Interview with River

Find out what happened when River Scott, from the Deck of Lies series, visited Mia Darien's blog for a character interview!

Books on Film: Mommie Dearest

Mommie Dearest was the very first book of its kind, and since it was printed it's been highly debated, studied, quoted and called into question. Depending on where you stand in the argument, it's either the very first non-fiction Book on Film I've featured...or it's not.

The Book

No one knows for certain whether or not the events depicted in Mommie Dearest are true in entirety, embellished for dramatic effect, or fabricated in whole. One person who would know is dead, and has been since before the story was released. The other person swears it's true...but then she would, because she authored it.

Mommie Dearest was the very first tell-all book written by someone close to a celebrity, and relationships don't get closer than this. It was penned by Christina Crawford, daughter to the mega-star Joan Crawford. She was on Hollywood's A-list before it had an A-list, married into its most famous family, and ruled the screen for so long they were still making movies about her after she died. But after you read this book, you might want to add one more item to Joan's resume: abusive mother.

Published shortly after Joan's death in 1978, the book details the day-to-day life of Christina, eldest child to Joan. She, like her brothers and sisters, was adopted by the actress in the 1930s and 40s. At this time, Joan was in the bloom of her lucrative movie career. She was a star's star, and so well-to-do she managed to adopt several children despite being a single woman in a very conservative world.

One scene depicts a tense dinner between mother and daughter. Christina refuses to eat meat that is too undercooked. Joan rages and screams at her, and makes her sit at the table for many, many hours. Another shows Joan returning from a disappointing meeting with her movie studio, and hacking her own garden to pieces with a set of shears in the middle of the night.

The book talks as much about Joan as it does about Christina's own feelings. An extensive beauty routine is detailed, where Joan dips her face in steaming water, then alcohol, then a bowl of ice cubes. A parade of men dance through Joan and Christina's lives, but none can tolerate the volatile star. The book makes it clear that Joan suffers with OCD-like tendencies, going over-the-top in all manners of cleaning and household-running. 

The most famous scene of all, undoubtedly, involves the way Christina keeps her closet. Joan finds a wire hanger in the closet in the middle of the night and shouts down the house, screaming "no more wire hangers!" at Christina and raging like a madwoman.

Needless to say, the brutal portrayal of this much-loved star was incredibly shocking to readers and Crawford fans. But even on its own merits (or lack thereof), the book has drawn criticism. Many reviewers find it poorly written and very poorly edited, though others enjoy the "easy to understand" and "simple" prose style.

The content of the book has also been called into question time and again. Many of Joan's close friends, and at least one ex-husband, came forward to speak out against the book after it was published. Two of Joan's children, a pair of twins who were the youngest, also said they did not witness any abuse in the household. Some critics say that Christina's own actions are proof that she embellished these tales of torture by turning her own words against her.

By her own admission, Christina Crawford continued to spend time with Joan well after she turned eighteen, got finished with her schooling and began her own acting career. At the reading of Joan's will, Christina and her brother Christopher did not inherit. The will stated that the reasons were "known to them." Some suggest that Joan learned Christina was writing her book, and this is why she cut her off. Others point to this and say this is the reason Christina wrote the book in the first place -- she wanted to spite Joan for disinheriting her. To this day, Christina Crawford stands by her words.

The book was a sensation, but never a long-lasting hit or a must-read. It did spawn a movie that has become a can't-miss flick, however, and it really is one you can't miss.

The Film

The film version of Mommie Dearest was made as soon as possible. A story like this is too good to resist, and it involved one of Hollywood's elite. No way was it going to be ignored. So Faye Dunaway was cast as Crawford. Two actresses you aren't likely to recognize played Christina, a child and adult version.

Like the book, it received a lot of mixed reviews. Dunaway's performance has been both acclaimed and highly criticized, and the film won a really jaw-dropping number of Razzie awards. She screeches and rages through the entirety of the movie, and the editing leaves very few coherent or sympathetic moments -- but then, Christina's book didn't give filmmakers much to work with in that regard.

Crawford is still an alcoholic on film, and remains verbally and physically abusive to Christina. In one memorable scene, she strangles the girl in the presence of a magazine reporter. Even after Christina has grown older and won herself a role on a soap opera, Joan remains a constant presence in her life. When Christina becomes ill and cannot perform on the show, Joan even filled in for her -- something which absolutely happened, by the way. But Christina is ultimately fired, and there's an inference that she blames Joan for this, too.

