Memoirs of a Geisha: Summary and book reviews of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, plus links to an excerpt from Memoirs of a Geisha and a biography of Arthur Golden.

An alluring tour de force: a brilliant debut novel told with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism as 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. 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, always elusive, is scorned as illusion. Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion--the geisha district of Kyoto--with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets. And 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. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms. Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuances and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers. A dazzling literary achievement of empathy and grace by an extraordinary new writer.

Media Reviews

John Burnham Schwartz - The New Yorker There is a particular pleasure to be found in reading a novel that is sui generis and yet is imbued with subtle shadings of its literary predecessors this is a high-wire act. To protect himself against falling, the author has brought to his task a prodigious trove of research ... and an uncanny degree of empathy for ... a woman usually regarded in the West as either caricature or museum piece.... Rarely has a world so closed and foreign been evoked with such natural assurance   John Burnham Schwartz - The New Yorker There is a particular pleasure to be found in reading a novel that is sui generis and yet is imbued with subtle shadings of its literary predecessors this is a high-wire act. To protect himself against falling, the author has brought to his task a prodigious trove of research ... and an uncanny degree of empathy for ... a woman usually regarded in the West as either caricature or museum piece.... Rarely has a world so closed and foreign been evoked with such natural assurance Geraldine Brooks A haunting tale of a hidden world that could hold an audience spellbound through many an evening in a lantern-lit teahouse. Elinor Lipman Memoirs of a Geisha is a masterpiece. Every detail on this canvas is fascinating, even arresting, while at the same time the bigger portrait--the story, the truth told, a life revealed--is spellbinding. Geraldine Brooks A haunting tale of a hidden world that could hold an audience spellbound through many an evening in a lantern-lit teahouse. Julia Blackburn Sayuri tells her story with such gentle courtesy and determination that you are quickly brought under the spell of her character. She takes you by the hand and leads you into a world that is both formal and intimate, a world that I had only before glimpsed in the fleeting and beautiful images of traditional Japanese ink painting...Memoirs of a Geisha is a wonderful achievement. Ann Beattie Wonderful, involving, intelligent, fascinating, and almost Dickensian in the way the characters inhabit the landscape, and the landscape permeates the characters. It's a unique, beautifully written book. Pico Iyer I still can't quite believe that an American male can so seamlessly enter the soul of a Japanese woman, and catch her world, its textures, its hopes, and its sinuous patter with such perfection. Memoirs of a Geisha evokes all the delicate steel of Kyoto's geisha culture with such uncanny fidelity that, after you've finished, you feel as if you've entered not just another world, but an extraordinary and foreign heart.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by carlos
questions
Sayuri tells her story with such gentle courtesy and determination that you are quickly brought under the spell of her character. She takes you by the hand and leads you into a world that is both formal and intimate, a world that I had only before...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Marg Riel
masterpiece
Memoirs of A Geisha can be described as one word; "masterpiece." Each detail creates an unexplainable imagine and you can envision yourself in the story. The author tells her story willingly and purposely allows the reader to put...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Linda Gear
Memoirs of a Geisha
I love this book. It will always be near me. I have read it numerous times and never tire of it. I read other books, but this one is always nearby.(I also have the movie). I love the dialogue of Sayuri her raw story of being cruelly taken from...   Read More

Rated of 5 by sayuri
moag
Nice! Captivating!

Rated of 5 by Jamila Younis
Great
If you'd like to enrich your knowledge with the extraordinary history of the Geisha issue in the Japanese folks - then I highly recommend on you to read this novel. It is really rich with exact details- even the minimal features- of things. The...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Gene R. Hyde
Memoirs of a Geisha
I thought it was an elegantly written book, not without controversy, about a culture I’m truly fascinated with. I could vividly see myself in a Japanese Tea House, and all of the exquisite richness of simplicity, obsessive love, and pain, while...   Read More

...98 More Reader Reviews

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• Historical Fiction
  
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