Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Born In 1956 in Tennessee, Arthur Golden is known for the success of his only novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. He attended Harvard College, where he received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. In 1980 he earned an M.A. in Japanese history from Columbia University, where he also learned Mandarin Chinese. After a summer spent at Beijing University, he worked in Tokyo, and, after returning to the United States, earned an M.A. in English from Boston University. He currently lives Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children.

In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.

I chose this book for my re-design because I thought the bold themes and incredible visuals described offered high potential for an elegant, eye-catching cover design. The oriental aspect offers strong pattern and color and a terrific setting for inspiration. The two existing covers created for this book are limited to photographs of a geisha using minimal color palettes. Furthermore I consider this story to be one of my favorites and hope to create a series of covers that reflect such an inspirational story.

Themes/Tone/Mood/Feeling conveyed in the novel:

Obligation
Societal Status
Elegance
Delicacy
Male Dominance
Competition
Deception
Cultural
Drama
Jealousy
Love


Powerful Quotes:

"At the temple, there is a poem called 'Loss' carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read Loss, only feel it. " – Sayuri

"A story like mine should never be told. For my world is as forbidden as it is fragile. Without its mysteries it cannot survive. I certainly wasn't born to the life of a geisha. Like so much in my strange life, I was carried there by the current. " – Sayuri

"You cannot say to the sun, "More sun." Or to the rain, "Less rain." To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind. " – Sayuri

"We do not become Geisha to pursue our own destines. We become Geisha because we have no other choice." – Mameha