Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

An easy to read, imaginative novel that keeps you hooked until the end. So refreshing to read something that is creative in literary style as well as in subject matter.
It is a novel not a work of science - and thankfully the scientific elements did not detract from the storyline - you do not need to like fish to enjoy this book!!

A tiddler, but fun to catch. (1/1 people found this helpful)

I was put off by the sound of this book: it seemed whimsical, and the device of telling the story through diaries, reports and emails sounded laboured. But I nonetheless picked it up at someone else's house and read the first few pages, and was sufficiently gripped to feel compelled to buy it.

Sadly the charm of the early chapters wears off quite rapidly; and the device of reports and diaries gets less and less convincing as the book goes on.

This is a charming tale of a humble fisheries scientist with a dried up marriage who finds himself in the deep unchartered waters of a scheme to introduce salmon fishing to the wadis of Yemen. The painfully didactic 'Reading Group Notes' that came as part of the edition I bought, will try to tell you this is a tale of two cultures - western anglo-protestant and middle-eastern Muslim. But that is to over-claim. This is a light, and mostly likeable, comedy about the fine meeting points between British eccentricity, British bureaucracy and a peculiarly Britsh hubris that comes with British ambition.

The central character, Fred, is lovable, and his hopeless marriage and equally hopeless crush on his work colleague are both engaging and convincing.

The pity is that the structure of the book is overambitious. The 'found documents' device proves unsustainable, and Torday is quickly writing standard fiction prose within the unconvincing wrappers of supposedly official documents and personal diary entries. No one ever wrote a diary in the style of a novel; and even less has any formal government report ever been written that way. Torday unnecessarily sets itself the task of writing in numerous pastiche styles - political memoir, newspaper report, public enquiry, ordinary diary, military correspondence, and so on - and yet cannot manage any of them convincingly. The irony is that what he can do perfectly well is write straightforward prose fiction.

So ultimately this is indeed all I feared - whimsical, with a flawed device at its centre - but it makes for a speedy, distinctive read. The kind of thing to pass the time on a river bank while waiting for something exciting to happen.

So clever! And a great read. (1/1 people found this helpful)

This book is fantastic on two levels. On one level, it's a very warm, witty account of a bumbling civil servant with a domineering wife working on an impossible project to bring the 'civilised' pastime of salmon fishing to the Yemen. Salmon being cold water fish, etc, the odds are against the project ever succeeding but the Government thinks it's a good idea with great PR potential, and the civil servant is seduced by the enigmatic Yemeni and the female facilitator who is everything his wife isn't. On the second level, it's a brilliant, superb parody of events and personalities involved in the War in Iraq. The account of the salmon in the holding tank being barbecued after the project fails is heart-breaking if you juxtopose it with the plight of Iraqi civilians (or well-intentioned soldiers which I actually think is what they're supposed to represent). The end of the book is trite if you just read it on the first level. Add the second level and it's spot on accurate. Brilliant.

Unusual Book, Unusual Story (2/2 people found this helpful)

Intriguing titles seem to be the order of the day. This one comes into the same category on that front as A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Overall it was a much more satisfying read, however.

Salmon Fishing has a satirical feel to it and in parts is very clever and sharp in its observations. It is an enjoyable read and the messages within it are subtle. The idea of a scientist whose previous claim to fame is writing a paper on cadis flies being thrust into the limelight to work a miracle in the Yemeni desert is pure irony.

The only disappointment is the ending, which I think the author felt brought a clever twist. Unfortunately it tends to let the book down in being slightly silly and rather unedifying compared to what has gone before.

Nevertheless the book does work on several levels. It's a story of redemption, of unrequited love, of faith in both the sacred and secular forms. It is also a wonderful comment on government spin and political correctness - something that has been dragging our country down for the past few years. Anyone who has worked in a large organisation will be able to understand the politics involved here and the way people are thrown to the wolves on the whim of a government.

Setting up salmon fisheries in the Yemeni desert may sound both dull and implausible. But the subject matter is just the outer shell of a variety of strands within the book and the catylist for some very sharp writing.

In government communications officer Peter Maxwell, Torday has invented an entirely odious character. It isn't too difficult to see parallels between him and the New Labour spin doctors that we were subjected to under the Tony Blair regime. Overall it's an original novel with bags of charm and wit.

Light, clever, satirical (0/0 people found this helpful)

Bloated bureaucracy, faith, personal conflicts are the theme of this book. It tells the story of a wealthy sheikh's ludicrous plan to introduce salmons to the wadis of Yemen, a number of characters involved in the project, their personal lives, conflicts and of all the ridiculous nature of the bureaucrats.

The story is told in the form of a series of diary entries (Dr.Jones, the central character), e-mail conversations, letters, extracts from interviews etc. It is somewhat odd, but add to the comical nature of the book.

Overall, a funny, entertaining read.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Paul Torday

Reader Reviews:

Light but with darker undertones (0/0 people found this helpful)

A tiddler, but fun to catch. (1/1 people found this helpful)

So clever! And a great read. (1/1 people found this helpful)

Unusual Book, Unusual Story (2/2 people found this helpful)

Light, clever, satirical (0/0 people found this helpful)

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