Memoirs of a Geisha

it's a good story. so good that the "translator's note" chapter really made me believe--until the last few pages, pretty much--that Sayuri-san is real. then i got pissed off at Arthur Golden for his brilliant scheme when i realized that he made that part up just to create such an effect, that all of the storyline and its characters are simply made-believes (ex. Sayuri didn't really permanently...more

it's a good story. so good that the "translator's note" chapter really made me believe--until the last few pages, pretty much--that Sayuri-san is real. then i got pissed off at Arthur Golden for his brilliant scheme when i realized that he made that part up just to create such an effect, that all of the storyline and its characters are simply made-believes (ex. Sayuri didn't really permanently occupy a suite at waldorf in nyc). but i give him credit regardless for the fact that most of the vingnettes depicted in the novel do more or less reflect the lives of geishas in japan in that period of time. Golden is just telling true stories of real people out of fictional characters. as for the movie, i appreciate the fact that it sticks pretty truly with the book's intent. i'm speculating that this result is very likely yielded by Golden's firm stance during the movie's production, all the way from screenwriting on. the only shocker was toward the end w/the part involving an American general, creating the climax of the story (i can't really recall the details nearly 2 years later), but that change is rather insignificant and to a tolerable extent compared to a lot of major alternations we see in many other book-converted movies. another trivia regarding this movie is that all 3 main female characters (Sayuri, Mameha, and Hatsumomo) are played by Chinese actresses (Zhang Zi-Yi, Michelle Yeoh, and Gong Li, respectively) instead of Japanese. for authentic autobiography of a geisha, consider reading Sayo Masuda's Autobiography of a Geisha.   hide

Just finished this and didn't love it. I definitely got caught up in the drama of it all but there were a few things with both the style and the story that bugged the hell out of me. First of all the constant similes became laughable after a while. My favorite was some thing like... he regarded him like an icepick regards a block of ice. I think this book would be great as a drinking...more

Just finished this and didn't love it. I definitely got caught up in the drama of it all but there were a few things with both the style and the story that bugged the hell out of me. First of all the constant similes became laughable after a while. My favorite was some thing like... he regarded him like an icepick regards a block of ice. I think this book would be great as a drinking game. Just take a drink every time you came across a folksy, japanesey, simile. Everyone would be hammered swiftly. I never really felt a huge depth to the character and never understood her to be anything more than a pretty girl, and the moral of the story seemed to be that if you're pretty enough you will get what you want. Well, as long as you don't tangle with any other pretty girl who is hell bent on destroying you. Ironically enough, it was the 'good guys' who ended up going out of their way to drive the bad guy crazy.   hide

'Al tempio c'è una poesia intitolata "la mancanza", incisa nella pietra. Ci sono 3 parole, ma il poeta le ha cancellate. Non si può leggere la mancanza, solo avvertirla.' 'La parola "geisha" significa "artista", ed essere geisha vuol dire essere valutata come un'opera d'arte in movimento' 'Non puoi considerarti una vera geisha,...more

'Al tempio c'è una poesia intitolata "la mancanza", incisa nella pietra. Ci sono 3 parole, ma il poeta le ha cancellate. Non si può leggere la mancanza, solo avvertirla.' 'La parola "geisha" significa "artista", ed essere geisha vuol dire essere valutata come un'opera d'arte in movimento' 'Non puoi considerarti una vera geisha, finché non riuscirai a fermare un uomo per la strada con un solo sguardo.' 'Non si può giudicare la potenza di un uomo solo dalla sua prestanza.' *Se un albero non ha né foglie né rami, si può ancora chiamarlo albero?* "Non dobbiamo aspettarci la felicità, Sayuri. Non è una cosa che ci è dovuta. Quando la vita va bene, è un dono improvviso, non può durare per sempre" "Mia madre diceva sempre che mia sorella Satsu era come il legno: radicata nel terreno come un albero Sakura. Ma a ne diceva che ero come l'acqua. L'acqua si scava la strada anche attraverso la pietra, e quando è intrappolata l'acqua si crea un nuovo varco." 'Non si può dire al sole "più sole". O alla pioggia "meno pioggia". Per un uomo, la geisha può essere solo una moglie a metà. Siamo le mogli del crepuscolo. Eppure appendere la gentilezza, dopo tanta poca gentilezza, capire come una bambina con più coraggio di quanto creda, trovi le sue preghiere esaudite, non può chiamarsi felicità? Dopo tutto, queste non sono le memorie di un'imperatrice, né di una regina. Sono memorie... di un altro tipo.' 'Lei si dipinge il viso per nascondere il viso. I suoi occhi sono acqua profonda. Non è per una geisha desiderare. Non è per una geisha provare sentimenti. La geisha è un'artista del mondo, che fluttua, danza, canta, vi intrattiene. Tutto quello che volete. Il resto è ombra. Il resto è segreto.'   hide