The film ends much as the book does, with Christina learning that she won't inherit any part of Joan Crawford's estate. The lawyer says something to the effect of "well you know Joan. She always had to have the last word."

Christina intones "we'll see" darkly and stares at the camera. It's a clear message: she's going to be the one with the last word this time. And the movie exists, so clearly it was a plan forthrightly followed. But taking an arguably badly written tell-all and turning it into a feature film depicting a Hollywood legend...this is tricky stuff. Some things were altered for the sake of simplicity, so you really have to read the book to find out what you've missed.

What Got Adapted? 

In reality, Joan Crawford raised four children. She adopted five. Crawford originally adopted a little boy and named him Christopher, but his natural parent re-claimed him so she got herself another little boy and he became the Christopher Crawford who was Christina's oldest sibling. Joan also raised a pair of twin girls who were never referenced in the film, truly an oversight. 

And, disappointingly, the wire hanger scene is changed around. Joan did go on a wire hanger rant in the book, but the night she raged at Christina over the bathroom floor with cleaning powder in her hand was a separate incident. On film, the two are shoved together into a long, traumatic rant. Faye Dunaway, by the way, is wearing cold cream on her face throughout the scene. 

The scene where Joan squares off against the Board of Directors at Pepsi Cola did not appear in the book at all, as much of the book focuses on Christina, and Joan, and no one else. 

The MGM scene is riddled with fiction. In the scene, Crawford is disrespected and practically kicked out of L.B. Mayer's office. This didn't happen. She actually asked to be let out of her contract, but didn't expect Mayer to agree. He did, and she was stuck.

The book doesn't skip so many of Christinia's teen years, and provides a great deal of detail about her innermost thoughts and feelings. Christina has been criticized by many, but she's also gained a lot of fans with her book. Many have praised her for coming forward with her tale. 

And in either case, it's an intriguing story. Whether it's all true, part fiction or none of the above, Mommie Dearest is sad, a little bit funny, chilling and all about Joan Crawford. That definitely merits a read, and the film is truly an event. Watch it!

Writing 101: Split Infinitives

It already sounds scary, right? Split infinitives -- they're a grammar no-no, but most people have no idea what the heck they are. Some writers wouldn't even know one if it fell right out of their own books. The truth is, most people write with split infinitives. Try to observe this outdated grammar rule, and I can just about guarantee that you'll make yourself crazy.

Splitting Infinitives, and Other Grammar Rules to Ignore

My favorite example of a split infinitive is to boldly go. It's a common phrase, thanks to Captain Kirk, and by strict rules of proper English it's totally wrong. An infinitive is an unmarked form of a verb -- and go is a verb. You split an infinitive when you put an adverb between the verb and its companion to.

Need some examples? Split infinitive look a little something like this:

To quickly walk

To forcefully push

To uncharacteristically yell

Any of these phrases might appear in a sentence that reads well, and sounds correct:

I didn't mean to quickly walk past the library.

You just have to forcefully push it open, that's all.

I wasn't ready for you to uncharacteristically yell at me like that.

Anything wrong with those sentences? Most people would think no, but technically they're all incorrect because they've all got split infinitives. To make them correct, you'd have to re-phrase them:

I didn't mean quickly to walk past the library.

I wasn't ready for you, uncharacteristically, to yell at me like that.

And if you were going to clean up Kirk's dialogue? He'd be saying boldly to go instead...and really, that just doesn't have the same ring to it at all. 

Some professional editors despise split infinitives, and in very high-toned academic writing they might be frowned upon. But the fact of the matter is, most writers split their infinitives. Start looking, and you'll find them in everything from blogs to novels to movie scripts. Trying to write without split infinitives can actually make sentences more cumbersome and clumsy, which is exactly what you don't want. 

You should always write the way people talk to make your books readable, and most people talk in split infinitives. So forget this grammar rule, and split away. In fiction writing, split infinitives are practically expected.

Writing 101: Are Your Sentences Too Long?

Every English teacher cautions against using run-on sentences. It's the writer's job to totally ignore them. A little extra prose is to be expected in novels, where description reigns and dialogue is meant to sing. But there's always a line that any author can cross. Are your sentences too long...and do you know how to tell? 

Running On and On

Novels are supposed to be descriptive. You are supposed to literally paint a picture, only with keystrokes instead of brush strokes. It's not always easy to find the right words to use to describe events, places and people. It's even harder to put those words into the proper structure, and long sentences are a perfect example.

