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Description

In this literary tour de force, novelist Arthur Golden enters a remote and shimmeringly exotic world. For the protagonist of this peerlessly observant first novel is Sayuri, one of Japan's most celebrated geisha, a woman who is both performer and courtesan, slave and goddess. We follow Sayuri... read more

Summary

Sayuri is a really pretty and famous geisha from a renowned geisha house in Kyoto the geisha district. Her story started as a little girl named Chiyo Sakamoto along with her older sister satsu are sold to be servers., Their mother is dying in bed so their elderly father sells them. Chiyo is... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters/Important People

Memorable Quotes

  • “Watch for the thing that will show itself to you. Because that thing, when you find it, will be your future.”
  • “Was life nothing more than a storm that constantly washed away what had been there only a moment before, and left behind something barren and unrecognizable?”
    Chiyo
  • “I felt as a bird must feel when it has flown across the ocean and comes upon a creature that knows its nest.”
  • “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.”
  • “Being sent out into the world isn't necessarily the same as leaving your home behind you.”
  • “"This is why dreams can be such dangerous things: they smolder on like fire does, and sometimes consume us completely"”
    Chiyo
  • “"..but of course we can never flee the misery that is within us"”
    Chiyo
  • “"We none of us find as much kindness in this world as we should"”
    Chairman

First Sentence

Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, 'That afternoon when I met so-and-so ... was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon.'

Authors & Contributors

  1. Arthur Golden (Author)
 

Books with Additional Background Information

List the books that contain additional information about this book.

Books That Influenced This Book

   
  • The Remains of the Day
  • The Tale of Genji
  • The Tale of Genji

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