The story follows the life of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo, as she is sold into slavery during the Great Depression. It begins in a small fishing village as the 9-year-old's father sells her and her sister, Satsu, to a local businessman. Because of her unusual grey eyes, Chiyo is then sold to an okiya, a geisha house, while Satsu is sold into prostitution.It is amazing that Golden, an American...more

The story follows the life of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo, as she is sold into slavery during the Great Depression. It begins in a small fishing village as the 9-year-old's father sells her and her sister, Satsu, to a local businessman. Because of her unusual grey eyes, Chiyo is then sold to an okiya, a geisha house, while Satsu is sold into prostitution.It is amazing that Golden, an American male, has so eloquently portrayed the life of a Japanese geisha. He captures the emotions of his characters perfectly while describing Japanese life.Chiyo initially rebels. But when she learns that her sister has escaped without her and her parents have died she accepts her fate. She struggles to find independence within the strict world of the geisha and climbs to the top of geisha society, only to crash during World War II. She then starts over and finds independence through her patrons.Golden fills the book with vivid images and subtle descriptions of the nuances of Japanese culture, and is absolutely brilliant in his description of the customs and rituals of the geisha. Through the meticulous detail the reader can fully understand the politics, rivalries, and traditions of the Japan geisha society.But while Golden captures your attention with information, this is also the book's minor downside. With so much detail you almost get bogged down by the numerous definitions of Japanese terms. But if you hang in, the action picks up and you will start to cheer for Chiyo as she continues her struggle. Golden explores the concept of freedom within a slavelike society as Chiyo uses her brains more than her beauty to make an independent life for herself.If you are interested in Japanese culture or in a girl's quest for independence, you must read this book. If you want to immerse yourself in a complex and mysterious culture, read Arthur Golden's first novel, "Memoirs of a Geisha".   hide

Popular books always disappoint and this book is no exclusion. The fictional story centers around a poor Japanese girl who struggles through life, who is sold at an young age, endures cruel treatment at the Okiya, leads a maid' life but suddenly her life is transformed by Mameha(her older sister) and under her guidance her life changes and she become a successful Geisha. She yearns for the...more

Popular books always disappoint and this book is no exclusion. The fictional story centers around a poor Japanese girl who struggles through life, who is sold at an young age, endures cruel treatment at the Okiya, leads a maid' life but suddenly her life is transformed by Mameha(her older sister) and under her guidance her life changes and she become a successful Geisha. She yearns for the Chairman while the Chairman' best friend yearns for her and the story takes a dramatic twist in the final 2 chapters. The author does a remarkable job of providing exquisite details not only on what it takes to become a Geisha but also about the life of a typical Geisha...At the end of the novel, one is happy that the Geisha tradition no longer exists Generally, as you read a book, you feel strongly about certain characters but in this book no one comes out as having a half-way decent character other than probably Mameha. One learns that Geisha' are not only talented, suave etc but these women are crafty and shrewd and probably as cunning as foxes are. By no means, can one call the protagonist (Sayuri) as a poor little girl though that was how she portrayed herself in this story which was said in first person. The climax and the anti-climax of the book lies in the last two chapters..I say Climax cos the final chapter is all about powerful, hard-hitting truths that resonate. The one statement where Arthur Golden says that one can’t speak about pain as long as they are enduring it , was so on the mark...The other part of how people remain with us till the end of life as memories was again right on the money. I loved the last chapter so much that I re-read it. All in all, I rate it at 3 on a scale from 1 to 5   hide

This is by all accounts a painstakingly researched book. Golden's meticulous detail creates a 'pretty' picture and having spent 9 years travelling back and forth to Japan I wanted to enjoy the book a lot more than I did. It just didn't resonate emotionally as sincere or profound. I was hoping it would unfold like a superb piece of theater, where character would transcend the limitations of human...more

This is by all accounts a painstakingly researched book. Golden's meticulous detail creates a 'pretty' picture and having spent 9 years travelling back and forth to Japan I wanted to enjoy the book a lot more than I did. It just didn't resonate emotionally as sincere or profound. I was hoping it would unfold like a superb piece of theater, where character would transcend the limitations of human circumstance. It is very intimately a first person account of a uniquely female and Japanese experience. Unfortunately, it seems easy to blame the somewhat hollow resonance of the book on the limitations of it having been written by a white man from Harvard. Ha ha, maybe I just would have preferred it to be written by a white woman from Yale! I felt it was limited not just by its lack of authenticity, but also because of the somewhat tight writing style. Still, the effort put into the book is impressive and I think with moderate expectations it could be considered an interesting and informative read.   hide

