I began reading the book "Memoirs of a Geisha" while I was recently out of town. It was one of those books that once I picked it up, I was unable to put it down. I would be out with friends or at work or wherever and wishing that I had the book with me so I could pick it up and read a few pages any time I had a spare second.
Part of what made it so amazing was the beautiful descriptions of life in pre-WWII Japan. I'm not always a big historical fiction fan, but this was so incredibly written and the details were so intricately woven into the prose that I was immediately drawn into the world of the characters. It isn't a romance novel, by any means, but it is truly a love story in many ways.
That being said, I have to say that I was disappointed in the movie. (Isn't that always the way it is? You love a book and the movie never really lives up to it.) I had mentioned to a friend that I was interested in watching the movie and he said that he'd heard unless you'd read the book, the movie was difficult to understand. I can totally see that this would be accurate. The movie tries to fit everything from the book into its screenplay, and although I appreciate the effort to be true to the manuscript, the movie is little more than a series of vignettes from the book. It would be difficult to follow if you hadn't read the book and didn't know how to fill in the blanks that the movie leaves out.
If you have the chance to pick up "Memoirs of a Geisha," I would definitely give it a high recommendation. Put it on your summer reading list... It's perfect for beachside reading.
3 comments:
Awesome - thanks for the insite. I have it, just haven't read it yet. I'll have to read it next :-)
Mindy - If you want to borrow the DVD after you've read the book, let me know. I bought it, instead of renting it.
I liked the movie, but didn't read the book. My wife had read the book and would agree with your assessment of the movie.
Post a Comment