PDF Ebook Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer
By visiting this web page, you have done the right staring point. This is your begin to select guide Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer that you want. There are great deals of referred e-books to read. When you intend to obtain this Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer as your book reading, you can click the web link web page to download and install Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer In few time, you have actually possessed your referred e-books as yours.
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer
PDF Ebook Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer
Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer. A work could obligate you to consistently enrich the expertise and experience. When you have no enough time to improve it directly, you could get the encounter and also expertise from reviewing the book. As everybody recognizes, book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer is incredibly popular as the window to open up the world. It indicates that reading book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer will certainly offer you a brand-new way to discover everything that you require. As the book that we will provide here, Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer
This letter could not influence you to be smarter, however guide Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer that we provide will certainly evoke you to be smarter. Yeah, at the very least you'll know more than others that don't. This is what called as the top quality life improvisation. Why ought to this Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer It's because this is your preferred motif to review. If you such as this Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer style about, why don't you check out guide Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer to enrich your discussion?
Today book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer we offer right here is not type of usual book. You understand, reviewing currently does not imply to handle the printed book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer in your hand. You can obtain the soft data of Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer in your gizmo. Well, we mean that guide that we proffer is the soft data of the book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer The material and all things are very same. The difference is just the types of the book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer, whereas, this problem will precisely pay.
We discuss you likewise the way to obtain this book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer without going to the book shop. You can remain to see the link that we supply and ready to download Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer When many individuals are active to look for fro in the book shop, you are really easy to download the Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer right here. So, exactly what else you will choose? Take the motivation here! It is not only offering the appropriate book Women Of The Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History Of The Geisha, By Lesley Downer however likewise the right book collections. Here we constantly give you the very best and also simplest way.
Ever since Westerners arrived in Japan, they have been intrigued by Japanese womanhood and, above all, by geisha. This fascination has spawned a wealth of extraordinary fictional creations, from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly to Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. But as denizens of a world defined by silence and mystery, real geisha are notoriously difficult to meet and even to find. As a result, their history has long been cloaked in secrecy.
Lesley Downer, an award-winning writer, Japanese scholar, and consummate storyteller, gained more access to this world than almost any other Westerner, and spent several months living in it. In Women of the Pleasure Quarters, she weaves together intimate portraits of modern geisha with the romantic legends and colorful historical tales that shape their fascinating past. Contrary to popular opinion, geisha are not prostitutes but, literally, "arts people." Accomplished singers, dancers, and musicians, they are, above all, masters of the art of conversation, soothing the worries and stroking the egos of wealthy businessmen who can afford their attentions. Looking into such traditions as mizuage, the ritual deflowering that was once a rite of passage for all geisha, and providing colorful descriptions of their dress, training, and homes, Downer transforms their reality into a captivating narrative, and reveals an enthralling world unlike any other.
- Sales Rank: #1474889 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Broadway Books
- Published on: 2002-04-09
- Released on: 2002-04-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.11" h x .77" w x 6.13" l, .80 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Publishers Weekly
Inspired by Arthur Golden's massively popular Memoirs of a Geisha to "meet the real geisha" in the last stronghold of geisha training in Japan, Downer skillfully intertwines her profiles of Kyoto personalities and tea-house customs with a fluidly written geisha history that's unabashedly aimed at a Western audience. Author of On the Narrow Road and The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family, Downer was no stranger to the country. However, she found the entrance to the "geisha world" heavily guarded. She writes: "I was always an outsider, I could never step through the looking glass." But small successes (finding the right cakes to present to "the mama," a very powerful geisha) and patience eventually won Downer a place at events that are "utterly closed to outsiders." These included an invitation to a young girl's misedashi ("store opening"), the "rite of passage" from trainee to geisha. We also learn, for example, of the distinction that has developed between a prostitute and a geisha (which translates as "arts person"), who undergoes intense and lengthy apprenticeships in dance and music. Written in dynamic, highly readable prose, the book is supported by exhaustive research and a lengthy bibliography. Readers who were as smitten with Golden's geisha as Downer was will find this good companion reading. Photos.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A British journalist with a passion for Japan, Downer documented the travels of 17th-century Japanese poet Basho in On the Narrow Road to the Deep North (1989), delved into Japan's rich and famous with The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family (LJ 6/1/95), and now uncovers the history, society, and subversive culture of the geisha through her diligent research and translations. She leads the reader through 400 years of history, much of which was previously unknown to the outside world, revealing that the first geishas were male and describing the rituals and delicate arts practiced by the select few. In addition, she explores why women may find themselves drawn to this way of life today. Downer sees this culture as declining but not dying. The embodiment of love and passion has, for hundreds of years, been the domain of the geisha, and to a people for whom these emotions have rarely been a part of everyday life, the geisha will remain a living symbol of romance. Yet while Downer has done a more-than-adequate job of researching and relating this information, plowing through her book can be a chore. Surprisingly, she has made somewhat sordid situations rather pedantic, and it is disappointing that she is not more perceptive on the absence of much change in the role of women over the geisha's history. Suitable for academic and public librar- ies. Kay Meredith Dusheck, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Since the 1997 publication of Arthur Golden's novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, the geisha of Japan have captivated world readers. Downer's fascinating book is a combination of the history of the geisha and a study of the contemporary world of the geisha. When journalist Downer began her research in Japan, people were reluctant to talk to her because they feared misinterpretation and were also mindful of the secretive nature at the heart of the profession. But when she finally broke through the cultural barrier, she found a wealth of information. She learned the history of the geisha: how they developed from courtesans to become the top entertainers in their day. She was allowed into exclusive teahouses and was able to see maiko (geisha-in-training) being made up, having their hair done, and entertaining. Throughout the book, she muses on the fate of the modern geisha, as other sources of entertainment threaten to crowd them out. Downer concludes that because of what they represent--romance, fantasy, the golden days--the institution won't die out. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Interesting...but seems to focus on non-geisha
By S. J. Bice
I found this an interesting read, but it seems to focus alot on non-geisha or psuedo-geisha. It does talk quite a bit about prostitution, which does not really factor into high-class geisha, and never has.
I think that it focuses on the author a bit too much as well, and her problems getting into this closed world. While at points it reads as a narritive, at others it gets very dry...the author can not seem to pick a "voice" to stick with.
An interesting read, but I do not think that it should be taken a holy grail of Geisha books.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
An interesting counterpoint to Dalby
By SecondCherry
I enjoyed reading this book, which acts as a good counterpoint to Liza Dalby's book Geisha (which I notice Downer does not reference even once in the writing, though it must surely have been on her mind). She also, herself, comes across as a great deal more pleasant than Dalby.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Fascinating
By Nyxie
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I purchased it at a supplemental reading item for my Japanese Literature class and was enthralled as soon as it showed up on my kindle homepage. I find the Geisha world fascinating and this book does a wonderful job of explaining how the geisha interact with female gaijin.
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer PDF
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer EPub
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer Doc
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer iBooks
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer rtf
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer Mobipocket
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha, by Lesley Downer Kindle
No comments:
Post a Comment