#120 in Historical fiction
Memoirs of a Geisha
- 512
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
- Film 2005
- On screen
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Our view
The appeal of this novel is the closed world it opens to the reader. Sayuri tells of her path from girlhood to work as a geisha in Gion, across the years around the Second World War, and keeps hoping through hard trials. Some readers find the secondary characters one-note and the lyrical style forced; at over 500 pages it is a long stay in that world.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Memoirs of a Geisha is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and working as a geisha in Gion, Japan, before, during and after World War II.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- FilmMemoirs of a GeishaIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 1,300 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 90% of the weight and the score stays at 8.0 — the Historical fiction average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 95 | 7% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 1.2K | 93% |
Frequently asked
How long is Memoirs of a Geisha?
It has 512 pages — longer than 63% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 7.9 and 8.0, closest to this book.