She looked out over a horizon painted in shades of red and gold, an endless sea of color in hues of danger, a warning that she was running out of time and the bandits were drawing closer and closer. 

That sentence is pretty descriptive. It's also too darned long. Many authors struggle with finding a cutoff point, myself included, because they're trying to be descriptive. Basically, the sentence above describes a woman standing and looking at the sky. It only describes this one action, so it seems logical that the sentence should continue until the action is complete.

But it's not. Even if you're describing a single action, you have to break your sentences up into reasonable chunks. Look closely at your long sentences, and you'll find the cutoff points. You can find them in the example above, too: 

She looked out over a horizon painted in shades of red and gold. It was an endless sea of color in hues of danger, a warning that she was running out of time. The bandits were drawing closer and closer. 

Drop in a period, re-word a few things, and you can create cutoff points in all your too-long sentences. According to the strict rules of proper English, sentences are supposed to contain one subject and one predicate. The predicate is the action. By this rule, She looked is a proper sentence. In some cases, that can actually work as a whole sentence: 

Missy pointed at the sky, screaming "look!" 

She looked. 

But you couldn't write a whole book this way -- not a very pretty one, anyway. Many authors tend to write in compound sentences, which may contain multiple subjects and corresponding actions.

She looked where Missy was pointing, and felt a ripple of shock when she saw the clouds above their heads. 

In the above, the subject is looking and feeling, and Missy is pointing -- all sorts of mess is going on. The sentence is a bit long, but not excessively so. It's pretty normal, as far as sentences in novels go. The first and last halves of the sentence could each be a single sentence:

She looked where Missy was pointing. She felt a ripple of shock when she saw the clouds above their heads.

But the very last part of the sentence, when she saw the clouds above their heads, cannot be a sentence on its own. If you wanted to break things up differently, you could use this fragment to begin the next sentence in the story:

When she saw the clouds above their heads, she knew nothing would ever be the same. 

How Long is Too Long?

So, you know how to find cutoffs. How do you know when you need them? Just how long is too long when it comes to long sentences? 

Seventeen words. No, that's a joke. There's no exact formula for sentence length, because everyone writes differently and some words feel a lot longer than others.  A sentence is too long when it becomes clumsy. Every author writes with a natural rhythm of words. Some break this rhythm on purpose, jarring readers with a short sentence or an exclamation every now and then. Wow! Some slow it down by writing longer sentences, but once it starts feeling unnatural and becomes too much to digest it's just too long. 

When is a sentence too long? When it's asking readers to absorb too much information at once:

She walked forward with murder on her mind, the leather strap wrapped around her right hand as if in preparation for the the dark deed ahead, her long skirts brushing the ground as she moved down the wall-worn path that was known to be used by the Evil Ones. 

There's a ton of information in the above. I'm meeting a murdering female, I'm finding out about her weapon, I'm being given a setting and I'm even getting introduced to the bad guys. There's even some data on her wardrobe hidden in there somewhere. That's too much stuff happening in a single sentence. My mind can't absorb all of that at once. Now I have to go back and re-read, and now the flow of the story has been interrupted. If this keeps happening and my flow keeps getting interrupted, I might get frustrated and stop reading altogether. 

Read your sentences. They're too long when you start to get bored with them, or get confused yourself and have to read them twice. If you're struggling with a sentence and you're the author, just think how the readers will feel.

Writing 101: Why You Need Bad Writing

It's one of the easiest pieces of advice in the world to tell an author to read great books. Want to learn how to be a better writer? Read great books! Read authors in your genre, read the bestsellers, read, read, read. I'm not going to tell you to do that. I want you to do something else. I want you to seek out bad writing. You need it. You just might not know it.

Bad Writing is Good

Have you ever come across a really old piece of your own writing? Exactly how long did you stare at it in bug-eyed horror before you quickly thrust it away from yourself and make an attempt to disassociate? 

Mozart was a musical prodigy; he composed "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at age 5. Bobby Fischer was a chess prodigy; he competed in the Game of the Century at age 13. As far as I've ever known, there are no writing prodigies. Nobody sits down at age 11 and writes an epic novel that becomes an instant hit -- not even the likes of Mark Twain. Many authors, even the most well-known, received many rejections before getting themselves into a position to be known to you. So chances are pretty good that your earliest writing is fairly horrible in some area or another. My early writing is weak on spelling, grammar, punctuation, plot, character creation, character development...you get the point. 

