Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

6 reviews

perth_is's review

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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mandyrose's review

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dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Positive: There are some beautiful metaphors in this novel making use of water & nature.
Negative: It was painful reading a novel centred around a woman being tossed around by men. And I didn’t love the ending. 
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kshertz's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Enough time has passed that I forgot the movie. It is super interesting that a dude wrote this book. At times it is super obvious. Especially with talking about losing virginity and women’s bodies. But I was still intrigued and really enjoyed reading the book. I couldn’t put it down. Now I have to go watch the movie again.
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ceeemvee's review

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challenging dark 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? Yes

3.0

 
This is the first time I participated in a Goodreads Readalong Discussion, and I would definitely do it again.  We read at the rate of one chapter per day (until the very end), and I decided not to read ahead.  This gave me time to turn things over in my mind and discuss different perspectives with others.  It also gave me time to research geisha customs, and there are a lot.  There are different hair styles, collars, obi lengths, make-up, and so on, and it was interesting.

Chiyo (later to become Sayuri) begins her memoir as the best and worst afternoon of her entire life.  It’s 1929, and nine-year-old Chiyo and her older sister are sold by their father, taken from their remote fishing village to Gion, Kyoto's most famous geisha district.  Chiyo ends up at a geisha house, and searches for her sister.  Unfortunately, Chiyo finds her at a brothel in Gion.  They make plans to run away together, but Chiyo is caught.  That is the last independent decision she will make for a long, long time.  Chiyo acquiesces to those who now own her, and her geisha apprenticeship begins.  She soon falls in love with a much older man who will dominate her thoughts and dreams for many years to come.  

The storyline follows the dynamics of the geisha home (okiya) and Chiyo’s power struggle with the devious and jealous geisha that is the top breadwinner.  When things are sorted out, World War II begins and Chiyo’s life is again in upheaval.  Once life is back on an even keel, the story continues through about 1970-ish.

While I liked the writing, I didn’t like the writing!  The memoir is assumed to be Chiyo narrating her life story, and while the author certainly does give us insight into her feelings, there are sooooo many similes:

“The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves until one day there are none.”
“This is why dreams can be such dangerous things: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes they consume us completely.”
“Adversity is like a strong wind.”
“He was like a song I'd heard once in fragments but had been singing in my mind ever since.”
“Grief is a most peculiar thing; we’re so helpless in the face of it. It’s like a window that will simply open of its own accord.”
“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.”
“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.”

I found the book interesting and it sent me off in many directions to find more information about a different time and culture, but it was tedious at the same time.  A lot of time is spent on the beginning of Chiyo’s life, a little time on the middle of her life, and even less at the end of her story.  I’m not sure what my expectation was, but it felt rushed and abrupt. 

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

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thirdtimesacharm's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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liab's review against another edition

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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.
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