I felt guilty reading this book for some reason. I can’t help but imagine that the life of a geisha around the time of the second World War would have been especially troubling. Reading a book written by an American man retelling the fictional story of a geisha though, almost seemed wrong. I understand that Arthur Golden did a tremendous amount of research on the topic on top of what he already knew of the subject of Japanese history, however as much as I want to believe that this could possibly be even remotely accurate as historical fiction, I can’t.

I feel guilty mostly because I know so little about Geisha in the first place. I don’t know whether or not I can believe Mr. Golden when he tries to reassure me that he was indeed accurate in the day-to-day life of a Geisha.

Supposing he was correct though, the information was amazing. The story wasn’t anything spectacular. In fact, the basis of the story has been told over and over and over again. Poor girl endures hardships and ends up with a happy life. The history behind the story and the detail that goes into describing what it means to be a geisha is why the book should be read.

I would have preferred it if the book didn’t take place around War World II though. I would have been more interested in following a geisha throughout a life not interrupted by the pangs of war. It would have been interesting for Sayuri to take an apprentice under her own wings and allowed the story to come full circle in that way.

The one thing that seemed most artificial about the book was Sayuri’s infatuation with The Chairman, a character she encounters once during her childhood and can’t ever get from her mind. He showed her kindness when he first met her and had probably been the only person in her life to show her true kindness, so her early infatuation with him was understandable. As her life continued though, the whole thing just seemed unnatural.

I could have stopped three quarters of the way through the book and been happy. I didn’t really care for the last hundred pages or so and just kept reading to get through the book. Overall though, this is one of the best books I’ve read so far (if not the best book) If you have any interest in history at all and haven’t yet read this book, it’s an absolute must.

love it! the love the writing. flows great and is very beautiful. going to see the movie tonight.

A beautiful written novel, I genuinely couldn’t put it down :)

This book was one of the best I’ve read in quite some time. It opened my eyes up to another way of life, which always interests me. How accurate the author was at portraying the Geisha lifestyle does not detract away from his ability to paint a beautiful picture of one girls journey through life. It really could have been anyone trying to overcome adversity and still have been appealing.

One of my favorite quotes from this book was, “sometimes we get through adversity only by imagining what the world might be like if our dreams should ever come true.”

It’s such a simple thing to say, yet it captures the whole spirit of the book. The entire time, the main character is able to survive anything, due to her ability to see past the hardships and onto what she thinks will become her destiny. I think anyone who refuses to be deterred from following their dreams will like this book very much.

Very good book. I loved the story, and I could picture every tiny detail and appreciated the research that went into this. Looking forward to the movie.