Japanese atmosphere and, in particular,
geishas seem always so far from our occidental culture. It is a very special world. As usual, respect and desire of knowledge and comprehension are needed when meeting with something different from us and our culture. And what a perfect guide is the author, who dedicated ten years of his life to the preparation of this novel! Trust him and you won’t be deluded. The telling voice turns into the music of the shamisen, and being sweet like the movements of the fans or pressing you like a drum beating, it drags you along a dreaming sensation, and slowly it opens a window on this world, the world of the willow-tree and the cherry-tree. So it seems we can walk along Gion alleys with Sayuri, or we can follow her on the savage and harsh ocean, with its high reefs and the vehement and violent wind. Then, our teller guides us to the discovery of Kyoto, the city delicate like a butterfly, full of
secrets hidden under its thousands roofs. And then again we find ourselves crying with Chiyo, this little
baby who has no choice but to face with a merciless world where a woman can only be a wife and a mother, and therefore a slave in her own home, always in danger of hunger, disease and her husband’s fury, or a “baby-slave”,
sold to
begin a resource for those treasuring from her arts and abilities, sold to begin a
Geisha! That is a geisha…an extraordinary human being, full of hidden secrets and richness… and you have to enter this particular environment, this different culture to understand what a geisha is…In this peculiar Japanese world, daughters can be sold like slaves and women have to live in silence and obedience, but at the same time, geishas are covered with admirations, they are honoured, they are artists, dancers, musicians, well cultured, elegant and with a wonderful conversation ability. They are very important people: women envy them, everybody respect them….Siren and mantis, under her make-up a geisha hide much more than you might imagine….Symbols of a millenarian tradition, they are like Vestal virgins, guardians and victims of this religion. They are precious, they shine like diamonds, but luxury and comforts ask for a very high price: they cannot fight this destiny, they can only accept it. This is the law governing a geisha’s life.
Sayuri is like a swan, singing the song that open the door on this ancient world. She is a delicate flower, a little lily, who shows us thorns and roses in the fabulous and mysterious world of the geishas.
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