Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: Curiosity of the world of geisha made me read this book. The writing was superb, I could hear the streets of Gion, I felt like I was experiencing everything. Not to sound corny, but I had a hard time putting this book down, and my mind salivated for it when I was not reading it. This book is satisfying on many levels: it is well written, it is educational, and highly entertaining. I have been enriched by reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: a book that defeats prejudice and cynicism
Review: Assuming this book would be an American's fantasy of a geisha's life, I avoided this book for a long time. When I finally bought it, I read it while waiting for my luggage in the airport, while at the gym, and at 3 o'clock in the morning when I couldn't sleep because I wanted to find out what happened next in the book. The main character is as endearing as the heroine of a Jane Austen novel, and far more complex, fascinating and funny than I ever would have thought an American male writer would allow. This book defeated all the prejudices and cynicism that kept me from buying it for far too long.
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Summary: I'm not a Japanese culture buff, but this was a great book.
Review: After reading newspaper reviews on this book all giving it high praise, I decided to give it a shot.I had a hard time putting it down, it was enthralling. It has been awhile since I read a book that has so taken me out of my day to day life, and to one so much different. It was so well developed and described I could see what Japan and it's people looked like as the character lived it. This book excels in details from the application of the Geisha's makeup, the wrapping of the obi, to the involved hierarchy of the Japanese culture at that time. These are not senseless details but brought out in a way that one things about things that catch your eye. It was so subtly done it was like you were in the character's mind, while they were thinking. I found the relationships between the characters well developed. They grew with each subsequent line as well. When I finished the book I was a bit lost, as it had so captured my imagination. It has opened my mind up to a small portion of Japanese culture that I had no ideas about. Besides just being a story about a specific type of person (a Geisha) this is a very involved story about how she became a Geisha, the people she knew and the formative points in her life. On just this alone the book would be captivating. Adding in the fact that so few Westerners have any idea what the Geisha culture was at that time, was a major plus. I really enjoyed the book and recommend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous face, out of shape body!
Review: I'm not a fan of useless verbosity unless the prose shines so brightly I wanna keep reading it. Golden shining brightly, I like the metaphor, but it just doesn't apply. In this text, bulging over at 400+ pages, Golden begins by creating a gorgeous picture of Sayuri and her life. I give him this. But the guy keeps wanting to paint -- it's like Da Vinci keeping his hands all over Mona Lisa. Why? Golden isn't even close to being a master wordsmith to begin with, and verbosity and a love affair with his own words makes the latter parts of the text even worse. Plus, the ending is simply a stab in the back to those who followed the characters throughout the pages. Golden apparently reached a point where he tired of the story, and fast-forwarded Sayuri 50 years in five pages. Memoirs isn't without merit. As I say, the beginning is drawn with flair and gives hope for an engrossing read. But trim and tone, man...Your girl has gotten flabby.
Rating:
Summary: Delicious!
Review: This was a gorgeous book. I felt like I could see everything about culture that Sayuri was part of. The images of the tea houses, the town, the people were so clear and distinct. I will agree with other readers, that the book did fizzle out after the war ended. It was terribly anti-climactic, I almost felt like at 400 pages, the author was just tired of writing. However, the book did open my eyes to the Geisha culture, and the training the girls went through at an early age. I also thought it was incredible that this touching, delicate story about these strong women was written by a man. He reallytapped into the feelings a woman might feel, he really got deep into the soul of Sayuri, and wrote with such feminity that I am still astonished. I now hope to visit Japan, and try to experience some of their culture, and learn about it first hand.
Rating: 
Summary: A Popped Balloon
Review: After being captivated for nearly 400 pages, I was so unsatisfied by the contrived ending of this novel that my entire reading experience was spoiled. Yes, Golden's details of Gion culture pre-WWII are fascinating, and the intense rivalry among geishas (who accept their roles in Japanese culture because they have "no other choice," as one character notes) puts a literary spin on traditional soap-opera fun. But the "happy ending" was a [unbelievable] Hollywood slap-in-the-face to Japanese notions of duty, honor, and morality. From a narrative standpoint, the novel spends a lot of time showing the complex depth of the relationship between Sayuri and a man she would do well to accept, and almost no time developing the character of the man who ends up being her "dreamboat." As a result the ending is flat and absolutely unfulfilling. Yes, Sayuri's attempt to escape her "fate" says something about the powerlessness of women in Japanese culture, but no one will mistake this for a feminist text. Her character at the end seemed so selfish and cruel that I was left irritated at having spent so much time with her. What a wonderful novel this ALMOST was! I'm surprised the editors at Knopf let Golden put a pin in what should have been a beautiful, brightly-colored balloon.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging tale of a lost world.
Review: Once in a while, a book takes you so deep into another place or culture filled with memorable characters and brought to life in vivid detail that it is almost impossible to put down. "Memoirs of a Geisha" is certainly one such novel. This is a mesmerising tale, written in simple, direct and elegant prose that hardly puts any strain on one's imagination except to savour the wonderful recreation of a dying Japanese sub-culture. Perhaps the simplicity and the feel-good conclusion are its only failings, but these are minor glitches that should not detract from the Arthur Golden's engaging story and his ability to completely submerge the reader into the amazing world of the geisha to such extent that one wonders where the line between fact and fiction is drawn.
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Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: this book completely took me into the strange and intricate world of the japanese geisha...i dreamt about it, wondered about the characters during every non-reading moment, and felt every emotion. this is an excellent book and i couldn't put it down! enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've read this year!
Review: This was a fabulous book, and one I could not put down. I became so consumed with the characters, and fascinated by Sayuri's life. This book was recommended by a friend - I, too would have walked right by it in a bookstore. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is the bomb
Review: I generally read some 2 to 3 books at any given time, and it most often takes me about 2 and a half weeks to finish a novel. From the day I picked this book up to the day I put it down, only 3 days had elapsed. I hesitate to call this book a classic, that word seems to invoke the feeling of boredom in most people.What I will say, however, is that this book is timeless, despite the loss of the time in which it was set. I felt the humanity of this work.The characters lived and I felt their breath in my mind. I was intoxicated by their realty, which will now once again become memory in the shallowest pools of my consciousness. It made me feel twice lived and in love with sadness!Make use of Arthur Golden's vision! Relive! You won't regret it!
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