Member Reviews

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  2 of 2 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 4 stars

  “Such a lovely, captivating read. Telling so much about the female condition, with the irony of being told by a man. The novel is very educational on Japanese culture. Beauty being a prominent theme. Beauty was something that I struggled with: natural vs. made beauty, how much beauty is determined by character in the book, how being unique in a way that Sayuri (the main character) always hated eventually made her who she was. The theme of beauty went well in telling the story of a geisha. However, beauty is, unfornately, a measure of worth for most woman. The period, and culture constraints in the novel only served the ampliphy a phenomena that is still very relevant. I felt a lot of womanly empowerment, though, I consider myself somewhat of a lipstick feminist, perhaps I will read less cosmos now and read more books. GIRLS, READ THIS BOOK! BOYS, I DEMAND YOU READ IT!!!. Amen.”

  maryam wrote this review Wednesday, December 5 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “One of those books where I was devastated that it had to come to an end. I just loved it. Read it, skip the movie. ”

  Jocelyn B wrote this review Wednesday, February 27 2008. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “the book is MUCH better than the movie... could not put this one down!”

  Zeina H wrote this review Thursday, December 6 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 2 stars

  “I realy don't know what is so intresting about this book more than telling you what the GEISHA's are. ”

  Raed A wrote this review Friday, October 26 2007. ( reply | view 2 replies | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Read this for my local book club group, way before the movie came out. Enchanting love story, great history, great geography and cultural lessons to be learned. I liked Waiting by Ha Jin for the same reasons. ”

  Gigi wrote this review Friday, August 17 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “This is the rare book that we all hope to read. A book that is at times beautiful, sad, gripping, infuriating, hopeful, anguishing, pitiful, etc. This book held me captive from the first page until the very last. It immediately dropped me into the world of Japan and the art of the geisha. Their world is both more beautiful and more terrifying than I could have ever imagined. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to be swept away.”

  Simcha wrote this review Friday, October 13 2006. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “A work of fiction written as a memoir, this story follows a young Japanese girl and details her struggles to survive in the isolated community of the geisha. She was sold into that world at a young age. Her desire for one man who showed kindness to her is all that gives her hope, but how can she ever attain his affection when her every move is determined by someone else?
  I thought this was a very well written book. The pacing is relaxed, gentle and calm, just as if someone were listening to a woman tell her story to you. I was amazed and dismayed that a young male author could have such insight into a woman's thoughts, let alone a geisha's. Then I read the acknowledgments and saw how many women he had read his manuscript and give advice to him, including several geisha. So I'm impressed. By the way, the movie is lovely too.”

  LeeLee wrote this review 1 hour ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 5 stars

  “Great book. It really gave me the opportunity to find out so many things about a world I didn't know much about.”

  Andreea wrote this review 5 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “While I forget the specifics, I remember this book being one of the best I've ever read.”

  Meg M wrote this review 20 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )