Rating: 
Summary: Superficial.
Review: After the first third of the book I couldn't stop raving about it and recommending it to friends. By the time I got to the last third I couldn't wait to finish it and move on to something else. Arthur seems to have lost interest half way through the book and did what he could to finish it. Maybe I was expecting something deeper but even for a fairy tale its unbelievably childish.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully Written
Review: Memoirs of a Geisha is a wonderful book. It portrays the life of a Kyoto geisha from her childhood (not being raised to become a geisha) to a chance encounter with a man who trains her to be a geisha. When I bought the book, I was unsure about the contents, and I did NOT want a sexually written book, and with happiness that is what I got!!! If you are hesitant because of sexual content, go for it. It is more than that. It is written as though it was dictated from a geisha herself. Arthur S. Golden uses beautiful metaphors, and brings you to laughter and tears.
Rating:
Summary: This book was so interesting!
Review: I found this book facinating. It sparked my interest in Japanese culture. The book would have been better if we had been able to know the Chairman as well as we knew Nobu. Was the reason she didnt love Nobu because of the way he looked? The book is not perfect but I LOVED the wisdom of Golden's metaphors. GREAT BOOK
Rating: 
Summary: Now we know the Japanese equivalent of a Heidi girl.
Review: The book was easy to read, a concise, simple, and flowing style. The author should get good marks for what must have been exhaustive research to produce such detail. Memoirs of a Geisha is well written. But I could find little to sympathize with or learn from in any of the characters, the male characters exaggerated in their ghastliness, the geisha, when you remove the veil of artistic culture, nothing more than high priced call girls who only spread their legs for steadily paying clientele. Satsu, who fled prostitution, was the only character I could truly feel for, but she just dropped out of the story, Sayuri not even attempting to reunite with the sister she supposedly pines over, and this though Sayuri had the means and connections to find her. The characters left me empty. I found them to have little moral fiber at all, the story simply a tale of how materialistic, sometimes clever but otherwise empty headed courtesans ply their trade in Japan, the war even cast as horrible for the lack of sugar daddies and tea, having to suffer a real job, or the horror of ones hands getting rough! So what? As another reader said, it's a vacation novel, if that much, but a waste of time if you're looking for a book with any greatness.
Rating:
Summary: A most captivating book and culture.
Review: Memoirs is one of the best books I've read. As with most books, you get out of a book what the author has put in. The author no doubt put forth a tremendous effort as an historian and a wonderful storyteller. I will definately recommend this book to my friends and family and be most certain no one will be disappointed. This book is a page-turner that will keep you energized into the wee hours of the morning!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful beginning that deteriorates into another harlequin
Review: In the beginning I was mesmerized by the haunting metaphors and sad tale and couldn't wait to find out where Golden was taking the reader. By the middle I was getting anxious to finish this book that operated on a carrot/stick tactic. By the end I found the book very disturbing and misogynist. Basically it's about a 45 year pedophile who convinces another geisha to turn a 12 year girl into a geisha so that he eventually can "win her over." In the meantime, another 50+ year old man pays thousands of yen to be the first one to have sex with a minor. And all along our heroine,Sayuri, is in love with a man old enough to be her grandfather. Sayuri believes this man did her a great favor since he is the reason she is what she is: a geisha. I understand that this was part of the Japanese culture, but families selling their daughters so they can become glorified prostitutes, and older rich men willing to out-bid each other for an opportunity to have sex with a minor is creepy.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read.
Review: It is very difficult for me to put the book down. I brood about it while not reading it. It has captivated me. I have been interested in and have learned a lot about Chinese culture over the years but did not know much about the Japanese culture. I find it every bit as interesting as Chinese culture. I would categorize the book as a historical novel. The metaphors are beautifully poignant and very different than those in our culture. I am very fond of the metaphor about grief being like a window that opens on its own and over time, opens less and less. I keep insisting to myself that Sayuri is a real person. I feel sad she is not. This would make a GREAT movie. I hope Arthur Golden writes another book about the Japanese culture - perhaps about the life of a warrior or a sumo wrestler. My thanks to Mr. Golden for writing such a fine book for people to enjoy reading.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Original
Review: A really great well written book that is both fascinating and captivating. It offers a detailed look into a completely different world. I like fresh original works such as this and Fried Calamari by D.M. Roman
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but clunky
Review: Cultural lessons were interesting, but maybe I could have learned more from a non-fiction? Some times the book was abortively didactic. In any case, I found some original metaphors which seemed authentically Japanese in their nature (from my point of view at least). Plot basic. Tie-up illogical. No way, or else Sayuri would have been rescued about the time of the wrestling match or before.
Rating:
Summary: have traveled to Japan with friend of Arthur Golden's
Review: was completely hypnotized by the powerful and insightful descriptions from a woman's perspective. The Japanese Culture is honored to have such a sensitive, sensual observant and obviously transformed American writer perspective. I did not want to rush through it but savor it to the very last image.
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