Rating: 
Summary: Who Knew ?
Review: Who knew a geisha's life is that full, that complicated and also that empty? I make a comparison to the average woman's life today and I think is it any fuller, less complicated or any more meaningful? I don't have answers for these questions but that's why I loved the book so much. It begs you to ask these questions.
A friend and I both read Memoirs of a Geisha about three months ago and I swear the book is still a part of our daily lives. For example, we referred to a beautiful, nasty/bitchy woman as a Hatsumomo. Times when I think this is a man's world I now stop myself and think is there a way to get my needs met with kindness, compliments or manipulation. And maybe I should re-think the word manipulation. Should it always have negative connotations? Also, have I kidded myself in thinking that beauty isn't that important but just a nice extra if you have it? You see, Memoirs of a Geisha has made me question so much about being today, especially being a woman.
I like that I got a real since of yin and yang. How there are huge differences between rich and poor and a geisha and a prostitute. How men are men and women are women, and during peacetime there is abundance and at wartime people are getting killed. There's also a noticed difference bewteen spring and fall, it's observed in Sayuri's dress, the geisha's ceremonies, people's habits. I live in southern California where there is equality amongst the sexes, there has never been a war on our soil, and there's spring or summer most of the year. I'm not complaining but commenting on "what is." This book has altered my perspective of 'what is' and I like that.
Rating:
Summary: Destiny
Review: After living in Japan for 2 years, I found this book to be an excellent continum for me. I love the continual introspective dialogue by the main character and the final acceptance of her destiny. An Excellent read!
Rating:
Summary: Give it a chance.
Review: As a devout fantasy reader, and devourer of the occasional Western historical fiction, this was a huge step. I saw it in the library, and as I flipped through, I came across a few lines of beautiful prose that, I swear, made me see Japanese gardens. I have never been very interested in anything Oriental/Eastern, so, frankly, my head-over-heels fall in love with this book was completely unexpected. A response to the "Westernization" of the novel - don't forget, the "memoir" was "dictated" by a woman who had lived many years in New York, to an American man. Also, I think it was necesary, in order to open a door for Western readers to immerse themselves, to place some sort of Western plot to the story... hence the Chairman romance. Without some sort of "Western" focus, it would be almost impossible to have us empathize with such an exotic character in such an exotic world. So, critics, please! All in all, it's beautiful, detailed, an intricate explanation of this far-removed life, previously completely alien to me. I am not saying that it is completely accurate... I have never been to Japan, nor been schooled as a geisha, so I wouldn't know. But at the very, very, very, criticized least, we are left with a beautiful flavor in our mouths,
of cherry blossoms and the soft rustle of kimono silk.
Rating:
Summary: Discover the world of a Geisha
Review: I was surprised that a non Asian author can write so well about the life of a Geisha, this novel really seems like an autobiography ....
This novel narrates the story of Sayuri and how she becomes a Geisha. Personally, before reading this book, I had a very superficial view on what a Geisha is, this novel takes you inside the life of Sayuri, and Japan during the war...
It is well written and not too hard for people who are not acquainted with Japan...
I strongly recommend it ...
Rating:
Summary: Behind closed doors
Review: I initially saw this book when it was first released and steered clear. I feared it would be dry with diary entries sprinkled throughout. When it hit the best-seller list, I was curious and read it. This author did an amazing job breathing life into these women of old world tradition. We can all relate to Chiyo/Sayuri, Mameha or Hatsumomo no matter what country we are from. Chiyo/Sayuri is the scared young girl who thinks she is being adopted because her father cannot care for her, only to find out her youth has been sold. Hatsumomo is the most beautiful Geisha whose selfishness and jealousy becomes her downfall. Mameha is the older Geisha who takes Chiyo/Sayuri under her wing to teach her to be the best at what life has to offer. Unexpectedly, there are only a few sections regarding the 'relations' of Chiyo/Sayuri. Although I am not one to read material with detailed scenes verging on porn, this book only touched on the matter as if to enforce its context of the women rather then the act. Agree, however, the conversation between Mameha and Chiyo/Sayuri stating this is not where they chose to be but rather where they have ended up would've led me to believe the emotions of the aftermath might've been discussed... especially those of their 'first time'. Reading between the lines, I imagine this was done on purpose by the author as if to say 'this is where I draw the line'. The heart of the book was on the minds of the women, not their bodies. One topic that never came up was Chiyo's feelings toward her father for selling her and her sister. One would think she would've been upset. She is clearly disenchanted when she becomes a Geisha seemingly feeling 'this is it?' She never attempts to visit another place in her mind of who she might be if she wasn't a Geisha. Almost as if she accepts her fate without wondering 'what if?' A bit unrealistic to me. Although this is a male Western writer who tells a story involving Japanese women, I enjoyed the book. What was a topic discussed by many, but known to only a few, I welcomed the opportunity to learn more. Take it for what it is.... and read it!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This book is beautifully written and describes a time that seems so long ago. It is a wonderful story of a small girl torn from her family and thrown into a world that she knew nothing about, the world of the geisha. the book is an account of her journey from child to woman and her final triumph of becoming one of the most prominent geisha in her city. Gives a view into the real daily routines of geisha even those parts that aren't so galmorous. I highly recommend this book to anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: A guilty pleasure, powerfully written
