 | A WRITER'S WIT |  E. Foster |
MY BOOK WORLD
Tan, Amy. Saving Fish from Drowning. New York: Random, 2005.
I love Amy Tan’s writing, and this book is no exception. From her memoir, readers may know that she made a trip to Asia at one time, and I believe this book could have been inspired by what she witnessed there. The plot: A woman in San Francisco dies, and her ghost (yes!) begins to tell the story of how she was to have accompanied twelve other people on a trip to Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The group decides to go in spite of her death, and she “accompanies” them (otherwise how would she relate their experiences, right?)—unbeknownst to them. And their adventures are great. One couple fall in love. Other members quarrel. But the biggest event is that they are duped into taking a trip deep into the jungle and there become captives of a certain tribe. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. They are treated very kindly by the tribe, but when the group members believe it is time to leave, the tribe has other plans. Seems that they believe one of their members (a young man) is the reincarnation of a former leader. The novel has all the Dickensian intricacies. And the denouement by which all the loose ends are tied together is not to be missed. I read this aloud to my partner, and we both enjoyed it immensely.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | William Least Heat-Moon
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Marguerite Young
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Karen Hesse
FRI: My Book World | Glenway Wescott, Apartment in Athens
I love Amy Tan’s writing, and this book is no exception. From her memoir, readers may know that she made a trip to Asia at one time, and I believe this book could have been inspired by what she witnessed there. The plot: A woman in San Francisco dies, and her ghost (yes!) begins to tell the story of how she was to have accompanied twelve other people on a trip to Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The group decides to go in spite of her death, and she “accompanies” them (otherwise how would she relate their experiences, right?)—unbeknownst to them. And their adventures are great. One couple fall in love. Other members quarrel. But the biggest event is that they are duped into taking a trip deep into the jungle and there become captives of a certain tribe. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. They are treated very kindly by the tribe, but when the group members believe it is time to leave, the tribe has other plans. Seems that they believe one of their members (a young man) is the reincarnation of a former leader. The novel has all the Dickensian intricacies. And the denouement by which all the loose ends are tied together is not to be missed. I read this aloud to my partner, and we both enjoyed it immensely.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | William Least Heat-Moon
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Marguerite Young
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Karen Hesse
FRI: My Book World | Glenway Wescott, Apartment in Athens
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