"The Quorndon" Virtual Reading Club

The third book from "The Quorndon's" Virtual Reading Club was "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden.

'Memoirs of a Geisha ' was almost universally enjoyed by the readers. The authentic insight into life in Japan was appreciated by most readers. Here are some of the comments:

A gem of a book. A glimpse of another world and another time.

Excellent. I had to keep reminding myself it was a novel, and not a biography.

A fascinating insight into the life of a Japanese geisha during the first half of the twentieth century. Convincing and authentically written, a very enjoyable read.

This was a fascinating and evocative insight into a completely different world. I found it hard to put down, even though the plot was not the strongest part of the book. It was the intricate details of the geisha life that were so compelling.

Brilliant You feel less a reader and more like the main characters friend with each page her hopes become yours, youll start to hate her enemy and without even realising it youll learn so much about Japans culture. Thought provoking stuff! Thoroughly recommended.

A fascinating insight into a different culture, era and way of life. The style and detail of the prose makes it hard to believe that the major character is invented rather than real, and also, dare I say it, even harder to believe it was written by a man as he captures the female psyche so well.

Interesting read got a bit fed up half way through but persevered! Not sure Id read it again.

I am surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It was a subject I knew nothing about and I have found it a very interesting, well written book which was easy to read.

A good read, very enjoyable.

Couldnt get on with this at all.

And moving on, the book for this quarter is - Jung Chang's "The Wild Swans".

This book tells the story of 20th century China through the lives of three women - grandmother, mother and daughter. The grandmother, in 1924, was the concubine of a powerful warlord at the age of 15. Her daughter, born in 1931, experienced the horrors of Japanese occupation in Manchuria as a schoolgirl, and after their surrender joined the Communist-led underground. Though she became a senior Communist official, she was still imprisoned three times, and her husband was persecuted and imprisoned.

The author, the daughter, grew up during the Cultural Revolution and witnessed the worst excesses of the Gang of Four. She joined the Red Guard but after Mao's death she become one of the first Chinese students to study abroad.

Lucy Chang recounts many of the horrifying events of 20th century China and their effects on her family, in a calm, level-headed fashion. Her prose is wonderfully constructed, with emphasis on the facts, and not over playing the emotional analysis like an American self-help book. The book was recently voted one of the 100 most important books of the century.

There are multiple copies available in Quorn Library, together with comment postcards.

Our thanks as usual to the Leicestershire Library Service.