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lazylamb's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jordania_'s review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
taylorg237's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
meggriffin88's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
happylilkt's review against another edition
1.0
This book is, in my opinion, extremely overrated. Some of my friends love it (and I still love them). There were glimpses of good writing, but the characters weren't likeable, and the pacing was uneven. It's an exotic setting/premise, but that's wasn't enough for me.
lauraazz's review against another edition
5.0
i finally got my hand on this book. it was an amazing experience, this i can tell. i have been waiting to read this book for so long and i eventually got the chance. one thing is sure, i wasn't disappointed.
the way the story goes on fluently is enchanting. it has captured me from the very start even though i've seen the movie ( it is worth reading even if you saw the movie. the movie doesn't offer all those little important details and it doesn't capture all the key scenes from the book)
Sayuri is an amazing characture and through her we get to find about the way geishas lived back then and how important they were for the culture, them being a bridge from the lowlife points to the high ones.
strongly recommended.
the way the story goes on fluently is enchanting. it has captured me from the very start even though i've seen the movie ( it is worth reading even if you saw the movie. the movie doesn't offer all those little important details and it doesn't capture all the key scenes from the book)
Sayuri is an amazing characture and through her we get to find about the way geishas lived back then and how important they were for the culture, them being a bridge from the lowlife points to the high ones.
strongly recommended.
ninard's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book, can't get enough of it, read it 3 times. The story line is thrilling, dramatic and you feel like you're there with her.
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
2.0
Disclaimer: I have been reading and reviewing for over a decade, and in that time, I have grown and changed a lot. My views in the following review reflect the person I was when I wrote them and may not reflect who I am today - for better or for worse. While I would love to be able to reread and update my reviews to reflect who I am today, I think my time is better dedicated elsewhere. If you choose to read this review, please bear in mind this attitude.
Plot:
Chiyo and her sister, Satsu, are sold just before the death of their mother. Chiyo is sold to the Nitta okiya household in Gion; Satsu to a prostitute home. Chiyo is raised to become geisha but is thwarted by Hatsumomo, the primary geisha in the okiya and a successful geisha in Gion. Chiyo’s prospects of becoming geisha are ruined after an attempt to run away; her grief is further compounded when she learns that both her parents are dead and her sister ran off with a young man from her village. In the midst of her despair, she finds hope when a man known as the “Chairman” shows her kindness and gives her a handkerchief. Chiyo determines from that point on to become geisha to attract his attention.
With the help of Mameha, one of the most popular geisha in Gion, Chiyo wins her freedom from debt, liberates herself from Hatsumomo’s tyrannical reign, and becomes a successful, popular geisha named Sayuri.
Good:
I enjoyed reading about the traditions, garments, etc. pertaining to the geisha lifestyle (although I am almost positive that it has been “Hollywood-ized”). I enjoyed the competition between Mameha and Hatsumomo. Some of my favorite characters include Mameha, Nobu, and Hatsumomo. I also did not mind Chiyo/Sayuri’s infatuation with an older man (she does like most young girls—myself included—and mistakes admiration for the Chairman’s good character for romantic love); however, I do have reservations about the direction of the relationship (explained later). Lastly, I felt Golden did a satisfactory job writing from the perspective of a young woman. I was about 100+ pages into the story when I remembered with more than a little amazement that the author was a man.
Bad:
There are two reasons people spend hours upon hours over a computer or a notebook: education or entertainment. This book wallows in both and ends up accomplishing neither.
First: education. The book purports that geisha are not prostitutes but fails to establish this. A majority of the book (near 200 pages) is spent on mizuage, the convention of auctioning off a girl’s virginity. Mameha sleeps repetitively with her danna, the Baron. Several times, it is said that a “one night stand” is not acceptable; however, in the next breath, it is revealed that an arranged period of time with a danna involving sexual relations is acceptable (what, might I ask is the difference between a one-night prostitute and a paid mistress? Both are paid to sleep with their clients!). Lastly, Sayuri sleeps with her danna twice a week. If the sexual relations were those of passion, I might understand the situations, but this is not the case. Geisha were not prostitutes; I read somewhere that they were not allowed to sleep with men under any circumstances!