Review: I reluctantly read this book, because I warily disdained it as a simple "romance," but I would be dishonest if I didn't admit that I enjoyed it. The first third of the book, when Chiyo (who eventually becomes the geisha Sayuri) and her sister are sold into childhood slavery, was especially disturbing and powerful, and the historical and cultural details throughout are fascinating, although I found my interest flagging occasionally as the novel proceeded toward its somewhat predictable conclusion. Sure, the book is another Dickensian Cinderella story (it's also like Claire Booth Luce's "The Women" at times!), but its creative chutzpah, competent prose, and epic qualities ultimately won me over. The book's naysayers (few as they are) often level two accusations. The first charge is that the story misrepresents geisha. The detractors often cite as evidence the lawsuit against the author by Mineko Iwasaki, a "retired" geisha whom Golden interviewed while researching his book. Of particular embarrassment to Mineko, for example, is the sale of Sayuri's adolescent virginity to the highest bidder--a practice that has all but disappeared in Japan over the years. In Golden's defense, however, the novel is set in the 1930s and '40s--well before Mineko was even born. Although he may have incorporated some of Mineko's experiences, Sayuri is clearly Golden's own creation. Ironically, Mineko's lawyer herself acknowledged at a press conference that the book succeeds, at least partially, in its attempt to represent a geisha's point of view. (''All the buzz about 'How could a man get so inside a woman's head?' Well, the answer is, it's her [Mineko's] story.'') A number of readers also denounce the book because a white man has dared to write from the point of view of a Japanese woman, or that the book is "Westernized" and therefore illegitimate. I do think this is a valid criticism: it irritates me, for example, that Golden gives Sayuri blue-gray eyes, as if this all-too-Western feature is needed to make her truly beautiful. (Why not cinnamon eyes, for heaven's sake?) In addition, the book's dialogue is peppered with Americanisms ("Hey," "Really," "Heavens, no!"); according to an Salon article, the translator of the book into Japanese had to rewrite much of the prose to make it seem more authentic. Yet Golden himself seems to realize he must view this culture through a Western prism, so, with a wink to his reader, he "Westernizes" his character and adds an American intermediary. At the time she tells her story, Sayuri has lived over thirty years in New York (almost twice as long as she spent in the Gion district of Kyoto), so that she and her memories are assimilated to some degree, and she dictates her story to an American translator, who then transcribes her memoirs for an American audience. Overall, then, the fact that Golden has written a novel (as another reader put it) "from the vantage of a person who is completely removed from himself in time, space, culture, and gender" is not enough on its own to condemn it; numerous authors--from both East and West, from Shakespeare to Nabokov--have succeeded doing exactly that. For a debut effort, Golden's novel is pretty impressive.
Rating:
Summary: "Memoirs" Among my all time favorites!
Review: The mark of a truly remarkable book is wanting to read it again and again. I have read, and re-read, Memoirs of a Geisha over and over. Whenever I have an especially long train ride to face, I bring along my battered, dog-eared copy. Opening the book to any page transports me back to the beautiful and exotic world of Sayuri, richly pained by Arthur Golden. I know that there has been a lot of friction recently over whether the stories in this book were true or not. I believe that the author's intent was merely to provide a historically-based character of FICTION...and that Sayuri is merely a combination of hundreds of geisha that lived in Kyoto over generations. Regardless,the book is a fascinating, uplifting, wondrous journey that I simply adore and recommend to a new person almost every day. If you have not yet discovered "Geisha" - do NOT waste another day. This is, quite simply, one of my all time favorite books.
Rating:
Summary: Read it.
Review: This is one of those books that you remember long after you've read it, and then when you see it on the shelf have to read it again. Once you start reading, it sucks you in and you can't put it down. It holds true to the japanese culture, to the poetic style of writing that you can find in many modern Japanese works -- the descriptions of the sea, or of a tree seems to hold true to the way a geisha might think. Although as for the characters, it might have been nice to know more about some of the more influential people in the book (I thought they would clarify Hatsumomo a bit more). It's beautiful, and I learned a lot from reading it. Pity it wasn't true.
Rating: 
Summary: More or less
Review: As a reader of primarily African American literature, coming to "Memoirs" and sticking with it was exciting. I never thought that I could be so fascinated by what happens in the life of a geisha. Either way, I wondered why Golden didn't choose do to a biograhpy-straight out. I don't think that it would have taken anything away from the story, unless he was really concerned about the identity of Sayuri and others. Also Golden should have either went all the way with why Hatsumomo, Mother, etc were so bitter or left them alone. Because Hat' is such a huge part of the story, I felt that the reader needed more. It may not have hurt to have their voices in the memoir-thus not making it a memoir any longer. But he has so much about Mameha-that the others including the Chairman need the shared space so that the work could be more effectively pulled off. War-time was a little flat and needed more spark, but would one expect a geisha too know much about war, afterall they are really concerned about men and beauty. Nonetheless, who can forget Chiyo, Satsu, Pumpkin and the others. Give it a try-if you have some time.
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