INSOMNIAC SONG
BOOK REVIEWS
HISTORICAL FANTASY
The Black Isle
Author: Sandi Tan
Page Count: 472 pages
Date Published: 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Synopsis: Uprooted from Shanghai with her father and twin brother, young Cassandra finds the Black Isle's bustling, immigrant-filled seaport, swampy jungle, and grand rubber plantations a sharp contrast to the city of her childhood. And she soon makes another discovery: the Black Isle is swarming with ghosts. Haunted and lonely, Cassandra at first tries to ignore her ability to see the restless apparitions that drift down the street and crouch in cold corners at school. Yet despite her struggles with these spirits, Cassandra comes to love her troubled new home. And soon, she attracts the notice of a dangerously charismatic man. Even as she becomes a fearless young woman, the Isle's dark forces won't let her go. War is looming, and Cassandra wonders if her unique gift might be her beloved island's only chance for salvation . . .
I wanted to give this book a try simply because it seemed interesting. The price was a meager $1 so how bad could it be? In all honesty, I should have left it on the shelf. The writing style wasn't bad. It was merely the subject matter. Cassandra was born as Ling, twin sister of Ling. Her parents treat her as the lesser child, even withholding gifts on her birthday due to her sex. She's mistreated even when their father takes both children across the sea from China to his new job on the Black Isle. The journey isn't easy and neither is life on the plantation.
Ghost stories are nothing new for me. Neither are erotic novels. This seemed to be a cross between ghost story, historical fiction and erotic novel. Yet, it never really succeeds in any of those genres. There are some warnings for anyone who wishes to try this book. The main character and her brother engage in an incestuous relationship. Later in the novel, she is repeatedly raped by another character. There is even rape in public as well as beastiality involving an octopus. It was painstaking to get through the novel. I wouldn't recommend it even for those who wish to read about such things.
Rating: 1/5
HISTORICAL FICTION
Memoirs of a Geisha
Author: Arthur Golden
Page Count: 448
Date Published: 1999
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Synopsis: 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.
Both Sayuri and her elder sister, Satsu, are sold by their parents. Satsu is sent to become a prostitute while Sayuri goes to an okiya. Life isn't easy for either girl although it's Sayuri that the novel follows closely. Her intereactions with the other women living in the okiya are varied. Hatsumomo, a famous geisha from the same okiya, openly hates Sayuri as she's seen as a potential rival. Life for the women get even more complicated when Japan enters World War II.
Aside from all the criticism,, Memoirs of a Geisha is a compelling read with characters that draw the reader in. Yes, the novel is written by an American. Arthur Golden did research his subject matter and craft his story around a very real art. The rest is fictional. Throughout the novel, the author fills it with flowery prose. Mr. Golden is quite good with setting a scene up for the imagination. Don't let anything else detract from your experience.
Rating: 3/5