Given this, perhaps the education the author intended was to elaborate on the objectification of women. In this case, the novel fairs better (although it does not provide a satisfactory outcome for the plight of women, merely a glimpse into what they are forced to put up with). After reading this, I feel sorry for women everywhere: geisha, actresses, models, singers, etc. whose entire lives are built on nothing more than their physical appearance. The geisha in this book cannot even choose to keep the children that their sexual relations produce (Mameha has had three abortions)!
Second: entertainment. Authors sometimes write books to entertain, but I doubt this is why Golden wrote this book. Memoirs of a Geisha is simply not a book that will entertain you. Much of it is very depressing with few bright points. Books about heavy subjects such as those presented in Memoirs of a Geisha are not the type people will open up on a lazy evening or while reclining at the beach (at least, I’m not inclined to do so). They will read it for the prior reason (which, as I said above, is not very accurate or compelling).
There are a few other areas that disturb me as a reader:
It is frequently mentioned that Chiyo/Sayuri is clever; however, not much of what she does is clever. Most of her planning (including her scheme towards the end of the novel) falls flat. (In fact, throughout the novel, she really doesn’t do a whole lot of doing which leads me to the next point.)
Much of what happens to Chiyo/Sayuri is everyone acting on her, not her doing a whole lot of anything. While I can understand some outside intervention, I got frustrated for her for not actively participating in her own life more (for instance, Nobu has to come to her hideaway in order to tell her to contact Mother to be allowed back in Gion three years after the geisha districts have been reopened. If I were Sayuri and truly longing to be a geisha again as she says she is, I would have waited a short time and written Mother about it.).
There is inconsistency with the pacing of the novel. The first 150 pages concern Chiyo’s childhood, primarily when she is about 10 years old. The next 250 pages concern from when Chiyo/Sayuri is 12 to when she is 18, mostly concentrating on when she is 14 – 15 (and her mizuage). The last 100 pages elaborate from when she is 18 to the end of her life concentrating mostly on age 30. How can a woman remember so clearly the time she lost her virginity and things from her youth and not closer to the end of her life? I can understand her remembering her final moments in her hometown, Yoroido, and other firsts in her life (first time in a hair dresser, etc.) but other things she remembers (e.g. elaborate details about kimono) are just plain odd. And why the silence on the war? Five years and all of it is summed up in about twenty pages? The book reads less like a true memoir (which has no overreaching aim and should be a concoction of unrelated or random events in life) and more like a fictional novel which is written with a purpose, the purpose being to elaborate on the young geisha’s sex life and her romance with the Chairman.
Golden makes a serious mistake: he mistakes metaphors and similes for imagery. Sometimes as often as twice in one paragraph, he will use metaphors like “Trying to survive in an okiya with Hatsumomo is like a pig trying to survive in a slaughterhouse” or “[they:] weren’t ‘spending time together’ any more than a squirrel is spending time with the insects that live in the same tree” or “I felt like a slab of tuna the grocer had just delivered”. A little of this goes a long way.
It would be nice to see more about Hatsumomo and what makes her tick. As it stands, she is just a wicked woman who doesn’t want Chiyo to reduce her popularity. What happened to Hatsumomo that made her so mean and so cruel? Why was she so mean to such a young girl with nothing more than promise on her side?
Pumpkin and Chiyo’s friendship is flat. I had a hard time believing that they were actual friends. A few mentions of them talking with each other while practicing shamisen and suddenly they are Anne and Diana from Anne of Green Gables.
Halfway through the book, Golden makes me think that Sayuri likes Nobu. However, we quickly find out she does not and is still harping on a man whose affections she should have grown out of years ago (come on! She’s thirty for pete’s sake!). I feel that the chemistry between Sayuri and the Chairman died many years earlier (or never existed in the way Golden suggests). And the end is so corny, so fairy-tale-ish and not at all what one expects from a memoir (life rarely comes out with “happily ever-after”s). In my opinion, Sayuri should have been infatuated with the Chairman but learns he has no feelings for her. Then, her true feelings emerge and she realizes that she has always loved Nobu.
