Reviews

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan

existtenttials's review

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

suzanne_r_reads's review against another edition

Just lost interest. 

ninyai's review

3.0

This is my 4th book by Amy Tan, which I enjoyed reading (same as the prev. ones) although disappointing for the author who has written good stories. This is a story narrated by a recently dead person named Bibi Chen, who is a very art-loving person. The beginning chapters were a little bit boring because it mainly tells you about information (not even related to the next chapters) and Amy Tan descriptions were too long and I should say very "artful," though I'm not the kind of person who's into art that much as the narrator, Bibi Chen. At first, you'd get confused on who's who and what their backgrounds are but in the middle of the story, you'll understand who they all are and would not, anymore, get confused with the many characters in the story. The blurb (almost) summarizes the entire main parts in the book. There were funny parts (especially in the part where they get stuck in the "No Name Place"), "sexy" parts, romantic, mesmerizing, scary, almost all of the story kinds! Overall, not a bad book to be read. As usual with Amy Tan's books, there are many lessons to be learned in the whole story!

cami19's review

adventurous medium-paced

3.0

rickwren's review

4.0

I have enjoyed other books by Amy Tan and Saving Fish from Drowning has her clarity and unique voice. However, from the beginning it seems like a light airy volume about the fumbling misadventures of a group of tourists who disappear in Myanmar (Burma), and yet it's profound at the same time - dealing with the plight of an oppressed people under a brutal regime which treats its citizens with disdain.

Told from the point of view of the tour organizer who died days before the trip was to begin, she now views the events from an afterlife, or spirit world. She can slightly affect dreams and she can read thoughts and she has the personality of one frantic for the well being of her friends who are in danger because she isn't there to keep them safe. In that way it's such a unique story.

I very much enjoyed it.

olivia_russell's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ruthbeadle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jilliancurran28's review

adventurous funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lindsaystenico8821's review

I was really bored with it and tried to read it over the course of a few days, but I couldn't get into it, which was surprising because I really enjoyed The Joy Luck Club, and loved The Valley of Amazement.

redowns1022's review against another edition

2.0

Amy Tan does not write with the same style or voice of Kitchen God's Wife or Joy Luck Club. I think the goal was to educate readers about an oppressive regime, but with a happy ending to the narrative rather than stories such as "What is the What" with little happiness throughout. She addresses this in the prologue to the novel. However, I never like any of the characters, American or Burmese. I also felt that the book moved very slowly for the first half. Once I entered the second half, when the Americans disappear into the jungle, I was finally engaged. Overall, I was not impressed or particularly grabbed by this novel.