I listened to this audio CD as I drove from home in central Virginia to visit my Dad in southeastern Michigan. I missed one turn in Ohio due to distracted driving and decided that this is not the best way to experience a book. I did find some humor and satire in the listening but think that I will still keep the actual book on my shelf to read one day. I had some special interest in the book when I realized that its setting is in Burma, a country much in the news recently. The book was published in 2005, thus preceding the election of 2010 that nominally replaced the longstanding military dictatorship. This CD version is noted as Abridged and read by the author, Amy Tan.

The second time through. This time listening to the unabridged audible book read by the author and following along with the Kindle e-book.

This is a slightly confusing book to me. There were multiple main characters in the book and most of them were given some individual opportunity to shine. But for me I thought the main character was Burma/Myanmar. It was something of a lengthy tour book interrupted by a good deal of detail that was not at all appropriate for a tour book. The book was published in 2005 and since it is now 15 years later, I am not sure how valid the massive derogatory impression of the host country remains.

A group of 12 tourists Who have some prior experience with each other head off on a venture to Burma. A key factor is that their tour guide died somewhat mysteriously just before the tour but accompanies them in a spirit/ghost format and is the primary narrator of the book. So this is indeed a unique approach to storytelling. If somehow allows her to not only narrate the story but to be able to see the interior motivation of the characters as the action moves forward.

The story is interesting in many ways but hardly exciting. The dives into the depth of individual characters mostly did not leave me with a sense of understanding or appreciation. The story of the indigenous people Who lived hiding in the jungle for fear of the despots ruling the country is probably the most interesting aspect of the book from my point of view. There is a bit of the notion of the standard ugly Americans. In this case the author tries to soften their ugliness a bit by trying to let us know that they are occasionally trying to do the best they can in spite of their obvious first worldness in the third world.

From what I can recall I am sometimes attracted by Amy Tan’s writing skill and sometimes not. This was one of the occasions where the not seemed to dominate. There was a certain amount of enjoyable comedy and humor. I did not find the all seeing narrator especially distracting. But the concluding paragraphs explaining her mysterious death I found uncompelling and failed to grasp its significance. I could tell it was supposed to be significant but I just didn’t care enough to try to figure it out. That was generally my feeling about the last hour of the book which might have normally been called the epilogue and was the effort to tie up the details of all the characters I have spent mostly not caring that much about.

As I conclude this review I see that I would probably honestly give this book 2 1/2 stars rather than three. But I think I have already said enough to suggest that I simply was not carried away with this book although I think I did understand it better than the first time when I Listened to a shortened CD version.

A tour group of typical Americans goes missing while in Myanmar.

2.5 stars
This was ok - nothing great, but a fairly quick read for 472 pages. It would have been much better if about a hundred pages was edited out. I never really rooted for any of the main characters (except Bibi, the ghost who narrates) and often had trouble keeping the people apart. I did enjoy the descriptions of the area and the native people and food (though again, tighter text would have been good). I resent the ending which is very low-key. There was too much of a build up to 'poor tourists, an awful thing is going to happen to them' to offset that ending.

I read "The Joy Luck Club" years ago and was mostly meh - good on that one as well.

2.5 stars

This book partly isn't my cup of tea & partly it's tedious. I couldn't really get into the story or any of the characters. The first half of the book is very slow and it took me a long time to read it, the second half is a little better, more interesting.

I loved this book! A complete turn-about for Amy Tan - this was not a dramatic Chinese family saga; rather the tale of a group of American tourists who disappear mysteriously in the jungles of Burma ("a 3-hour tour....a 3-hour tour") As a traveller and a former travel agent, the escapades and descriptions of the tourists, various expatriates, tour guides, local population, are positively hilarious.

The book is narrated by Bibi Chen, a San Francisco socialite, art dealer, patron of arts, charities, etc., etc. - she has arranged an exquisite guided tour to Southeast Asia for her friends/clients, whose purpose is to see for themselves the various temples, artifacts, of Burma, Thailand, and Laos.

However, Bibi is not on this trip except in spirit - several weeks prior to departure, she was found dead in her store window, and as she explains in the beginning "It was not my fault..."

