Due to the holidays, absences, and personal obligations, I've decided to give an extended deadline to the next novel that we will read. We will be reading Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

Enjoy!

Readership has been dwindling, but I am enjoying reading these books, even if nobody else is...

Anyway, some things I thought about while reading the book:
When does Chiyo make the transformation into being Sayuri? Is it really at the ceremony where Mameha becomes her 'older sister'?
Why does Pumpkin become so resentful? Is she feeding off of Hatsumomo?
Is Sayuri in love with the Chairman, or merely obsessed?
Would things have been better had Nobu become Sayuri's danna?

(Sorry, but I had to sit this one out. Have two books going at once at Yahoo book groups--The Deputy of Arcis by Balzac and His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke--I tend to read mostly 19th Century books.)

Chiyo's transformation begins gradually, I think she starts to change when she meets "The Chairman". She begins to feel the stirring of self worth.

Pumpkin's resentment is based on being made to feel "second-best" all the time. At first, she is secure in the knowledge that she will be the daughter of the okiaya, but when that dream is snatched from her, she blames Sayuri instead of Mother.

Nobu had no chance to win Sayuri's love, I think she did love the Chairman very much

I was surprised that Pumpkin fell into such low class behavior during the war. Was it just because of the hard times in general or was it partly that she wasn't as beautiful as Sayuri?

Or was the crudity just another facet of her personality that had been supressed?

Pumpkin's mean streak grew in her as a result of being around Hatsumomo so much. When you're around someone who's that mean, then it begins to rub off on you. I think that Hatsumomo planted the seed of resentment in Pumpkin, and events that transpired caused it to grow. Sayuri had tried to befriend Pumpkin on more than one occasion, but to no avail, in the end it was all for naught.

I found Sayuri's growth very fascinating, on one hand, and very shocking on the other. To be used to advance other people's interests is a very maturing experience, and Sayuri was forced to grow up possibly far earlier than she was ready to.

Do you think Mameha would have taken Sayuri as a 'little sister' had the Chairman not insisted upon it?