Rating: 
Summary: A Beautifully Written and Fantastic Book!
Review: What a fantastic book! I could hardly put it down. My husband commented that each time he saw me I was reading the book. My idea of a Geisha was totally changed when I read this book. I always equated the word with prostitute, but I now know different. The story of Sayuri was sad, ironic, culturally interesting and at times, amusing. The description of the kimono and the geisha were vivid - I could see the colors and fabrics in my mind. I could see the gardens and the teahouses. What a truly wonderful story. I was sad to finish the book. I did not want it to end. Fantastic!!
Rating:
Summary: gripping tale of the growth and education of a geisha
Review: I really enjoyed this book! Couldn't put it down. I did find the end a little flat but overall it was a grand epic tale!
Rating:
Summary: Pure Addiction
Review: Never in my life has a book creeped into my every day going-on's as Memoirs of a Geisha. I found myself thinking about all the charactes at work, during lunch, dinner, and at the gym. Golden's writing is filled with exquisite metaphors and descriptions that transported me to Gion and into the lives of these wonderful and talented women. I WANT TO BE A GEISHA :-)!!!! I have recommended this book to everyone that I know and I will definately read it again. I was so sad to see it end. Matter of fact I hid the book from myself with only 20 pages remaining in hopes to make this pleasurable experience last that much longer. I was deeply touched by Sayuri's relationships with Mameha, Nobu, and her beloved Chairman. A MUST READ!!!! You will not be dissapointed! Cheers to Golden-san!
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting read....
Review: I had serious misgivings when I got to know about this book early this year, thinking that life as a Geisha can't really be that interesting, can it?? Boy, was I wrong.... So, there I was in a local bookstore, paying my good money for a glimpse of this book. It was dreamlike from the first page and it really took my breath away. I haven't come across such an interesting book for quite a while....I can't put it down. Luv it and I'm recommending it to everybody out there.
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Summary: I was transported ----through this book. I lovedit.
Review: It was great. My kids accused me of zoning out and asked if it really was that good. but I really loved all the feelings and descriptions. I really felt like I was there.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing and very eloquent
Review: I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Angela's Ashes, to some extent (I liked Angela's Ashes better.) In Memoirs of a Geisha, the reader becomes intrigued with the way Japanese society accepts and uses Geishas to promote culture, artistry, social parties, etc. Although there is very little sex in this book (and what there is is not pleasurable), the training of the geisha-to-be and the life of the Japanese servant girl is tough. I was shocked at the way the young girl in this story was abducted from her home and sold. I never understood why she was sold, but made peace with that as the young girl gradually accepted her fate. The girls struggles through her later childhood and early teen years is remarkable and can only speak for an era gone by. This situation would probably not happen in the 20th century "civilized" world, but at the same time, the art and beauty of the early Japanese Geisha has faded so that the Geisha's of today are mere imitations. Mr Golden has a beautiful writing style - - very lyrical for a man and the eloquent thoughts of the girl were wonderful and made the reading all the more enjoyable. This is a very good book - astounding in thought and concept.
Rating:
Summary: Intricate details and beautiful story. I was mesmerized.
Review: As a typically ignorant North American, I picked up this novel unsure whether I would enjoy it at all, mostly due to the Geisha theme. I was SO wrong, I loved it. I found myself brought into the world of this young girl, and I cared about her person very much. I have recommended it to many people. It is beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing!
Review: This is a fascinating book!! Golden writes in such a believable fashion. He does an excellent job explaining the customs and life of a geisha in a way that is very natural and completely woven into the story. It is unpredictable and extremely captivating.
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Summary: The Japanese Mermaid
Review: Luminous and sad are the first two words that remain after reading the Memoirs. Unreal, surreal, there is both the endless sorrow of Emile Zola, and the refined delicacy of Jane Austen unfolding in the removed quarters of the geisha houses of Gion in pre-war Kyoto. The book itself is deeptively written; Golden says it is a transcription of a Dutch professor*s tapes made when he interviewed the Geisha--Sayuri--of the title; thus both the woman and her biographer are removed from real life. And this is the way the geisha live, the intricacies of day-to-day living, the tiny vital things the women study almost in secret, cannot be exposed to the harsh glare of the outside world. When her parents are quite ill, Sayuri is gently tricked by Mr.Tanaka the broker into being sent to Kyoto as indentured maidservant to a renowned geisha house. There she suffers the slow torture of being considered and raised up to become one of the most prominent geisha of her day, 1930s Japan. Reading this book in tandem with Runaway Horses, Yukio Mishima*s violent portrait of those days, it is impossible to believe both are describing the same time, the same country. The geisha dance, play, sing, all but removed from their fellow citizens; when Sayuri must flee Kyoto during WW2 her exposure to the outside world is quite shocking. The slow unfolding of her loves, with the injured Nobu, with Nobu*s friend the quiet Chairman of Iwemura Electirc, occurs with an Austen-attention to detail. But it is a sad thing, doomed in its own transedence, its own temprary nature. The geisha are as removed as mermaids, ultimately as unreal.
Rating: 
Summary: Very cultural and educational, but not the most entertaining
Review: This book was an okay read. Full of culture and information, but not exactly something I found to be terrabely interesting. Written well, and organized well also.
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