In order to have Sayuri pay back her debts before age 20, Mameha creates a plan to create a bidding war between two men: Nobu Toshikazu, who happens to be close friends and business partners with the Chairman and a doctor named 'Dr.Crab'. Sadly enough, after many years, when Sayuri once meets the Chariman again, the Chairman appears not to recognize Sayur. Although he treats her with kindness, he pays her little attention. However, Hatsumomo finds out about the bidding war, and quickly turns Dr.Crab against Sayuri by starting the rumour that she sees men in her room. Being not defeated, Sayuri is noticed for her superior dancing skills and is chosen for the solo lead in the Springtime dances. The bidding war for Sayuri's virginity ( in Japan, they call it mizuage) begins, and in the end it is Dr.Crab who pays a record price for the privilege. The huge amount of sudden income convinces Mother to adopt Sayuri as her successor instead of Pumpkin, and as was Mameha's plan, Sayuri replaces Hatsumomo as head geisha in the okiya which creates a permanent split between Pumpkin and Sayuri.Hatsumomo is startled when her bad behaviour is no longer tolerated and turns to drinking, and her place in the Okiya gradually erodes. Sayuri and Mameha torture her by following her from party to party, and finally Hatsumomo loses her temper and bites a prominent actor. She is kicked out of the Okiya and is not heard from again. Unfortunately, months later, WWII is declared and Sayuri is evacuated to another city to work in a factories. When Sayuri leaves, Nobu promises Sayuri that once Iwamura Electric's future is ensured, he will become Sayuri's danna. Nobu’s promise put Sayuri to an end of any hopes of having a relationship with the Chairman; however, she agrees because in these years, Nobu has had helped Sayuri in many ways. Time passes quickly, Many years later after the WWII is over, Sayuri returns to Gion and find things completely different when she left Gion years ago: geishas were now enteraining American soldiers, and the geishas were no longer different from the prostitutes. Fortunately, overcoming many obstacles, the Chairman finally confessed his true feeling to Sayuri. He tells her that when he first sees her in the party, he recognizes that she is the girl that he has comforted many years ago when he is walking along the Shirakawa Stream. The Chairman further expands on his feelings of how he was not able to take away the woman his friend showed so much interest in. At the end of the story, the Chairman kisses Sayuri which is Sayuri’s first true kiss.
The novel reaches to its climax when Mother decides to adopt Sayuri as her successor instead of Pumpkin after Sayuri earns a huge amount of money after selling her virginity to Dr.Crab. It is also the point when Hatsumomo breaks down and being tortured by Sayuri and Mameha following her parties to parties. Finally at the end, she is kicked out of the okiya. “What goes around comes around” by Karma really suites Hatsumomo. In the beginning of the play, Hatsumomo is really mean to Sayuri; she would always blame bad things on her, telling her lies, and verbally bullies her. Not being defeated, Sayuri does not just cry and walks away, she stands up against Hatsumomo. She works really hard in order to become a successful geisha. Finally, near the end of the story, Sayuri becomes one of the most famous geisha in Gion and she even breaks the recod of selling her virginity. Being extremely displeased, Hatsumomo turns to drinking and her place in the Okiya gradually erodes and finally she is kicked out of the okiya.
Wow,I finally finished reading the novel! It is definitely one of the longest story that I have ever read ( it has 428 pages), but I definitely definitely enjoyed reading it, partly because I have always fantasized by Geishas’ daily lives. It is also amazing that the author could present the history in such a fascinating way. Besides these, I find the romance between the Chairman and Sayuri really sweet, though the Chairman is about 30 years older than her. If it hasn’t been the Chairman, I would find it disturbing for a young girl to like a guy who is about her dad’s age. However, the Chairman is different; he was so nice to Sayuri even she was only a kid by that time, and when he knows that Nobu likes Sayuri, he quits although he also has feelings toward Sayuri. The Chairman quits because he knows that he owns Nobu a lot, and he doesn’t want get into a fight with his best friend over a woman. Moreover, there so many good quotes in the novel, and my favroute quote is from Sayuri. She says “Dreams can be such dangerous things; they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely.” This quote inspires me a lot and I would always remember this quote. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, and especially interested in geishas’ culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment