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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I really enjoyed reading this, though it also left me wanting more: more details, more stories, more photos. I particularly loved the descriptions of her outfits.
challenging
informative
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great story largely about women and the relationships between women. Mineko's family is supportive, and her new one, by and large, is also supportive. It was also really neat to see Mineko work on her schooling and be passionate about doing well, and confront problems, particularly via self-improvement and standing up for herself.
If you're planning to read "Memoirs of a Geisha", don't. Read this instead. It's better written and more accurate, and the author of "Memoirs" based his take on this author's life, with a great deal of exaggeration. This book is a quick and enjoyable read, filled with romance, intrigue, political maneuvering and a matriarchal society.
If you're planning to read "Memoirs of a Geisha", don't. Read this instead. It's better written and more accurate, and the author of "Memoirs" based his take on this author's life, with a great deal of exaggeration. This book is a quick and enjoyable read, filled with romance, intrigue, political maneuvering and a matriarchal society.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Beautiful history, very detailed yet not boring or hard to read, it made me laugh and cry. The book transported me to Japan and I could see and feel the karyukai culture. Reading about how Mineko Iwasaki grew up sorting all kinds of challenges reliving in her family and love ones, how she came trough that and still remained truthful to her values was really inspiring and motivational.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I have a lot of feelings about this book.
For one thing, I absolute love stories involving women in Eastern cultures, so I knew that I was going to enjoy this book no matter what. While I did enjoy the aspects of the geisha lifestyle, I found the author's writing style to be kind of annoying. It felt like the author wasn't sure where they were going with a chapter and they continued to reveal things to the reader too early, eliminating any kind of suspense or wonder that one usually gets from a story. Mainly, this didn't feel much like a story and felt more like a list of facts.
Facts may be an overstatement, because another flaw in this book was the fact that the author was telling her own story and it really felt like she was over-exaggerating a lot of the time. She seems narcissistic and was constantly gushing over how famous she was.
While I enjoyed the elements of Japanese lifestyle and peering into the world through the eyes of someone who really experienced it, I found the narrative to be kind of immature and sometimes boring.
For one thing, I absolute love stories involving women in Eastern cultures, so I knew that I was going to enjoy this book no matter what. While I did enjoy the aspects of the geisha lifestyle, I found the author's writing style to be kind of annoying. It felt like the author wasn't sure where they were going with a chapter and they continued to reveal things to the reader too early, eliminating any kind of suspense or wonder that one usually gets from a story. Mainly, this didn't feel much like a story and felt more like a list of facts.
Facts may be an overstatement, because another flaw in this book was the fact that the author was telling her own story and it really felt like she was over-exaggerating a lot of the time. She seems narcissistic and was constantly gushing over how famous she was.
While I enjoyed the elements of Japanese lifestyle and peering into the world through the eyes of someone who really experienced it, I found the narrative to be kind of immature and sometimes boring.
Mineko Iwasaki, the same woman whom Arthur wrote about in Memoirs of a Geisha
But, unhappy with his representation, this time she wrote her life story by herself.
From the age of 5 she made the decision to leave her family and get adopted into the Iwasakis, who raised her into a professional, graceful, successful geisha (geisha means woman of art).
She learned many forms of dance, traditional Japanese tea ceremony etiquette, and others arts
I gotta say, there were times when Iwasaki was extremely irritable and bratty.
I loved the extravagancy of these artists' lives, how much detail was put into every little aspect of their careers.
Just reading about the kimonos wowed me! Did you know every hair piece they wore had a specific meaning? and the geishas wore many! And each season of the year had its own unique colors and patterns.
I enjoyed this book a lot.
But, unhappy with his representation, this time she wrote her life story by herself.
From the age of 5 she made the decision to leave her family and get adopted into the Iwasakis, who raised her into a professional, graceful, successful geisha (geisha means woman of art).
She learned many forms of dance, traditional Japanese tea ceremony etiquette, and others arts
I gotta say, there were times when Iwasaki was extremely irritable and bratty.
I loved the extravagancy of these artists' lives, how much detail was put into every little aspect of their careers.
Just reading about the kimonos wowed me! Did you know every hair piece they wore had a specific meaning? and the geishas wore many! And each season of the year had its own unique colors and patterns.
I enjoyed this book a lot.
Here are the real Memoirs of a Geisha. This autobiography of a retired geisha gives outsiders an inside look at the business and corrects a lot of common misconceptions. The English-language ghost writer unfortunately did a poor job of organizing and editing Iwasaki's memoirs.
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced