You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Lesley Downer did a great job of showing the great diversity that there is among the Geisha/Geiko communities of Japan. She goes into the development of the customs as well as the history of famous geisha artisans. Great read!
I picked this up shortly after finishing Memoirs of a Geisha in high school - very informative.
In secondary school, I studied Japanese as a language, and for one of the final exams I had to take, because I’m not from a Japanese background, I had to spend an ample amount of time studying culture, otherwise the questions wouldn’t have made sense to me. Far from disliking this studying, I became fascinated with Asian culture, especially Japanese.
I’ve previously read books about Geisha, and I couldn’t quite leave this one on the shelf of the second hand bookshop where I found it.
Much like Liza Dalby’s Geisha this book is written by an author who has gone over to Japan, and seen the Geisha districts, giving a first hand experienced view of what they’re really like. However, one thing that was more prominent in this book than in the previous books on the subject I’ve read is that it focuses a lot on the history of Geisha, and how they are different from the predecessors, for example, the Courtesans and Concubines of Older times. For me, this was one of the more interesting parts of the book because I didn’t previously know about it.
The second half of the book deals with ‘modern’ Geisha, and discusses what’s happening in the Geisha world of the present day, admitting that numbers are in decline, and looking at what the reasons for this might be. Whilst this was interesting, previous works have been able to tell me that much, and it was nice to hear it from a European point of view rather than American (The comparisons were better for me, personally) it wasn’t anything new particularly.
For anyone interested in this subject, I’d definitely recommend this book. The author’s personal touches are nice – it has been criticized as being almost like a “how-to” guide for wannabe Geisha, but I don’t think that’s the case. For me it was a description of a vocation, by someone with a serious interest – more of a historical/anthropological work than anything else. It’s also accompanied by several pages of glossy photos, which help describe some of the things written about in the book, especially for Western audiences who may not have seen it before.
Overall, this book is informative, and adds nicely to the current literature on the subject. Definitely a good read for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture, or Geisha specifically.
I’ve previously read books about Geisha, and I couldn’t quite leave this one on the shelf of the second hand bookshop where I found it.
Much like Liza Dalby’s Geisha this book is written by an author who has gone over to Japan, and seen the Geisha districts, giving a first hand experienced view of what they’re really like. However, one thing that was more prominent in this book than in the previous books on the subject I’ve read is that it focuses a lot on the history of Geisha, and how they are different from the predecessors, for example, the Courtesans and Concubines of Older times. For me, this was one of the more interesting parts of the book because I didn’t previously know about it.
The second half of the book deals with ‘modern’ Geisha, and discusses what’s happening in the Geisha world of the present day, admitting that numbers are in decline, and looking at what the reasons for this might be. Whilst this was interesting, previous works have been able to tell me that much, and it was nice to hear it from a European point of view rather than American (The comparisons were better for me, personally) it wasn’t anything new particularly.
For anyone interested in this subject, I’d definitely recommend this book. The author’s personal touches are nice – it has been criticized as being almost like a “how-to” guide for wannabe Geisha, but I don’t think that’s the case. For me it was a description of a vocation, by someone with a serious interest – more of a historical/anthropological work than anything else. It’s also accompanied by several pages of glossy photos, which help describe some of the things written about in the book, especially for Western audiences who may not have seen it before.
Overall, this book is informative, and adds nicely to the current literature on the subject. Definitely a good read for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture, or Geisha specifically.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
It was good and semi informative. But it got really repetitive and she spoke too much of herself.
Inizierò col dire che il libro è stato "tirato" un po' troppo dall'autrice, soprattutto nella seconda parte che ho trovato abbastanza ripetitiva. In ogni caso m'è piaciuto, soprattutto per il fatto che l'autrice stessa si sia fatta strada in questo mondo così affascinante per avere la possibilità di trasmetterci tutto ciò che ha scoperto.. Concorderete se dico che è un libro decisamente interessante se, come me, amate il mondo delle geisha. Consigliato!
An absolute slog. It could have been so much better with a firm editor. There's so much of interest, but it's buried in meandering guff and atonal prose. Reading this was laborious, and I nearly put it down a dozen times before I was through.
This was a really good book. The author does a great job sharing her research and the book alternates between the history of the Geisha and the author's own experience learning about the closed world of the Geisha in modern times. One thing I really appreciated was, when discussing the history, the author talked about things that were going on in the west at the same time which was helpful for someone like me with no real sense of Japanese history. The author also did a great job presenting the culture. Definitely recommend this one.
This is the second time reading Women of the Pleasure Quarters and I really enjoyed all of the wonderful history, as well as the author's personal stories and experiences among the geisha of Kyoto.
Ms. Downer writes such lovely phrases that her writing literally transports you throughout the long and varied history of Japan. From the beginnings of Yoshiwara's regal courtesan, to the mysterious geisha of Kyoto and Tokyo, you get a real sense of their lowly and questionable start, their slow demise, and the possible future that modernization has forced upon them.
Ms. Downer writes such lovely phrases that her writing literally transports you throughout the long and varied history of Japan. From the beginnings of Yoshiwara's regal courtesan, to the mysterious geisha of Kyoto and Tokyo, you get a real sense of their lowly and questionable start, their slow demise, and the possible future that modernization has forced upon them.
A decent overview of geisha life from an outsider's POV, but I recommend [a: Liza Dalby|2920167|Liza Dalby|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1266598217p2/2920167.jpg]'s Geisha instead.