Memoirs of a Geisha

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and cartoonish
Review: I'm so glad to see that I am not the only person in the world who didn't like this book. The descriptions of the geisha life were interesting (assuming they are true - after all, this IS a work of fiction), but the characters generally were one-dimensional (either good or bad), the dialogue unbelievable, and the plot was like a badly-written soap opera. I plowed through it, but it really was not a very good book.

Rating:
Summary: This book Inspires!!
Review: I found this book to be one of those things that you come across once in a great while that just makes you take a deep breath and sigh with the satisfaction that you are somehow different after reading it. I think those of you who say the book is flat and unemotional are not reading it with keeping the context it's written in in mind. This is the Japanese culture, where 'saving face' is everything, and showing emotion is considered weak. So although you may not always learn the true feelings of Sayuri, you are not supposed to be reading this story as YOU would have told it. That's important to keep in mind. The story is true to not only the anthropoligical facts, but also the Japanese culture. It is wonderfully written and an enchanting tale. I completely recomend it to anyone who wants to learn a little about the Geisha's world as well as their own.

Rating:
Summary: Quickly rose to the top of the heap
Review: This year for my birthday, my wife gave me a fistful of cash and "permission" to spend it at my local bookstore. Eager to capitalize on her generosity, I grabbed up an armful of recent releases: "A Widow for One Year" (John Irving), "Charming Billy" (Alice McDermott), "Bear and His Daughter" (Robert Stone), "The God of Small Things" (Arundhati Roy) and "Memoirs of a Geisha." Admittedly, Arthur Golden's novel was the one I was least looking forward to reading, since Oriental culture does not hold a big appeal for me. I set "Memoirs" at the bottom of the stack and read other things. However, once I got around to Golden's tale of a Japanese girl rising from Dickensian circumstances to become a star geisha, I was hooked. Golden's prose is...well, golden. He packs his language with compressed metaphors that go right from the page, through your eyes, into your brain and on down to your heart. Consider, for instance, these sentences: "He was quite a peculiar-looking man. In one corner of his mouth was a giant mole like a piece of food, and his eyebrows were so bushy they looked like caterpillars that had crawled down out of his hair and gone to sleep there." "Memoirs" is filled with beautiful language like that. While I agree with some other reviewers that the pace of the novel sags a little at the end, if you hold on and stay to the last page, you'll be rewarded with one of the finest closing paragraphs in recent literary history.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Ever since I heard about this book, I've been wanting to read it but I never read for fun. But one day my mom, who reads A LOT, bought it so I said I wanted to read it and I started! It was so good, I couldn't put it down. It definately portrays geisha life so much differently than what I thought it was. It's a really good but and even if reading's not your thing, cuz it definately wasn't mine, I think you should read it!

Rating:
Summary: amazingly poetic
Review: this book was suggested to me by a friend who hates to read. I wasn't much of a reader myself, but i am now. Memoirs of a Geisha was the story of a young japanese girl whose life style was changed competely. Sayuri was a poor japanese girl who knew nothing but her own town and her own "tipsy house." she was introdued to a world of knowledge and seduction and money. Her trials troughout life could only be survived by some one extremely strong. She survived the torture of hatsumomo, the loss of her entire family, and the depression of war. Her end was peaceful and happy, and the tortures of life turned her into one of the most successful geisha in all of Japan. Arthur Golden wrote a marvelous novel and an intriguing story. My family aked over and over, are you done with that book yet? I'd like to read it now? the only thing i didn't enjoy about the book was that it ended and i had to start a new one.

Rating:
Summary: Will draw you in from the very first page.
Review: I absolutely loved this book, despite how cruel a portrait it is for women to read. It will draw you in immediately and keep you reading till the last page. However, I agree w/ the other reviews, the end seems rushed and far too pretty for this raw and honest book. Nonetheless, bravo to Mr. Golden for the precise detail and narrative that Memoirs of a Geisha holds. If you want a page turner, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I thought this book was one of the best I've ever read. To learn about the Japanese culture from the point-of-view of a geisha was a wonderful way to gain insight on the country itself. I learned more while reading this novel than I would have if I had read a history book - for the simple reason that it held my interest from start to finish.

Rating:
Summary: The ending spoils it all
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the first 400 or so pages, especially the glimpses into the social fabric of Japan pre- and post-war. Most of the characters were well drawn, and realistic. However, the sappy ending was totally unbelievable and ruined it for me. So take my advice and quit reading before the last chapter!

Rating:
Summary: Highly overrated
Review: I slogged through to the end of this book because I found it historically interesting, though I myself couldn't speak for its accuracy. I found the language stilted, much like a great deal of the technical and scientific documents I have edited. Worst of all, though, the characters seemed as flat as paper dolls. Since Stephen Spielberg has bought the movie rights, I must imagine that he will do a better job bringing some humanity to the people in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent & brilliantly masterful storytelling at its finest!
Review: Like "a kite pulled by a string," Golden draws the reader to Gion on a fantastic journey that one hopes will never end. A passionate and humbling delivery of the human spirit, that captivates the recipient - leaving him forever charmed.