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A review by katiescho741
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
3.0
*some spoilers*
This book is a fantastic one to read for a sense of place and detail. I think it's a great starting off point for looking into Japan's culture and the history of Geisha.
When I read this book first, I was about 15 and I loved it...especially the love story. Now I've read it as an adult, I feel conflicted about it. I find Sayuri's constant pining after the Chairman to be a bit childish. I get that she would feel a little crush when she's ten and first encounters him, but to carry that on into her teens and throughout her 20's and 30's jut seems a bit silly. I feel she treated Nobu really cruelly, especially because there was no guarantee her plan would work and she could have ended up destitute.
It reads a little like a fairy tale too.
While the details in the writing make the book immersive, I did grow weary of the constant metaphors and similes...every time something was described it was "as simple as a rock falling towards the ground" "...like a window that gradually closes" "...like sticks with leather wrapped around them". They are all very lovely and descriptive I'm sure, but I found it a bit tiresome!
The relationships between the women in the novel are interesting.
This book is a fantastic one to read for a sense of place and detail. I think it's a great starting off point for looking into Japan's culture and the history of Geisha.
When I read this book first, I was about 15 and I loved it...especially the love story. Now I've read it as an adult, I feel conflicted about it. I find Sayuri's constant pining after the Chairman to be a bit childish. I get that she would feel a little crush when she's ten and first encounters him, but to carry that on into her teens and throughout her 20's and 30's jut seems a bit silly. I feel she treated Nobu really cruelly, especially because there was no guarantee her plan would work and she could have ended up destitute.
It reads a little like a fairy tale too.
Spoiler
When all is revealed at the end, we learn that she has been saved by her handsome prince and that she never really achieved anything on her own.While the details in the writing make the book immersive, I did grow weary of the constant metaphors and similes...every time something was described it was "as simple as a rock falling towards the ground" "...like a window that gradually closes" "...like sticks with leather wrapped around them". They are all very lovely and descriptive I'm sure, but I found it a bit tiresome!
The relationships between the women in the novel are interesting.