Geisha by Liza Dalby Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Geisha
Book Review: A Great Book!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
If one is seriously interested in geisha, this is the book to read! I disagree with other reviewers about the book being dull or that Dalby acts conceited in her writing. Also in disagreement with another reviewer, Liza Dalby was a real Geisha. As she points out, women who become real geisha who are too old to be a maiko become geisha without training as a maiko first. The book was fasinating to me. This book shouldn't be compared to Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha because:
Memoirs of a Geisha is completley fiction and very inaccurate of depicting true Japanese geisha culture. It is beatifully written, a great read, and I loved the story, but it really isn't mostly facts which is important to realize if you want to know the truth about geisha. Liza Dalby's book Geisha is packed with tons of great information. I found it very interesting although it might bore one who is looking for a dramatic fantasied novel like Memoirs. It contains information about a wide variety of topics from different points of view. It includes lots of interesting history of Geisha over different periods, how society viewed them, hannamachi, kyoto, maiko, conversation, training, as well as her own personal expirences and much more.
I also recommend Lesly Downers: Women of the Pleasure quarters.
Book Review: A great starting place.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have just read MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and are interested in learning more about the world of geisha, their history, and culture, then this is a great place to start. It was written in the seventies, so may be somewhat out of date now, but it is in many ways the foundational work for much of what has been written on geisha.
Liza Dalby presents a broad and comprehensive look at all aspects of geisha life, and unlike many other works on geisha, also explores the lives and status of geisha *outside* the famed Kyoto geisha districts, including those of geisha in other big cities such as Tokyo, and those of geisha working at less-glamorous places such as at seaside vacation resorts--which sets her apart from most works I have read on geisha, which only focus on Kyoto and sometimes only on Gion. She explores the historical origins of geisha and presents sometimes surprising facts (such as that, way back when, the profession that eventually developed into the modern geisha was originally all-male), as well as exploring the ways in which geisha differed from yujo, the courtesans of the pleasure quarters.
However, be warned: this is not a story, not a biography and not a memoir. Dalby's book is an anthropological work (Dalby herself is an anthropologist, I believe) and is written in what is a popular style for scholarly anthropological literature, interweaving personal experience with information collected from interviews with her subjects with historical references and references to other such literature. From some of the reviews, it seems that some have found this style off-putting, which is fair enough. Despite this, her book is never dry and dull, nor boring, and is filled with much information which is essential to anyone wanting to begin learning more about geisha.
Book Review: Absolute Beauty!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is Dalby's definitive work on perhaps the most secret, the most mysterious, and certain the most provocative aspect of Japanese society - the Geisha.Dalby does a masterful job in showing Western culture the ins and outs of the Japanese geisha society and does an excellent job correcting many of the misconceptions about geishas. What better person to write a social and cultural history on geishas than a person who knows the language and was accepted into that exclusive niche of that cultural.
I would like to give Ms. Dalby especial praise for her excellent detail and descriptions on the meaning of kimono, for which there must have been enough because she wrote an entire book dedicated to that subject matter. I feel that the author gives a well thought out and analytical study of the history of the geisha society - what it was then and how it became what it is today.
This book is a great read. Dalby's style makes this book flow. It certainly is NOT your typically dry non-fiction historical analysis.
I consider this Dalby's best work to date. It is an outstanding piece of non-fiction and a top source for information on geishas and their lives, heirarchy, history, culture, art, etc.
Book Review: An excellent behind-the-scenes glimpse of geisha
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this book years ago and continue to refer to it occasionally. For anyone who has read "Memoirs of a Geisha", this book fills in whatever questions a reader unfamiliar with geisha may have. From personal stories of individual women to kimono aesthetics, this book is as detailed and precise as a tea ceremony. Anyone who has been intrigued by "Memoirs" should buy this book; it is an indispensable reference source. Liza Dalby transports her readers into another world, and is an excellent tour guide.Book Review: As Dull as Ditchwater
Summary: 1 Stars
This is one of the worst books I've ever read. The premise sounded interesting - "only American woman ever to become a geisha" - so I thought it would be worth picking up to learn more about the world of the geisha. Boy, was I wrong!
The big problem is that Dalby is a terrible writer. Her prose is all over the map, but doesn't say anything. The book is full of little anecdotes that are really pretty dull, and she is so incredibly full of herself and her supposed intellect that she puffs herself up whenever she can. One example being she tells the story of how when one geisha died in a fire, the geisha's family received a telegram from President Ford. Then later on, she just HAS to tell the reader that the reason the President sent the telegram was because SHE (Dalby) had written to him and asked him to.
The book is uninteresting (which was surprising to me as the world of the geisha is such a fascinating and unique subject that I would have thought it should be relatively easy to write a book with some substance. This book has no substance whatsoever). It's also written by someone who seems to either have a complete lack of any self-confidence, so she feels the need to be constantly reminding the reader of how intelligent and wonderful she is, OR she has so much self-confidence that she feels herself to be so much better than most of the rest of us. The problem is, I didn't care either way. She's not someone who interests me in the slightest, therefore I found very little of interest in her trite, fluffy book.
Dreadfully disappointing.