiving end of many power games that are being played. In desperation, she tries to escape the okiya, only to be caught and cruelly punished for daring to challenge her destiny. A chance encounter with a gentleman (referred to as Chairman throughout) who shows her kindness and lights in her a glimmer of hope for a better future which sustains her through all her travails and tribulations. Here on, it is a story of how hope can sustain a person in the direst of circumstances and a vague dream of possible happiness in a distant future can motivate a person to achieve the near impossible. After her meeting with the Chairman, Chiyo works hard with the single minded objective of becoming a successful Geisha. This includes learning skills of music, dance, putting on elaborate makeup appropriate for various occasions, making small talk as required, displaying feminine charms (such as the appropriate rolling of eyes), making sure the ego of the patron is always kept protected and being obedient and amenable in bed. After many years of being sustained on a dream, Sayuri, meets the Chairman again, who seems to have no memory of ever having met her but is pleasant and kind as is his nature. She also meets other patrons who she entertains as a Geisha must, and becomes one of the highest paid Geisha of the district, much to the okiya's delight. The Chairman and Sayuri's paths cross repeatedly and her fortune and future seem linked with his, in a manner we understand only in the end.

As we trace Sayuri's journey, we get a first hand account of all the skills a Geisha must possess and hence be trained for from an early age. What struck me also, was the elaborate economics of an okiya and how it functions as a complete business, with an exhaustive account of expenses and income kept to the last penny. The capital expenses for this business model are the money spent in training a young Geisha with a view on the income she will bring in when she can be put to work. Each stage of her life is an entry into the account books and will be sold to the highest bidder, through a well oiled system working since generations. This includes her virginity that is up for sale and is available to the highest bidder. If I keep aside the sadness and oftentimes disgust I felt while reading the account, the economics of it all, including the partnerships needed - the network of okiyas, tea houses, customers, hair dressers, dress makers, drapers etc, the careful calculations of the cut each party makes from the geisha's earning etc, was pretty impressive! 

The cover of the book describes it as "a half hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation" and this is a pretty accurate way of describing the effect the book has on the reader. There were times I felt amazed and intrigued by the elaborate art of being a Geisha, the descriptions of wearing the kimono and the accompanying garments, the elaborate makeup and the attention to detail required. At other times, the human degradation, the absence of any sort of free will or choice, the cruelty at all levels - physical, mental, emotional, the absence of any sort of affection or friendship in the lives of the characters (for who could you trust when you are all competing for the affections of the same set of patrons), all of it made the bile rise in my throat multiple times.

In short, yes, the book destroyed me.