Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden published in 1997. It is the story of a geisha working in Kyoto during World War II.
Controversy
After the novel was published, Arthur Golden was sued by the geisha he worked with for defamation and breach of contract. According to the plaintiff, the agreement was supposed to be total anonymity for the main character of his story. This was because there is a code of silence among the geisha community and breaking that code is a serious offense. Once the plaintiff's name was printed in the book, she received numerous death threats and requests to commit seppuku for dishonoring her profession. However, she opted to sue Golden for putting her name in the novel. The case is currently under litigation.
Film adaptation
A movie adaptation of the novel, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Rob Marshall, is under production as of 2004, and is planned for release on December 9 2005. It will star Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe. It is interesting to note that none of the female leads are, in fact, Japanese.
External links
Last updated: 08-22-2005 19:36:36
