Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Saving Fish From Drowning tells the story of a group of travelers taking a trip planned by their deceased friend, as told by the ghost of that very friend, Bibi. She is eccentric and extremely sarcastic towards her friends who soon make a series of decisions that split them off of her planned itinerary and take them across Myanmar while it is in the midst of a political crisis. The travelers and their relationships develop and change as they fall deeper into the mysteries hidden behind the touristy destinations. They are always falling into different situations, perplexing our extremely opinionated narrator. They discover the truths of the nation and themselves as people and more importantly what they truly were looking for on this trip.
Opening Line: “It was not my fault.”
Favorite Line: “He pictured his ancestor looking much like himself, around his age, his same coloring, having a similar feeling of being displaced, alienated from his disappointed wife, squeezed by the tyranny of a society that would give him nothing by which he could distinguish himself.”
Why I Like It: I have always loved Amy Tan’s works and her sense of humor. This book is a bit different from her other, more popular titles that follow themes of female relationships, such as those with friends or her mother, and explores her Chinese-American culture. This book does some of this as well, but does it in the framework of an adventurous, mysterious, and dramatic story in such a vivid setting that feels both familiar and magical.
Read If You Like: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (seems unrelated but not once you read both), any of Amy Tan’s other works, ghosts, or unreliable narrators.