Memoirs of a Geisha GR Review

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My rating: 4.25

The book was written very well that I felt like I was floating along a Japanese river while I was reading it. It really didn't get deeply into me... well, it did get into me but it didn't stab straight into my heart, though I must say that it was such a beautiful novel, with such delicate prose that I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to explore cultures and lives and history.

Seeing through a geisha's life is new for me and I had a lot of new learning not just about geisha, but also about Japan. The tale was a good historical narration telling us what happened to Japan and during the war.

What I didn't like about the book is that it may be a little culturally biased to the Americans, since the author was American. I don't know if the Japanese's view of the Americans changed as abruptly as it was stated in the book, but I just didn't find it realistic that they could easily forgive their enemy as quickly as that.

Another: I don't really like how the story turned out in the end, and I don't really find that twist amusing at all, no not at all. It wasn't realistic for me. It was so protagonist-serving.

Why, despite of my negative reviews, am I still giving this a high rating? Because it's such an undeniably good book! It brings you to places you've never been before, and I felt that what Golden wants to happen is for the readers to see what Japan is like, to give us a picture of a culture that is beyond our knowledge, in a manner so ethereal and so gentle that you could almost hear the shamisen strings while you're reading it.

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The Kite Runner GR Review

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What's the best way to atone for one's "sin"?

I found the book really heartbreaking in every way. I don't know if the book justifies reality, but then, I realize that reality is absurd in its own nature, and what just happened in this novel may be what is really happening in the lives of the Afghans.

The book opened my eyes on the state of what's happening in war-torn countries. It just broke my heart. I dunno if Hosseini's narration was intended to make the book a tearjerker or if he just wanted to deliver a story that is naturally heartbreaking. The book teaches us a thing or two about bravery, resolutions and the Afghan language.

So far, currently, this is the book for which I've shed most tears in my entire existence.

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The Book Thief GR review

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can see this book decorated with old lanterns filled with orange-yellowish lights flickering in the dark with smokes and bombs in the background. The story was so beautifully and honestly woven, rightfully narrated by Death. It's a very inspiring tale of a young girl who journeyed to survive poverty, war, and death.

Reading it brought me to Germany. It was an awesome painful adventure for me, and Zusak did well by writing it in a very honest way. He needn't put the story in a dramatic and melancholic way, he just told a story, actually, the way he said his tale, for me it was very factual . To make us understand what was happening, he didn't have to make his statements flowery, dark nor dramatic, it was just being honest. The theme of the story was enough to tug the people's heartstrings, imagine the weight of the story within the theme.

It's so lovely that "Words" played a very special part in the lives of the people there. How Zusak made us realize that it was all because of "words" that this story started, he meant the whole thing, starting with Hitler's domination over the people.

TO have a story narrated by Death is highly special for me. For what didn't Death see? Death is among those who could be in the omniscient point of view, and it was poetic how "he" viewed things, and paradoxical how he saw himself in relation to humans.

Liesel Meminger is the protagonist who didn't have to be sweet and gentle-spoken to be loved. We are a lot like her. We value many people, we have pasts that haunt us, we have failures, and stuff same. I can barely believe what she went through after all. I liked the way she loved the people she loves. I sometimes hated her impulsiveness, but then, she showed the imperfections we all have. All the characters in the book also played special and unforgettable roles in the novel.

Zusak was wise enough to win us by choosing a wonderful and sensitive theme for his narration. Superb.

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