A beautiful, poingnant story that is so incredibly, lyrically captivating you are seduced from the very first word. An absolute work of art, each page overflows with beautiful, sensual, evocative images.

Such is the skill and authority of Golden's writing, I feel as though I have spent hours, being entertained by the most gifted of all Geisha. Utterly Satisfying. I want to read it again for the very first time!

I read this book back when it first came out. I never wrote a review of it because when I first joined GR I didn't really know what it was all about. It took a bit before it sunk in for me.

Now GR members get spammed at times. The newest form of spam is review bumping. I didn't even know that existed because..well I'm a slow learner. I kept noticing the same person's reviews on my thread. Several times a day. All day. For weeks. Someone finally pointed out to me that they are bumping their reviews. Then I saw several status updates from people posting about how it was driving them bonkers.

Now my friend Kat decided to take a stand..she made a awesome little badge to show we are all fabulous..not just the top reviewers, and my friend Kelly has a great idea..we are gonna spread some love. Everyone on GR is Goodreads Fabulous.

Here's my friend Argona's review for this book. Her's is much better than anything I could have written..Go show her some love.
Argona..you are Goodreads Famous baby!
n  n

Instead of bashing this book, I'm simply going to quote a post I saw because it put my thoughts into words:

"Japanese woman tells white American man about her past life as a geisha. White man then writes a novel that sells itself as an accurate memoir of Japanese woman's life, but instead falsifies a number of her life events, misrepresents her trade, and exoticises her culture. He also names her as a source even though she specifically asked him to keep her anonymous. Japanese woman gets death threats. White American man becomes bestselling author.

Then Japanese woman gets fed up and writes her own memoir to set the record straight. Meanwhile, white American man's book gets adapted into a film that grosses $162 million and wins three Oscars."

Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha is set in Japan from The Great Depression through just after World War II. A young girl named Chiyo moves from her small town in Yoroido to the big city to become a geisha. However, Chiyo misses her family, and an older geisha is determined to destroy her. One day, a man notices Chiyo crying in the streets, inspiring Chiyo to become Sayuri, a remarkable geisha. Will Sayuri have a happy ending?

Memoirs of a Geisha is this month’s May Readalong, and I have mixed feelings about this book. First, the pace is really slow. Usually, this is a detriment, but it is perfect for reading this over a month and having in-depth discussions.

The most enjoyable part of the book is the gamesmanship between the warring geisha, Mameha and Sayuri against Hatsumomo. Mameha knows how to perfectly extract herself from situations gracefully, and she is a true chess player, always thinking a few steps ahead.

I also enjoyed learning more about geisha. The women are entertainers, skilled in conversation, singing, dancing, and playing a musical instrument called the samisen. There are also certain hairstyles and clothing indicating different stages in the life of a geisha.

Now for the bad……

Memoirs of a Geisha has one of the most disappointing endings. It doesn’t even make sense, and for dragging on for ages, the ending is extremely rushed.

At the end of the book, I have more questions than when I started. Each of the geisha could have had their own book, and I felt that some of the characters were left a bit unfinished such as Sayuri’s sister.

And for the really bad….

I wanted to know if Memoirs of a Geisha was based on a true story. In the acknowledgements, Arthur Golden thanks Mineko Iwasaki, who is a real geisha. However, Iwasaki spoke to Golden on the condition of anonymity. She alleges that the book is her life’s story except that Golden falsely sexualized the book. Two years later, an out-of-court settlement was reached.

Overall, this book is great for discussion, but it made me feel sick. Thank to everyone who participated in the Readalong! See you in June for Little Women!

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

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I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to read this one, but I'm so glad I finally got to it.

This is decidedly a slow burn of a novel. The introduction confused me a little bit with a translator talking about meeting with Sayuri- a well known geisha that wanted to tell her story to this one person and leave her legacy behind. The reader is quickly taken back to the 1930's in Gion as we watch Sayuri become one of the most renowned geisha in Japan. The writing was beautiful and this is novel to slowly savor. It moves as slowly as I imagine Sayuri walking in her kimono across the pathway. The life of a geisha is thoroughly researched and detailed for the this novel. The characters are well drawn and I appreciated the delicate almost brutal pacing.

At times this just went too slow for me, and at other time, I couldn't get enough. This book was so engrossing and I can appreciate the extra time it took for me to have the relationship I did with it. Now, I plan to watch the movie.

Incluso 4.5. Ha sido una maravilla seguir el camino de la protagonista desde niña y conocer el mundo velado de las geishas (o al menos tan tergiversado en occidente), y tantos términos, usos y palabras desconocidas para mí. Mundo todo él que me ha resultado muy interesante; libro didáctico y de lectura entretenida. Letras con vida. Para mi su protagonista es un ser que siente, padece (y mucho) y respira. Así como todos los personajes que deambulan en la novela. Y sin querer desvelar nada, el final es lo que menos me ha convencido. Pero nada grave, simplemente un gusto personal.

