Memoirs of a Geisha (Critical Overview)

Critical Overview

A first-person account of a geisha's life written by a man from Tennessee seemed an unlikely success, but Memoirs of a Geisha proved a hit with readers and critics alike. Brad Hooper of Booklist describes the book as "sparkling" and commends Golden's "thorough research." People Weekly reviewer Lan N. Nguyen finds the novel "lyrical" and "evocative." Nguyen adds that despite Golden's tendency to overnarrate and skim Sayuri's emotions, "his elegant language" and ability to transport the reader to such an unusual setting makes up for the book's flaws. Jeff Giles of Newsweek finds the book a "captivating, minutely imagined Cinderella story," adding, "A few reservations aside, Golden has written a novel that's full of cliffhangers great and small, a novel that is never out of one's possession, a novel that refuses to stay shut."

The novel's inside look at the mysterious life of a geisha inspired much critical commentary. Nancy Day and Alec Foege of People Weekly comment that "Golden's remarkable ability to imagine life in a highly secretive foreign subculture" results in a "powerful story." Booklist reviewer Joanne Wilkinson also appreciated the lavish setting, noting that Golden reveals "both the aesthetic delights and the unending cruelty that underlie the exotic world of the geisha." And a Publishers Weekly critic declares, "Golden splendidly renders the superficiality of geisha culture." In Time International, reviewer Hannah Beech deems the book "moving" and "evocative," noting that she was swept up until the very end. She writes, "Like a geisha who has mastered the art of illusion, Golden creates a cloistered floating world out of the engines of a modernizing Japan." At the end, however, as Japan becomes more Westernized, "Golden's spell weakens, and the clarity of his narrative fades. And finally, as the edges of the floating world strain too much, we lose the grip of the illusion that kept us entranced for so long."

While numerous critics praised the novel, others found the book's characterization and tone flat. In Library Journal, R. Kent Rasmussen states, "Although often compelling, it is not always convincing," explaining that the characters "are mostly two-dimensional." While John David Morley of New York Times Book Review grants that Golden's first-person voice is "quite a daunting ventriloquist act to undertake in a first novel," he finds Sayuri "admirable but not terribly interesting." He explains that "she is not so much an individual as a faultless arrangement of feminine virtues." Morley suggests that focusing on the novel's "documentation rather than imagination" yields a better reading of the story, "filled as it is with colorful nuggets of information." Similarly, Gabriel Brownstein of the New Leader writes that Golden

is more of a curator. He doesn't want to peek behind screens, he would rather examine their delicate woodwork. He is masterful at describing the teahouses, hairdressers' shops and alleyways of Gion. His characters, however, fail to convey any emotional, psychological or historical complexities.

Brownstein evaluates Sayuri's characterization, noting that "throughout the book she remains elusive, her personality marked by a doelike innocence." The critic adds that Golden relies too heavily on distinctly Japanese references: "Disconcerting is the author's habit of limiting Sayuri to exclusively Japanese imagery. The constant, heavy emphasis on Sayuri's Japaneseness ultimately serves to render it artificial."

In contrast to criticism of Golden's characterization of his heroine, reviewer Michiko Kakutani of New York Times Book Review finds Sayuri more interesting than the historical details of the novel. She writes, "What is striking about the novel is Mr. Golden's creation of an utterly convincing narrator, a woman who is, at once, a traditional product of Japan's archaic gender relations and a spirited picaresque heroine." Kakutani adds that her narrative voice engages readers: "Rather than contrive a stylized, period voice for Sayuri, Mr. Golden allows her to relate her story in chatty, colloquial terms that enable the reader to identify with her feelings of surprise, puzzlement and disgust at the rituals she must endure."

Despite the success of Memoirs of a Geisha, its most outspoken challenger of the book has been Mineko Iwasaki, the retired geisha who provided much-needed detail, background, and context. According to Galloway in U.S. News & World Report, Iwasaki went so far as to say that she regretted helping Golden, that he "did not get anything right," and that he "made a mockery of Japanese culture." In response, Golden stated that her reaction was not all that surprising because the closer a book is to the truth about something to which a person is loyal, the less that person is going to approve of it.