| Memoirs of a Geisha | 
 enlarge | Author: Arthur Golden
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2477 reviews
Sales Rank: 6312
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 1400096898
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400096893
ASIN: 1400096898
Publication Date: November 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Very Well written. July 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was thrilling and quite detailed. While it may not be considered an accurate depiction in the views of a true geisha it is still quite entertaining and very well written. Hard to put down once you start reading it. The movie did not do it justice.
Artful and Captivating July 21, 2008
Memoirs of a Geisha / 0-679-78158-7
This artful, veiled look into the hidden life of the geisha is incredibly captivating. The realism grips the reader instantly, as we read of a young girl's coming of age in a world where she must compete with her beauty, skill, art, and conversation in order to be a worthwhile companion to men. Our geisha correctly reminds us that her art is really no different from what many women practice, this careful battle to be a man's companion and mistress is just applied to the rigid rules and careful beauty of the society of which she is a member.
Realistically, Sayuri guides us through her training, shows us her fears and hopes. Her hopes are the simple hopes of the poor - she hopes to have enough food, money, and shelter to be comfortable. She does not dare to hope to buy her freedom, nor does she know what she would accomplish with this freedom. After a chance meeting with the only man who ever treated her kindly without hoping for something in return, her hopes expand to include being a geisha for this man - the only interaction she can imagine with him. Her fears are more complex - she fears the tyranny of the people who own her and live with her, she fears that she will be a failure as a geisha and will be forced to become a prostitute, she fears that she has no worth or value.
How much of this is real and how much is fiction? It is difficult to say. Certainly, the glimpses inside Sayuri's world ring true. It is hardly a stretch of the imagination that upper-class mistresses would be frequented by rich gentleman - certainly, this phenomenon has been a normal part of many societies and there is no reason to assume that the practice could not be generalized into a rigid business. I think that it misses the point, however, to belabor the "truth" of the story, though, for such a question posits that there is only one truth to be had. I think that this story is true for Sayuri, and that there are other stories, just as true to their tellers, which would show a different image to us.
Fantastic glimse... July 16, 2008
I read this book on a business trip and almost missed all my meetings because I didn't want to put it down. Forget the movie...or at the very least...READ THIS BOOK before you see the movie. It was amazing and I'd say a good read for both men and women.
Amazing novel July 14, 2008
This is not the kind of book that I really thought that I would enjoy. I picked it up at the airport for a long trip. I could not put this book down. It was fantastic!!! Highly recommended
Shocking, fascinating, gripping July 8, 2008
I don't think I knew enough about Japanese culture, and this well-written, beautifully depictive novel certainly paints a picture that fills that void very well.
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