Memoirs of a Geisha : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful read
Review: I loved reading this book and have passed it on to many of my friends and family to with my highest recommendations. It takes you to other time and another place and is such an enjoyable read.

The ending felt a little rushed but that was probably because I never wanted it to end.



Rating:
Summary: Well-written, informative but without the emotion of fiction
Review: This was a very informative and presumably accurate depiction of the life of a geisha, circa 1920-1950. It is told entirely from the viewpoint of the memoirist, of course. She unfortunately maintains complete equanimity and betrays no personal faults despite the extreme hardship after the death of her mother and the almost uniform cruelty and desperation of almost everyone with whom she interacts. I felt the story lacked emotion and depth. It could have been a fable or a children's story but I don't think it qualifies as fiction. For a better version of a similar story, I recommend Theodore Dreiser's classic novel, Sister Carrie, about an 18-year-old country girl who moves to Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, where she becomes a kept woman.