Memoirs of a Geisha
Ratings295
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings295
Average rating3.9
A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction--at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful--and completely unforgettable.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Reviews with the most likes.
Beautiful, descriptive prose. I kept wanting to take breaks from reading to (try to) sketch the imagery in my head.
At first I thought, the topic of interest of this book was so misogynistic to the core, that I'd have to wash it down with some Atwood or Woolf. But then I realized this is just women ‘manipulating' men for financial gain; that men were just clients, and now I'm comfortable.
This book is dripping metaphors all over. It is beautiful, that at the low points in the novel, they were the flimsy rope I caught on to, and prevented this from falling into dnf.
The first half is beautiful, has a strong storyline, puts us inside the head of the lead character. We feel what she feels, hopes what she hopes and it hurts when she gets hurt. Somewhere along the lane she abandons us; leaving us in some corner of her tea party room, to watch her from afar. This didn't make me feel like dropping the book though. The whole thing was like a TV drama, with jealousy, passion, betrayal (and plenty of horny men); just more sophisticated and prettier with all the cute little metaphors.
“Sometimes the smartest remark is silence.”
“The heart dies a slow death. Shedding each hope like leaves, until one day there are none. No hopes. Nothing remains.”
“We must not expect happiness. It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it is a sudden gift; it cannot last forever.”
“My mother always said my sister was like wood. As rooted to the Earth as a sakura tree. But she told me I was like water. Water can carve its way through stone. And when trapped, water makes a new path.”
beautiful writing but it just dragged on and it just wasn't enjoyable. The plot was boring.
Reading about men making sexual comment towards a young teen for most of the book was hard to read, i know its true and should be written about but it was just constant and made me feel repulsed from this book.
I also have a huge problem with a certain paragraph but i'll have to type it all out later as i just got my nails done and can't type properly lol. I'm definitely questioning why the author wrote this book... very bad vibes from him.
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