Memoirs of a Geisha

Where was the depth in this? To be honest, reading it was nothing but a chore. There are no complex storylines, no character development, no memorable lines, and even the most basic notion of “Show, Don't Tell” was completely missing. All secondary characters are devoid of any personality that goes beyond a defined emotion; a lack of believable human beings was the most noticeable aspect of this story.

With an underwhelming attempt at “poetry” and being artistic, Golden managed to screw up what could've been an intricate story about a Geisha's relationships within a small town. How does someone manage to write a main character to be SO one-dimentional and boring?

Chiyo/Sayuri does not seem to have any goal in life other than to marry The Chairman, like, is that all??? no desire to reunite with her sister, or grow as a person??? what happened??? how is this a successful book?

It is unfair to reduce the entire identity of a woman into “someone who must get married.” Golden tried (and failed miserably) to give life to his main character but it just comes off as ridiculous. Women do not only think of love and romantic partners, or just randomly think about stupid surface level metaphors.

Awful.