Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Books of the Decade
Review: This book was beautifully written. From the very beginning you just fall in love with the main character. This inside look at the life of Geisha is heart wrenching. These poor women were brought through so many emotional and difficult experiences, and yet Sayuri manages to get through all of it and remain a whole person. Characters are weaved throughout the book -- such as the Chairman, and you find yourself wondering what the motives are behind each of them, what they are made of. As Sayuri grows from a child, to an intelligent and clever woman you cannot help but to be drawn to her, and to her life experiences. Although Japanese culture has changed since this book was written to a larger degree, it is fascinating to learn about what it once was. An amazing book that everyone should read. I cannot wait to see the movie.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: I actually read this novel, back when it was first published. I work in a library and had to place a hold on the computer just to check it out. Well, needless to say after reading it I ran out and bought a copy for myself. This book is superb! After reading only about 50 or 60 pages I was flipping it over and around because I thought it was fiction and yet read like a real biography. (It IS fiction, by the way). I've been waiting ever since like a starved animal to see if Golden plans to write any thing else. PLEASE LET IT BE SO!
Rating:
Summary: My 10/10 standard for comparison.
Review: My friend and I read lots of the same books and then we discuss them. We always use this one as our standard 10. Although it's light, it's still gripping. The details make you feel as though you've taken a trip to Japan. It also has a good sexy / smutty level - meaning, enough scandal to make you enjoy it but not so over the edge that it becomes tacky. It has everything that makes a novel good. All seven deadly sins are covered, the plot moves and the story is told. I just wanted more!I brought it to Jamaica last year and was completely thrilled that I had such a perfect vacation book.
Rating:
Summary: this book wil never have time to collect dust on the shelf
Review: I have not read anything as well thought out, to express a females point of view, as this story from a man. At first I thought that it was going to be erotica or just a differant view on cinderella but the character had a pulse of her own from the start. The color of her eyes are with you every page of this book as much as the handkerchief is with her. I wanted to know how it ended the first few chapters I read but when it was over I wanted it to keep going. The picture of Japan was not very outstanding in the story but it was a compeling love triangle that had history and misery. It covered a great deal of time and dealt with subjects that you do not think of when you look at objects from that era and place. It was a great read and I will read it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books of the Decade
Review: This book was beautifully written. From the very beginning I found myself entrenched in the life of the main character/narator. The inside look at the life of Geisha is heart wrenching, as children were forced to become women without ever experiencing a childhood. Having been stolen from her home, and put through many trying experiences, Sayuri finds the ability and determination within herself to get through every situation, demonstrating the strength of the human spirit. Characters are weaved throughout the book -- such as the Chairman, whose motives are kept secret until the end. Plots and themes are weaved throughout this story, as are pieces of Japanese history. As Sayuri grows from a child, to an intelligent and clever woman it is impossible not to be drawn to her, and to her life experiences. This is a book that everyone should read. It is one that comes to life, with the turn of every page characters are animated and real, and you will find yourself rooting for some, and wishing you could stop others in their tracks. An amazing work of fiction, a literary triumph that rarely comes around.
Rating: 
Summary: Arthur Golden fantasizes
Review: This book is a page-turner. I can't speak to its cultural accuracy, but in the context of the novel it was very convincing. What ruined the book was its ending. I won't give it away, but will say that the ending was wrong, wrong, wrong - it completely didn't fit the main character. The ending just confirmed that the author, despite his writing skill, was a man who can't really imagine what it is to be female, or what would really make this geisha happy. It is so sad that a writer with this much talent buys the Hollywood image of women as shallow. The book would have been so much better without the cliched, unbelievable, storybook ending!
Rating:
Summary: A freakin GREAT read
Review: It's been about a year since I've read this book, so I couldn't replay the intracacies of the plot and characters. I can only say the story of this geisha and her life and love of one man still resonates. The world Golden places us in, of jealous women and beauty, of selfish men, and undying love is just masterful. If you're looking for a satisfying romance and a beautiful epic that is both lengthy but easy to read, this is your book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: I purchased this book a year ago, and it sat on my shelf until this summer when I realized it was on my summer reading list and decided to give it a try. I am so upset that I did not read this beautiful book sooner. Arthur Golden's debut novel is absolutely stunning. Memoirs of a Geisha enthralls you, whisks you away to another time and place. I became so involved in the story of Chiyo, a young Japanese girl who eventually becomes the reknowned geisha Sayuri after a long, difficult journey, that I forgot that the book was written by a man, and had to keep turning back to Mr. Golden's bio to remind myself. Arthur Golden writes so convincingly as a female, it's astonishing. This book sucked me in instantly, with the beautiful yet gritty descriptions, and I am still captivated with it. There's a reason why this book was on the best seller list for so long - it is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Historical fiction
Review: Beautiful book that I could not believe was fiction. Characters and background were so real i thought it was a biography.
Rating: 
Summary: The grace and beauty of the original book has been lost...
Review: Most of the book has been changed. And not for the better. It has taken on a totally different perspective and lacks in most areas. Listening to this for the first time made me laugh in disgust. They went as far as changing the ending. While reading the book, I cried as I finished. By the time I finished the tape, I tossed it in the trash where it belonged.
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