Journal Entry 1 by Geologygirl from Cary, North Carolina USA on Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Read it within 36hours the first time, lost the book, bought it again and enjoyed reading it the second time too. Amazing that this isn't a biography the way it reads - Sayuri and her biographer really come out of the pages.

Based on WishList - making this a bookring.

No more dust - the ring is ready to go!

Journal Entry 2 by Geologygirl at Post Office on Academy St in downtown Cary in Cary, North Carolina USA on Sunday, August 24, 2003

Release planned for Thursday, August 28, 2003 at Post Office on Academy St in downtown Cary in Cary, North Carolina USA.

Beginning of BookRing's journey - off to BCer in CA. 

Journal Entry 3 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Wednesday, September 03, 2003

I've been looking forward to reading this book. It arrived today. I will get to it as soon as I can. I read my rings and rays in the order received. You can see how I'm doing on my bookshelf. 

Journal Entry 4 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Friday, October 03, 2003

I just finished after some marathon reading sessions. I want to do this review in three parts because I'm rather split brained about this book.

Review #1: From start to finish I had this nagging feeling that I've read this book before -- or read a very similar story. I haven't been able to track down why this book seems so familiar. If I ever do, I'll append this journal entry. To some degree, then, this story feels derivative and cliche. Orphaned girl tries to make good with her new "family" and is harrassed by the jealous, spiteful bully. The story picks up at the 1/3 point and stops being quite so cliche as it is in the set up. The good news is that the details are so rich and the language flows smoothly enough to make this book a page turner, even in the rough start.

Review #2: I happened to be reading this book at the same time I was reading the Chobits manga series. Both books are about Japanese culture and the relationships of men and women across classes.

Memoirs of a Geisha is the fictional account of a girl aprenticing to
become a geisha in the great depression era. As the book explains -- gei
means art and geisha means artisan. It's an ironic/jaded pun for a
society/class of expensive escorts. To stay a geisha, a woman cannot marry
and should not fall in love with her clients. Chobits seems to be a sci-fi
retelling of the same tale. The underlying tensions are about what sorts of
pairings are good/normal and who should love whom. Chi is an artifice -- an
almost pun on geisha.

In both cases, Chiyo/Sayuri (of Memoirs of a Geisha) and Chi (of Chobits), are seeking happiness, wondering if happiness can be attained. In Sayuri's case, her station is supposed to keep her dispassionate in her associations with her various clients. In Chi's case, she's a machine and not supposed to feel real emotions.

Review #3: The final comparision I found myself making with this book is between Chiyo /Sayuri and Chihiro/Sen (of Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi aka Spirited Away). Both stories revolve around young girls who are taken away from their parents through bizare circumstances and brought into lives that they would otherwise not have lived. In Chihiro's case, she ultimately is returned to her parents as is warranted by the fantasy convention. Mother in Memoirs reminds me of Yubaba and Mameha reminds me of Lin in her initial reluctance to help and her later tutorilage.

Final thoughts: I think Memoirs of a Geisha has lots to offer. It may be a little rough at first but I recommend reading the book! You will come away enriched for reading it. :) 

Journal Entry 5 by caligula03 at postal release in College Station, Texas USA on Friday, October 03, 2003

Release planned for Saturday, October 04, 2003 at postal release in College Station, Texas USA.

Mailing out to Karendawn on Saturday. 

Journal Entry 6 by karendawn from Lafayette, Indiana USA on Thursday, October 09, 2003

Book arrived today. I just finished the book I was reading this morning, so this one is now my current read. I hope to have it finished soon. 

Journal Entry 7 by karendawn from Lafayette, Indiana USA on Saturday, October 18, 2003

I finished reading this book last night. I liked this book, but I didn't love it. Though I think a lot of that has to do with how I read it rather than the book itself. I didn't have long stretches of time to read it, so I read bits here and there whenever I had a chance. So I didn't really get into the story. I did, however, read the last 50 or so pages in one sitting and really started to love the book then. So I wish I had had the time to read this in larger sections. I did learn a lot from this book, so that was a very good thing about it.

