Rating: 
Summary: Very accurate.
Review: It's amazing that a man and a non-Japanese man no less was able to write so accurately about the Japanese culture.
Rating: 
Summary: I suppose that my hopes were too high.
Review: This is not a bad novel, nor a poorly written one. The author's fascination with his subject matter and his extensive research are evident. But despite these factors, I found this book to be rather middle-of the-road, and the characters uninvolving.If you truly crave meticulously researched historical fiction, I strongly suggest Gary Jennings's The Journeyer, Aztec, or (newly published in mass market) The Roadshow (Spangle). These books are all outstanding, and leave "Memoirs" in the dust.
Rating:
Summary: A cross between fiction and non-fiction
Review: Through reading this book, I learned about a different culture I knew nothing about and became very sympathetic to the geisha and their role in Japanese society. The character development of Sayuri was excellent, showing how she overcame horrible circumstances and thrived. The non-fiction elements, such as descriptions of a class of Japanese society and historical events of the twentieth century, added intellectual interest to what could have been an escape novel.
Rating:
Summary: delightful reading.i couldn't stop reading it
Review: a delightful look into the japan of pre second world war and the customs and traditions of that time and place. i believe it gives an incredible insight into the life of a geisha and who and what they really were.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasizing about geisha and Asian women again?
Review: Though well-written, the book leaves the reader with an old, recurring theme; gentle, sensual and submissive Asian women admiring Western (read American) men. This sort of fantasy has humiliated Asian women inside and outside the US for many years and must be condemned.However it should be said that the book does an important service to the Western public by portraying geisha for what they are; treasured artists charged with carrying on the centuries-old tradition of ancient dance and music. This is refreshing given that most Western men fantasize about geisha as mere prostitutes
Rating:
Summary: a fascinating exploration into Japan's Geisha community
Review: it was a page-turner. I could not put this book down. Hooked from the first chapter, you follow the life of this Japanese Geisha from about 7 years old until she's in her 60's. If, in addition, you have any interest in japanese culture, you won't be able to put this book down once you start.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy this book. you'll love it!
Review: I picked up this book after a difficult read and could not put it down. The culture, the history and the story were unforgettable. I have recommended it to friends and everyone agrees. Follow Chiyo through her life and enjoy the story.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Try
Review: It is interesting to have a look at at Japan's geisha subculture and Golden does a good job in that respect. But the story is disappointing. Golden uses the voice of a woman but the story shows the perspective of a man - he gets the little things right but the big picture betrays him. The story is about the creation of a geisha. The geisha doesn't know it but she is being created by a man whom she coincidentally falls in love with and spends her geisha days conspiring to run into. In keeping with the place and time, and because she loves him (and to the delight of the author?), the geisha's physical and emotional well-being are completely tied to the whims of this man. In summary, he creates her and she loves him. And she has blue eyes. It's surprising that Golden didn't give her blonde hair and large breasts as well. He gets to create her twice - once as the author and once as the hero of the book. By the way, the old, self-sufficient women who were good at making money were portrayed as hideous, evil and heartless. In it's own way, this sort of thing is amusing but ...this book is a medium-sized waste of reading time.
Rating:
Summary: Amy Tam meets Barbara Cartland
Review: A frustrating read. "Memoirs.." constantly hints at the great novel that it could be, but in the end delivers no better than a Harlequin Romance. Perhaps that's the real reason behind its immense popularity. The hype surrounding the book led me to believe it would be as moving and complex as an Amy Tam novel -- it's even written in her first-person/memoir style. But, after a promising beginning, I watched in horror as the novel devolved into the puerile territory of an historical bodice-ripper. Even its plot is lifted directly from that genre; the hapless heroine, whose innate worth is evidenced solely by her beauty (which usually presents itself in the form of an unusual feature -- extraordinary hair or eyes) and the irresistible desire she inspires in men (and jealousy in women), made to suffer at the hands of evil people who plot to destroy her because she is so good and beautiful and they are so...well, just born to be bad. Then there is the unreachable object of desire, for whom the heroine pines, and who is always a) angry with her, or b) oblivious to her. After much suffering on her part at the hands of a vast conspiracy of evil-doers, the heroine must try to resolve the misunderstanding that has kept her apart from her rich and powerful object of desire. And that, in a nutshell, is the Memoir of this Geisha. Even the much-vaunted historical detail that Golden employs is a prime feature of the romance genre; every bodice-ripper spends reams of paper describing the clothes and hair and interior decoration of its heroine's world. To be fair to Golden, he does employ richer prose and more subtlety than your average supermarket paperback, but in the end he can't disguise the fact that this silk kimono is made out of a sow's ear.
Rating:
Summary: great character study novel
Review: interesting, entertaining, educational. The story pulls you in and the characters and historical events keep you engrossed.
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