Memoirs of a geisha is a book for those who want to have a quick glimpse at the lives of geishas. The book tries to drive away the misconception that people have -- that geishas are prostitutes.
The book is in first person, the story being narrated by the geisha Sayuri who was born to a poor fishermen from a remote village, but goes on to become a world renown geisha.
The author gives many intricate details about the life of a geisha and I found them very interesting. I was hooked onto the book _all_ the time.
I particularly liked the author’s style of comparison. Some people might find the writing style irritating, but I loved it.
I found the climax a little disappointing. The author probably wanted his readers to feel happy, so he gave a happy ending to the novel. I felt the characters were shown in a different light in the end just to achieve the feel-good climax.
The characters are not that well developed. They seem implausible at time.
I liked the book for the insight it gave me into the life of a geisha. I was so curious to know more about them that I often found myself looking up more stuff on geisha over the net.
It doesnt look like a true autobiography. Bcos Sayuri doesnt talk about her feelings at all. Its more like a narration of incidents.
If you do not read this book, you are not missing anything. Because the information given in this book can be obtained from any other book or on the net. If you give it a try, you won’t be disappointed because the book is fast paced. It doesn’t drag and you might like the author’s writing style.