Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 51

Since Everything is Illuminated wasn't really my type of book, I decided to start reading a different novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. This book is really interesting to me so far, especially because I love to read autobiographies. I like this one more, though, because it is told by a Japanese woman, who starts off her story with how she became a geisha. She wasn't born and raised to be one. Her mother is dying of bone cancer and her father is very old. A rich man in their small village, Mr. Tanaka, who owns the Japan Coastal Seafood Company, helps Chiyo-chan (the geisha to be) after she has fallen on her face in the village. He notices her peculiar eyes, as they are not brown like everyone else's, but grayish blue, like her mother's. He talks to her about how her mother is becoming very ill and her father very old. He also compliments her for how beautiful she is. Chiyo-chan has her mind set on Mr. Tanaka adopting her and her sister since her parents will die soon, and she is content with this. However, Mr. Tanaka does not plan on adopting them and has an old woman come and examine them. Then one day Chiyo-chan and her sister are called to the village to see Mr. Tanaka, who sends them away with a mean man. This man takes them to Kyoto, a large city Chiyo-chan has never even dreamed of. In the city, Chiyo-chan and her sister are separated, and Chiyo-chan soon learns she is at an okiya, where geisha live. No one at the okiya tells her about what has become of her sister. Mother and Granny, the two women who primarily run the okiya are older and ugly, as Chiyo-chan describes them. Granny is a mean lady, but Mother is nice to Chiyo-chan. Auntie, the first woman Chiyo-chan meets at the okiya cares for Chiyo-chan, offering her secrets on how to succeed and become a geisha. The only geisha in the house, Hatsumomo, is mean to Chiyo-chan, and where I stopped reading for now has recenetly slapped her for not leaving her room. Chiyo-chan tries hard to behave and do what the women say so that she may start her training and hopefully reunite with her sister.

I really like the novel so far, and would read more tonight if I didn't have to go to bed early since I am taking the SAT tomorrow. The story intrigues me as I wonder what will happen next to the poor nine-year-old. I think it would be a pretty tragic experience to have both your parents be dying, then be taken from your home, have your hopes shattered and be separated from your only sister. Even though Chiyo-chan's story is completely invented, I still feel bad for this poor girl I feel close to after knowing what she's feeling and experiencing. Since the story is told as a memoir, the narrator adds commentary hinting at how certain events impacted her later on in life. This is a really good novel so far that I'd recommend to anyone who likes autobiographies.