Customer Reviews

The Blonde Geisha

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Seriously. I did not enjoy this book. I kept reading hoping it would get better.

You know how sometimes you don't really like a book, or you're not that into it, but you continue to read it because it has a really interesting character, or the idea is great and you are just waiting for it to get better, or you just have to read it for school. Well this book has none of those qualities. All the characters are dull and boring, the idea lost it's charm on like page 4 and if any teacher assigned this book for class, I would drop the class.

The book is about this American girl who is growing up in Japan in the late 1800's. Her father gets in trouble and leaves her at a geisha house. All this girl wants to do is have sex. She is always causing trouble because the okasan won't let her become a geisha and have sex. So after 200 pages of her fantasizing about having sex with just about every guy in the book, a Baron comes along and wants to sleep with her. What does this girl do? SHE SAYS NO!!!!!! She says that she doesn't want sex without love. Well that would have been nice to know 200 pages ago! It's not as if the Baron is old or ugly. He's wicked hot and rich and buddies with the prince. (he also wants to kill her, but she doesn't know that yet)

And It's not as if she is pissed because she is being forced to sell her virginity, like 10 pages before she met the Baron she was all "Oh when will you find someone to buy my virginity? I can't wait to have sex." ~that's not a direct quote. It's actually better than the stuff that is in the book.

It all became too much for me when this handsome stranger is trying to tell her about her dying father and she tries to sleep with him. Enjoy my re-enactment:

"I have come to tell you news from your father."
"Do you have a mirror in your pocket? Cause I can see myself in your pants!"
"Oh you geisha and your coy ways. Seriously, I have news from your dad."
"My dad! Sweet! I haven't seen him since he abandoned me to work as a geisha. I have spent the last 4 years learning various sexual positions and and the 47 ways to pleasure a man. Want me to show you?"
"47!!! Well....I desperately want to have sex, but first I will tell you about you dying father."
"Oh no! My father is dying? Whoops! My kimono fell off!"
"Ah sweet geisha I promised your father I'd bring you to him with your virtue intact....are those real? Screw the old man! Let's get it on!"

This book has no redeeming qualities. I'm not even interested in all the facts about Japanese culture, which I am normally fascinated by. Why? Because there aren't any in here.

I agree heartily with Mia Leigh who said she would drop the course if a professor assigned this book (ps, just read Mia's excellent rework of the story :-). I live in Tokyo and have an in-depth knowledge of Japanese history and especially the Geisha world. This book bears little accurate knowledge. The main thing is that the word Geisha (as is mentioned only once and incorrectly at best) means "woman of art". (Also, in Kyoto (Kioto), they are called Geiko, not Geisha.) Geisha are performers of classical Japanese dance (there are no pirouettes! I am a nihon buyo dancer), music (shamisen and koto), flower arranging (ikibana), and tea ceremony (chanoyu). Oirans, or concubines, are the lovers and traders in sex. This book contributes to a negative and incorrect stereotype that geisha have been trying to correct and explain to Westerners for years and it is a horrible set-back. Please do not in any way take this as a book about geisha...Now, on to the poor writing. As others have already said, the characters are one-dimensional. The lead, Kathlene, spends hundreds of pages saying the same words about having sex. Only at the end of the book is there a worthwhile discussion of her wanting to be a geisha and what she has learned about duty and sacrifice (sort of). I like good sensual and sexual reads, but I wanted to yell STOP when there was a glimmer of a storyline and they went back to "jade stalks" and "sweet slits". Good erotica happens by contrast, good sex happens by contrast. This book just constantly rubs you the wrong way. And I finished the book only because I am obsessive/compulsive. Please do not spend the money and propogate these thoughts of what a geisha is not. Free the geisha!

At the tender age of fifteen, Kathleen secretly dreams of entering the sensual world of the geisha where life is dedicated to beauty, grace, and eroticism. She longs for this exotic world where she believes her serendipitous dreams can be fulfilled and she can gracefully enter womanhood. Little does she suspect that her fantasies will be granted one rainy afternoon as she desperately flees from an unknown assailant with her father. In an attempt to shield Kathleen from this vengeful foe, her father hides her in a geisha house promising faithfully to return one day for his beloved daughter. As the days transform into years, Kathleen continues to await her father's return only to be continually disappointed by his absence. Concealing her bitterness and deep concern over her father's departure, Kathleen slowly discovers the enticing secrets of the geisha world and prepares to one day claim her place in that world; after all the tedious years of longing, she shall finally fulfill her ultimate desire to become a geisha. However, as she joyously approaches this event, ominous clouds loom overhead threatening to blot out her mirthful celebration and replace it with a mournful dirge.

