Just finished Memoirs of a Geisha last night

[SCDem]

I absolutely loved the book. I did not know anything about the book and I thinks just because the title of the book didn't really grabbed my attention when it came out I never read it. A friend had recently said she liked it and I heard it was coming out in movie so I thought I'd give it a read.

It was such a beautiful book. And I even liked the ending (which I rarely like endings to books for some reason). If the movie is done correctly I think it would be better than Dr Zhivago.

Anyway I'm sure you all have read it but for those who haven't go read it will you!

[YOY]

1. On my to read list

You've got me looking forward even more to it.

Better than Dr. Zhivago? That's asking for a lot! We'll see.

[abluelady]

2. But are movies ever done correctly?

I have never seen a movie of a book I read that I was not disappointed. There are many movies of books that I enjoy. But I didn't read the book. I also have never seen a movie and then read a book. Wonder how that would be for me.

Did love the Geisha book, too, when I read it, which means I'm not going to see the movie (unless you tell me to :-) ).

[SCDem]

4. Well I am filled with optimism for the movie

Because I've read the book I know how good the movie can be. So I'll sacrifice the $8 to get in and let you know if it's good or not :)

[abluelady]

7. Thanks! :-)

[ExclamationPoint]

11. I think you can never expect movies

to be the same as the literature, because they ways which they touch our minds are on two different planes of thought.

[applegrove]

3. I found it so sad.

[Dulcinea]

5. Same here.

What a sad life she led, even though the book had a (sort of) happy ending.

[applegrove]

6. Yup. Even the happy ending didn't make me feel good. I kept thinking..

okay so write this book and don't give the heroine gorgeous grey eyes. So nobody falls in love with her and gives here monogamy & happiness in the end. Think of all the women ore the years. I can't read that genre (asian courtesan) anymore. Once was enough.

[tammywammy]

8. It's a good book

Just my $0.02

If you're interested in better account of what's it like to be a geisha, read "Geisha: A Life" by Mineko Iwasaki. I know this is the fiction section, but Mineko Iwasaki is the geiko that Golden interviewed for "Memoirs." She was very upset with the way he portrayed geisha and so she wrote her own account.

I highly recommend "Geisha: A Life" as a follow up book.

[MaineDem]

9. Both books were excellent

I was fascinated with both of them. What an interesting life.

I will never look at geisha the same again and I cringe at the term "geisha girls" now.

[Mandate My Ass]

12. thanks, I did like Memoirs but I wondered about a man

narrating from the geisha's POV and whether he would be true to the protagonist and her relationships to the other characters. Will check out G:AL.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. A non-fiction book about modern geisha is called simply Geisha

and was written about twenty years ago by Liza Dalby, an anthropologist who actually went and trained and lived as a geisha in Kyoto.

I don't know if it's still in print. It was made into a really bad TV movie.