9.4.2020 EDIT:

Okayyyyy so it's horribly embarrassing that I once liked this book but I was also in high school and didn't know anything so I take back all my praise. This book is an awful example of a white man writing an Asian woman's perspective, benefiting financially from doing so, and contributing to the silencing and fetishization of Asian women. T.J. describes it very well in his review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This article also does an excellent job of going in-depth about how problematic this book is: https://kyotojournal.org/culture-arts...

I wonder if this book was published today if people would have spoken out about it more like they did about American Dirt. I hope so.


Original review from 2011:


People were skeptical when Kathryn Stockett wrote in the voice of two black women in The Help. Arthur Golden took it to another level when he, a white, middle-aged man, narrated as an orphaned Japanese girl on her way to becoming a geisha.

It worked, though. Even without knowledge of Golden's extensive experience studying Japanese culture and history, the reader is led to believe that the protagonist is telling the story herself. Memoirs of a Geisha transported me to a different era, where superficiality and beauty were more important traits for a women than practicality and intelligence.

I enjoyed the writing style Golden utilized with this book, especially the analogies. Here are two I marked:

"For it's one thing to find your secrets suddenly exposed, but when your own foolishness has exposed them... well, if I was prepared to curse anyone, it was myself... A shopkeeper who leaves his window open can hardly be angry at the rainstorm for ruining his wares."

"Her skin was waxy-looking, and her features puffy. Or perhaps I was only seeing her that way. A tree may look as beautiful as ever; but when you notice the insects infecting it, and the tips of the branches that are brown from disease, even the trunk seems to lose some of its magnificence."

A great read - I am so thankful for my friend who bought me this as a birthday present. Recommended to anyone remotely interested in Japanese culture or the life of a geisha.

*cross-posted from my blog, the quiet voice.

This one is going to be a bit difficult for me to review. I enjoyed it, but it was kinda weird. It was interesting, but kind of slow. The historical fiction aspect is interesting, but I have seen many reviews critical of the actual truth of it all.

The pros:
- Very good storytelling - Each chapter was its own short story and I found it easy to read and stay interested.
- Characters - I was invested in the characters. In fact, I was so invested I could feel my loathing for one of the bad characters curdling in my very soul. It's usually a good sign when you want to reach into the book and smack a character.
- The setting and the history - it was fascinating to learn about Geisha culture in pre-WWII Japan and how different it is from anything in American history.

The Cons
- This one may not be fair because it is probably historically accurate, but the Geisha culture made all the male characters seem like creepers. So, even when there is one you are supposed to like or who is supposed to be a hero, you know that he is all about pre-pubescent, up-and-coming Geisha and hoping to be able to deflower as many as possible. Just skews things a bit.
- Kind of slow - even thought I thought the storytelling was great, there were a few times where it started to drag and I was ready to move on to the next part of the story.
- Accuracy - Without Goodreads, I would have probably never have known this, but it seems there is some question as to the accuracy of the account in this book. Often, other, more reliable titles are suggested. But, was this supposed to be a non-fiction memoir, a story based on some facts surrounding the Geisha culture but equal parts fact and fiction, or just a completely made up story? I am not completely sure, but it should provide some interesting follow up research.

So, I am going to go with 4 stars because it was an interesting story and despite some slow spots and creepers, it was pretty entertaining. Also, questions/controversy over its accuracy might actually raise the entertainment value!

n  A little girl named Chiyo (later changed to Sayuri) is forced to grow up fast after she is sold to a geisha house.n

Historical romances can go either way for me and this one most definitely went the right way. The writing was gorgeous and the characters were perfection. I hated it when I had to put this book down at the end of the night, but I knew that every time I picked it back up that I would instantly be transported back to Sayuri’s vibrant world. My favorite detail was when the author described the color and pattern on any one of the many kimonos mentioned in the story. I would pause and imagine one before me, wishing it was there so I could take my hand and gently graze my fingers across the intricate pattern worked into it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the romance hidden away in the folds of the story and was emotionally torn by the options available to Sayuri and which would be preferred. I went in to the story expecting a relationship of duty, forced by the world to benefit one and leave the other desiring more. What I received instead was a woman relentlessly pursuing her wants and desires. I still haven’t made up my mind regarding which path would have been best in the end.

Five stars to a book that left me pondering so much more.

Golden earns points for creativity, but loses them for inaccuracy.

The "memoir" of the elegant Sayuri, whose life as a high-class geisha is disrupted by the outbreak of war, is written in an intriguing and alluring monologue -- purportedly narrated by Sayuri herself to the author -- that pulls the reader in from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the real narrator, Arthur Golden, took some dramatic liberties with history and cultural practices, and the fallacious elements sprinkled throughout detract from a potentially fascinating story. (This may not present a major issue to a reader who has no prior knowledge of Japanese culture, but such a reader should also be warned NOT to take this book as a factual representation of life in Japan.)