I want you to make an effort to read your own bad writing, and read it more than once. Reading good writing will make you a better writer. Reading bad writing can help make you great. I've learned a whole lot more from reading indie books to review than I ever did catching the odd copy error in my collection of James Patterson. I started thinking about that recently, and wondering about it.

Spotting mistakes in other people's bad writing, and in your own old bad writing, puts you in the right frame of mind to find your own. It's not always easy to be objective when you're editing that book you just worked on for the last 6 months. The project is still new and fresh, and you've got all sorts of feelings wrapped up in it. It's much easier to be objective when you stumble across your own terrible writing from years and years ago, projects you've long since discarded and stopped loving. That's when you're grimacing at your mistakes, and groaning out loud at your poor structure. But you might also see some stuff you're still doing the wrong way. You might notice your own bad patterns. And you might go back to that new project that you're romanticizing, and see it with brand-new eyes. 

And all of that is going to help make you a whole lot better. So, go. Look for bad writing, and look for errors. Then go back to your current projects, and keep all those mistakes in mind while you're getting swept up in the story. You need bad writing to make yours better. Keep reading -- but don't be so quick to put the bad stuff down next time.

Writing 101: All About DRM

If you've self-published on Amazon, you know you have the option for checking a little box that allows you to add DRM protection to your books. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, and many authors read Amazon's brief description and decide to check the box. After all, it protects your rights as the author. What you may not realize is that it also makes things difficult for your readers. As a self-published author, that might be something you just can't afford. 

Why Use DRM? 

Digital Rights Management is included in most movies and music you download online -- at least, the stuff you download legally (like through iTunes and such). It's a sort of encryption that's embedded into the file, and it makes it exceedingly difficult for you to copy these digital files -- like in case you want to give them to your friends or re-sell them. And DRM is commonly used in ebooks as well, to prevent ebook piracy. There's no question that ebook piracy happens...but this might not be enough reason for you to add DRM to your ebooks. 

What's Wrong With It? 

You worked really hard on all your books, and you definitely don't want someone to get ahold of them and start re-selling them, or begin marketing them as their own, or take to giving a whole lot of them away for free. You don't deserve that, and plus you won't be able to keep a reasonable count on your book sales if this is happening. 

So DRM is totally great, right? Wrong. Visit the Amazon Kindle forums sometime, and you'll find people complaining about DRM. The program isn't perfect, and sometimes bugs appear. Many readers are forced to delete books because they cannot open them, or they lose their books because they can't be transferred when they upgrade their Kindles.

Bugs in the system create a lot of frustration. Suppose one of your books is buggy for your buyers? If they can't read it, they aren't going to review it. They aren't going to buy more of your books. They're going to move on, and forget all about you and your damned buggy books. 

Maybe your DRM-protected books work perfectly. Maybe there's nothing wrong with them at all. But even when DRM works perfectly, it frustrates readers. I like to read books on my Kindle sometimes, and on my phone sometimes. Maybe I'll even pull one up on my laptop, because I need to double-check something or make notes for a review. But if I bought a book with DRM protection, I might not be able to do that. DRM also creates sharing problems between devices, meaning I might find it impossible to open up the same book on my phone, my ereader, my tablet (in this scenario, I have a tablet) and my laptop. If I can't access your book whenever I want, I'm going to get frustrated. I'm going to read a book I can access anytime, anywhere. I'm going to forget about reading you.

I also can't turn your book into an audio book if you added DRM, or back it up to prevent loss and safeguard against hardware crashes. I can't print it out, and put it on paper if that's how I'd rather read it.

And to make matters worse, DRM doesn't really work, anyway. 

Picking Your Battles

Book piracy happens, and it happens in spite of DRM. You could be frustrating your readers for no reason whatsoever. DRM does make it a little bit more difficult for people to illegally acquire books, but people who have the skills can remove the protection when they want. Chances are very high that no one is pirating your book even when you don't have DRM protection in place. And when you do have it in place, you're taking a chance on pissing off your readers and even turning some away. Some book buyers so passionately hate DRM, they won't even buy books that have it.

You chose self-publishing so you could make the decisions, and now you've got one to make. Are you going to use DRM, or aren't you?

Personal Reflections, and the Year Ahead

I've been thinking a lot about 2012, and wondering what the new year will hold. I was a little surprised when I thought about everything that happened in 2012.

A Look Back

On this day one year ago, I was anxious, unhealthy, and didn't really want to leave my apartment. One year ago, I didn't have much reason to. But things are different now, because I made some things happen over the past 12 months: 

• I published four books in 2012.

