This is an Online Internet Book Club on Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda. Discuss this book, share your thoughts, make comments, ask questions, offer responses...
Description
Sayo Masuda’s
Autobiography of a Geisha offers a story of unremitting hardship faced by a hot-springs geisha, a virtual indentured sex-slave in pre-World War II Japan.
Born in 1925, Masuda began work as a nursemaid at age 5 and suffered a childhood of emotional and material poverty. She was then sold to the Takenoya geisha house in Upper Suwa at age 12. While her food and clothing were provided for by Takenoya, she was subject to constant verbal abuse as an apprentice. At one point, she was heaved down the stairs by her "Mother" (the name she uses for the proprietor of the geisha house) and nearly lost a leg. During her recovery, she attempted suicide and further injured herself.
Eventually, Masuda mastered the art of seduction as a geisha. The middle portion of the narrative is taken up with stories of her successful campaign for a danna (patron), of her brother’s tragic suicide, and of her star-crossed love affair with a Japanese politician.
Autobiography of a Geisha, translated for the first time into English by G. G. Rowley, was published in Japan in 1957 and has been in print in Japan steadily ever since. The tale is rendered in a simple English prose to reflect Masuda’s own, untrained style (she did not have schooling and she only learned to write hiragana script later in life). For Western readers, Masuda’s autobiography is a gift: a glimpse into the dark reality behind one of the most shrouded institutions in Japanese culture. --Patrick O’Kelley
Book Club Questions for Autobiography of a Geisha (Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Autobiography of a Geisha (Fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Autobiography of a Geisha:
- Did Sayo Masuda emphasize any specific themes throughout Autobiography of a Geisha? What do you think Sayo Masuda is trying to explain with this theme?
- What was unique about the setting of Autobiography of a Geisha and how did it affect the storyline?
- Could you relate to any of the characters? If so, which ones and why?
- How do characters change or learn throughout Autobiography of a Geisha? What events caused these changes? Have you or someone you know experienced the same thing?
- How does Autobiography of a Geisha reveal Sayo Masuda's own perspectives about people and the world? For a lively discussion, describe why you think Sayo Masuda is liberal or conservative.
- Did certain parts of Autobiography of a Geisha affect you emotionally? Why did it evoke those emotions?
- Did Sayo Masuda's point of view on things lend new perspective to your own view of the world?
Book Club Questions for Autobiography of a Geisha (for Non-Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Autobiography of a Geisha (Non-fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Autobiography of a Geisha:
- Did Sayo Masuda make persuasive arguments in Autobiography of a Geisha? Did Autobiography of a Geisha change or reinforce your opinion on the subject?
- What did you learn from Autobiography of a Geisha?
- How does Sayo Masuda present the information and did you enjoy it?
- How is Sayo Masuda biased within Autobiography of a Geisha? Is there a political slant to what is being discussed and how does it impact the book?
- What, if anything, does Autobiography of a Geisha make you want to read next? Why?
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