This one should go out on Tuesday - and it did. 

Journal Entry 8 by AnonymousFinder on Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Sorry it's taken a while for this book to reach me - there was a postal strike over here a couple of weeks ago, and the backlog is still only just filtering through... Can't wait to read the book, and will try to get to it in the next week or so. Will update journal entry once finished.  

Journal Entry 9 by tangledthreads from Derby, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, December 02, 2003

(Firstly, apologies for registering receiving the book as 'Anonymous Finder' - I didn't realise I wasn't signed in when I did it!)

Although I read this book quickly, within 24 hours, and did enjoy it, I did also feel slightly let down by it. I had only heard fantastic things about it beforehand, but I wasn't blown away by it. It was quite readable, and I found it interesting to learn about the geisha rituals and way of life (of which I previously knew nothing), but ultimately, the story did not touch me or move me in the way I had hoped to be. I felt much the same way about 'Silk' by Alessandro Baricco.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for a well-written, not-too-heavy read, but it hasn't joined the ranks of my best-loved books.

In the acknowledgements, Arthur Golden thanks geisha Mineko Iwasaki for her help and interviews. Since 'Memoirs of a Geisha' was written, Iwasaki has written her own memoir, 'The Geisha of Gion', which some people might also find interesting. 

Journal Entry 10 by tangledthreads at Airmail to Canada in -- By post or by hand --, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, December 12, 2003

Released on Friday, December 12, 2003 at Airmail to Canada in Postal release, England United Kingdom.

Sorry for delay in passing this book on. Sending to prairiefirefly by airmail today, and should still get there for Christmas... 

Journal Entry 11 by PrairieFirefly from Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Monday, December 22, 2003

arrived safely here at my parent's place in Vancouver - look forward to reading it :)

Okay, so it turns out that this is the second time I have read this book, and I enjoyed it both times. Once I picked it up there was no putting it down - the main characters were likable, descriptions vivid and story rich.

I will send it on to the next reader as soon as their address arrives.... 

Journal Entry 12 by Sherria from Stamford, Connecticut USA on Saturday, January 17, 2004

Arrived in the mail today. I have one book to finish, then I'll be ready to dive into it. I can't wait! I've really been looking forward to reading this book. Thanks for sharing it. :) 

Journal Entry 13 by Sherria from Stamford, Connecticut USA on Wednesday, January 28, 2004

I enjoyed this book...it was a lovely story. I had heard from many people that they had trouble remembering it was fiction, but that wasn't the case for me at all. I was aware thoughout that it wasn't really someone's life story, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of it.

I never really felt sucked in by any of the characters, though they were all richly described. By the end of it, there were none that I really admired or even liked. Still, there were a couple of nights that I had a hard time shutting off the lights, wanting to finish just one more chapter, then one more after that, and well, you know how that goes. :)

I'm really glad i got a chance to read this book. It won't make it to my list of all time favourites, but it was certainly worth the time I spent with it. Thanks Geologygirl!

I'll send this out this week, assuming I get an address from the next person on the list in time.

*******2/20/04 UPDATE*******
I haven't received a response to my PM's from LikeAPicasso, who is next in line for this book. Additionally, I haven't received a response from Geologygirl about how long she feels is appropriate to wait before going on to the next person. Since it's been 3 weeks, I'm going to contact the next in line for this book and try to keep it moving.  

Journal Entry 14 by clawdette from Houma, Louisiana USA on Tuesday, March 02, 2004

recieved this as part of a bookring today...will post when read 

Journal Entry 15 by clawdette from Houma, Louisiana USA on Friday, June 25, 2004

Fantastic book! really enjoyed it...I knew the life of a giesha was unusual but didn't know the whole story...released to pchemphd today!