Overall:
I watched the movie, so I had an idea of what I was getting myself into before I started reading. I knew this wouldn’t be a light-hearted book, but I didn’t realize there was so little levity (often, the movie omits items that are in the book). Besides the heavy subject matter, the character of Chiyo/Sayuri was rather dull and inactive, the pacing inconsistent, the imagery clunky and annoying (do Japanese really use this many weird metaphors and similes?), and the emphasis indeterminable. If you have the time to waste and want to read a Hollywood-ized version of the life of a geisha, this is your book.
Spoiler
Ever since my childhood, I have been very interested in the Japanese culture. This book promised to give me a peek into the secret lifestyles of one particular group: the geisha.Plot:
Chiyo and her sister, Satsu, are sold just before the death of their mother. Chiyo is sold to the Nitta okiya household in Gion; Satsu to a prostitute home. Chiyo is raised to become geisha but is thwarted by Hatsumomo, the primary geisha in the okiya and a successful geisha in Gion. Chiyo’s prospects of becoming geisha are ruined after an attempt to run away; her grief is further compounded when she learns that both her parents are dead and her sister ran off with a young man from her village. In the midst of her despair, she finds hope when a man known as the “Chairman” shows her kindness and gives her a handkerchief. Chiyo determines from that point on to become geisha to attract his attention.
With the help of Mameha, one of the most popular geisha in Gion, Chiyo wins her freedom from debt, liberates herself from Hatsumomo’s tyrannical reign, and becomes a successful, popular geisha named Sayuri.
Good:
I enjoyed reading about the traditions, garments, etc. pertaining to the geisha lifestyle (although I am almost positive that it has been “Hollywood-ized”). I enjoyed the competition between Mameha and Hatsumomo. Some of my favorite characters include Mameha, Nobu, and Hatsumomo. I also did not mind Chiyo/Sayuri’s infatuation with an older man (she does like most young girls—myself included—and mistakes admiration for the Chairman’s good character for romantic love); however, I do have reservations about the direction of the relationship (explained later). Lastly, I felt Golden did a satisfactory job writing from the perspective of a young woman. I was about 100+ pages into the story when I remembered with more than a little amazement that the author was a man.
Bad:
There are two reasons people spend hours upon hours over a computer or a notebook: education or entertainment. This book wallows in both and ends up accomplishing neither.
First: education. The book purports that geisha are not prostitutes but fails to establish this. A majority of the book (near 200 pages) is spent on mizuage, the convention of auctioning off a girl’s virginity. Mameha sleeps repetitively with her danna, the Baron. Several times, it is said that a “one night stand” is not acceptable; however, in the next breath, it is revealed that an arranged period of time with a danna involving sexual relations is acceptable (what, might I ask is the difference between a one-night prostitute and a paid mistress? Both are paid to sleep with their clients!). Lastly, Sayuri sleeps with her danna twice a week. If the sexual relations were those of passion, I might understand the situations, but this is not the case. Geisha were not prostitutes; I read somewhere that they were not allowed to sleep with men under any circumstances!
Given this, perhaps the education the author intended was to elaborate on the objectification of women. In this case, the novel fairs better (although it does not provide a satisfactory outcome for the plight of women, merely a glimpse into what they are forced to put up with). After reading this, I feel sorry for women everywhere: geisha, actresses, models, singers, etc. whose entire lives are built on nothing more than their physical appearance. The geisha in this book cannot even choose to keep the children that their sexual relations produce (Mameha has had three abortions)!
