Memoirs of a Geisha

Rating:
Summary: One word - masterpiece
Review: This is the most beautifully written book I've read in years. The story is captivating and weaves us through the life of this geisha like a gold thread on her kimona; Mr. Golden's use of metaphors is a gift given from above and a gift to those of us who have read this book. IF YOU HAVE TO PICK ONLY ONE BOOK TO READ, THIS WOULD BE IT. I am in the habit of always having my next book ready to read...but I've not picked up another in several days as I keep thinking about this story. Thank you Mr. Golden.

Rating:
Summary: This book transported me back to Japan!
Review: I suggested this book for my book club's November read for selfish motives. After living in Japan, about 40 min. by train from Kyoto, for 2 years I was eager to reimmerse in their aesthetic culture. I have walked down the same streets where Sayuri's character lived in Gion and it was wonderful for me to relive my memories through her story. I did know that a geisha was not a prostitute, but I learned so much more and felt that Golden captured the spirit of the Japanese psyche or soul. I miss Japan very much and at least I was able to visit again by reading this book. The focus on appearances is very prevalent in Japanese culture, and also the fleetingness of beauty/youth. The author did a great job in his research and understanding.

Rating:
Summary: JUST TO GOOD OF A BOOK TO BE TRUE
Review: Man, I love this book. A juicy memoir, full of flesh and curves, sweet and chewy. The wording was great, the stories fun, the intimate cat-fights were entertaining. I would read this book again, except I find the length to be a bit overwhemling. Nevertheless, a great New York Times novel that isn't like all the other trashy junk on the list.

Rating:
Summary: One of the better books I've read in a long time.
Review: I bought this with little insight as to what was held within its pages. But when I got home, I couldn't stop reading it. I showed it to my japanese teacher, and he said it was very good. Now it is my battle against boredom, because I can get lost into it many times.

Rating:
Summary: Makes you stay up late at night turning page after page.....
Review: Refeshing after so many of the "same old-same old" novels. To learn what the life of a geisha was like was interesting. I was surprised that my notion of the geisha being a common prostitute was incorrect. A great story, funny, sad... a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: I bought this book excited by all the press and the fact that even the film impresario himself, Steven Spielberg, had decided to make this his next film project. Sadly, I am disappointed. Not only do I find it hard to NOT put down but also to finish reading. Memoir style writing is indeed popular right now as evidenced by "Angela's Ashes" and the NYT Food Critic's (I don't remember her name) recent book. The good thing about those books is that they aren't fiction. This one is and as such should be more literary, yet it is not. Another amazon.com reviewer cited Golden's metaphors as cliched, and I agree tenfold. There is no originality in the use of words, of vocabulary, I don't even feel any sympathy for the geisha, since the plot line seems so paltry to me. I took a Japanese literature course in college and was excited by this new book since it would rekindle my love for this country's culture. Then I started reading the book and the rest is -- to use a cliche-- history. Yes, Mr. Golden is an educated man, yes he has travelled and studied the culture of Japan in depth, but no, a work of mesmerizing and riveting beauty it is not. "Life of An Amorous Woman", "Woman In the Dunes", "Masks", even "The Tale of Genji" are more representative of Japanese literature than Mr. Golden's "Memoirs".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, most enticing, great reading!
Review: finished the book about ten minutes ago. i'm still under the influence... it is THAT good. marcela halmagean

Rating:
Summary: A novel teaches Japanese a life of geisha
Review: I've never seen real geisha, like other almost all Japanese. Geisha is strange to contemporary Japanese just like westerners. So I'm not sure I have different impression. But the atmosphere of this novel is not peculiar to me(Some American-made stories or movies laid in Japan amaze us). Of course this is pre-war story, the time before I was born. I know selling girls due to help their family was not uncommon (though not so much) in those days. The heroine is about my parents' age( I am mid-40s). Japan's society has extremely changed after the war --- richer, Americanized, less exotic to foreigners. If you are interested in "exotic Japan", I recommend you to read this novel rather than coming to Japan. Anyway it taught me actual(or a sample of) geisha's life, which average Japanese know little.

Rating:
Summary: Great wind up, but then falls flat!!
Review: Very interesting and detailed treatment of geisha life, but plot builds tension only to waste it on hurried and disappointing conclusion. I heard the author speak and he said he spent 9 years working on this book, but he should have spent more time thinking about how he was going to bring it to a conclusion. First 2/3 of the book is 5 stars, but last 1/3 is 1 star, with steady decline over that period. Still worthwhile, but the good aspects of the first portion make the denouement even more of a let down.

Rating:
Summary: This the most beautifully written book I have ever read.
Review: This book is one of my favorites. Arthur Golden's writing is exquisite. The metaphors he used were so vivid that I would often re-read them several times, in awe of the clarity with which he describes the feelings we have all felt at some point in our lives.