I bought this book at the Newtown Public Library book sale in Newtown Square, PA.


Amazon Editorial Review: (from BC Global Overview)
In this literary tour de force, novelist Arthur Golden enters a remote and shimmeringly exotic world. For the protagonist of this peerlessly observant first novel is Sayuri, one of Japan's most celebrated geisha, a woman who is both performer and courtesan, slave and goddess.

We follow Sayuri from her childhood in an impoverished fishing village, where in 1929, she is sold to a representative of a geisha house, who is drawn by the child's unusual blue-grey eyes. From there she is taken to Gion, the pleasure district of Kyoto. She is nine years old. In the years that follow, as she works to pay back the price of her purchase, Sayuri will be schooled in music and dance, learn to apply the geisha's elaborate makeup, wear elaborate kimono, and care for a coiffure so fragile that it requires a special pillow. She will also acquire a magnanimous tutor and a venomous rival. Surviving the intrigues of her trade and the upheavals of war, the resourceful Sayuri is a romantic heroine on the order of Jane Eyre and Scarlett O'Hara. And Memoirs of a Geisha is a triumphant work - suspenseful, and utterly persuasive.

I enjoyed this story and the narrator's poetic tone. I really didn't know anything about the life of a geisha so it was interesting topic. The pace of the book slowed down several times, but you get through it. The book is on the "1001 books to read before you die" list and it's my first of ten 1001-books I plan to read this year.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to another bookcrosser! Thanks for the trade. Enjoy!

Received this book in a trade. I plan to read it and then hopefully pass it on to someone else who will enjoy it. Thank you to Mhs160 for trading!

I saw the movie in 2005 and had been wanting to read the book since then. I put it on an Amazon.com wishlist years ago... and of course as time went on it got buried further and further down along the wishlist. I recalled the book again when I joined SwapTree.com last year, but never happened to find an agreeable trade there. I was very glad to finally receive the book from another BookCrosser.

I have to say, although I only saw the movie once 5 years ago, I remembered it pretty well, especially as the book brought back the details to me. Knowing what would happen in advance didn't take away any enjoyment from the book. The book goes into so much more detail, and in fact there are several key differences between the two versions, that it was its own experience.

It is the type of book that is hard to put down, very engrossing and well written. I enjoyed reading it a lot and want to thank Mhs160 again for providing me the opportunity to read it.

I would like to make this book into a BookRay so that many more BookCrossers will have the opportunity to read it. Once I get at least 5 people signed up for it, I will send it along.

This is an International BookRay for Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

A BookRay is a group of people who read the book, journal their experience, and pass the book on to the next person on the list. (For a more detailed explanation, click here. For a list of available BookRays, check out the directory here.)

This book is a paperback, 503 pages long.

If you would like to receive the book and be added to the list, please send me a PM with your location and shipping preferences (countries/continents you are willing to ship the book to). I will try to order the list by country so that shipping times and costs are kept at a minimum. Also, if applicable, please let me know if this is a book you are seriously wanting to read right now or if you prefer to be put further down the list because of your other current reading commitments.

How the BookRay Works:

1) The person before you on the list will PM you for your address and ship the book to you.
2) When you receive the book, immediately make a quick Journal Entry to let everyone know you have it. That way we're always sure of its location.
3) Please read the book within 1 month. If you know you will not be able to read it within 1 month, please ask to be skipped on the list. You may receive the book from someone else on the list later. If you receive the book, but find that you cannot finish it in 1 month, please make a Journal Entry to let us know your plans, whether you're going to finish it or pass it on to the next person on the list.
4) When you finish the book, make a Journal Entry to let us know what you thought.
5) PM the next person on the list to get their address.
6) Mail it off to them (you may use the cheapest shipping method) and make a Release Note for the book.
7) If you are the last person on the list, you may try to continue the Ray on the forums, send it to someone as a RABCK, or donate it to 1001-library, Better World Books, The Book Thing or any other worthy cause. Just as long as you Pass It On and Keep It Moving.


