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Memoirs of a Geisha


This was the moment when I began to understand how unaware I'd been -- not only in planning to run away, but in everything. I'd never understood how closely things are connected to one another. And it isn't just the zodiac I'm talking about. We human beings are only a part of something very much larger. When we walk along, we may crush a beetle or simply cause a change in the air so that a fly ends up where it might never have gone otherwise. And if we think of the same example but with ourselves in the role of the insect, and the larger universe in the role we've just played, it's perfectly clear that we're affected every day by forces over which we have no more control than the poor beetle has over our gigantic foot as it descends upon it. What are we to do? We must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the universe around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with them.


Truly a wonderful book, especially if you enjoy reading about Japanese culture.



I bought Memoirs of a Geisha many months before my Japan trip, but it spent more time on my shelf than in my hands. As I decided to take the extended trip to Japan I dragged the book along with me. I didn't get to read it until the very end of the trip and I am so glad. The book had a very strong effect on me and I knew so much more about the Japanese culture that I appreciated the book a lot more than I think I would have before my trip.

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