Rating: 
Summary: Tragically Beautiful
Review: A BEAUTIFULLY written yet tragic Novel of a young girl sold by her father to become a Geisha. We are taken on a wonderful, magical journey were we laugh, we cry, and we suffer. We are gently lead through this enriching story taking each step in the shoes of a fascinating women. Reading this book has given me a wonderful introduction into the complex culture and lives of the Japanese. A book to add to the Must Read List!!
Rating:
Summary: bittersweet novel
Review: Startlingly realistic in detail and richly infused with bittersweet narrative, Memoirs of a Geisha is a must-read for anyone looking to expand their cultural horizons. Breathtakingly sad without being melodramatic, Memoirs tells the story of a young Japanese girl ripped from her peaceful fishing village to virtual slavery in the hustle-bustle of Kyoto's geisha district. Told in the first person, her tale reveals a young woman quickly becoming sophisticated beyond her years who in the next moment seems as naïve as a schoolgirl in the ways of love. Those who would criticize this book for certain historical or cultural innaccuracies are missing the point, I believe. This book, after all, is a novel, in the truest sense of the word.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer enjoyment!
Review: "Memoirs of a Geisha" is a fascinating glimpse of Kyoto geisha life in the 1930s and 40s. While strictly a fictional story, Golden did his homework so well that one could easily believe that the story of Sayuri is true.
The novel has many strong points, the strongest being Golden's colorful and detailed descriptions of geisha life in Gion. The characters are very real, and Sayuri is an extremely likeable heroine...you're rooting for her from the very beginning. The story flows, for the most part, very smoothly, making for an easy and pleasurable read.
The one part I found disconcerting (very much so, in some places) was the dialogue. I really felt like Golden was stretching or compromising in certain parts, trying too hard to be poetic or dramatic, and it threw off the otherwise lyrical flow of the story. Other than that, "Memoirs of a Geisha" is quite an enjoyable experience, and I highly recommend it to people who enjoy a good storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This book was a fascinating step into a world most of us will never experience. Arthur Golden does an excellent job of vividly painting the day-to-day life of a geisha, and does so in language that is sensual and in a voice that makes you amazed that the book is written by a man. I came away touched that humans can experience such painful beginnings and change their circumstances, through hard work and a different perspective, to something that can be viewed as beautiful. My only disappointment was coming to the end and discovering that it is a work of fiction that was based in part on conversations with a real geisha. An excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: Bestselling Fraud
Review: "Memoirs" perpetrates an inexcusable fraud on the reader: it makes non Japanese readers think it is Japanese. Golden researched his book by gathering anecdotes and compiling them into a very Western story disguised as something Japanese. Most Americans trust his accuracy because they don't know better. I've lived in Japan 20 years, speak Japanese and enjoy Japanese literature. If one wishes to know about geisha, one should read English translations of Nagai Kafu stories, not pulp fiction from an opportunist who knows next to nothing about Japanese sensibilities. Golden's greatest crime, as he dares to pass himself off as an authority on Japan, is found in his completely ignoring the element of Japanese literature most central to the culture: a constant sensitivity to the seasons and their beauty. No Japanese, and especially not a geisha, would describe her kimono without reference to the relevance to seasons. Real Japanese literature is laced with seasonal references, both the conventional and the novel. Yet Golden makes almost no such references. The most striking example of this: he has a geisha practicing flower arranging ('ikebana') using dogwood, in autumn (the season - in typical Golden style - is not mentioned but can be deduced from context, as it follows a reference to a fall month). The tree was unknown in Kyoto at the time of the story. It was introduced by America as gift to Japan in return for the sakura (cherry blossom) trees given to America by the Japanese. Even today, its blooms are not used in ikebana, but if they were, that would occur in May, when the tree blossoms, not in autumn! Three are other crimes: most of the so-called witty old Japanese sayings are Golden's own; and - most seriously - the characters are Americans in kimonos, they are certainly not Japanese. If you must read this book, please do not imagine that you are experiencing anything Japanese.
Rating:
Summary: A great, fast read...
Review: This book has made the rounds among the women in my family-- my father in law read it, too! My husband teases me because I didn't realize until halfway through the book that it was not based on an actual geisha's experience...but that only indicates how thoroughly engrossing a tale this is. Mr Golden has dug deep into the culture and history of this mysterious lifestyle and embodies it all in a character who captures you immediately. Wonderful in detail and execution.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional and Mystical
Review: Wow! This book really prompted some fierce emotions. The story was beautifully written, enlightening, and particular. So believable was the story that parts of it made me really angry. It's absolutely worth the time to read this unique work. The story presents strong, weak, and interesting women in a not-so-ancient tradition that may really surprise you.
Rating:
Summary: a good read...about a sick world
Review: the good points: well-written book, clear and good to follow, a sympathetic main character, an engrossing view into a world about which i previously knew nothing, and some spicy and unique characters... the bad points: a whole book about emotionally shallow people in almost entirely duplicitous relationships, everybody's got something up their sleeves, and as for the women, especially the young ones, they're trapped in their generally miserable lives... now of course, it could be argued that this doesn't make the book itself bad per se, because it's just what the book's about, but i could also argue, why would someone (even me, much less the writer), be so engrossed in a world that's hardly one iota devoted to true honesty and open, real and equal communication? now granted, the main character's goal throughout the entire book was to be honest with and accepted and loved and cherished (and supported) by a rich businessman (essentially an emotional stand-in for her idealized father, who abandoned her and sold her into slavery, a vein which never gets explored), but my take on that is - if that's the whole purpose of a person's life, to be loved by another, then YUCK! what a shallow goal! (and incidentally, how "modern" and "middle-class American" is that goal?! - "true love" and "romance"!!) what about deep inner exploration, being true to ourselves, having honest friendships not based on duplicity and power and money? i guess i just question why an author chooses to write such a stellar book about such an emotionally shallow topic...unless at some level that's where he himself is at...
Rating:
Summary: Page-turner is well-researched
Review: Amazing sense of detail enriches this simple Cinderella story. Plot has an abundance of passion, struggle, mystery, intrigue, hope, and beauty. Lots and lots of beauty. I am not ordinarily a best-seller reader, but this book obviously appeals to a wide array of readers. The carefully researched story is a combination of pure escapist fantasy, poetic language, and historical truth. Author Golden succeeded in creating the crisply real voice of a geisha inside my mind. There is a delightful calm throughout, yet the pace is a softly beating crescendo, as if crafted with the same careful deliberation and grace as an origami crane. It's a treat for all the senses. Great to read if you are planning a trip to Kyoto! (Golden uses specific locations that can still be visited for breathtaking evocation of an era that is pretty much all gone). Popular with men, women, college students, admirers of Japanese culture.
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs of A geisha
Review: I am 14 and I have just started reading this book. I am nearly half way through, and I'm fidning it absolutely amazing. It's a wonderful book, and it's one I can somehow relate to. In the smallest way. This book reminds me of a birthday party when I was five, unravelling the parcel, and finding little surprises in each opening. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying the book.
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