Geisha

So I finally read Memoirs of a Geisha because I felt like the last perosn on earth to read and it was sitting in my house.

I've heard how everybody just LOVES this book and how the movie isn't as good, yada, yada, yada. So I read it.

And I HATED it. Yes, it's probably an accurate description of Geisha culture, which I did find interesting. But I couldn't stand the story. It's all about this girl who is sold into Geisha-hood as a child. She meets a man one day when she's 12-ish and from that moment on, her entire life is devoted to making this stranger love her. And eventually she does meet him again and after a zillion years he professes his love to her. This is like Katie Holmes lusting after Tom Cruise and finally ending up carrying his baby. Nobody believes that Tom really loves her and that is the feeling I get from this book. The story is just too implausible. And sad.

I'll admit that as a geisha she probably didn't have many options, but to pine away for 20 years because of a 2-minute encounter when you were 12 seems a little strange. I can barely remember people I knew when I was 12.