The Geisha and The Monk

by Julian D. Bound

The Geisha and The Monk is a story of love and compassion, holding many answers to life's questions which are explained through Buddhist teachings. As well as sharing an insight into the preparation and life of a Geisha, the novel explores the seldom known life and training of a Buddhist monk within Tibet's monasteries. Two souls born thousands of miles apart. Together each shall follow a similar path.

Japan, 1876: A girl is born, her life path to become the famed Geisha she is destined to be. Tibet, 1876: A boy is born, ordained to be the revered Lama he is recognised as. San Francisco, 1900: At the dawning of a new century fate brings them together, a lifetime away from all they have ever known.

317 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2011

Reviews

[Tess Ailshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected, but a marvelous story nonetheless.

What got it a 3-star versus 5 were the uncountable grammatical errors: apostrophes used on plural nouns, complete misuse such as "console" for "consolation" and "confident" for "confidante", erratic hyphenation, for example. I have a personal aversion to "forwards," "besides," and "towards" though they're somehow commonly accepted instead of their more-correct "forward," "beside," and "toward." I marked some, but they appeared on nearly every page, and interfered significantly with reading. I truly wondered if the author is perhaps not a native English speaker, and why a competent editor and proofreader didn't review it first.

Tenzin and Momoko live parallel lives. While I normally don't like the literary technique of switching from one story to another, in this volume it's almost mandatory. If you hadn't read the promo copy or any reviews, you'd still recognize the synergy of two people born in two countries on the same day; you'd still recognize that at some point these two must meet. The circumstances of their meeting held me spellbound - what a unique story.

One who is not a Buddhist can recognize the universal truths through Tenzin's eyes. One who is not a geisha can appreciate the training, discipline, and rigor of that life, though I found its description less helpful than that of the monastic life. (I was thankful I had read "Memoirs of a Geisha".) The story was compelling, but seriously hampered by the editing problems.

[Lisa Kleiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first half of this book but really lost me at towards the end. Disappointing finish!

[Dizzy Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

First part was really good and then dragged on and I was unable to complete it due to being too slow!

[C. Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a charming story if a bit predictable. At first I thought to give it four stars because there are a lot of grammar errors. Consult(e) is used where consultation should be etc., but the story overrides the technical issues in the end. It's quite a lovely eastern outlook on life, good messages for us all. It moves well and has good character development keeping me engaged. I do recommend it.

[Debbie Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book! Thoroughly recommend to anyone. A historical tale intertwining the lives or a geisha and a reincarnated monk over the course of their lives. They share a birthday and have many shared although separate experiences while their lives journey towards a meeting that changes each life forever. I love the details and amazing characters in the story. The attention to detail is incredible and makes for an amazing read.

[Ray Noyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sensitively written work, its rather unlikely plot necessarily leads to a rather artificial almost mechanistic ending. I kept wondering how the stories of the two individuals would eventually come together and was not surprised that it was because of a very unbelievable, contrived event. That aside, I enjoyed it.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had the potential to be an absolutely amazing book. The story itself and the message were great, unfortunately it was not written well, and there were a sickening amount of typos. I wish some time had been taken with it before it was published. ** On Kindle edition **

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of spelling and grammar errors in the kindle edition. I still enjoyed the story though.

[Megan Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Positively pure and simple and I found it a truly beautiful read. It was easy going and perfect to let the mind wonder and feel as if you were there with them.

[Patsy Cowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking, a lovely read.

[Cath Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tale of the geisha and the monk weaves its way through the separate early lives of the two subjects, finally bringing them together in a rather contrived way - far from realistic. The grammatical and other errors are many, some of them rather amusing - she hampered for something lost - they mounted the ship's gantry! Some sentences made such little sense that they had to be read several times.
However, having said all that, the insights in to the life of a geisha and a Buddhist monk were interesting and made it worthwhile to carry on reading until the end.