Did anyone think it would have been better if it was really a memoir?

[Robin]

Same here, the title was misleading.

[BiblioJungle]

Of course. I was slightly bummed it was not a true memoir but non-the-less it was still very good.

[Lady]

I love love love this book! I could really care less that its not a 'real' memior. It was a wonderful story that was very well told with plenty of real historical fact thrown in to make it believable. Discounting this book or thinking its a bad book because its not 'real' is just plain silly.
I think it would be really interesting to read an actual memior by an actual geisha though.

[B.evil]

i read this around the time the movie came out because every female I knew was talking about how great the book was and I remember reading it and finding out not only was it not a real memoir, but it was written by a man as well.

when i told my mom and friends they were all so blown away more so by the man part, my mom was like there is no way this was written by a man etc. she was really bummed after it was hilarious

[Robin]

I think men can write books from a female perspective, like Charles Dickens, and Defoe to name a few. I am reading a novel now Lorna Doone, and I think it is written by a man. R.D. Blackmore, but nowadays you never can tell with initialed nom de plumes.

[B.evil]

oh i dont dispute that the majority of my favorite writers are male, the friends and family were just surprised by both who the author was and that it wasnt really a memoir. i guess it would be nice to think the women on the original cover wrote it, but reguardless it was a nice story.

[Robin]

Sometimes you can't judge a book by its cover.

[Rebecca]

I really liked this book

[Karian]

It doesn't even matter to me that it is actually fiction, it is still easily one of my favorite books.

[Nikole]

Windy wrote: "i dont care whether this book is fiction or not. the way he describe the detils was so explicit. "
I agree. I think Arthur Golden should be commended for the amount of insight and detail he provides. The fact that an American man was able to so convincingly write from a Japanese female's point of view says a lot.

[Nancy]

Some of you may be interested in American Liza Dalby's book on geisha. She went to Japan on a Fulbright in the mid-70s to research her dissertation and accompanied geisha on their rounds, in kimono and makeup. She served as a consultant on Golden's book and I think on the movie too.

[Robin]

Thanks for the update, Nancy.

[Melissa]

Nancy wrote: "Some of you may be interested in American Liza Dalby's book on geisha. She went to Japan on a Fulbright in the mid-70s to research her dissertation and accompanied geisha on their rounds, in kimon..."

Yes, she was the consultant on the movie and trained the actresses in a "Geisha bootcamp."

[Melissa]

Terri wrote: "I loved this book and thought it was non-fiction while I was reading it. I felt a little cheated when I found out that it wasn't real, but still think it is a great book.

Afterwards I went out an..."

Thank you for the recommendation. It will be a good comparison with the Liza Dalby book.

[Sheri]

deleted user wrote: "OK, I read this book at 19, and the entire time I thought it was a true story. The epilogue that explained it was fiction was a COMPLETE letdown! In fact, I think that's what kind of turned me of..."

Totally agree big let down to find out it was fiction

[Viviana D.]

deleted user wrote: "OK, I read this book at 19, and the entire time I thought it was a true story. The epilogue that explained it was fiction was a COMPLETE letdown! In fact, I think that's what kind of turned me of..."

I enjoyed Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata much more. You should read it if you haven't.

[Carol]

It's hard to say how much of it is fiction and how much is not. The author had the help of a geisha to tell the story, therefore, many parts of it might also be true.

The debate of fiction versus non-fiction, however, is not new. Some people just don't like fiction books, it's a matter of taste, I guess. Many people even loved the book before knowing it wasn't real, so, if they hadn't known, they would keep on loving it. I think it proves that it's not the narrative they don't like, but the fact that it didn't happen to anyone, and that's normal. Just a matter of taste.

[Agneta]

The book isn't pure fiction , the author took a few interviews before writing it. But to make it pleasant to the reader, it contains a fictional part, distorting facts in a good way being a writer's job.
This thing happens almost in any book, and it's mostly what makes us read.

Reality can't exist without a drop of fantasy, and fantasy has a strange but strong connection with reality. Mixing them gives us purely awesome books like this one.

[Marina]

OMG, I feel so stupid now for thinking it was a true story! I suppose there's nothing wrong with good historical fiction, and I guess it's a tribute to the writer that so many thought it was 100% real, but still. I haven't felt this stupid since I found out Dean Koontz Book of Counted Sorrows was fake and he just wrote the poems himself.

[Susan]

I read this book, but was frustrated by one thing: throughout the book it is constantly being said that this is not the usual way things happen for a geisha. Since there is an aura of a mystery around geishas, I would like to read a book that tells the story of an "ordinary" geisha.

[Adria]

Andrea wrote: "If you want to read a geisha's memoir that *is* nonfiction, try "Geisha: A Life" by Mineko Iwasaki. You'll learn way more about the reality of geisha life in Japan, though it may not be as warm an..."

Yes, I agree that was a great book as well. But yes thats the drawback of a real memoirs because you don't get a romanticized view of being a geisha,you get the cold hard facts so to speak.

[Esteé]

I agree! It was SUCH a letdown...but still 200% worth the read :)

[Gaenolee]

I read this book quite awhile ago, so would need to go back to fully answer some of the postings. However, I knew it was a novel from the beginning, and liked the book enough to recommend to my mother, who also enjoyed it. I didn't feel it was overly sexist, because the culture of the Geisha IS sexist. I did feel a little let down by the ending, and thought it was the least believable part of the book.

[BiblioJungle]

Yes, so bummed it wasn't.

[Captmashpea]

deleted user wrote: "OK, I read this book at 19, and the entire time I thought it was a true story. The epilogue that explained it was fiction was a COMPLETE letdown! In fact, I think that's what kind of turned me of..."

thats exactly how i felt

[Randy]

The best thing about this book was that author was able to take the reader some place that they may have never gone. To have reader's to trust and to step out of their world into his characters.

