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A review by runningdobe
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
4.0
Feelings of Ambivalence
There is much I liked about the book; there are a few things I did not. Generally, I loved the story: Sayuri overcomes the despair and fear of having been sold by her dad and sent away to a foreign city to live with a greedy, opportunistic family. One main theme is about destiny and the choices that we make or are made for us, and how these choices come together and ultimately determine one's fate. Sayuri took the circumstances of her life and ultimately lived a life better than she could have imagined when she was an adolescent. I would not refer to the novel as 'feel-good;' nevertheless, I always enjoy a nice redemption story.
At times, I found the writing tedious. There were details that I found to be mundane and superfluous. Meanwhile, I felt a little more time could have been spent describing the depression and its impact on the people of Japan.
There is much I liked about the book; there are a few things I did not. Generally, I loved the story: Sayuri overcomes the despair and fear of having been sold by her dad and sent away to a foreign city to live with a greedy, opportunistic family. One main theme is about destiny and the choices that we make or are made for us, and how these choices come together and ultimately determine one's fate. Sayuri took the circumstances of her life and ultimately lived a life better than she could have imagined when she was an adolescent. I would not refer to the novel as 'feel-good;' nevertheless, I always enjoy a nice redemption story.
At times, I found the writing tedious. There were details that I found to be mundane and superfluous. Meanwhile, I felt a little more time could have been spent describing the depression and its impact on the people of Japan.