Additionally, although the narrative starts strong, it loses momentum partway through the story. By the time the inevitable tremors of World War II began to shake the cultural bedrock of Japan, I was already beginning to lose interest in the artificial suspense.

Overall, the book is written fairly well, and I can see why some readers would like it... but even while I was reading, I couldn't help feeling that I should have enjoyed it more.

تا قبل خاطرات یک گیشا فکر می‌کردم گیشاشدن خیلی باحال و جذابه. اما نمی‌دونستم گیشاشدن یه انتخاب نیست، یه جور بی‌چارگیه...

برخلاف خیلی‌ها که از جزییات خسته می‌شدن برای من خیلی دلنشین بود. چون کلاً به فرهنگ شرقی علاقه دارم- به جز این نگاه وحشتناکی که به زن دارن و خیلی خیلی غمگینم می‌کرد. اما توصیفات رو دلم می‌خواست هزاربار بخونم و یادم نره، می‌دونم از همین الآن هم یادم رفته. ولی تجربه تکرارنشدنی‌ای بود. یه رمان رو این‌قد با حوصله و ریز به ریز بخونم و فقط بذارم وقتی که فکرم آزاده، فقط وقتی که می‌تونم حسابی روش تمرکز کنم. از کِش دادنِ مدت کتاب اصلاً خوشم نمی‌آد. ولی این انگار هرچی بیشتر طول می‌دادم بیشتر توی ذهنم حک می‌شد. یه تیکه‌هایی رو ول می‌کردم و تا یه هفته تو فکرش می‌رفتم. مثل قضیه خواهر سایوری- که دیگه هیچ‌وقت ازش خبری نشد و تا پایان داستان نامعلوم موند... یا مامه‌ها، شخصیت مامه‌ها واقعاً یه حالت فرشته‌گونی داشت. چطور می‌تونی یه غریبه رو پیدا کنی که این‌قدر خالصانه برات وقت بذاره؟ اونم برای چیزی که همه طردش کرده‌ن و به وضعیت رقت‌انگیزی افتاده؟

من حتی نوبو رو هم دوست داشتم و راستش درک نمی‌کنم چهره عشق اول آدم این‌قد برای سال‌ها- پونزده‌سال فکر کنم، بشه همه هم و غمت. به نظرم انگیزه‌های بیشتری هم دخیل بوده اما به خاطر کلیشه‌های سنتی و جامعه مردسالارانه و وضعیت سایوری... قابل درکه این تصور. و ریسکی که کرد هم خیلی منو ترسوند. حتی کتابو بستم بلند شدم یه چرخی بزنم سرم گیج رفت :)) و برام سنگین بود که به خاطر عشقت به دوستت، جدا از علاقه‌ای که بهت داره، به خاطر اون همه محبت، بازم بهش خیانت کنی. گرچه می‌دونم آدم تو زندگی‌ش با سفت‌ترین موازین اخلاقی هم اشتباهات وحشتناکی می‌کنه و خودمم خیلی وقت‌ها طبق پیش‌بینی‌ها و هنجارهای خودم رفتار نکردم. بنابراین اینم قابل درک بود.

پایان خیلی پایان خوشی بود که این‌قد خوش رو دوست نداشتم. اما همه‌ش سرگذشت شخصیت توی ذهنم دوره می‌شد و با اون خودمو توجیه می‌کردم. جدا از همه این‌ها، بیان و زبان نویسنده مسحورکننده بود؛ در عین سادگی بدون هیچ تکلفی با تصویرهای قشنگش- که نمی‌دونم دخالت سایوری چقد نقش داشت- خیلی گیراش کرده بود.

There are two distinct schools of thought about this famous novel. One says it’s page-turningly brilliant and the other says it’s pernicious nonsense and dull to boot. Naturally, being very grumpy, I am of the second school of thought. Sophia’s review from 2011 perfectly sums up all the problems

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So I won’t repeat all her points. I quit on page 138. To begin with I was fairly uneasy about the whole idea of a white Western man writing as an Eastern woman but I still believe an author can’t be confined to their own time & place, that would be absurd. But this was pushing the boat out more than somewhat. In the acknowledgements printed at the back Mr Golden is most respectful of all his great Japanese informants, as well he might be. His main informant sued him for misrepresentation (settled out of court).

SOME OF THE DIALOGUE IS RIDICULOUS

This is a 12 year old girl speaking :

I’m no more a rival to her than a puddle is rival to the ocean.

I’d give anything to undo my mistakes. I’ve waited so patiently in the hopes that some opportunity might come along.

I’m like a river that has come up against a dam, and that dam is Hatsumomo.

Doesn’t sound like any 12 year old girl I ever heard, but maybe they all talked like this in 1920s Kyoto.

BUT MAINLY

Whereas many people in their enthusiastically describe this as compelling, I thought it was really not compelling. I was uncompelled. I was like a river that came up against a dam, and that dam was the remaining 290 pages of Memoirs of a Geisha