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Memoirs of a Geisha

By Arthur Golden

(743)

| School & Library Binding | 9780613358170

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Book Description

An alluring tour de force: a brilliant debut novel told with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism as the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.  

Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells theContinue

An alluring tour de force: a brilliant debut novel told with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism as the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.  

Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love, always elusive, is scorned as illusion.  

Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion--the geisha district of Kyoto--with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets. And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuances and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers.

A dazzling literary achievement of empathy and grace by an extraordinary new writer.

Critics

  • Memoirs of a Geisha By Arthur Golden

    Arthur Golden's luminous novel debuts on the big screenA dapting any book for the screen is a tricky process, but surely no material has presented a greater challenge than Arthur Golden's brilliant debut novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. First published in ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Mon, 13 Sep 2010

  • Memoirs of a Geisha

    Desert Isle Keeper Review Memoirs of a Geisha This is the fictional tale of a geisha, the high-class counterpart of a Japanese prostitute, who rose to fame in the city of Gion in the late 1930s. Plucked from a tiny fishing village when she was nine, ... (read full critics)

    likesbooks published on Tue, 31 Aug 2010

30 Reviews

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  • 2 people find this helpful

    Sceptical

    I doubt Golden's novel is an accurate depiction of geisha's life, coz in the book geisha impresses me as nothing more than a sex object - albeit a high-class sex object. Of course I don't think the line between a geisha and a prostitute is that thin. Seriously, I am digusted by the book. I think I s ... (continue)

    I doubt Golden's novel is an accurate depiction of geisha's life, coz in the book geisha impresses me as nothing more than a sex object - albeit a high-class sex object. Of course I don't think the line between a geisha and a prostitute is that thin. Seriously, I am digusted by the book. I think I should read the autobiography by Mineko, a true geisha whom Golden based his character(s) on.

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    larukucafe said on Jun 14, 2006 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Sad and dark story. By the time I finished the book I had come to the conclusion that Geishas are just exploited girls..call whatever you want but in the end it is just pitiful how the whole system work to exploit women..

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    Annam_Mathews said on Jul 6, 2006 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • The novel is beautifully written, about a girl's journey becoming a Geisha in Kyoto.
    I read the novel around 2002/3, with the movie releasing a few years after. The movie is quite disappointing when comparing to the book.

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    Angelamaris said on Mar 30, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Below expectations.

    Surprisingly rather boring and shallow. Characters don't arch and tend to be rather flat. The reader can have an idea about what was Gion before the Second World War and being a geisha, but all in all not too interesting.

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    Clara Mazzi said on Feb 28, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Beautiful Novel

    I read this book a few years ago and I simply loved it. Unlike the movie, the book goes into deep details on the life of a Geisha and its historical facts. Besides being beautifully written, it also made you search for more about Geishas.

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    MirianSilva said on Feb 2, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • One of my favorites - simply exquisite!
    A fascinating story with rich characters in a fascinating time & place!!

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    Nini said on Nov 17, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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9780613358170 School & Library Binding $26.95 -- The Book Depository
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