Comparisons

A2 English Literature Coursework

A Thousand Splendid Suns & Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden | Khaled Hosseini |

* Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee * Attended Harvard, receiving a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art * Earned M.A. in Japanese history from Columbia University * Traveled to Asia, spending a summer at Beijing University and working in Tokyo. * Earned M.A. in English from Boston University * Currently lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife and two children. | * Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. * Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1988. * Following year he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D in 1993. |

Setting in Memoirs of a Geisha | Setting in a Thousand Splendid Suns |

* Yoroido; story begins in the small ocean side village of Yoroido. (“This town only had one road leading right to the front door of Japan Coastal Seafood Company.”)- Where Chiyo was born. * Kyoto; there is a district that also makes up most of Kyoto. This district is Gion. The Shirakawa Canal runs through Kyoto. – (“To shut out the pain…I turned toward the Shirakawa, but cruelly, even its waters glided along with purpose.”)- Where Satsu and Chiyo are taken after Mr. Tanaka takes them from Yoroido. * Nitta Okiya; home of the Geisha, Hatsumomo, Sayuri (chiyo) and Pumpkin. Mother takes over the Okiya when grandmother dies. Sayuri and Hatsumomo have adjacent rooms in the Okiya. There are several other rooms such as the Kimono Storage Room, the pantry, the kitchen, and the maids room. However those rooms are hardly mentioned in the book. * Gion; district of Gion is in Kyoto, there are many teahouses in Gion such as the Ichiriki Teahouse. * Tipsy House; what Chiyo calls home in Yoroido because it leans to the side, as...