Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novel

Amy Tan bows to Geoffrey Chaucer by imitating Canterbury Tales both in structure and subject matter. Saving Fish from Drowning and Canterbury Tales probe the mystery of human life, the pain and joy, the humor and drama. Tan and Chaucer unravel complexity. Chaucer structures his work around a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. He writes descriptive portraits of each pilgrim and lets them interact. Harry Balley,... Read Full Review

I enjoyed this book. Oddly, I have not been able to get into Amy Tan's other books but I enjoyed this one. It is a fun and interesting read. Give it a chance before you buy into the reviews.

Like many other reviewers on this site, I was put off a bit at first by the 'new' Amy Tan I was discovering, who didn't seem to live up to my expectations. She didn't feel like the same author at all, and I kept missing what I think of as her 'soft whisper voice.' The voice this time out is sardonic, a bit silly, even snide at times. Of course, it's not Ms. Tan 'talking,' it's Bibi Chen, the dead narrator. It takes a while... Read Full Review

As someone who fled the oppressive regime from Burma, I found Amy Tan's book "Saving Fish from Drowning" conveyed the experiences of the local people so vividly. The story has some parts which made me laughed while some parts reminded me the daily existence of most of my countrymen. I thoroughly enjoyed her book. Even though it is a work of fiction, local's daily experience of being oppressed by the military regime is... Read Full Review

Amy Tan's "Saving Fish from Drowning," centered around the story of twelve Americans who decided to visit China and Myammar for a vacation. Unfortunately, their tour leader, Bibi Chen was killed. However, they decided to replace her with another leader and went ahead with their plan. The book began with a news report of eleven Americans who went missing in Myammar and no one knew what happened to them. They were rumors that... Read Full Review