Saving Fish From Drowning: Book Review

By Wendy Robards

Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan.

"Just saying we should be aware of the consequences. You can't have intentions without consequences. The question is, who pays for the consequences? Saving fish from drowning. Same thing. Who's saved? Who's not?" - from Saving Fish From Drowning, page 163 -

Bibi Chen is a well-known patron of the arts in San Francisco when she is found dead. Her death might be murder, but who knows? Even Bibi herself, who remains on earth in spirit form, is unsure of how she died. Before her death, Bibi had planned a journey of the senses for her friends -- a trip to China and then along the Burma Road ... and she intends to still go with them to see how they do without her.

Narrated in the omniscient voice of Bibi, Saving Fish From Drowning takes the reader on a journey to the East, into a country rife with political drama where anything can happen ... and does. Tan intentionally blurs fact and fiction, and explores the consequences (intended or not) of our choices and intentions. Almost from the start, Bibi's friends change their itinerary and wander astray, deliciously ignorant of the differences in culture, religion and political atmosphere from their home in the United States vs. that in Burma and China.

She had heard that many Americans, especially those who travel to China, love Buddhism. She did not realize that the Buddhism the Americans before her loved was Zen-like, a for of not-thinking, not-moving, and not-eating anything living, like buffaloes. This blank-minded Buddhism was practiced by well-to-do people in San Francisco and Marin County, who bought organic-buckwheat pillows for sitting on the floor, who paid experts to teach them to empty their minds of the noise of life. This was quite different from the buffalo-torture and bad-karma Buddhism found in China. - from Saving Fish From Drowning, page 77 -

The characters in the novel are lovingly imagined, idiosyncratic and deeply complex. Tan writes with a sardonic humor to explore her themes of morality, consequences, and the connections between people of different cultures and socioeconomic means. There are surprising twists, and insights into the characters and their situations.

Amy Tan is the consummate storyteller. She spins a fantastic yarn in this novel, and in the process delights and entertains the reader.

Highly recommended.

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

Rating System

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = Excellent
★ ★ ★ ★ = Good/Very Good
★ ★ ★ = Okay read
★ ★ = Not recommended
★ = Ugh! Don't waste your time.

Catch all of Wendy Robard's reviews in her fabulous blog, "Caribousmom".