From Publishers Weekly
Inspired by Arthur Golden's massively popular Memoirs of a Geisha to "meet the real geisha" in the last stronghold of geisha training in Japan, Downer skillfully intertwines her profiles of Kyoto personalities and tea-house customs with a fluidly written geisha history that's unabashedly aimed at a Western audience. Author of On the Narrow Road and The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family, Downer was no stranger to the country. However, she found the entrance to the "geisha world" heavily guarded. She writes: "I was always an outsider, I could never step through the looking glass." But small successes (finding the right cakes to present to "the mama," a very powerful geisha) and patience eventually won Downer a place at events that are "utterly closed to outsiders." These included an invitation to a young girl's misedashi ("store opening"), the "rite of passage" from trainee to geisha. We also learn, for example, of the distinction that has developed between a prostitute and a geisha (which translates as "arts person"), who undergoes intense and lengthy apprenticeships in dance and music. Written in dynamic, highly readable prose, the book is supported by exhaustive research and a lengthy bibliography. Readers who were as smitten with Golden's geisha as Downer was will find this good companion reading. Photos.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.From Library Journal
A British journalist with a passion for Japan, Downer documented the travels of 17th-century Japanese poet Basho in On the Narrow Road to the Deep North (1989), delved into Japan's rich and famous with The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family (LJ 6/1/95), and now uncovers the history, society, and subversive culture of the geisha through her diligent research and translations. She leads the reader through 400 years of history, much of which was previously unknown to the outside world, revealing that the first geishas were male and describing the rituals and delicate arts practiced by the select few. In addition, she explores why women may find themselves drawn to this way of life today. Downer sees this culture as declining but not dying. The embodiment of love and passion has, for hundreds of years, been the domain of the geisha, and to a people for whom these emotions have rarely been a part of everyday life, the geisha will remain a living symbol of romance. Yet while Downer has done a more-than-adequate job of researching and relating this information, plowing through her book can be a chore. Surprisingly, she has made somewhat sordid situations rather pedantic, and it is disappointing that she is not more perceptive on the absence of much change in the role of women over the geisha's history. Suitable for academic and public librar- ies. Kay Meredith Dusheck, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
