Memoirs of a Geisha

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Summary: Grips you from the beginning!!
Review: This book really pulls you in from the very beginning, and gives the reader a good idea of what life was like for the geisha in Japan.

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Summary: The best boook ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I read this book which recommended by a teacher and didn't know what to expect. Little did I know that I would spend many summer nights without sleep.. I just couldn't put it down. The Japanese history, her life, what she and everyone around her went through was just so interesting. I learned so much from reading it, and also received the opportunity to see and witness a wonderful culture that was so far from mine.. absolutely a must read... a Great Author and a Great Book!!!!!!!! go get it.

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Summary: A must-read; compelling
Review: What a great read! I couldn't put this book down...and couldn't believe it was written by a man! (No offense) You wouldn't think a book of this title would be so compelling. I had so many people telling me about it, but it wasn't until I started reading it that I finally understood --So sensitive, emotional, solid.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best book I've ever read
Review: This evocative tale of a geisha's life in Japan begins in the 1930's and brings us to the present day. Using beautiful metaphor and a rich understanding of asian spitirualism and beliefs this book fairly jumps off the page and into your heart. I was so deeply moved by reading this book. I feel as if I know Sayuri personally. What is interesting is that, although the book is wildly entertaining, it also holds some subtle lessons. In this fast moving world of RAM speed and megabyte patience, it shows the subtle undertow of life's tides. Wonderful, simply wonderful a must read for women and men, young and old alike. Thank you Mr. Golden, Thank you.

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Summary: Entertaining, amazing and enjoyable.
Review: This book was a page turner. It was so thoroughly researched, I couldn't believe it was fiction. It's definitely not your typical mass market novel, but written much like a novel by Charles Dickens. This is a book of quality, don't expect lurid details of sexual encounters, rather it's the journey of a girl into her adulthood. As a woman, I couldn't believe Memoirs was written by a man.

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Summary: THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ!
Review: I loved this book! This is a beautifully written novel following the life of it's main character, a geisha named "Sayuri",who is a very compelling character, the author Arthur Golden makes "Sayuri" and the other geishas come to life. I found myself feeling for each character in the novel, I was really involved in this story. I just could not put the book down!

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Summary: What a treat!
Review: For someone who has been eyeing modern novels askance for a long while, as though afraid of being bitten by the disappointment bug once more (the more hyped, the more disappointing usually), I was recommended by two people to read this novel and was surprised and delighted to find it not only a wonderful, fully fleshed out novel (not the usual dull acutely self-conscious, complacent autobiography maskerading as novel) but a novel that not only contains developed characters, a point, motivation, and loads of interesting details, insight and perception (from an apprentice geisha's point of view -- no mean feat), but written by a man to boot! A man really interested in women as human beings, rather than the usual objectification which is really nothing more than a negative projection of the male psyche. This is a lovely novel and I become completely absorbed in it everytime I pick it up and find myself unwilling to put it down. It has been such a long time since I have had this experience with a piece of modern fiction that I just have to celebrate it with a review to Amazon!

Rating:
Summary: Hard to Start, but Loved the Second Half
Review: I found this book difficult to get into in the beginning. It was different than what I normally read and interesting, yet not engaging. About 1/3 to half way through, though, I found myself really involved in the storyline and the characters. Very well researched, interesting characters, a lot of emotion. I definitely recommend it.

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Summary: Typical stereo typing of asian male
Review: Goldens story, Memoirs of a Geisha, has very beautiful sentences and descriptive passages. The problem with the book is that not one Asian male in the book is interested in anything other than money and sex. Sure, the chairman gave her a hanky to dry her tears and money for an ice cream, but why... Well, turns out later he wants to "help" the little girl become a great geisha. Arthur, stretch yourself, you could have had one decent asian male in the book. This is a time for bringing the world together not a time to flame the fires of prejudice and unreasonable bias.

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Summary: The Mizuage
Review: How could anyone find a better word than MIZUAGE to describe "the first time a man's eel explores a woman's cave" ? Arthur Golden opens a window to an unknown world of eroticism, humiliation and exploitation, describing with mysterious accuracy the refined fortress of Kyoto Geishas Culture along the present century. Just before her death, an old Japanese Geisha settled in New York tells the story of her life. The seductive power of the narrative voice of this legendary Geisha takes the reader to a between wars Japan, still full of feudal echoes and to one of the Japanese traditions which inspires more curiosity in western societies: the Geisha, a peculiar cultural tradition linked with such arts as seduction, music, dancing or the classical ceremony of tea.