Thursday, June 19, 2008

Memoirs of a Geisha


I got a tag and I guess I will do it! Here are the instructions I followed:

1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!
6. Tag 5 people.


'But within your okiya...Don't you find it odd that Mrs. Nitta has never adopted Hatsumomo as a daughter? The Nitta okiya must be the wealthiest in Gion without an heir. By adopting Hatsumomo, not only would Mrs. Nitta solve that problem, but all of Hatsumomo's earnings wold then be kept by the okiya, without a single sen of it paid out to Hatsumomo herself. And Hatsumomo is a very successful geisha!' (123)

This is from Memoirs of a Geisha which I just finished yesterday. It is a really good book! It has some adult content, obviously it is about a Japanese courtisan, but it moves you along so beautifully, 1-because you learn all about the Geisha culture, 2-it curiously does not sound like it is written by a man, 3-it curiously does not seem too much like it is written by a Westerner vs. someone imersed in the Asian cultures. 4-I've been picking up some good guy-getting tips; some good seductive eye-contact techniques! LOL. jk. Okay, it moves you along similarly to The Mercy of Thin Air, which it is not at all like, but similarly is able to talk about hard topics and still move you along as if you are floating along on a river or a cloud from the fist page to the last. This being said, I don't think I would like it if I was a man, nor would I recommend men read it. Somethings are just for the women, of course this being said as well, I probably shouldn't read it either? :D

There are some good jems though, this is what I would have posted if I could have chosen my passage. Good advice:

"I understood the danger of focusing only on what isn't there. What if I came to the end of my life and realized that I'd spent every day watching for a man who would never come to me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be, to realize I'd never really tasted the things I'd eaten, or seen the places I'd been, because I'd thought nothing but the Chairman even while my life was drifting away from me." (349
Good advice for me I guess! ;)

3 comments:

JMadd said...

The book was definitely more telling than the movie. I wouldn't recommend that men read it, either.

Missy said...

Cool tag! I just might have to do it.
I MIGHT read the book if I'm feeling naughty. ;)

Missy said...

The second book insert, is quite good for all things anticipated. Plan for the future, but don't forget to live in the moment is always good advice. :)