Rating: 
Summary: It was okay, but not great
Review: I really enjoyed the first portion of the book, but as she moved into adulthood, she actually became less mature and developed into a vain woman. After all she had been through, she used and then crushed the man who truly loved her in order to pursue the Chairman. She even betrayed the older geisha who had taken her under her wing and made her into a success. I ended up not liking her at all!
Rating: 
Summary: §Wonderful Literature
Review: There are many books out there today with 'wonderful style' and an 'innovative approach to literature' that have no story to them. You can see the same thing duplicated in movies with loads of special effects and yet with no basis to keep your attention other than explosions and what-not every three minutes. When you leave the theater, you could hardly have called it a 'memorable experience.' In Golden's writing, other than possessing an exquisite writing style marked by its flow and captivating descriptions, and metaphors, he is also able to tell quite a remarkable and disarming tale. What makes the story all the more intriguing are the many dimensions of each character that the reader is presented with, particularly in the cases of Sayuri, Hatsumomo and Pumpkin. Though it has been noted by reviewers here and in other places that the book is simply a highly-dramatized 'nothingness', I cannot personally disagree any further. The depth of the characters and the basis for some of their decisions is in no way soap-opera fodder. The anguish Sayuri feels in her choice to betray her friend or to loose the man she has loved so dearly for so many years is not slightly considered. But to each his own opinion... I would like to leave you with a quote that I think exemplifies Golden's masterful use of prose: "... but when I sipped from the smallest of the three cups we used, I let the sake wash over my tongue, and a single drop of it spilled from the corner of my mouth. I was wearing a five-crested kimono of black, with a dragon woven in gold and red encircling the hem up to my thighs. I recall watching the drop fall beneath my arm and roll down the black silk on my thigh, until it came to a stop at the heavy silver threads of the dragon's teeth. I'm sure most geisha would call it a bad omen that I'd spilled sake; but to me, that droplet of moisture that had slipped from me like a tear seemed almost to tell the story of my life. It fell through empty space, with no control whatsoever over its destiny; rolled along a path of silk; and somehow came to rest there on the teeth of the dragon."
Rating:
Summary: memoirs was magical
Review: this book was given to me to read by my mother who had previously read it - she loved it and so did I. It reminds the reader of a harder time and what is important today. it was a magical story.
Rating:
Summary: I'm an evangelist for this book!
Review: I had given up reading for many years, but decided one day to buy Memoirs to see if something so foreign to me as Japanese culture would hold my interest. Well, this experience opened up a whole new world for me...both in terms of wanting to continue reading book after book, as well as piquing my interest in Japanese tradition. I absolutely was enthralled with the main character, Sayuri, and her plight into Geisha"dom." While I was reading the book, I actually felt like I was living her life. I couldn't put the book down. Every detail, every link in the story had me mesmerized, as well as ALL the characters. I was so disappointed when I finished Memoirs because it was over, but the memories lived on as I recommended the book to all my friends (they ALL loved it, too). I can only say that I hope Speilberg and the actors he hires do it justice. It would be rewarding to be involved with bringing this incredible tale to a visual and audible platform.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Junk Literature
Review: Of the thousands of books that I've read in my life time, I found this book to be the most difficult to put down. Its plot is so ingeniously constructed and well-paced that it reads like an epic poem. However, even a great soap opera is just that - a soap opera, and you will find that the book simply disappears from your mind as soon as you finish it. This book will never be a time-worn classic, but you will enjoy its many delicious and empty calories.
Rating:
Summary: This book is truly amazong
Review: I hardly enjoy reading books these days. As a sophomore in high school, I'd rather watch Dawson's Creek or go shopping. But when my mom gave me this book to read, I was captivated by it. From the first page, I became engrossed in Sayuri's world and amazed by the life of a geisha. Golden's prose is unbelievably poetic and i loved the way he described every aspect of a geisha's life. This is not like the usual memoirs i have read; I found myself staying up till 3 in the morning reading as much as i could until my eyes failed me.
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs of a Geisha Review
Review: Memoirs or a Geisha is a great read and an intriging story of the life of a Geisha. Inside the story you learn the customs, politics and training of the Geisha from the eyes of a little girl sold by her father along with her sister. We witness their lonliness, humiliation and attempts to triumph over adversity.
Rating: 
Summary: DULL
Review: Don't believe the hype on this one. This novel reads like it was written by a North American man trying to imitate Danielle Steele. The heroine remains devoted to a man who gave her a handkerchief; she betrays the man who truly loves her; she sees men only as instruments to her own ends. She comes across as a vacuous shallow person and she's one of the better written characters. Don't waste your time with this book - there must be better ways to learn about Japan.
Rating: 
Summary: An Evocative Peek Into the "Flower and Willow World"
Review: As a "gaijin" (foreigner) who spent 6 years in Japan and had ample opportunity to witness many of its social customs, I think it's worth noting that the setting Mr. Golden creates in his "Memoirs" is very much of a Japan gone by. This is sad. It is precisely the aspects of Sayuri's world that are the most exotic to us which exemplify the best of what is uniquely Japanese. Modern Japanese cherish the remnants of that romantic past the same way that Americans revere tales of our pioneering forbears--as a way to hold on to, and honor all that was poetic and noble about ourselves.I think it also bears mentioning that the average Japanese person today knows almost as little about the life of a typical geisha as the average Westener. Geisha entertainment has always been the province of extremely wealthy, powerful men--going to a teahouse to be entertained by geisha served the same function for a Japanese VIP that a British one would find at his tony men's club. Throughout the centuries that Japan's entertainment quarters--"the flower and willow world" as they call it--has existed, the number of patrons who could afford top-notch geisha entertainment for themselves and their friends has been an exclusive club indeed. In today's highly Westernized and technology-worshipping Japan, the idea of a geisha party is nearly as anachronistic and unattainable as it is here. Geisha belong to the same catagory as cowboys, knights on horseback and damsels-in-distress: cultural icons who have no place in the modern world. Mr. Golden does a superb job of capturing some of the magic of Sayuri's metier for those of us who will never have the opportunity to witness it firsthand. Sayuri and her fellow geisha may be trained from birth to be beautiful flowers, but they are also very human "working girls" (and I don't mean that in the sense of prostitute) Although there is an ever-present sexual overtone to the role of geisha, 99% of the time it is subliminal rather than overt, which I think Mr. Golden makes clear. I agree with one of the other reviewers who equated a geisha mistress with a Western "trophy wife". This is a very apt description. While wives are chosen for their docility, domestic skills, and breeding potential, a geisha mistress provides color, dash and sexual sauce for those who are lucky enough to afford them. However, in today's economy, a man would have to sport a bankroll the size of Donald Trump's to be a serious contender for a geisha mistress. Geisha are not flourishing these days, but a few communities still survive in major Japanese cities. For an excellent, highly readable treatment of the "modern" geisha (if this is not an oxymoron!) I highly recommend Liza Dalby's book "Geisha." The author was the only Western woman ever or since to apprentice as a Kyoto geisha, so she knows what she is talking about.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, Captivating
Review: I loved this book. It's one of those books that you simply can't get enough of.
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