Madame Sadayakko, The Geisha Who Seduced the West, by Lesley Downer

Madame Sadayakko, Lesley Downer

I have always been interested in Japanese culture, especially the aspect of Geisha. I was delighted to find this book through Paperbackswap.com and it did not disappoint. This is a biography of the life of Sada Kawakami, sold into the Geisha life at a young age, she quickly rose to become one of the most sought after Geisha in Tokyo in her youth. Eventually, she met an actor, Otojiro Kawakami, and married him. Together, they put together an acting troupe that traveled to America. They struggled and some of their troupe even died in the tough times. They never gave up, though, and found stardom, with Sadayakko as their shining star. This tells their story, the ups and downs, successes and failures.

I had never heard of Sadayakko before, but apparently she was famous like Isadora Duncan and Eleanora Duse in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She and her husband developed a bridge between Japanese Kabuki-style theater and Western drama, forever changing the world of acting in Japan; and Sadayakko was the first female actor--before, all women's parts were played by men in drag. 

It's a very good read, and not only talks about the historical aspect but also the cultural aspect of relationships--man had a wife, but it was expected that for pleasure, he would visit Geisha or have a few mistresses on the side. That was just accepted as normal...although not all wives accepted it. Also, and I already knew this, but Geisha, though not considered prostitutes in Japan, have their virginity sold to the highest bidder, usually a wealthy man of influence. He is her first, and then other men may pay for her sexual services. Although this, too is considered normal, even a Geisha of the highest order is considered one of the lowest class when it comes to being able to marry--Geisha, once retired, were allowed to marry within their class, which could be an actor (also considered low class). Rarely did a Geisha marry someone above her class or get rid of that stigma.

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Floor Sample, by Julia Cameron

 

Floor Sample, Julia Cameron

This is the autobiography of Julia Cameron, author of the popular book, The Artist's Way. As an artist, I have read her book, and thought it would do me some good to read about the author. First of all, I had no idea she had been married to the famous director Martin Scorcese. I also learned a lot of other stuff reading this---she was a journalist, a screenwriter, she has written plays and musicals, and other books. She was an alcoholic and drug addict and struggled a long time with it, and she talks about how even when she became, and stayed sober, how there was that desire for just one drink. 

She also suffered from mental illness. She would be fine for a while and then go off the deep end into crazy behavior and need to be put on medication and be watched closely until she regained her sanity. This happened multiple times.

She talks about how she came about creating The Artist's Way with her second husband, as well as other books.

I also learned that she also messes with the occult--seances, automatic writing, praying to the deceased, and more. 

This is the thing that has always bothered me about The Artist's Way. There's nothing wrong with doing a brain dump on three pages of paper each morning. But I always felt that to her, it could have involved automatic writing, which is allowing spirits or some paranormal being to speak through you and control your writing.

When I started listening to the Artist's Way Podcast, I became alarmed, when it got to her other books, she encouraged artists to create little gods or idols to symbolize something important to them, and to pray to them....as well as praying to the dead and waiting for them to guide them. To talk to your dead relatives. It was at that point I stopped listening to the podcast. As a believer in Christ, that goes way over the line of what is acceptable. 

I am glad I read this book, it answered a lot of questions as to what the author believes and accepts. It was interesting to read about the struggles she went through in her life with addiction and mental illness, and was amazing how many different achievements she had, simply because when she wanted to do something, she went for it. It was a very interesting book, and if you have ever read The Artist's Way, you might be interested in this. 

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Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen

Out of Africa is a memoir by Baroness Karen Dinesen Blixen, who ran a coffee plantation outside of Nairobi, Kenya, for 17 years in the early 20th century when Kenya was still a British colony. She tells anecdotes of the squatters who lived on her plantation, her servants, and her friends and colleagues. 

I greatly enjoyed reading this book, as so much of it reminded me of the people and culture of Kenya both times that I visited there. Yes, things have changed quite a bit since the early 1900s. Nairobi is a very large city and has giant slums full of poor people, it has skyscrapers, all kinds of farming, but the people are in many ways the same. 

I felt like the author had a gentle and great love for the people of Africa, as well as the land. 

I watched the movie after reading the book. Glen Close played the Baroness, and Robert Redford played Denys Finch-Hatton, her close friend or so I thought until I saw the movie, and learned he was her lover. It was modestly hinted at in the book, so I looked her up on Google, and interestingly enough, he was her lover, after divorcing her husband who married her mainly for convenience. 

The movie was a bit different from the book, no surprise at that---but the movie, I feel was based half on her book, and half on the events of her life that were recorded in history but not recorded by her in her book. It is well worth watching, but I would read the book and read a little more about her before watching the movie, for a greater appreciation of it.

 

Falling Leaves, Adeline Yen Mah

Falling Leaves, by Adeline Yen Mah

This is the biography of Adeline Yen Mah, a Chinese girl who was abused by her parents, how she overcame the abuse, and found closure. She started out life in 1930s China, and her mother died when she was very young. Her father remarried a very abusive and manipulative woman, and she was terrible to all her step children, but poured out most of her abuse on Adeline. Her father went right along with her. She was treated like vermin scurrying across the floor. 

She talks about the harsh conditions she had to live under, being the unwanted child, how her siblings turned against her, largely from parental example.

She eventually went on to become a successful anesthesiologist in the United States, and bent over backwards to honor and support her father and stepmother, and other family members, and was treated horribly for it.

It breaks my heart that someone could treat their child the way she was treated. I just don't understand it. I am just glad that even though you might have a rough beginning, it doesn't have to stay that way. You may not ever get a Cinderella fairy godmother to step in and fix everything. You may have to make that better life yourself, but it can be done.

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One Glorious Ambition, by Jane Kirkpatrick

One Glorious Ambition, by Jane Kirkpatrick

This is the true story of Dorothea Dix, a single woman in the 1800s who ended up spending the majority of her life on a crusade to help the unfortunate, mainly the mentally ill, lobbying for funding and construction of humane insane asylums across the country. 

It starts out in her childhood, in extreme poverty with a mother who is implied to be mentally ill, and an alcoholic and irresponsible father. She begged her grandmother for help, and her grandmother sent her to relatives. While with them, she decided to become a teacher of the young and unfortunate, which she did for many years, but after almost dying of an illness, she found her true calling, that of lobbying for the mentally ill. 

That a woman could be heard and make such an impact in that time period, is an amazing feat in itself. She was able to make a difference in countless lives.

Jane Kirkpatrick always does such an excellent job researching and writing in the voice of the character. This is not the first book I have read of hers and certainly won't be the last. 

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