"Although the character Sayuri and her story are completely invented"

[tsukikage]

Damn that Arthur Golden. I thought Jakob Haarhuis was a real person.
And damn Dad for making me realize that he's not.

ガルルル

*goes back to reading*

Comments

[trevmex.livejournal.com]

I love the icon!

BEAR IS DRIVING! HOW CAN BE!

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

^_^

[jamestdr.livejournal.com]

From http://www.goodbookslately.com/recommendedbooks/memoirsofageisharsg.pdf

Framing Devices. The literary devices used by Golden in his novel—the translator’s note, the placement of the author bio and photo, the acknowledgements—come out of a playful tradition that traces its origins to 18th-century novels (especially epistolary novels, novels made up of fictional letters) that pretended to be edited, translated, or altered in some way along the path from the author’s mind to the printed page. In Golden’s novel, the framing devices work against each other in interesting ways and indicate that perhaps Golden was of two minds on how to handle his book. On one hand, the translator’s note sets up a “real” situation in which the first-person narrative makes sense. On the other hand, before we come to that note, we see Golden’s photograph and read his bio, so we know the translator’s note is fictional. The acknowledgments page reinforces the notion that this is fiction, not memoir, as Golden speaks to us directly as the author, revealing his tricks like the Wizard of Oz coming out from behind his curtain. In several interviews, Golden jokes that he knows his “ruse has worked” when people at book signings ask him how Jakob Haarhuis is doing. One reader was apparently so convinced by his devices, she asked if it were his
picture on the cover of the book!

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Thank you for finding this for me. ^_^ In several interviews, Golden jokes that he knows his “ruse has worked” when people at book signings ask him how Jakob Haarhuis is doing. I could imagine myself having done that. ^^; I took a look at the pdf itself, and decided to save it to read after I finish the book.