Author Amy Tan reads from and discusses the fictional "Note to the Reader" from the beginning of her novel, "Saving Fish from Drowning." there she found a volume on "automatic writing," in which there was a factual decription of a woman who was experiencing auto writing from a woman Bibi Chen. Start by marking “Saving Fish from Drowning” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The 12th equally interesting character is Tan's description of their surroundings in China and Myanmar (Burma) - the landscape, the people, the superstitions, and the traditions. Initially the Americans are concerned with their creature comforts - what is for dinner. Saving Fish from Drowning seduces the reader with a fagade of Buddhist illusions, magician's tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the consequences of intentions—both good and bad—and about the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others. Human nature, what we are about, what I do and why I do what I do, are some things stirred up. I picked this up in my library as part of a random assault on the shelves to find people I hadn’t read before. Here is why: audiobook - the reader swallows the endings of words and. Saving Fish From Drowning. The book is about twelve American tourists who travel to China and Burma. A Shanghai courtesan and her madam mother are separated in The Valley of Amazement, the latest multigenerational story from the author of The Joy... San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. We follow a group of American travelers from China to Burma where they fall into a cultural abyss that takes them back a century in time. Chaucer structures his work around a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. She adds spice to the story. Bibi is the observant eye of human nature–the witness of good intentions and bad outcomes, of desperate souls and those who wish to save … 'Don't be scared, ' I tell those fishes. The book is Amy Tan's embellished, fictional account of Bibi's ghost writings. Saving Fish from Drowning January 4, 2017 January 8, 2017 / babamimi A pious man explained to his followers: “It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Well, I enjoyed Saving Fish immensely. what happens next? 51 quotes from Saving Fish from Drowning: ‘I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.’ On … I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. Saving fish from drowning, so the Buddhist fishermen in the eponymous proverb would have themselves believe. i love amy tan, but they really should have found a professional reader. But the back of Saving Fish had a review by Isabelle Allende, whom I adore. i felt like the ending dragged on a bit long (you know how most of the time, when you’re done reading a book , you sit back and wonder, “and then what? I would ask one thing of her. Saving Fish from Drowning seduces the reader with a fagade of Buddhist illusions, magician's tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the consequences of intentions—both good and bad—and about the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others. she also did an excellent job of portraying how easily serious miscommunication can happen when the language barrier exists (especially when there are basic differences in the ways societies operate). "Don't be scared," I tell those fishes. How else but by sophistic rationalisation could … I had some special interest in the book when I realized that its setting is in Burma, a country much in the news recently. My favorite books transport me to places I will likely never see & this book did just that. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. Bibi Chen was not an imagined person - she was an actual person that Amy Tan knew. The book was published in 2005, thus preceding the election of 2010 that nominally replaced the longstanding military dictatorship. Saving Fish from Drowning is a deeply-felt critique of Burma's repressive Myanmar regime. Amy Tan says in her "Note to the Reader" that she drew inspiration for her work from a collection of "Automatic writing... messages from the unseen world." I put off reading this book for a long time because of the horrible reviews. ms. tan has several different characters with british or australian accents and her accents are all over the place and very distracting. However, in an interview, she recants this explanation and claims that she actually made up the story of Bibi Chen, the protagonist whose story was supposedly passed along through automatic writing. A bit outside Tan's usual scope. I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan, and this book was a disappointment. Filled with Amy Tan's signature `idiosyncratic, sympathetic characters, haunting images, historical complexity, significant contemporary themes, and suspenseful mystery' (Los Angeles Times), `Saving Fish from Drowning' seduces the reader with a facade of Buddhist illusions, magical tricks and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the … While Chen mirrors other characters of Tan's previous novels, Saving Fish From Drowning marks a departure from Tan's stories of close-knit Chinese-American families. That was fine until everyone got rescued and the ending was far too long and drawn out (and boring). Saving Fish From Drowning is a 2005 novel written by Amy Tan. Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan 474pp, Fourth Estate, £16.99. Saving Fish from Drowning finds sly truth in the absurd: a reality TV show called Darwin’s Fittest, a repressive regime known as SLORC, two cheroot-smoking twin children hailed as divinities, and a ragtag tribe hiding in the jungle - where the sprites of disaster known as Nats lurk, as do the specters of the fabled Younger White Brother and a British illusionist who was not who he was worshipped to be. Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Unlike others who have read all of Tan's books, I have only had the pleasure of reading. Angeles Times), Saving Fish from Drowningseduces the reader with a façade of Buddhist illusions, magician's tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a … Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. This may be another prejudice but I’m still in library rehab, so let me be). Group touring Burma encounters strange happenings [s]. i listened to this on audio, read by the author. fans of Amy Tan, those interested in Asia, especially Burma. not only was it an entertaining read, i also felt like i might have gained insights into an unfamiliar culture and become more aware of pitfalls that can happen when you assume that everyone comes from a similar background to you. The writings are further authenticated because the subject matter was the recent disappearan. Amy Tan weaves a fascinating tale of this band of fish-out-of-water Americans and their perceptions of life in other countries, which is so often ridiculously askew. the author was wandering in nyc when rain forced her to seek refuge in the American Psychical Institute. I liked how she used humour to write about injustice, and there was quite a bit of exploration of how how different people can have vastly different perspectives on the same events. With picaresque characters and mesmerizing imagery, Saving Fish from Drowning gives us a voice as idiosyncratic, sharp, and affectionate as the mothers of The Joy Luck Club.