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Loading... Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novelby Amy Tan
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. cathyB00 | Jun 16, 2009 |   One of the best books I've read recently, and my favourite of her work so far (replacing Hundred Secret Senses). I've never read anything quite like this, unless it's Canterbury Tales. From the beginning, I had no trouble picturing each character, and their complex motivations and history kept me nose deep in the story. Highly Recommended. (  )marctic | May 2, 2009 | This was a book group read. Our best discussion ever. Each time I read a book of Amy Tan's it gets me going back to read her previous books. Together they are like dipping into a stream and immersing myself in a life, many lives. I learn so much. tenapy | Feb 13, 2009 | Synopsis: San Francisco art patron, Bibi Chen planned a guided tour along the Burma Road for 12 of her friends. The itinerary was planned and things were good to go - until Bibi was found dead a few weeks from departure. At her funeral, the group decides to continue on with the journey, "as Bibi would want." Observing this decision in ghost form, Bibi tags along for the ill-fated trip as the group diverts from her carefully planned itinerary, to adventurous whims of their choosing. Once inside military-run Myanmar (Burma), eleven members of the group disappear on a "Christmas morning surprise," leaving ghost-Bibi sputtering about her friends' decisions and Harry, the hung-over, sole remaining group member to find them. Pros: I really enjoyed Tan's writing style, and surprising elements that she incorporated, including having spirit-Bibi narrate the story. I also liked how she pulled in the political aspect of a military regime and tourism, and the humanitarian dilemma one faces. Cons: For some unknown reason, this book read slower for me than Amy Tan's other novels. (  )jayde1599 | Jan 28, 2009 | surprisingly good, but as i read it, i kept on wondering how amy tan sustained the voice of bibi chen throughout the novel. and how i wouldn't be able to do it. it can't be a good thing to be so conscious of how difficult and annoying it is to write in a certain character's voice while you're reading the book. (  )omame | Oct 28, 2008 | 0.020 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 034546401X, Paperback)Amy Tan, who has an unerring eye for relationships between mothers and daughters, especially Chinese-American, has departed from her well-known genre in Saving Fish From Drowning. She would be well advised to revisit that theme which she writes about so well.The title of the book is derived from the practice of Myanmar fishermen who "scoop up the fish and bring them to shore. They say they are saving the fish from drowning. Unfortunately... the fish do not recover," This kind of magical thinking or hypocrisy or mystical attitude or sheer stupidity is a fair metaphor for the entire book. It may be read as a satire, a political statement, a picaresque tale with several "picaros" or simply a story about a tour gone wrong. Bibi Chen, San Francisco socialite and art vendor to the stars, plans to lead a trip for 12 friends: "My friends, those lovers of art, most of them rich, intelligent, and spoiled, would spend a week in China and arrive in Burma on Christmas Day." Unfortunately, Bibi dies, in very strange circumstances, before the tour begins. After wrangling about it, the group decides to go after all. The leader they choose is indecisive and epileptic, a dangerous combo. Bibi goes along as the disembodied voice-over. Once in Myanmar, finally, they are noticed by a group of Karen tribesmen who decide that Rupert, the 15-year-old son of a bamboo grower is, in fact, Younger White Brother, or The Lord of the Nats. He can do card tricks and is carrying a Stephen King paperback. These are adjudged to be signs of his deity and ability to save them from marauding soldiers. The group is "kidnapped," although they think they are setting out for a Christmas Day surprise, and taken deep into the jungle where they languish, develop malaria, learn to eat slimy things and wait to be rescued. Nats are "believed to be the spirits of nature--the lake, the trees, the mountains, the snakes and birds. They were numberless ... They were everywhere, as were bad luck and the need to find reasons for it." Philosophy or cynicism? This elusive point of view is found throughout the novel--a bald statement is made and then Tan pulls her punches as if she is unwilling to make a statement that might set a more serious tone. There are some goofy parts about Harry, the member of the group who is left behind, and his encounter with two newswomen from Global News Network, some slapstick sex scenes and a great deal of dog-loving dialogue. These all contribute to a novel that is silly but not really funny, could have an occasionally serious theme which suddenly disappears, and is about a group of stereotypical characters that it's hard to care about. It was time for Amy Tan to write another book; too bad this was it. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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A terrible end to Bibi Chen and the strange beginning to Saving Fish from Drowning, a novel by Amy Tan.
Bibi Chen, a San Francisco art patron, had planned the journey of a lifetime for herself and eleven of her friends. Death was not going to deprive her of this adventure. Her incorporeal spirit accompanies her friends on a prearranged tour through China and Burma. If only her friends had followed her original itinerary, they would not have gone missing.
The story is narrated by Bibi Chen. This is an interesting start to the novel; however, it soon becomes tedious as the character seems to drone on and on about everything. The remaining characters were very real, each having several flaws; however, they were overdeveloped to the point that one did not really care about them. Bibi's spirit interacting with the real world was not an aspect that I enjoyed. The mystical fantasy was too much for me and the story lost its' charm; however, the novel was pure Amy Tan, delving into the pot of human nature, discovering our basic insecurities and strengths, and examining our relationships with one another.
This would not be my favorite Amy Tan novel. I prefer The Joy Luck Club; however, I would recommend to those who have read Ms. Tan's other novels to judge for themselves. (