| 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: 5542
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
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, spine creases, wear on binding and pages, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Artfully Entertaining, But How Much Should We Believe? July 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha is an artful, sensitively written novel, depicting how innocent little Chiyo from a poor Japanese fishing village overcomes multiple adversities--unexpected betrayal by her aging father, death of her ill mother, separation from her sister (who is sold to a house of prostitution but has the strength to escape), cruel and spiteful treatment by veteran geisha Hatsumomo, loss of friendship with her peer Pumpkin, the emotional anguish of a forced undressing of her kimono by the Baron, sale of her virginity (mizuage) for financial gain by the "mother" of the household (okiya) which bought her from her father years earlier--all en route to becoming first-class geisha Sayuri in the Gion district of Kyoto. Though the term "romance" is never used in the story itself, the intricate sequence of events richly unfolds into an eventual realization of Chiyo's youthful dream to be loved by the Chairman, a successful Osaka entrepreneur and businessman, who first notices her strikingly attractive blue-gray eyes (rare eye color for a Japanese) one afternoon during a stroll and takes the time to show kindness when she is sad and lonely. Due to their age difference, personal circumstances, the impact of World War II, and, most importantly, the Chairman's obligation to his business partner Nobu, not until almost two decades later does the Chairman permit himself to express his feelings for Sayuri.
Despite the personal triumph of protagonist Sayuri and the novel's Cinderella-like happy ending, the work also can be construed as a controversial rendering (by an outside foreigner) of the values and mores of early-to-mid-20th century Japanese society, at least with regard to the geisha world. However pleasurable and commonly accepted in Japan the entertaining, drinking, dancing and carousing at geisha teahouses may be, we cannot overlook the moral and ethical underpinnings of the story: the Chairman is a married man with a wife and family and, since Sayuri knows this, aren't their intimate encounters ("we drank each other up with so much yearning and need that afterward I felt myself drained of all the things the Chairman had taken from me, and yet filled with all that I had taken from him") considered adultery?; the Baron manages to restrain his physical desires but isn't luring a 15-year-old girl to one's estate and stripping off her kimono "just to have a peek" considered sexual harassment and molestation?; when a father knowingly and willingly enters into a contract through a businessman in the neighboring village to sell one daughter to a geisha house and another to a jorouya (house of prostitution), isn't this a form of child slavery and exploitation?; when the "mother" of the okiya takes a leadership role in auctioning off Sayuri's virginity, under the tutelage of geisha Mameha, whose virginity had been sold in the same manner a few years back for a record price, isn't personal choice being blatantly violated?; when geisha are expected to sell their entertainment services, including after-hours sexual favors to wealthy businessmen (danna-san), to pay off apprenticeship debts and thereafter to support the okiya, shouldn't we begin to question the ethical fabric of the broader society that supports the geisha world?
Indeed, the historical basis and authenticity of the work have been questioned, by none other than Mineko Iwasaki, the former geisha to whom the author gives foremost credit in his acknowledgements. Following publication of the book, Iwasaki disputed aspects the author's treatment of information she conveyed to him through a candid "insider's tour of Gion" while he was researching the book. According to news reports, Iwasaki sued the author for breach of contract and defamation, but the parties later reached settlement outside of court.
So, how much of the foundation of the story can we believe, what is the professional and personal life of a geisha really like, and what role does the geisha world actually play in Japanese society? Like a first-class geisha spinning tales during "big liar" drinking games with her customers, Memoirs of a Geisha is a very entertaining and enjoyable read but, unfortunately, historical fact and sociological truth are, I would guess, better sought from a more sober source.
 One of the best! June 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Honestly, this is one of my favorite books. I read it my senior year of college and neglected all of my academic work for a week because I could not put it down!
 Pass this one up June 10, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not a bad book. Arthur Golden knows his stuff, and the Japanese culture jumps out from the pages. The book starts out well -- little Chiyo is sold by her father to the Nitta okiya, where she struggles to live with a sadistic housemate named Hatsumomo, and also to become reunited with her sister, who's been sent somewhere else in the district. This first part of the book is filled with a good forward plot and plenty of emotion.
But after that, things settle down. From then on, the only things that push the book forward have to do with selling her virginity, becoming adopted by the Mother of the okiya, and basically earning approval among men. Golden gets caught up in describing everything single about geisha life, and it's TOO MUCH! Descriptions down to the color of thread of the different kimono every night. After first trying to visualize these kimono, I gave up and skipped over the descriptions. Too tiring. I want a story. Also, the entire book is based around conversation; so much so that I found Sayuri (Chiyo) to be overcome by dialogue and appear 1-dimesional. It's also peppered with meaningless metaphors, such as "I could no more have stopped myself from feeling sadness than you could stop yourself from smelling an apple that has been cut open on the table." What the heck?
I struggled to finish this. The only thing that kept me going was Sayuri's odd attraction to the Chairman. Golden's writing is great if you want a history lesson, but I wanted to learn and then get on with the plot!
interesting June 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
this book was very detailed. i read it after watching the movie, and learned more in the first few pages than i did from the entire film. i won't summarize as others have done that, suffice it to say this is a story about the life of a geisha. i thought that though the author was very descriptive, i wasn't compelled to immerse myself in the book. sometimes i felt the author's writing style to be uncomfortably detailed. i do enjoy detailed writing, but... i don't know what it was but at some points i just felt uncomfortable. maybe that was the author doing his job well as i know if i lived in japan at that time i'd be pretty uncomfortable, but people can write about uncomfortable subjects and not make it uncomfortable to the reader, so i guess i didn't enjoy his writing style. in fact if i remember correctly i put this down for a while somewhere in the middle of it and then convinced myself to finish it. of course it didn't help that i knew the basic story line, even if i didn't enjoy the writing style i'll stick it our for a good story, but that part was kind of spoiled for me.
the story itself was fascinating though. it covers a very interesting subject and is very much worth the read.
Holy zories, this is a long book. June 7, 2008
At 500+ pages, this is a verrrry long book. The beginning 100 and final 100 pages are great reading. However, in between there are 300 pages of slow, gentle, descriptive background...it is work to get through, but very good writing. Would I recommend it? I guess...with the caveat that it's quite long...maybe for hammock readers who have plenty of time for leisurely reading (that is so not me).
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