Second: entertainment. Authors sometimes write books to entertain, but I doubt this is why Golden wrote this book. Memoirs of a Geisha is simply not a book that will entertain you. Much of it is very depressing with few bright points. Books about heavy subjects such as those presented in Memoirs of a Geisha are not the type people will open up on a lazy evening or while reclining at the beach (at least, I’m not inclined to do so). They will read it for the prior reason (which, as I said above, is not very accurate or compelling).
There are a few other areas that disturb me as a reader:
It is frequently mentioned that Chiyo/Sayuri is clever; however, not much of what she does is clever. Most of her planning (including her scheme towards the end of the novel) falls flat. (In fact, throughout the novel, she really doesn’t do a whole lot of doing which leads me to the next point.)
Much of what happens to Chiyo/Sayuri is everyone acting on her, not her doing a whole lot of anything. While I can understand some outside intervention, I got frustrated for her for not actively participating in her own life more (for instance, Nobu has to come to her hideaway in order to tell her to contact Mother to be allowed back in Gion three years after the geisha districts have been reopened. If I were Sayuri and truly longing to be a geisha again as she says she is, I would have waited a short time and written Mother about it.).
There is inconsistency with the pacing of the novel. The first 150 pages concern Chiyo’s childhood, primarily when she is about 10 years old. The next 250 pages concern from when Chiyo/Sayuri is 12 to when she is 18, mostly concentrating on when she is 14 – 15 (and her mizuage). The last 100 pages elaborate from when she is 18 to the end of her life concentrating mostly on age 30. How can a woman remember so clearly the time she lost her virginity and things from her youth and not closer to the end of her life? I can understand her remembering her final moments in her hometown, Yoroido, and other firsts in her life (first time in a hair dresser, etc.) but other things she remembers (e.g. elaborate details about kimono) are just plain odd. And why the silence on the war? Five years and all of it is summed up in about twenty pages? The book reads less like a true memoir (which has no overreaching aim and should be a concoction of unrelated or random events in life) and more like a fictional novel which is written with a purpose, the purpose being to elaborate on the young geisha’s sex life and her romance with the Chairman.
Golden makes a serious mistake: he mistakes metaphors and similes for imagery. Sometimes as often as twice in one paragraph, he will use metaphors like “Trying to survive in an okiya with Hatsumomo is like a pig trying to survive in a slaughterhouse” or “[they:] weren’t ‘spending time together’ any more than a squirrel is spending time with the insects that live in the same tree” or “I felt like a slab of tuna the grocer had just delivered”. A little of this goes a long way.
It would be nice to see more about Hatsumomo and what makes her tick. As it stands, she is just a wicked woman who doesn’t want Chiyo to reduce her popularity. What happened to Hatsumomo that made her so mean and so cruel? Why was she so mean to such a young girl with nothing more than promise on her side?
Pumpkin and Chiyo’s friendship is flat. I had a hard time believing that they were actual friends. A few mentions of them talking with each other while practicing shamisen and suddenly they are Anne and Diana from Anne of Green Gables.
Halfway through the book, Golden makes me think that Sayuri likes Nobu. However, we quickly find out she does not and is still harping on a man whose affections she should have grown out of years ago (come on! She’s thirty for pete’s sake!). I feel that the chemistry between Sayuri and the Chairman died many years earlier (or never existed in the way Golden suggests). And the end is so corny, so fairy-tale-ish and not at all what one expects from a memoir (life rarely comes out with “happily ever-after”s). In my opinion, Sayuri should have been infatuated with the Chairman but learns he has no feelings for her. Then, her true feelings emerge and she realizes that she has always loved Nobu.
Overall:
I watched the movie, so I had an idea of what I was getting myself into before I started reading. I knew this wouldn’t be a light-hearted book, but I didn’t realize there was so little levity (often, the movie omits items that are in the book). Besides the heavy subject matter, the character of Chiyo/Sayuri was rather dull and inactive, the pacing inconsistent, the imagery clunky and annoying (do Japanese really use this many weird metaphors and similes?), and the emphasis indeterminable. If you have the time to waste and want to read a Hollywood-ized version of the life of a geisha, this is your book.
ynanutshell's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
june_zhu's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0