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TWIB II-10: 12/3-12/9
1) Women Of The Pleasure Quarters - Leslie Downer
A decent, if haphazard, look at the geisha: their development and historical antecedents, daily routines, work environment, and place in Japanese society. Downer's prose is a quick, light read, but she does lack a varied vocabulary, tending to recycle the same tired phrases (erotic strip of skin, hothouse atmosphere, flitting like butterflies, etc) every few pages of text. She’s also no historian; those looking for an in-depth, scholarly look at the geisha world are advised to turn elsewhere, as this book hardly provides it. (I also wonder about her Japanese skills. She evidently speaks the language well, but makes some glaring errors, such as the derivation of the word "karaoke," and inconsistently romanizes Japanese words.) On the other hand, it is a nice, basic introduction to the world of the geisha and the historical developments in Japanese society that gave rise to them, and is thus well suited for the lay reader.
SBS: Twenty. Yes!
That will be all.
A decent, if haphazard, look at the geisha: their development and historical antecedents, daily routines, work environment, and place in Japanese society. Downer's prose is a quick, light read, but she does lack a varied vocabulary, tending to recycle the same tired phrases (erotic strip of skin, hothouse atmosphere, flitting like butterflies, etc) every few pages of text. She’s also no historian; those looking for an in-depth, scholarly look at the geisha world are advised to turn elsewhere, as this book hardly provides it. (I also wonder about her Japanese skills. She evidently speaks the language well, but makes some glaring errors, such as the derivation of the word "karaoke," and inconsistently romanizes Japanese words.) On the other hand, it is a nice, basic introduction to the world of the geisha and the historical developments in Japanese society that gave rise to them, and is thus well suited for the lay reader.
SBS: Twenty. Yes!
That will be all.