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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I acquired a copy of this book at a library book sale.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" follows the fictious life of Sayuri. When Sayuri was a young girl, she was sold by her father and taken from home to become a maid. Through some hard work and befriending of the right people, Sayuri is able to work her way up to become a Geisha. But the Geisha's world is tainted by greedy mothers and even greedier men. Sayuri quickly learns that her life is always going to be rife with difficulty, but she has some power to fight back.
This story was harrowing and beautiful, and I found it difficult to believe that it was not a true story. Sayuri felt so authentic, and it really highlights Arthur Golden's talents as an author that he was able to take a fictious character and root her so much in historical reality that I wanted to do research to uncover what ultimately happened to Sayuri.
This novel is difficult to read at times because of how poorly the women are treated, and how graphic the novel gets in its depictions of this abuse. My heart just goes out to all of real women who were inevitably abused in similar ways to Sayuri and the other Geishas of this story.
I think the novel overall keeps a pretty great pace, especially because we are following the main character for over a decade. However, I do think the story does drag a little bit around the 300-page mark. I felt like my attention wanned and I had to force myself a little bit to stay engaged in the story.
I do think it odd how America is depicted in this novel. Sayuri seems to think the American soldiers are "very friendly", but I do not know if I really believe that is how the Japanese would have felt about Americans at this time? Especially because America and Japan were on opposite sides of the war.
This was an intensely beautiful story that I recommend to those looking to expand their historical fiction TBR.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" follows the fictious life of Sayuri. When Sayuri was a young girl, she was sold by her father and taken from home to become a maid. Through some hard work and befriending of the right people, Sayuri is able to work her way up to become a Geisha. But the Geisha's world is tainted by greedy mothers and even greedier men. Sayuri quickly learns that her life is always going to be rife with difficulty, but she has some power to fight back.
This story was harrowing and beautiful, and I found it difficult to believe that it was not a true story. Sayuri felt so authentic, and it really highlights Arthur Golden's talents as an author that he was able to take a fictious character and root her so much in historical reality that I wanted to do research to uncover what ultimately happened to Sayuri.
This novel is difficult to read at times because of how poorly the women are treated, and how graphic the novel gets in its depictions of this abuse. My heart just goes out to all of real women who were inevitably abused in similar ways to Sayuri and the other Geishas of this story.
I think the novel overall keeps a pretty great pace, especially because we are following the main character for over a decade. However, I do think the story does drag a little bit around the 300-page mark. I felt like my attention wanned and I had to force myself a little bit to stay engaged in the story.
I do think it odd how America is depicted in this novel. Sayuri seems to think the American soldiers are "very friendly", but I do not know if I really believe that is how the Japanese would have felt about Americans at this time? Especially because America and Japan were on opposite sides of the war.
This was an intensely beautiful story that I recommend to those looking to expand their historical fiction TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
liab's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Empezando el libro noté que bien diferente a la película, así que voy a tomar la historia del libro como si fuera una historia diferente. La autobiografía de la geisha que el autor basó la historia también se puede encontrar. Este libro da más información y una imagen completa de la chica. Ando notando que la protagonista da comentarios crudos de la gente, pero es más notable los comentarios del peso de la gente. Me gusta mucho cuando llegas al capítulo 9 vemos con más detalles cuando decidió en ser Geisha. Ya siguiendo en el libro el autor exagera muchos detalles, pero lo que es más cansado es la obsesión que la protagonista tiene con el presidente. En realidad yo no tengo mucha información sobre las geisha’s pero me roba de mala manera de que la protagonista tiene que darse a si misma sexualmente. Tengo un problema con el autor cuando viene con Nobu, el trabaja en la compañía del El Presidente con que la protagonista no puede parar de pensar, Nobu se describe como una persona con una personalidad fuerte pero el es buena persona pero en el libro vemos más la buena persona que es Nobu. Ya para el capítulo veintiséis esperaba que la protagonista aprendiera que su obsesión con el presidente no va a llegar a nada y que ella es muy mala por usar a Nobu pero no, ella es el mismo tono.
El libro termino en aburriéndome y como sea cuando la protagonista tuvo lo que quizo desde el principio ella se tuvo que ir de su comunidad y no estaba completamente feliz, pero ella como sea le da la idea de ir a NY y abrir una tienda de té para mantener al presidente… que final más anticlamatico
Nota- busque sobre la información de mizuage, como el libro lo explica es medio incompleto.
Nota- busque sobre la información de mizuage, como el libro lo explica es medio incompleto.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
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