board77

I know what you mean about non- fiction....no matter how interesting the subject I always have to get a "fix" of fiction afterwards....

oh, speaking of good fiction and romance just thought of "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden...very heart-breaking, and intriguing since the story was greatly generated by "Geisha", actually a partial autobiography of Liza Dalby, the only non-japanese woman to ever become a Geisha...equally good

I read Memoirs of a Geisha and didn't like it at all! i wrote a very negative review on it at amazon:

The glimpse into a foreign culture that we are promised is ultimately denied us. The novel does not offer any greater insight into Japanese life and the role of a Geisha. Nothing about the book is worth the price paid for its purchase, unfortuanely. The story itself is poor, the plot is too predictable and lacks tension. It is even more disturbing that the dialogues seem unlikely, but that is still one of the minor points. The author, who teaches writing at university, may know how to write a novel - but why does he not make use of this knowledge properly (and why didn't his colleagues tell him to)? Only prepositioning a fictional translators' note before the story does not make it any more realistic or better written. Even this note is immediately perceived to be fake, and, what is more, serves no purpose at all. It seems as if the author tried to show that, look, he has the literary tools for the task! It's just too bad he forgot that every tool must be used for a purpose: the mere display of it is useless and a waste of time.

What disturbed me most were the four or five occasions in the novel when I was about to learn something new and interesting about Japanese culture - only to be disappointed by the narrator saying it was too complicated to explain, so she'd rather talk of something else. Worst of all, the narrator's assertion that a Geisha is not a prostitute is repeatedly proven wrong. In the end I wonder what distinguishes her from a high-class, life-long prostitute. I wish I could say anything better about this novel, but I am afraid "Memoirs of a Geisha" is quite a waste of time.

I read it a long time ago, and liked it....perhaps my view would be different when reading it again, but I`m not so sure.....
it doesn`t offer much insight into the Japanese culture, but then again it is fiction so giving insight into the Japanese culture isn`t really the prerogative, I think....

and Geisha ISN`T a prostitute...sorry, but the philisophy behind it, is just utterly different, different universe different...
a prostitute offers sex for money, basically...Geisha doesn`t...she can choose to sleep with men, but it is her choice and not the main prerogative of her "occupation"....once, and if she chooses a "sponsor" she does so of her own free will; which closely resembles a courtisane but still not quite...

have to go, so this is just the short version

Yes, I know a geisha is not a prostitute, but it certainly came across that way in the novel even though I was looking for ways the author tried to prove a geisha is nothing like it. however, I think he did not succeed.

really? you think it came across as the exact opposite? hmmm....I didn`t get that impression.
guess it depends on the reader,ha?

Just read the LOTR Location Guidebook. I was really interested in getting it because I went to NZ, coincidentally, just after FOTR was shown. So there was a lot of info on the different locations the film was shot and I saw some of them while travelling the country.

It was nice to read about the places I had seen, but all in all I think you should only get the book if you reall yintend to go to NZ and tour the locations and sets (the very few ones that are still there). The book is not very nicely written, it is not meant to be very entertaining, and you only get detailed directions as to where to go. It sounds like somebody you ask for directions in the street. I guess there are better ways to spend a holiday in NZ and still see some of the places without having read that book!

Hello Galena! I have just come back from my holiday and brought five new books with me. One of them is "The Time Traveler's Wife"! Am going to start reading it next - as soon as I am somwhat in control of my jet lag, that is. Have you come back from your holidays? How was it?

I've just started another book to add to the 4 or 5 I'm already reading at the moment. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice

I'll also be starting The Scarlett Letter and The Grapes of Wrath for school, shortly.

hey Silwen, I came back yesterday evening ...it was very realxing and serene and I have the tan to show for it...

in terms of reading it was quite productive: I finished Tomorrow`s God, and continuted with other books in the series, "Friendship with God", "Union with God", "New revelations"

I started and am now half way through "Indaba, my children"...a book of African mythos- Zulu nation...very intriguing read, especailly once you read authors note and WHY he put it all down on paper, and what it cost him to do so

Hello Rune! Still the voracious reader, eh?;) Good, good. Let me know what Grapes of Wrath is like when you're done. i have been thinking of reading it for years because Steinbeck is good, and my English teacher at highschool always said he wrote his thesis about that book.

Galena, welcome home! We both came back on the same day. I did not manage to read all that much during my holiday, as I expected, but I certainly don't mind about that. The book on African myths sounds very good to me. What you wrote reminded me of the film "Hotel Rwanda" that I watched on my return flight. Do you know it? Certainly a good film.

I`ve heard about it, and is certainly on my too watch list...have yet to see it, though

Entering the bookshop quietly, I browse the stacks and shelves with interest. It was in a diisty corner where a small book had fallen did I reach for it.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Only a hundred or so pages long, I sat and started to read it.

The book definitely reads different than the Howard Hawks -Humphrey Bogart - Lauren Bacall movie of 1945, but still I hear the voices as I read it. If you get a chance to read this book, do it. Raymond has a great writing style.

Just did some research on Chandler now that you mention his name. His books are not my type, though. I have never been into detective fiction, and his novels seem to all be set in the wrong time for me to be of interest anyway. But I have heard his name so often that I simply had to find out some more about him. I keep mistaking him for someone else all the time, don't know why! Can't come up with the other writer's name just now, though.

Galena, I have begun the first chapter of Niffenegger's novel, but so far I am not impressed - but I am not put off either, so there is still a chance. After all, the story has only just begun, but I do think that the beginning of a book must be good and make me want to read on, which this novel does not succeed in yet. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Hey, I am getting into the book now. I guess the reason it did not appeal to me at first was because I had expected it to be somewhat different in tone and atmosphere. I haev now become used to it and abandoned my idea of it, so that I can really enjoy it. I am only on page 70-something, so there is still lots left to read. I wonder what will happen...

Gal, I know it's been said before, but your avatar is beautiful! The pose, the colours, the place... ahhhhh....

my ego really doesn`t require more boosting, if that`s even a word but thank you honey....that`s my souls home, especially the wall under that particular tree...and I come back to it often I like that pic because it`s serene, somehow...although the pic is actually a part of the sequence shot in which I`m twirling, and twirling isn`t really serene hmmmmmm, maybe the joy I felt, and still feel heck, who cares

it might take a while for you to get all of it in...with all the skips in time
I just picked up Updike`s "Seek my face" today, will have to wait a while to read it though....I don`t want to leave "Indaba..." unfinished but I`m sort of loosing interest, the intenisty is definatelly subsiding and I`m only just half way through...almost scared to think how will I feel about it more towards the end

Do you like Updike? I only read one of his stories in a class once and wasn't sure if I liked it or not. So in the end I bought his story collection "Licks of Love", but I decided he is not my type of writer.

didn`t read anything of his, so far....but I was attracted by the title

I must admit that "Licks of Love" also attracted me because of the title!

there`s also one with beauty and lilies isn`t it? that and licks of love I thought of getting afterwards, if I like seek my face

I have not heard of it, but then again I wasn't too interested in more of his work. Sorry.