Saving Fish from Drowning

By: Amy Tan

Narrated by: Amy Tan

Length: 17 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma.

But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honorable intentions, questionable food, and tribal curses. Then, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travelers boat across a misty lake for a sunrise cruise - and disappear.

Drawing from the current political reality in Burma and woven with pure confabulation, Amy Tan's picaresque novel poses the question: How can we discern what is real and what is fiction, in everything we see? How do we know what to believe?

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.

With her signature "idiosyncratic, sympathetic characters, haunting images, historical complexity, significant contemporary themes, and suspenseful mystery" (Los Angeles Times), Amy Tan spins a provocative and mesmerizing tale about the mind and the heart of the individual, the actions we choose, the moral questions we might ask ourselves, and above all, the deeply personal answers we seek when happy endings are seemingly impossible.

©2005 Amy Tan (P)2005 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A superbly executed, good-hearted farce that is part romance and part mystery....With Tan's many talents on display, it's her idiosyncratic wit and sly observations...that make this book pure pleasure." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

No Narration Breaks Make It Difficult to Follow

I didn't have as much trouble understanding Ms. Tan's reading her book as I had trouble following the story. There are *no* chapter breaks or section breaks. I haven't picked up the printed copy to see if it's just one huge streaming paragraph, but the way this book is narrated, I can't help but wonder....
All that being said, I'm having trouble not listening to this book. It's not one of my favorites, but the story is somewhat enjoyable. The characters and who's who are hard to follow sometimes.
Overall not horrible, but the lack of narration breaks is why I'm giving it only 2 stars.

The narration ruined this book for me.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The author narrated her own book. Unlike most other performances I've experienced with Audible, she sounded like she was purely reading with no emotional investment. All characters sounded alike.

Would you be willing to try another book from Amy Tan? Why or why not?

Perhaps with a different narrator I have read books by her in the past and enjoyed them, but this is the first I've listened to.

Good story let down by narration

Usually I like it when the author reads the story, but not for this book. Amy Tan's attempts at foreign accents were cringeworthy. Amy please stick to writing!

Wrap This Fish in Newspaper

Amy Tan is losing her ability to tell an interesting story. Her characters are flat and uninteresting. The plot strains credulity, but interestingly enough, the narrator who died at the start of the story, has the best lines and is the most compelling person in the novel.

Amy Tan is a Horrible Narrator!

I am in Chapter 3. I have to stop, she is so bad and boring.

Too many characters introduced all at once.

the story starts out with too many characters and places and events so that you can't really get interested in any one person. it's too unfocused and all over the place.

Some authors should never be narrators

What disappointed you about Saving Fish from Drowning?

I could not even finish listening to the book, the narrator was so awful.

Would you be willing to try another book from Amy Tan? Why or why not?

I would, as long as she has someone else narrate.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her voice, inflection and intonation were annoying.......I could not focus on the words

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I am sure the story is good, I have enjoyed reading her other books.

Any additional comments?

I might try this book on Kindle........

Horrible

Wasted almost four hours of my life, hoping this story would improve. By the time I finally gave up I was completely ambivalent regarding the fate of any of the characters. Don't waste your points.

A great story full of Cultural references

I always enjoy Amy’s books. Just like her other books, this tale provides layers and layers of stories within stories that go back from generation to generation explaining how people of the region understand their world and the history of the region.

Beyond tedious

I got the audio for this book, which my book club was reading, since I was having such a hard time getting into the printed version. I figured if I was captive in a car as I made back to back three hour drives that I would be able to become immersed in the story. Unfortunately that did not prove to be the case. The book is painful - contrived, tedious, flat. I couldn't believe in the narrator at all, and believing in the narrator requires a big buy in from the beginning. The whole thing felt very forced.