Yes, this is a pretty romance novel. Unfortunately, that's all it is. I found it to be nothing more than a Cinderella story mixed in with sex, stereotyping and set in Japan to make it seem as if it were so much more exotic. This is something to read if you like a mindless romance novel with no strings attached - or for those who aren't too interested or aren't too well-versed in...more

Yes, this is a pretty romance novel. Unfortunately, that's all it is. I found it to be nothing more than a Cinderella story mixed in with sex, stereotyping and set in Japan to make it seem as if it were so much more exotic. This is something to read if you like a mindless romance novel with no strings attached - or for those who aren't too interested or aren't too well-versed in the world of Geisha. This is a wonderful novel for people to read if they like to stick fast to the old and prevalent Western stereotype that the Geisha is a prostitute who sells her virginity to the highest bidder. However, using this book as a source for a research paper would cause you to fail your assignment. Not much about this book is grounded in fact at all. In fact, this is grounded largely in Orientalism and stereotyping, and horrible ones at that. My biggest problem was the idea about the Mizuage. A mizuage for Oiran - which are prostitutes, is generally the norm as written in this novel. But a Maiko's mizuage is nothing more than a sweet 16 of sorts. Her topknot of her hair is cut and her hair assumes a change from the Wareshinobu style to the Ofuku hairstyle. That's really all it is. The book on it's own, as I felt, was quite overrated. It was something that was too wordy and so descriptive that it was almost sappy. It was predictable. It became boring after a while. Really, the movie does this book no more justice. The movie is abysmal at best. I gave Memoirs of a Geisha 2 stars precisely because it's a good time killer - something to read when your internet or TV is out. But otherwise, I would never give it a second thought. If you want to read about Geisha, in something a bit more entertaining, read "Geisha: A Life" by Mineko Iwasaki. That is so much more worth your time.   hide

I cannot even tell you how much this book means to me. I have read it over and over and over again (each May) and can never get tired of it. It is such a passionate story where you truly feel Sayuri's (Chiyo's) pain, and you realize how much one little glimmer of hope in one's life can do to a person, how it can keep one going strong when they feel there is nothing more to live for. A beautiful...more

I cannot even tell you how much this book means to me. I have read it over and over and over again (each May) and can never get tired of it. It is such a passionate story where you truly feel Sayuri's (Chiyo's) pain, and you realize how much one little glimmer of hope in one's life can do to a person, how it can keep one going strong when they feel there is nothing more to live for. A beautiful memoir that I have almost memorized and ponder often. I have an incredible obsession with Geisha and want to study them forever and continue this in college and possibly live amongst them for a while as the Japanese anthropologist Liza Dalby once did, and although this story is fictional (even though we wish it was all real for the Geisha who Arthur Golden interview, Mineko Iwasaki: author of "Geisha: A Life", telling the real story of a Geisha's full life, has explained that the story has been altered to please all kinds of readers.) Much of it is true, and realisitic, but part of this book has indeed corrupted the Geisha society in Japan, giving a false interpretation that many want to believe as Mineko has explained in interviews and such etc etc. Of course, that doesn't stop me from loving the book, especially when I have such a huge passion for Geisha, and Japan's culture and history. This book just speaks to me unlike anything, almost like its reaching out....I can't explain it.   hide

The strikingly pretty child of an impoverished fishing family, Chiyo is taken to faraway Kyoto and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house where she is renamed Sayuri. Initially reluctant, Sayuri must finally invent and cultivate an image of herself as a desirable geisha in order to survive in Gion's cruel hierarchy. Through her eyes, we are given a backstage view of the ancient and...more

The strikingly pretty child of an impoverished fishing family, Chiyo is taken to faraway Kyoto and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house where she is renamed Sayuri. Initially reluctant, Sayuri must finally invent and cultivate an image of herself as a desirable geisha in order to survive in Gion's cruel hierarchy. Through her eyes, we are given a backstage view of the ancient and secretive geisha district, Gion, and of the lives of the women who learn and practice the rigorous arts of the geisha. Behind its facade of haunting beauty the district turns out to be a viciously competitive place where women vie desperately for men's favor and largess, where a young girl's virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder, where personal trust is almost nonexistent, and where no woman can afford even to dream about love or happiness. A timeless pocket of the world, Gion cannot remain cut off from the bustle of the modern era forever. When Japan enters the Second World War, Gion's isolation is finally breached and Sayuri must once again reinvent herself and her way of existence. Memoirs of a Geisha is a treasure of a book, an unparalleled look at a strange and mysterious world which has now almost vanished. It is also, and unforgettably, a dazzling portrait of a singular and most seductive woman who tells her story in a compelling first person voice   hide