I was originally interested in this novel due to the geisha theme. Having previously read many novels concentrating on geisha as well as indulging in factual books recounting the life of geisha, I was once again ready to embrace this bizarre world where everything is allowed except love and, therefore, happiness. However, despite the numerous interesting aspects inherent in this novel, I was disentranced by many crucial elements and overall was relieved to finally conclude the tale.

The first aspect that I deemed displeasing was the dialogue of the characters. In an attempt to sound oriental and exceptionally evocative of the erotic, the author often employed bizarre phrases causing the characters' dialogue to feel stiff and unrealistic. An example of this overdone phrasing can easily be located on page 273 where a character, describing her deep emotions stated, "If you leave the Teahouse of the Look-Back Tree, my heart will cry like the wail of my lute when a string breaks." Although it requires great talent to author such beautiful phrases, these phrases are not representative of the way in which actual people converse. Rather, the conversation often seemed strange and unrealistic thus detracting from the characters' dramatic emotions and the overall feel of the novel.

Another aspect that I found greatly displeasing was the lack of depth concerning the characters. The main focal point of the story was Kathleen's erotic desires and dreams, however, she did not appear to have any personality beyond this. Each character was afflicted with this same aliment and the author saw fit to leave them uncured. Although it was often stated that the characters' felt deeper more meaningful emotions, this was not displayed through their actions or statements; the characterization remained weak thus causing me to feel as though the characters were puppets, performing the actions the author dictated but not acquiring their own life. They remained static and uninteresting throughout the story.

Also, the main character of Kathleen often proved irritating as she pursued her rebellious teenage ways often becoming dramatically stuck between two worlds, the dutiful world of the geisha and the free spirited world she dreamed of where she was allowed to embrace love. Although this dilemma was intended to hold the readers' empathy and interest, I often found Kathleen's continual indecision annoying and inordinately selfish as her own foolish actions continually placed those around her in imminent peril.

Another heavily detrimental aspect perpetrated throughout this novel was the depth of Kathleen's love for the enigmatic Reed-san. Their love for each other defied the realistic world since they were mostly strangers to one another having only met briefly on occasions. However, they were both automatically spell bound by their supposedly earth shattering love and went through numerous difficult circumstances to reach one another despite the fact that they were still strangers. I did not feel that their love was genuine or deserved. I was unable to become interested in their developing relationship due to this heavily unrealistic quality.

I was also greatly disappointed to note the lack of action contained within this novel despite the dangerous situation concerning Kathleen's merciless pursuant seeking to gain vengeance upon her father via her death. The story barely moved for the first three hundred pages as Kathleen's erotic desires, foolish attempts at rebellion, and general daily activities were detailed in the fullest. After this exorbitantly lengthy presentation of unessential trivia was displayed, the last segment of the novel finally began to present a decipherable storyline as Kathleen and Reed-san's love places them and those they hold dear in dangerous circumstances due to Baron Tonda's demands to claim Kathleen's mizuage (virginity), an event that Reed-san is desperate to ensure will never transpire. Meanwhile, Baron Tonda is plotting Kathleen's death in order to appease Prince Kira. Although this development was interesting, and greatly helped to redeem the original rating I had intended to bestow on this novel, it did not capture my interest to a particularly great degree thus causing me to state quite generously that this novel was only average and contained none of the essential virtues displayed within a great literary piece.

As for the acclaimed eroticism that supposedly peppers this novel, I found that this aspect was greatly overshadowed by Kathleen's ever shifting desires between the world of the geisha and her own inner longings for love and the almost Shakespearian love story in which a young girl pines over her tragically forbidden love despite the unrealistic qualities pertaining to that love. Instead of the gratuitous erotic scenes expected in this voyeuristic genre, the novel was mostly filled with the somewhat detailed ponderings of a teenage girl longing for love and an erotic experience. Only once during the entire novel was there an actual encounter with her lover that was somewhat explicit. Mostly, however, this novel was only R rated and not particularly erotic. I would suggest this story for those whose interests pertain more toward romantic novels with an erotic tinge than toward those seeking a purely erotic novel.

