Inspirational Reads

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."--Norman Vincent Peale

I love books and have quite a few in my collection; I have an old herbal book (which I do use), an old copy of Jane Eyre (a prized possession, that I have read many times over), many contemporary horror and psychological thrillers, but two of my favorites, in which I have read more than once are 12 Golden Threads by Aliske Webb and Memoirs of a Geisha, by Author Golden. These books actually made me feel so good while reading them. I honestly could not put down Memoirs, it’s weird but I have never seen the movie. (I don’t get into watching movies; I always end up falling asleep!) I found 12 Golden Threads to be very inspirational, yes, it is about quilting, (back in the day I used to quilt every day!), but it also contains some very valuable life lessons. They are very good reads! I have included summaries of each from various sources.

 

A lecturer on women and creativity, Webb self-published her very genuine, warmly written novel a few years ago. According to the press release, the self-published book sold 25,000 copies and also became a best-seller in Japan. A paradigm for living, Webb's narrative takes the form of quilting instructions passed down from grandmother to granddaughters over the course of a year. Each of the title's 12 golden threads embodies a "metaphor for what we need to do in life," with the mother of the young women providing narration and an ongoing dialogue that enhances Grama's lessons. As the granddaughters progress with work on their quilts, Webb portrays the close and gratifying relationship existing between three generations of women. In what is essentially a series of homilies, the positive effects of valuing such things as commitment, goals, responsibility, and cooperation are proclaimed throughout.  Summary written by: Alice Joyce

 

Memoirs of a Geisha is a historical novel by American author Arthur Golden**, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II. A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it.

In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable. (Summary from Amazon.com)

**After the Japanese edition of the novel was published, Arthur Golden was sued for breach of contract and defamation of character by Mineko Iwasaki, a retired geisha he had interviewed for background information while writing the novel. The plaintiff asserted that Golden had agreed to protect her anonymity if she told him about her life as a geisha, due to the traditional code of silence about their clients. However, Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgments for the novel, causing her to face a serious backlash, to the point of death threats. In his behalf, Arthur Golden countered that he had tapes of his conversations with Iwasaki.  Eventually, in 2003, Golden's publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.

Iwasaki later went on to write her own autobiography, which shows a very different picture of twentieth-century geisha life than the one shown in Golden's novel. The book was published as Geisha, a Life. (Wikipedia)