[Natasha]

deleted user wrote: "OK, I read this book at 19, and the entire time I thought it was a true story. The epilogue that explained it was fiction was a COMPLETE let down! In fact, I think that's what kind of turned me of..."
you know the same thing happened to me, i felt so silly but then i reasoned: no wonder it had a happy ending...but it's still an exceptionally written book!! :D but i still love fiction!

[Randy]

Lol real or not .. does it really matter? The questions I ask are these: did you enjoy what you read? Did it make you want to know or be those people. Yes to either or both of those, makes me think the author did his job.. He told us a story and took us to a place and a time that was far removed from where we are. He gave us an adventure.... what can be more real then that!!

[Kirby]

Masha wrote: "OMG, I feel so stupid now for thinking it was a true story! I suppose there's nothing wrong with good historical fiction, and I guess it's a tribute to the writer that so many thought it was 100% r..."

ha, I used to try to find the book of counted sorrows too!

[Hannah]

I think it being fictional allowed it to developed. I gave the author a lot more room to make the character grow and expand and showed a different insight. Either way this was one of my favorite books!!

[Ashanti]

Read, Geisha: A Life, if you want to read the true memoir that coincides with Memoirs of a Geisha.

[Sara]

Mary wrote: "Tom Wolfe once said that writers today don't need to make up stories, they just need to open the newspaper for material. I think Dickens did the same. Russian writers certainly did. It was a "me..."

True. But. I was SO UTTERLY heartbroken to discover I'd read the whole book - yes, the WHOLE thing - believing it to be truth, only to flip the last page and discover I'd been tricked! I'd never felt so deceived by something I'd read! It completely marred my feelings about finishing the book, and the book itself!

I think because normally, I start to believe the characters that I feel strongly about are 'real'?

To this day I hold a grudge. If I met Golden in the street, I'd give him a fist-shakin'.

[Book]

It didn't matter at all. I could not stop reading.

[Book]

Melissa wrote: "I was impressed that a guy wrote it. I knew before I read it that it was fiction and thought it couldn't be as good as I heard when I found out a man wrote it. It was enjoyable but the movie was ..."

True, the movie was disappointing but most movies that try to replicate books are disappointing. nothing beats the imagination of the reader.

[Priscilla]

I am 13 right now and reading it and is is amazing so much better then the movie

[K.]

Most of it was true. That's why Arthur Golden was sued by the woman he got the information from.

[Hodan]

I loved the book. I knew it was fiction, however, the fact that amazed me at my young age was that the writer was an American. No matter how a person is engulfed in a foreign culture it takes extreme skill to write a believable portrait of it in a novel. And I must say at the time of reading this book I never found fault, I was too much involved in the story to notice, but I deeply respect the author for his work.

[[deleted user]]

I've read this one. I felt disappointed. There was a lot of talk about it at the time. It never really moved me.

[Isabel]

Honestly, I thought it was real [the title] but after reading and re-reading the prelouge/epilogue [can't remember which one it was] I was very dissapointed.
It was such a wonder book. Not only was the plot interesting and well-written, but I throughly enjoyed the characters.
I hope I can read a non-fiction book like this in the future. . .

[Naomibrooksnaomi]

it wouldnt be the same book and this is one of my fav i love this book ,being a real one it would still be fantastic and i wouyld love to read it but this i dont think can get any better :) x

[J.R.]

I thought it was real until I read this post, but I enjoyed the book so much and as allot of it was based on actual practice, I don't mind that much. I still loved the story and how it was written and the thought that somewhere out there there may be a little old lady, in a bustling city, wearing a kimono who read this book and smiled.

[Betsy]

I'm never really that interested in this type of genre because I thought it would be boring for me to read, but I did for my niece's sake, she told me that I should read it because it is a very good book. She explained a little about it so I took a little interest in it. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put the book down until it was absolutely necessary. The point is, this book is AMAZING and BREATHTAKING! There are so may vivid details. This author have done a hell of a job researching and pool up data to write a book. It is based on true events that actually happened at Japan long time ago, but the story in this book is fictional obviously. You have to give this author props because this person would not have make up something like that for the purpose of entertainment. This book made me open my eyes to see how beautiful, rough, but beautiful Japan's culture is.

[Akdiligence]

No. I loved this book. It's good the way it is.

[Elena]

Yeah I was kind of disappointed at the ending. In a way I sort of understood while reading, because some things were just to fictional to be true, but still. I loved this book so much, and I thought the whole time I was reading a true story. Finding out it actually left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. But Memoirs of a Geisha is beautiful, no matter if it's a real biography or not. One of my favorite books.

[Greengirl]

There was actually a tv special about this book and the writer. It is based on actual stories. I loved it, it is one of my all time favs.

[[deleted user]]

I think the book was just as good regardless of being not a 'true' memoir.

[Jacki]

I always thought it was fiction. I loved it. Thought the last part of the book, during and after the war, could have been enlarged upon. It seemed to be a rush to the finish.

I generally do not enjoy fiction, but this was one of the exceptions.

[Ann]

Fiction or memoir, I really enjoyed this book. The movie was a great letdown that really did not do the book justice. I felt the author did a decent job researching his subject because the book had the feel of Japanese culture in a pre-WWII era.

[Vaishali]

It does appear to be a real memoir untill the end. Brilliant writing style...makes the characters very real. I would have loved it to be a real memoir rather than a fiction, but part of me also felt relieved for Sayuri that it was not.

[[deleted user]]

I would love this book either way. It is an excellent read, true or not.