Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary Writing and Engaging Story
Review: It's hard to believe that a man wrote this novel of the journey of a young Japanese girl and how she came to be a famous Geisha. Although a work of fiction, there is so much real detail on the inside world of a geisha and the culture. The story is very engaging and stays with you long after the novel has ended.
Rating: 
Summary: Memoirs of a Geisha
Review: I thought the book was excellent. I became so wrapped up in the story, I couldn't wait to get home from work and continue reading it. I do agree with a previous comment that the ending was a little abrupt - but it did not leave you disappointed. The world of a Geisha was illustrated so well. It made a foreign culture very understood and not so strange - all the while weaving in an amazing story about an intriguing woman. I'm recommending this book to anyone who will listen.
Rating:
Summary: Wowie!
Review: Wowie! This book gave me a whole new set of interests! It is one of my favorite novels along with River God! I love this book and couldn't put it down after I first started it! This is a fairy tale that I wouldn't mind seeing as a movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Good details, bad story
Review: I was disappointed by this book. In terms of giving me insights into a geisha's life, I think it delivered. But the plot development was lacking and I could not relate to the main character. The main character falls in love with a chairman after a brief (and I mean, very brief) encounter with him, he doesn't even remember her. She becomes obsessed with him and the plot is driven by her quest for his love. Then there was there was this other plot line where there was a bidding war for her virginity. I just couldn't care less. Basically, I don't like it that she was made into this Cinderella character where everyone around her was either ugly, mean, or vengeful and she was all pure and beautiful. Give me a break. I can't relate to characters like that. They should be flawed like real people, not all self-congratulative, the best in dance, the best in wine pouring, the best this and that. It gets boring after a while. The only thing I liked were the geisha details, but I'm sure I could have gotten that from another book. It was not worth reading over 500 pages for that in this disappointing book.
Rating:
Summary: My Life Stopped...
Review: Never have I been so involved in a book. Not only can you NOT put this book down...you can almost transform yourself into the characters. The attention to detail is so intracate that reading this book is like watching a movie in your imagination. I took this book with me everywhere I went until it was finished...any spare time I had, I was indulged in this book. INCREDIBLE...a must read!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: I started reading it just to waste time, but i found it so interesting i could not put it down. It is so discriptive of her feelings at times you feel happy for her at others so sad you want to cry. It is the best book i have read. I am fascinated by the Japenese culture so i found it interesting how they veiwed us at the time of the war. All I can really say is WOW!!!
Rating:
Summary: first 3/4 very good; the last 1/4 so-so
Review: I really enjoyed most of "Memoirs", especially the detail of the ritual and rules and regulations of geisha life. The picture I had of geishas before reading this book was very vague, but now my understanding is much better. For most of the book, I found the story very engaging, even with lots of desciptive detail. I'm not sure the rest of my bookclub would agree, as a number of them never got very far into the book. My main complaint about the book is that the story took a sudden turn toward the end, and then it seemed as though the author suddenly tired of writing it. I got the distinct impression that he was thinking, "Okay, enough of this - got to wrap it up!" Despite this, it was an enjoyable book for me and one that I'm glad I read.
Rating:
Summary: The Great American Novel as a Japanese love story
Review: This begins as Charles Dickens would have written it, had he such a vision, continues as a fairy tale, and concludes as a strange and touching story of love spanning decades and ending in happiness and fulfillment. But primarily this is a fairy tale, and like all fairy tales there is beneath the surface an underlying current of the dark nature of humanity that can only be glimpsed through the use of symbolism. Just as the wolf in grandmother's bed represents something more than a wolf, so it is with the men attended by the geisha. And so it is with her as well. She projects the image of fairy tale beauty and an attentive loveliness, but is in fact a woman of business whose attentions are bought and sold, just as with any service. It is the illusion and the pretense and the soft, embroidered veil between us and the truth that is paid for. This is also a beautiful novel, charming and witty with just the barest touch of satire, an original work of a cunning genius, as readable as a best seller, as satisfying as a masterpiece. Although written as realistic fiction and presented as the memoirs of someone who really did exist, the story and especially the action are veiled reality. Notice that Sayuri is fifteen when she first learns of the significance of her virginity. Since her captors would have put a very high price on maintaining that virginity until they could sell it, they would have taken very careful measures to ensure that she could not lose it; consequently, being the clever girl that she was, Sayuri would have understood what that meant. And to suppose that she knew nothing of sexual intercourse until Mameha's story of the lonely eel and the cave... Well, this is part of the contrivance and illusion maintained by geisha and its tradition. But make no mistake, the girls know, but their knowledge must be expressed and understood euphemistically. There are a number of other "contradictions" in the novel that are of no real import because the world of the geisha is the world of illusion and fairy tale. Although Chiyo never says so directly, she knew quite well what was being done to her sister in the house of ill-repute that she visited in the poor section of Kyoto. There is something wonderful and alluring about this duplicitous view of human sexuality found in all cultures. One of the wonderful things about Golden's novel is how he shows us its expression in the Japanese tradition. Adults find comfort in the illusion of a sexless childhood, comfort that can only be maintained through the artifice of selective memory. Please note that this is not a criticism of the novel; on the contrary. It is part of Golden's vision to realize that a fairy tale view of Chiyo's sexuality was necessary. Incidentally Nitta Sayuri's narrative is coy by design, and it is this structure that allows Golden to so beautifully present this fairy tale world with its illusion of a foreign and bygone reality. But the fairy tale ends three-quarters of the way through, and then begins a counter point as the war and the hardships are brought home to the Japanese people and to Sayuri personally. Now we have a tale stripped of illusion, devoid of symbolism, replete with the harsh reality of a civilian population with dwindling resources, impending loss, humiliation, and the sound of bombers overhead. This is the kind of novel that makes other novelists despair of ever coming close. The exquisite style, the confident scholarship, the ample energy so gracefully expended, the unerring sense of what is appropriate, the generous and apt use of metaphor, the clever plotting, the rich detail, the sure commercial feel: a publisher's dream, an agent's orgasmic rush-and it is only Golden's first novel! I expect a lavish movie production, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and perhaps even the first important opera of the twenty-first century to follow. Or maybe a Disney cartoon in the tradition of Snow White and Cinderella. Since writing the above I have learned that Stephen Spielberg will produce the film version of the novel. It will be interesting to see how he spins it.
Rating:
Summary: memoirs of a geisha
Review: I found this book to be not only entertaining, but also educational. While reading the book, I often found myself forgetting that it was a fictional novel. Some of the details got a bit overdone, but overall, it was agreat book, and I would recommend it to any woman interested in learning more about women in other cultures and time periods.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books of all-time!
Review: Memoirs of a Geisha was a life altering book for me. I'm very interested in Japanese culture and this gave me a lot of insight into it. While reading it I felt as if I were actually the main character experiencing everything. This book was amazingly written! I very highly recommend it!
|
