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Summary: What a Surprise!
Review: I am usually a fan of science fiction and fantasy fiction, but this book took me by surprise! I'm fascinated by Asian history so it seemed interesting at first glance. The entire time I was reading the book I was captivated...What a compelling tale of such an interesting life...until the end when I relized it was fiction! It crushed me! I'm in love with this book. It is a satisfing read...if not slightly predictable in the end...but lots of fun!
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Summary: A beautiful story, very captivating!
Review: A wonderful, totally absorbing novel!
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Summary: AUDIO REVIEW -- FANTASTIC
Review: I read this book two years ago and it still remains one of my all time favorites. To be able to be taken to a world that I could never even dream about and make it feel so real is quite a compliment to the author. Having said all that, if you liked the book, you will ABSOLUTELY LOVE the audio. The reading by English actress Bernadette Dunn with all the different subtle accents of all the characters both male and female is nothing short of remarkable. How she is able to bring life to Sayuri and The Chairman while talking about the teahouses in Gion -- believe me I thought I was there instead of driving around in my car. This audio is a definite must for the true Memoirs' lovers.
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Summary: Beauty is in the details
Review: Golden sketches the delicate, slowly vanishing world of the geisha in beautiful, sometimes startling language and imagery. Most surprising - and haunting - are the tiny details embroidered throughout this novel: the smell of fish, the steps of a dance, the contents of a geisha's makeup collection, the brilliant designs swimming across an antique kimono. Though I consider this novel's fatal flaw to lie within Sayuri's overplayed love story, this book is to be treasured, nevertheless, for its wealth of emotions and stunning attention to detail.
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Summary: could be better, short of my expectations
Review: The book has some good parts, but overall, the book is weak in character development. The development of the main character, Sayuri, was poor. The book kept mentioning that the main character was clever and had a "water" personality, but did very little to protray these qualities. In addition, the majority of the supporting characters were one dimensional and extremely predictable, except for Nobu, who was excellently protrayed.The book was informative on the life and society of geisha. However, the book seem to concentrate the character development around the informative aspect of being a geisha. Once there was nothing else to write about being a geisha, the book sped to the ending. If you want to read this book, borrow it from a friend or the library. The book is definitely not worth owning.
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Summary: A beautifully written tale, impossible to put down
Review: It's not impossible to put down because it's a thriller or a fast-paced commercial fiction book -- but because it's simply so well written, and you become so entangled in the characters. It's absolutely phenomenal -- delicate and lyrical, and yet fraught with tension -- one of the best contemporary novels I've read in the past few years.
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Summary: A "Calgon Take Me Away" Book!
Review: I loved this book and I have never been particularly interestedin the Japanese culture. It was a captivating book which took youinto the mindset of a Geisha. Although you learn a lot about the Japanese culture you mostly learn about the similarities that exist among women. I was fascinated by the strength of women as revealed in this novel! I found myself absorbed with this book even when I wasn't reading it. My sign of a great read!
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Summary: An excellent novel
Review: I'm not very found of novels, but when I started this book I could not put it down until the end. An easy to read, grabbing book.
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Summary: Discouraging
Review: As a Japanese woman in US, I have been asked about geisha forso many times. Everytime I try to explain geisha is not prostitute. Ihave read this book, and now heard that this will be a big motion picture by Spielberg, I feel so powerless. How could I convince people if what Sayuri and other geisha do in this story is just like those of prostitute? Yes, they went to school and learned many arts, but that just make these geisha looks like the prostitute with art degree. The author failed to show readers how these skilles and knowledge were utilized in their life. The author did a nice try to tackle with this sensitive subject, but PLEASE, fellow readers, read more books about Japan, look for other infomation in any means. Try some Japanese literature by Japanese author. This book is a real fiction, and you can't possibly see a true picture from only one fictional story.And this is not well-written even as a fiction.
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Summary: Ren's Review of Memoirs of a Geisha
Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read in my life. It is about a young girl who grows up in a little fishing village in Japan with her family in a "tipsy" house. One day a man comes and buys the young girl and her sister from the father. The young girl is then sent off to be a geisha and the other girl is sent to a whore house. It is a very touching, descriptive account of what it is like to be a geisha. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read in the slightest.
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