True, they are not long books, but the page counts are respectable. Accomplishing this was a big deal for me because I had to overcome my writer's block to do it. I spent two years being literally unable to write any fiction whatsoever, and in 2012 I decided it wasn't going to beat me.

It didn't. I finished the Deck of Lies series, and now I've started something new. In 2013, I hope to publish FIVE books!

• I lost 50 pounds.

It's true. In February, I noticed that I could no longer wear any of my clothing, not even my "fat girl" jeans. I was frightened. I went to the doctor, thinking I might be ill.

I was not. I was just eating too much. So I followed his advice and started paying attention to what I was eating. I got serious (some would say compulsive) about exercising. I lost the weight, and now I'm quite small.

In 2013, I'm going to wear a bikini...in public!  

• I bought a house.

It's my first home! It is a small house on a big lot with absolutely luscious, REAL hardwood floors. Fabulous, I know.

But because it was lived in for a very long time by a little old lady who did her own canning, it definitely wasn't my style. So the entire thing is being remodeled. I do own it and I'm paying the bills, but I've yet to sleep there. I WILL get moved into it in 2013! 

• I discovered the indie community and the book blogger community.

What a nice surprise it was to find Goodreads, a site dedicated to my true love: words. Here I met many other authors and bloggers, and started regularly participating in forums for the first time.

I'm going to spend even more time in the community in 2013. I've joined three more forums for writers and loaded up my Google Reader, so I'm ready!

• I learned that I am a terrible book reviewer.

I started out strong, and loaded up on review commitments.  Then I got bold. I started to solicit review copies, instead of just waiting for requests. I ended up getting mired in an impossibly long story that really went nowhere, and honestly I haven't been the same since. Poor formatting, lackluster editing and zero narrative creativity I can handle, but that really long book sucked something out of me in 2012. I can't even force myself to read the books and indie authors I actually enjoy. 

I will finish my TBR list in 2013, and apologize to every author who has so patiently waited for me. But in the future I will only accept review requests on an extremely limited basis, because I frankly stink at doing it. I can't promise I'll shake off the aftereffects of that altogether way too long book. Right now, I'm not really enjoying reading. This is bad news for an author, so I'll try to tackle this in 2013.

• I'm going to be less aloof.

In the past, I've mainly used my blog to talk writing and books. Meanwhile, I've been secretly envying blogger/author Annalisa Crawford. She writes wonderfully descriptive posts all about her life, personal stuff that draws me in every time. I always wish that I could do the same, but I seem to be a naturally aloof person when I'm online.

In 2013, I'll try to be more open and blog more about my personal life, too. I'll write about my book projects instead of keeping things as quiet as I have in the past. My goal is write at least one personal post a week, starting with this one, to be posted during the weekend. It's hard for me. This post was originally scheduled to go live Saturday, but I couldn't do it. So we'll see how this one goes.

 A New Year...

I got a lot done in 2012, and I want to keep that momentum going. This is my main goal for the year ahead. What about everyone else? What did you learn in 2012, and what do you hope to learn in 2013? 

Books on Film: Memoirs of a Geisha

Much of the eastern world is still shrouded by a curtain of mystery. It's a world steeped in traditions and culture that only one born to it can hope to understand. It's a world that an American named Arthur Golden revealed in his 1997 book Memoirs of a Geisha. Hidden inside this tale of tradition and uncontrollable circumstance, there's a really beautiful love story.

The Book

The reader meets young Chiyo Saramoto at the beginning of the book. She lives in a poor family, in a poor fishing village near the Sea of Japan. Along with her older sister Satsu, she's sold to an okiya in the large city of Kyoto. The okiya she's sold to is located in Gion, the best-known geisha district in the city. Chiyo is taken into the okiya; Satsu is not. She is taken away to parts unknown instead, and Chiyo is left alone at age 9.

There is a girl her age, nicknamed Pumpkin, already living there. In the okiya, Chiyo is surrounded by Granny, an old woman who complains about everything; Mother, who cares more about money than anything else; and Auntie, a failed geisha. The beautiful and bad-tempered geisha Hatsumomo also lives in the okiya, and she hates Chiyo upon first sight.

Chiyo doesn't care. She's not going to stay in the okiya anyway. She makes plans to leave the okiya, the district and all of Kyoto with Satsu, who has been forced into prostitution in the pleasure district. Chiyo ends up falling off the roof and breaking her arm in the escape attempt instead, an act which enrages Mother. Chiyo's geisha training is immediately halted. She will live in okiya and work as a slave instead, until she works off the debt she's created.