Participants:
1) judygreeneyes - US, California (prefer US, willing to ship anywhere)
2) powaybabe - US, California
3) easterngirl71 - US, Illinois (willing to ship US) skipped for now
4) NaturLuvr - US, New York (willing to ship anywhere)
5) karma-girl - Canada (prefer Canada/US, willing to ship anywhere) skipped due to lack of response
6) pinkoeria - Canada (willing to ship anywhere)
7) pjm65 - UK (willing to ship anywhere)
8) martaenmichiel - Netherlands (willing to ship anywhere) <----Currently traveling here
9) RebeccaToh - Malaysia (willing to ship anywhere)
10) superg33k - Australia (willing to ship anywhere)
11) easterngirl71 - US, Illinois (willing to ship US)

To be added to the list, PM me. Thanks and Happy BookCrossing!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this off to the first participant of the BookRay, judygreeneyes! Enjoy!

Book received in sunny San Diego! I'm nearly done with "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" so this is next on the pile. Maybe this is my month for Asian books...

I finished this book during the past few days, while travelling in Korea, China and Taiwan. I'll actually be in Japan tomorrow for 5 days! I feel like I got a much better picture of what a geisha's life was like, what sort of purpose they served. I liked the way the book ended, although there were plenty of times I wanted to punch Sayuri for being totally dense. Anyway, a good read! The book is going with me to Japan tomorrow, and then back to California on Monday, so I can move it forward next week.

I've had this book for quite a few weeks now, and it is time for it to go travelling again. Actually, it's too bad books don't collect frequent flyer miles. This one arrived at my home in San Diego, and then accompanied me on a business trip to Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea (again) and Japan. In fact, two nights after I finished reading the story, I was in a restaurant in Gion having dinner! How's that for weird coincidence? The neighborhood was beautiful -- I found myself looking into doorways (the wood and paper sliding door kind) looking for geishas. I did actually see a lady walking down the street all made up in the traditional kimono, hairstyle, white makeup and all.

I found this book slow and hard to get interested in at the beginning, but then the story got more interesting. I enjoyed learning about the life of a geisha.

This book is packed and ready to mail to NaturLuvr.

I received this book today & will start reading it tonite!:) Thank you for including me in the journey of this book!!!

Can the person this is supposed to go to next PM me? I PM'd the person next on the list (karma girl I believe) & haven't heard anything. I have finished the book & would like to get it sent on to the next person. Thanks! Tara

I just received this book in the mail. I am still reading some other books, but will start this one by the end of this week.

Wow, this was a good book! I really enjoyed the style of writing and I thought the topic was very interesting. I was a little annoyed with Sayuri's obsession with the Chairman after a while and thought it was a bit typical that all was well in the end. I would have much preferred it if the Chairman turned out to be totally different than she had made him in her fantasies. All in all it was a good read and after all the suffering Sayuri went through, she did deserve some happiness. I couldn't put the book down, I read it in two days!

Off to the next in line to read this. Hope you enjoy it!

It's arrived! Thank you, I will read it as soon as possible.

The author of this book has clearly done an incredible amount of research to create such a detailed and convincing picture of the world of the geisha. Some of this world is definitely unsettling; being sold into slavery, bidding for "mizuage". Wikipedia (with all its limitations attached) says that bidding for mizuage was made illegal in 1959 but was still "relatively normal" in the 1990s and happening "on a limited basis" in 2001! Even Sayuri's eventual "happy ending" with the Chairman was a bit creepy. He was still, after all, a significantly older, married man.

This was my first Bookray book, I love the fact the book has already been to so many places in the world. I am awaiting a reply from the next person on the list.

Received a reply from the next person on the list just after posting my last entry! They have requested that I delay sending it until the 1st of December as they are moving house and don't want it to end up getting lost in the moving process. Seems fair to me so that's what I'll do if it's OK with everyone else on the list.

Sent to the next person on the list. Hope you enjoy it!

On 3rd January I messaged the person I sent the book to, to see if it had got there but they haven't replied yet. :(