In conclusion, although I perceive that this author has talent, I did not feel that this talent was displayed to the fullest. I found many of the essential elements inherent in the storyline to be severally lacking most notably the characterization and dialogue causing the overall feel of the novel to lack personality and depth. While the conclusion was fairly well executed and managed to draw me into the story for the first time during the novel, this element alone was not sufficient to redeem my overall opinion concerning the story. I feel that a two star rating is the most accurate description of the novel's worth.

Ravenova

I admit that I know nothing about the Japanese culture, especially the geishas. But having read Naughty Paris, I had wanted to give Jina Bacarr's The Blonde Geisha a whirl, and the plot sounded interesting. Also, her fascination for all things Japanese had piqued my curiosity. The Blonde Geisha would have been perfect had it not been for the underdeveloped characters and their storylines. More on that later.

In 1892, Kathlene Mallory's life is in danger. So, in a desperate attempt to save her life, her father hides her at the Teahouse of the Look-Back Tree, an exotic place with beautiful geishas. He has to return to America, but cannot risk taking Kathlene with him. Kathlene sees this as the opportunity to make her fantasy of becoming a geisha a reality. For three years, Kathlene is a "maiko," and has yet to become a geisha. She has to wear a black wig to cover her blonde hair and has to keep her eyes cast down to hide her green eyes, for there is no mistaking her Western features. During her training, Kathlene discovers the depths of her sensuality through the artistic and erotic rituals at the teahouse, and her biggest wish, other than to become a geisha, is to give her body and soul to one man. But the Baron Tonda, a well-trained samurai, has been sent by the prince to find and destroy Kathlene. He finds her, but is so overwhelmed with desire for her that he will do anything to take her to the futon -- and then kill her. But Reed Cantrell won't let that happen. He's promised Kathlene's father he would bring her to safety, and that is what he'll do, even if it means withholding his own desires for the blonde geisha. Some twists and turns occur.

In many ways, the novel is engaging and well written. And like Naughty Paris, I'd say this is more sensual than erotic. The dialogue is strange; it's beautiful, but real people don't talk that way. (After all, can you imagine a flesh and blood man saying, "I perceive my lady at the bedchamber doesn't wish to wait until the seventh night to savor your first taste of my golden oriole pecking at your peach"?) Unless the author is imitating the manner of speech of the Japanese (don't know this for certain), the prose is a little too purple at times. It would have been lovely to read had it not been so overblown. In addition to that, I found the story lacking in some areas. Kathlene is a sweet character, but one-dimensional at best. It seems to me that all she does is either long to be a real geisha or yearn for her true love. Reed Cantrell is underdeveloped. (And I couldn't help noticing that his physical description matches that of Paul Bouquet, the hero in Naughty Paris. No problems there. He sounds yummy.) I agree with the reviewer who says that Mariko and Simouyé had very fascinating storylines. Unfortunately, the aforementioned characters and their storylines are very underdeveloped. Perhaps Ms. Bacarr will write a spin-off based on Mariko? One could only hope. There is one loose end here I wish I'd gotten a clear answer, but I won't go into details lest it spoils the reader. As for the erotica, as said earlier, the book is more sensual than erotic, and disappointing as a result. There is too much telling and not enough showing. I do wish Spice would "push the envelope in erotic fiction," as they claim. You can fuse a good story with some explicit and risqué erotica. It's been done. Anyway, despite those things, The Blonde Geisha is an entertaining read and worthy of the awards it has won, if only for its unique voice and insightful look into the geisha lifestyle. I enjoyed reading this on my journey back home from the holidays yesterday and I recommend it.

I would give this 0 stars if I could. The book was about a girl wanting to have sex, but only has sex one time. Yet it's supposed to be an erotic novel? It was also supposed to be about the world of geisha, yet the only things I read about being a geisha was that they sold their virginity and lived in a tea house. That was it. Also, the characters were poorly developed and there is a big time chunk of 3 years missing in the book. The language was atrocious. Referring to anatomies as "dear little slit[s]" and "honorable penis[es]."

This book was a joke and I wish I would not have wasted the time.