Years pass as Chiyo works in the okiya. Pumpkin continues with her geisha training, and Hatsumomo continues behaving badly. Chiyo is unhappy, and overworked, and completely without hope...until she has a chance encounter on the street one day. A kind and handsome man, the Chairman, gives her a handkerchief and some money. She gives the money back in prayer at the Yasaka Shrine. Her prayer?

To be a geisha, so she may one day see the Chairman again. While she gives the money to the shrine, Chiyo keeps the handkerchief for herself. She develops envy and resentment for Pumpkin, who is still training to be a geisha under Hatsumomo. But during Granny's funeral, Chiyo is taken in by Hatsumomo's rival Mameha. She owns a kimono that Chiyo destroyed years ago under Hatsumomo's direction. Mameha talks Mother into paying for Chiyo's training again, and soon she, too, is learning to be a geisha.

This is when the little girl known as Chiyo dies. Born in her place is Sayuri the geisha. Hatsumomo is popular, but technically she is not a good geisha because she made the mistress of her tea house angry once, long ago. Because of this, Hatsumomo could never find a sponsor (a danna) to become independent. This is why Hatsumomo still lives in Mother's okiya. Mother does not name Hatsumomo as her successor because she knows it would be the ruination of the okiya.

Hatsumomo's hatred of Sayuri is still strong, and she does her best to ruin the young geisha's reputation all around Gion. Mameha must come up with a new plan, and get Hatsumomo out of the way. She begins finding bidders for Sayuri's mizuage, an event which is portrayed in the book as a sort of deflowering ceremony. Nobu Toshikazu is among those Mameha wants Sayuri to entice. He's a prominent businessman and the president of an electric company...not to mention, a friend of the Chairman's. At last Sayuri sees him again, but cannot talk to him because she must try to woo Nobu. Another man, whom Sayuri calls Dr. Crab, is also interested in Sayuri. It is he who wins the bidding war for the mizuage. Sayuri uses this money to pay back all her debt.

This is when Mother chooses to adopt Sayuri as her successor, though she'd been considering Pumpkin before. It ruins all remaining friendship between the two girls, and angers Hatsumomo. She becomes even more shrewish than usual, and is eventually thrown out of the okiya. Pumpkin voluntarily leaves shortly after that.

None of it will matter soon, for Japan will soon be involved in World War II. Many of the geishas are being evacuated, and Nobu manages to get Sayuri to the north. Here, she works for a kimono maker while the war rages. After the war ends, Nobu finds her again and asks her to return to Gion. Here, he wants her to entertain Deputy Minister Sato, a man who can help re-build the electric company. Both the Chairman and Nobu are involved with the company, and she will do anything to help the Chairman.

Together with Pumpkin and Mameha, Sayuri entertains the men regularly. Nobu begins proceedings to become Sayuri's danna. It is the worst of all fates. If Nobu becomes her danna, she will be near the Chairman...but never to have him, only to be tortured by his nearness. She forms her own plan to sleep with the Minister, and subsequently get caught by Nobu. This will lower her reputation in his eyes so badly, he would never want to be her danna. Pumpkin is tasked with bringing Nobu to the right place and time.

She doesn't realize how very much Pumpkin still hates her. Instead, Pumpkin makes sure it is the Chairman, not Nobu, who catches Sayuri with the Minister. Eventually, Sayuri ends up in New York running her own tea house...but not before she resolves things with the Chairman.

The Film

A feature-length film was created in 2005 based on the book. Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress, stars as Sayuri. This caused considerable controversy, since Sayuri is a Japanese girl. However, the movie is a very faithful adaptation, copying the plot of the novel almost exactly.

There are some slight differences an exaggerations, mostly done for dramatic effect. On film, Hatsumomo leaves the okiya much more dramatically by setting it on fire before fleeing. Much of the backstory of the novel, revolving around young Chiyo's life, is cut from film -- probably, this is done for time's sake. The book is very long, and so is the movie. Her geisha training is also shortened on film, and shown in less detail.

The movie also adds a little story of its own, giving Hatsumomo a secret lover whom she's not allowed to have as a geisha. We see a love-stricken and trapped Hatsumomo on film, not the hell-on-wheels witch from the novel. The book delves deeply into geisha tradition and their hidden world, heady stuff, while the movie swims briefly along the shallow end.

That said, it's a beautiful story in both mediums. It's filled with mystery, drama, tradition, love and emotion. Read the book, watch the movie, and compare them for yourself.