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Title: Not the tour-de-force the literary reviewers claimed.
Review: This book is easy to read, and at times the prose is delicate and provocative. But ultimately, the thin characterizations (and absence of motivation for any of the characters), and our heroine's complete lack of an inner life--she goes through life with blinders on, never learning, never changing, never growing--damage this book. I never thought of our narrator as "female"; she seemed sexless, and she often reacted to things like a man. Arthur Golden, despite the reviews, failed to find a woman's voice and sensibility in which to tell his tale. I found "Memoirs" superficial and frustrating; I forced myself through to the contrived ending. Golden is an able enough writer; he's just shallow. We've all been duped by great reviews garnered because the subject matter is unusual and exotic. I'm glad I borrowed a friend's copy and didn't buy it!
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