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Tan Fan
Great Book!
Amy Tan is a master storyteller and wordsmith. The growing Cecil B. DeMille cast of characters inspired me to keep a Who's Who cheat sheet, which worked very well for me. The mixture of humour and brutal reality was deftly handled by the author, and was in complete harmony with the voice of the engaging narrator. I loved this book and highly recommend it.
JaneN
Clueless Travelers
Amy Tan introduces us to a group of people who are out for an adventure, so they sign up with their friend and guide, Bebi Chen. The problems start when Bebi dies, or is she murdered ? The group decides to go on without her, in her memory and that's when the fun, adventure starts. The group is composed of the hypochondriac, the world savior, the womanizer and two teenagers. These are only some of the people, and what an adventure they have. The story us laugh out loud funny in parts and ironic in others. The book is very different from her other works. It is readable and lends itself to discussion. A really good read.
Mattie B
I KNOW these people!
I enjoyed reading the sharp and telling character studies in "Saving Fish..." I used to work with a charity that had extensive contact with very wealthy people. The Burma tour group could have all been in one or another of my committees and conferences. Having money DOES NOT make anyone smart, funny, or interesting. But it does make a lot of poorer people waste a heck of a lot of time putting up with immaturity, arrogance and willfulness. I don't know how Amy keeps any friends among her well-heeled buddies - if she uses even parts of them for building her characters I would think she would be shunned.
mjc
I thought it was pretty good
I did find that this book was a bit too long, but the descriptions were lovely, I enjoyed the banter between the tourists and appreciated that it was difficult to make an interesting story about a real life event.
Annoyed
Saving Fish From Drowning
I was neither intrigued by this book nor bored. The only reason I finished this book was because I had to for a class. granted the story was good and the relationship between the tourists were fun to watch unravel, but Tan drags the story on for far to long. 500 pages was not needed to tell this story that was more of a chore than a joy to read.
-Annoyed
Dawn Griffiths
Saving fish from drowning
I am an Amy Tan fan, However, I would not recommend this book at all. I read through the first half as a holiday read, but as they started "watching reality shows in the jungle", my interest wained, and then,stopped. It was just so dull, I couldn't be bothered to pick it up.
Then, a few days ago, I came across it and decided that I would finish it and give it another chance..I wished I hadn't !! It droned wearily on, coming to a predictable conclusion, then spends another age concluding and tying up loose ends, (I should have left it where it was). It really does simply run out of steam. My opinion...give this one a miss.
Jennifer
Save yourself and Skip this Book
Let me start with I completely agree with the other review. I love Amy Tam but I found it extremely difficult to finish this book. While the text of the book is beautifully written the story rambles.
Pam Jones
American Tourists in China Are Just Not As Interesting
I have LOVED Amy Tan's books. In my book club we maintain a "Members All-Time Favorites" book list. I have contributed two of Amy's books to the list.
I was excited to see such an interesting title in "Saving Fish From Drowning" and loved the fisherman story in the beginning. However, about half way through this book, I couldn't stand it any more and abandoned it for more rewarding reading. There are too many good books and too little time to waste reading books like this.
I want more beautifully written stories about historical China.
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