I've read some terrible books in my time, but this has to be arguably one of the worst. It's such an interesting idea, but carried out so terribly. Wooden characters, stilted (and ridiculous) dialogue, and the level of sex and/or the constant failed eroticism was nauseating. That doesn't even begin to cover the painful and ill-researched inaccuracies of geisha and that way of life. I would not recommend this book to any of my friends. In fact, I'd call attempts to read it cruel and unusual punishment.

I have never written an Amazon.com review before. I have usually found the existing reviews and their ratings to be sufficient in letting me know what to expect. This is the first time I have ever bought a book that I did not want to finish, and I, too, am obsessive about this kind of thing.

I bought this book a few years ago and just finally got around to reading it. I liked the cover, briefly flipped through the book, and foolishly believed that this book might be a retelling of the biography of the only Western woman to ever become a geisha. Boy was I wrong! Not only is it not based on a true story, I don't even think you could call this historical fiction. It's full of outright falsehoods that not even the most part-time Japanophile could mistake for being true. The tiny tidbits of information concerning erotic practices might have fit into a story about a concubine, but they are completely out of place in a story about geisha. I see no mention of the term "danna", which anyone who has done any reading on geisha should be familiar with, even if it was no more than the very accessible "Memoirs". AND, geisha do not live in tea houses, which are independent facilities where geisha parties are scheduled. I have deep misgivings about even passing this book on to a friend for fear they should develop a seriously misguided impression of geisha.

Apart from the complete lack of research that went into this book, the writing is not enjoyable to read. I can overlook a weak plot or an opinion I disagree with if the words flow smoothly and the book is moderately well-written. This book has poor flow from constantly jumping from past to present to past, in literally one sentence to the next. There seem to be an infinite amount of tiny fragments of complete thoughts, but not one complete portrait of anyone or anything. It feels as though you're reading the blond geisha's notepad that she carried with her all day so she could remember what to include in her diary. There are just as many small references to Japanese culture sprinkled throughout the passages, but they don't further the story and are a distraction more than anything. They can't create substance where there is none. It is like the author is saying, look what I know! Here's a fast fact from Japan! The descriptions of sights and sounds cannot make up for the choppy storytelling. It's just not readable.

Add to that a completely unsympathetic main character, one who really doesn't "get" it, in the same ways that the author doesn't seem to get why people like geisha to begin with. The blond geisha is incapable of going about her day-to-day activities due to her consuming desire to have sex. She doesn't handle herself very well. It's all you can do to be inside her head, let alone care about what happens to her. A normal person would take matters into her own hands, or perhaps check herself into a nice whorehouse, where she rightly belongs. Instead we have to wade through endless descriptions of how geisha know how to pleasure men this way, and geisha know how to pleasure men that way, and none of it is even true. I truly don't know if I can finish this book, and that's a first. Please don't waste your time. Buy some autobiographies instead, and then use your imagination. It'll be more accurate and more stimulating.

Does anyone know of any books about the Western woman who became a geisha?

I really wanted to like this book. It had alot of this things that I look for in a book. A far off location, it was a historical, and seeming bright main character. But I have to say I was forty pages into this book when I stopped reading it. I thought that the main character Kathlene was awful. All she is interested in is becomimg a geisha and sex. The writing was also awful. This book is type of book that give romance/ erotic books a bad name. I know that I will not be reading books by this writer. Some may like even love Jina Bacarr but I am not one of them and I am sorry that I wasted my hard earn money on this book.

I'd skip this one, unless you want to spend most of your time rolling your eyes or cringing at the mix of cultural faux pas and terrible prose. Not even fit for vacation reading, sorry.

I loved the idea of an American girl wanting to become a geisha in Japan during the late 1890s.... This premise captured my interest and had me buying the book, not to mention the fact that it was an erotica novel.

Well, I was sorely disappointed with this novel on many levels. The storyline itself was long and drawn out making this novel a slow and boring read. I actually set this book aside for awhile and read to other novels before picking up again and finally finishing it. The main character supposedly wants to become a geisha really badly and yet at almost ever turn in the novel she seems to reject the whole idea of becoming a geisha and doesn't want to conform with the traditions of what it means to become a geisha... It seems like one of the whole subplots becomes whether the lead character wants to become a geisha or not, along with other irritating factors like one dimensional characters. The erotica in this novel isn't that juicy either.... Nothing to steamy, which sucked. It's all what the geisha lead character fantasies about in her own mind for the most part.