Memoirs of a Geisha

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Summary: The heart of a woman, written beautifully by a man!
Review: I am sadly reminded of Princess Diana and of every woman as I am drawn into a world completely foreign to Western culture - this books fascinates with its strange detail, yet reverberates with essential and universal truth. Bravo, Arthur Golden!

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Summary: ...if you're interested in Japan
Review: I saw nothing particularly remarkable in the fact that this book was written by a man. Male authors have successfully written female protagonists for centuries. The reverse is also true. I was also astounded by the reader who was so surprised that anyone could write so convincingly about geisha. It's called research. I've read numerous books on geisha, therefore for me there was nothing especially new in the subject matter. What I particularly enjoyed were the individual characters. I did not find them shallow, but rather subtle. I was not disappointed by the ending - under the guise of a memoir - a geisha would not find it appropriate to divulge all the details of her private life with her beloved danna, and if I remember correctly, the character says as much. I was left with a slight feeling of bitterness - a feeling that even though Sayuri had found the love she'd hoped for, life unfolded slowly, and satisfactorily, rather than ecstatically. I believe that this is realistic, and nothing resembling what one finds in romance novels (which I abhor). I rate this book a 9 rather than a 10, simply because I don't feel it will be everyone's cup of tea. Green tea.

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Summary: Glad I'm Not a Geisha
Review: I thought this was an interesting read and really opened up my eyes to this aspect of Japanese culture. I felt really sad for the geisha girls. How horrible to be trapped in a lifestyle that devalues you as a human being and treats you like a trained animal. They glory in their physical beauty, but their souls whither within. And to be forced to give your first sexual experience to the pervert with the most money rather than to a man who cherishes you is really sickening. Geisha life is nothing more than glorified child abuse. This book will intrigue and disturb you with it's injustices.

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Summary: The book disappointed me.
Review: After reading and hearing rave reviews about Memoirs of a Geisha, I couldn't wait to read it. For the first hundred or so pages, I found the book fascinating, but the story and the characters never developed in any gripping, three-dimensional way. I do give Golden credit for his detail and verisimilitude. Yet he never really enters the minds of the main characters. Plus the constant metaphors became tedious.

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Summary: I will read it again someday!!!!
Review: Usually, when I read a great book, I give it to someone else to enjoy, but "Memoirs..." is staying on my bookshelf and nobody's getting it. I want to be sure I'll have it in a few years to read again..I enjoyed it THAT MUCH. I was never into reading about other cultures but I could not put this book down. I felt so much emotion for Sayuri and Mameha and that *@##*@@, Hatsumomo, that even after I read it thoughts of them would go through my head as if they were people I really knew!! I found the life, the ceremony, and the tradition of the geisha so fascinating that I'm going to find another book on the subject right away. I HIGHLY recommend this read!

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Summary: an engrossing fairy tale
Review: I thought this book was engrossing and well-written. It held my interest. I know nothing about geisha or their place in Japanese culture, so I don't know whether the author got it right. I do think the author is a good storyteller, though.

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Summary: entertaining, excellent insight into another culture
Review: The world of a Geisha has always seemed strange and mysterious. This excellent novel provides insight into that world.

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Summary: CAN WRITE ABOUT GEISHA?
Review: At times I loved this book at others I was astonished at how an American could so easily fool me into thinking this was a biography. I guess it is simlar to a good Japanese restaurant where the food is authentic but the entire Japanese cuisine is not offered in America. Excellent voice throughout the book. My favorite part was in the garden where the government official got sick. I thought I was there. The ending was anticlimatic but fit nonetheless. At times the female characters appeared thin. These are all minor criticisms. An excellent read and I heartily recommend this book.

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Summary: Couldn't put it down!!
Review: I have never written a review before, but this book moved me so, and made me keep coming back for more!! I can't wait to see what Mr. Golden will write next!!

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Summary: A bravura performance for a first novel!
Review: It is amazing how well the author gets into the spirit of the geisha - Sayuri - and "becomes" her! An example of how "the East ...and ... the West", the twain did meet. It opened up my eyes to the true nature of the geisha. She is an "anachronism", a rara avis, an endangered species if not one already extinct. I think I saw only one or two in a recent visit to the Gion district of Kyoto. Although the denouement appears contrived with a "deus ex machina" ending, it really is in the spirit of both the whole book and the Japanese culture (or other Oriental cultures for that matter - Indian, Chinese, Filipino). The inticate maneuverings of social "dances", the round about ways of accomplishing a goal, the subterfuges, the "beating around the bush"; every convoluted machination belying the Western dictum that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line! In the East, the fastest way oftentimes involves deliberate detours. This pattern of seemingly tangled threads attains the complex intricacy and beauty of a spider's silken web. With this in mind, I found the author's ending entirely acceptable and completely plausible!