Memoirs of a Geisha
by Arthur Golden · first published 1997
25% recommend50% neutral25% critical
A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geis
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…though not all of his books hit their mark. Great sci fi is my favorite fiction, but IMO most of it is broken by being fundamentally implausible. Other fiction I consider great in other genres include Memoirs of a Geisha, Cold Mountain, REAMDE, The Son, The Road, the lighter but still version of that post-apocalyptic concept The Dog Stars, City of Thieves, and All the Pretty Horses and its sequels. It's probably symptomatic…
on “Ask HN: What literature do you read?” ↗…from Ann Leckie. It was great, although I didn't find the rest of the trilogy had much to add to it. Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award, though, holy shit right? City of Thieves by David Benioff. Memoirs of a Geisha, the unbelievably awesome debut novel from Arthur Golden, from which an unbelievably horrible move was somehow extracted (this story is the kind that cannot be told in a movie, and is a great proof of…
on “Wil Self: In Praise of Difficult Novels” ↗Would you consider 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (by Arthur Golden, who was never a geisha) to be 'truly original'?
on “Quality non-fiction books are the antithesis of AI slop” ↗39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
…trashy books such as Harry Potter. Also gives several position to LotR (one is warranted, no more!), including one for the Silmarillion (wtf? I enjoyed it, but "best book of the 20th century"? no way!) Memoirs of a Geisha is also nice but hardly a thought leader. And it seems to be completely missing immortal masterpieces such as Narziss & Goldmund (Herman Hesse), Joseph and his Brothers (Thomas Mann), The Trial (Kafka),…
on “Ask YC: Let's start a Hacker News book club” ↗