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Loading... Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel (original 1997; edition 1999)by Arthur Golden
Work detailsMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (1997)
Not only unique and educational, but also beautifully written and real.  Odenizli | May 8, 2013 |  "Oh, Hatsumomo's so MEAN to me!!!" "Oh, I love the Chairman so MUCH!!!" Yeah, that is pretty much the extent of Sayuri's thought processes for roughly 90% of the book. Not that this wasn't an enjoyable read. The world of the Geisha is certainly intriguing, and the customs and culture of Japan in the early 20th century is one of the most fascinating eras I've ever read about. The meticulous historical detail and Cinderella storyline were the best parts of the novel for me, and I still have trouble believing that it was completely fictional. This was published in 1997, is Arthur Golden ever going to write anything else? I would certainly read it. But the characterizations (or lack thereof) just got on my nerves, and robbed me of giving this novel a 5-star rating. The characters that I became interested in were either never fully developed, or disappeared completely. In some ways the 2005 film adaption of the novel helped with this problem, as Hatsumomo (played by the devastatingly gorgeous Gong Li) is actually allowed to express some emotion other than sheer conniving witchiness--and with Sayuri's beloved Mr. Chairman being played by the elegant real-life-cancer-survivor Ken Watanabe, you can understand in some measure of why she loved him unrequitedly (and borderline obsessively) for what, 20 years? Anyway, it's a beautifully written novel with a beautifully filmed movie to accompany it. Both, unfortunately, lack depth. (  ) FutureMrsJoshGroban | Apr 11, 2013 | I loved this book. I can imagine that it's not accurate and all of that, but I loved the tone and the writing, once I got into it, and I really ached for the characters and came to love them. Edit: I understand the things that are problematic about this book better now and I don't know if I'd still enjoy it, in light of that. Even if you do enjoy it, it's worth researching why it's problematic. (  ) shanaqui | Apr 9, 2013 | Was very captivated by the first half of the book, but felt the second half omitted much of the pace/detail that made the first half so interesting. The ending was very brief, and too hollywood for me. Without the neat conclusion the book would be four stars. A good read, good to get into a culture different from mine, but not quite as amazing as I'd expected. ( ) LDVoorberg | Apr 7, 2013 | a good book to bring you to another time & place. he holds the reader's attention and really gives a vivid sense of setting. ( ) julierh | Apr 7, 2013 |
 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.  Mr. Golden gives us not only a richly sympathetic portrait of a woman, but also a finely observed picture of an anomalous and largely vanished world. He has made an impressive and unusual debut.  Haarhuis's foreword and Golden's epilogue, the one appropriating the guise of a novel and the other taking it off, suggest an author who is of two minds when it comes to his work. It is not surprising, then, if his readers share this uncertainty. The decision to write an autobiographically styled novel rather than a nonfiction portrait is most obviously justified in terms of empathy, of allowing greater freedom to explore the geisha's inner life. Unfortunately, Sayuri's personality seems so familiar it is almost generic; she is not so much an individual as a faultless arrangement of feminine virtues.
References to this work on external resources.
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From start to finish, the listener is absorbed in the elegant spirit of Davis's performance, eager to hear the next chapter of Sayuri's transformation into one of the most famous geishas of the century. How unfortunate, then, to learn that book readers not only get the basic story, but a fascinating look at the intricate rules and rituals of geisha culture. Here, for example, is one of the many revelations omitted from the cassette: "Japanese men, as a rule, feel about a woman's neck and throat the same way that men in the West might feel about a woman's legs.... In fact, a geisha leaves a tiny margin of skin bare all around the hairline, causing her makeup to look even more artificial.... When a man sits beside her, he becomes that much more aware of the bare skin beneath."
We're also denied several subplots--the aborted friendship between Sayuri and a geisha named Pumpkin, for example, or much of the story involving the man Sayuri is secretly in love with. But what remains is as precious as a traditional Japanese kimono--at once artistic, suggestive, and moving. --Ann Senechal
(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:18:15 -0500)
Esta sensaciâon literaria y bestseller internacional presenta con perfecta autenticidad y exquisito lirismo las confesiones de una geisha famosa de Japâon. En esta novela entramos a un mundo donde las apariencias son de suma importancia; donde la virginidad de una niäna es subastada al mejor postor; donde las mujeres son entrenadas para seducir a los hombres mâas poderosos; y donde el amor es desdeänado como una mera ilusiâon. Es una obra de ficciâon al mismo tiempo româantica, erâotica y de suspenso.--Desde la descripciâon de la editorial.… (more)
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