Saving Fish from Drowning

This is a compelling and unusual story. The narrator is a dead woman - an unusual device in itself. The story centers around a group of American tourists on a trip to Burma. Burma has been in the news this week and so that made it all the more fascinating. There is a likeable cast of characters - who get into all sorts of scrapes - many of which are quite hilarious. This is a story about how one persons actions can impact upon another, and about a group's shared responsibilty. There are some topical messages here, and a little tounge in cheek satire, wrapped up in an entertaining story. Very different from the only other Amy Tan novel I have read - The Bonesetter's daughter - but very enjoyable.

Blurred the line between fact and fiction (0/2 people found this helpful)

Whilst the book is a work of fiction, it is based in a country which is of great interest due to the secretive political situation. The story is based around a transcript of a medium's conversation with the "other world". The result of this is an interesting book to read.
I like the perspective of the book being narrated by the ghost, who is opinionated and critical of those involved in the tour, whilst being intelligent and funny.
My main criticism is that the characters are over exaggerated. This makes the story easy to read (you don't have to concentrate on the subtleties of the characters as there aren't any), but also makes it a little predictable about what the individuals are going to do.
At the end of the book, the author describes what happened after the experience to each of the characters which rounds off the book very well.

I loved this book (1/3 people found this helpful)

I loved reading this book. I loved the humour, and the clever way Amy Tan makes suggestion about countries,cultures and religion in a book of fiction. I loved the spirit of the narrator. I think Amy Tan is gifted in her observations of people and places and truly a very talented writer. Read this book if you want to smile, but dont if you take every word ever written to seriously, it will only upset you.

Misleading beliefs (1/10 people found this helpful)

I've enjoyed Amy Tan's work before and have an inteest and knowledge of the situation in Burma having lived in the region so I bought this hoping there might be some insightful comments or political edge encapsulated in a fictional novel. However I'm disappointed so far about the lack of direction of the story which seems merely to be about a group of non-travellers clumsily putting foot in mouth everywhere they go. Tan's manner of making cynical comments about issues such as Buddhism (e.g. that if fame comes to Buddhism then it is no longer true Buddhism since it has then become famous as this is contrary to the spirit of the religion, or that people selling goods at temple sights show that Buddhism is now commericalised) also do her no favours and appear to be written as truth when in fact they are merely uninformed opinion without real insight (e.g. if the Buddha is famous that is not his doing or his intention and so long as he or the religion remains true to its teachings and neither expects nor exploits this 'fame' then what others do to it (e.g. by making it known (famous) to others) is neither their doing nor something they require and therefore is irrelevant to the religion itself, similarly if people need to make a living by selling goods at sites frequented by people who can afford to buy them that is called 'making a living' and since lay Buddhists (normal Buddhists who are not living as monks) need to put food on the table and a shelter over their heads there is no harm in doing so & does not detract from their practice of worship nor does it negate the true beliefs of those Buddhists who regularly visit temples for worship both outside and during festivals).
Spirit worship is prevalent aross Asia, as is the fear of malevolent spirits, and predates the arrival of Buddhism - though I doubt the spirits hitched a ride on the back of a bus from China all those centuries ago as the whole point is that they already exist within the natural world and need to be placated to prevent tragedy & misfortune. The way Tan implies that they may or may not really exist but the fact that many believe in them is already sufficient (e.g. so that a white object travelling a a dark road at night & seen by those either too ill or drunk to make out what it really is, is envisioned as a potentially dangerous spirit thereby reinforcing this belief amongst both those who purporet to see it and those who hear the second hand tales later on.
At least this superstitious aspect of the story does reflect the true beliefs common to most if not all Asian countries.
I hope there is more purpose to the remainder of this story as Tan is not displaying her usual level of insight.

Food for thought (8/9 people found this helpful)

This is a great comic drama. Reading it in public was risky - on the Tube I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, unable to look up to check whether I'd reached my stop, then cackling out loud like a mad lady.

It's also interesting to explore the idea that tourism is both necessary and detrimental to the countries visited. And the insensibility of the tourists to the fact that the funny foreigners were real people too, with real hopes and fears and beliefs, made me cringe with guilty recognition.

But I'm not sure why there were so many characters - far too many for them to be easily distinguishable. And the framing story of the narrator's death was silly - rich in symbolism, I'm sure, but it seemed unnecessary. And there was at least one loose end not tied up.

Saving Fish from Drowning

Amy Tan

Reader Reviews:

An edge of the seat, unusual story (0/0 people found this helpful)

Blurred the line between fact and fiction (0/2 people found this helpful)

I loved this book (1/3 people found this helpful)

Misleading beliefs (1/10 people found this helpful)

Food for thought (8/9 people found this helpful)

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