One minute she's alive, the next she is dead and cannot recall any details of her death - police treat her demise as a homicide.

Bibi's narrative is interspersed with that of a third-person, detailing the adventures of the various tourists -

This was a real page turner - when I find a novel like this I have to force myself to slow down to enjoy the book. But I just can't wait to get to the end..

Wish she would write another one like this!

So far this is my least favorite Amy Tan book. In the end, I enjoyed it, but it took a while to get into the story. This is one where I admired the craft of writing more than the story. Tan does a neat trick with her first person omniscient narrator by making her the ghost of a successful Chinese-American business woman and philanthropist. Bibi is dead at the beginning of the book, apparently the victim of a brutal murder, leaving a party of twelve of her friends at a loss for a tour guide to a long-awaited trip to China and Burma (aka Myanmar). They go on the trip anyway "because Bibi would want it" precipitating a series of misadventures which Bibi narrates and comments upon from her vantage point. The title Saving Fish from Drowning comes from a story about Buddhist fishermen who aren't allowed to kill any living thing, so "save" the fish from drowning by catching them. This hypocrisy is the overriding theme of the book. Tan explores the hypocrisy of human collectives such as governments, media companies, and charitable organizations, as well as the individual hypocrisies of her vast cast of characters. Tan is at her best in observing and dissecting the human condition.

I so enjoyed this Amy Tan novel. I've read The Joy Luck Club, The Bone Setter's Daughter, and Saving Fish From Drowning, and Saving Fish is by far my favorite. Who wouldn't love Bibi Chen, the witty narrator whose untimely demise prevents her from leading the tour group and keeping them out of trouble, but whose comments keep us in the know. The setting of Myanmar is perfect for the mysterious and miscommunications that keep this novel so interesting. I think Saving Fish From Drowning is as entertaining a novel as I have ever read, and that's saying a lot. Maybe it is more appealing to those of us who like a little off-the-beaten path story. The quote at the beginning of the novel had me hooked: "A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared," I tell those fishes. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes." OK, maybe fans of this novel enjoy a twisted sense of humor and irony, too.

I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan, and this book was a disappointment.
Saving Fish from Drowning was outside of her voice and style, and unlike her previous novels, it took me forever to get into it. I finally finished after forcing myself to do so.
Perhaps it's that I've come to expect her typical style that mixes magic, relationships, lessons learned and insight to Asian cultural. You could argue that Saving Fish from Drowning included those elements. However, I feel those pieces were not entwined into the same story, but secular themes in this novel. In addition the book was much longer than it need to be w/ details that were not pertinent to the conclusion.
Usually when I've finished a Tan book, I feel enlightened, or with a new perspective, or just happy I read the book. This story left me wondering what else I could have been reading instead.
I’m all about authors exploring new literary avenues. Unfortunately with this book, I feel the author left too much of herself behind in the process.
Still a loyal fan, I will absolutely be reading her next book.

From reading the back cover of this book, I expected something like The Poisonwood Bible. Some of the elements are similar: group of Americans visit third world country, spend time with the natives, have their preconceptions shattered through hardship and numerous misunderstandings. But this book was unsettlingly lighthearted. I think that Amy Tan was trying to write a book that treats the reader as a tourist, as someone who seeks a story that is exotic and adventurous without being too disturbing. At one point the narrator discusses the difficulty of writing a book about the troubled world of Burma that will actually appeal to readers. Just as tourists hear about the atrocities committed by the military government and then forget about them in an isolated resort, readers hear horrible tales of murder and torture, only to have them buried in silly scenes like the visit to the temple in China, where the tourists conduct themselves in with shockingly bad behavior. It's an interesting idea, but it didn't work for me. The combination of tragedy and farce was too jarring.

The book was narrated by a ghost who had insight into everyone's thoughts and feelings. I did enjoy this aspect of the book. Although the characters were often irritating and self-centered, I felt that they were fairly real. Who wouldn't look a bit more ugly and self-important if presented through their private thoughts, rather than their more careful, calculated actions?

I really give this book 3.5/5 stars but giving it 3 felt wrong. I'm not going to lie... this was a weird read for me. I read the first 100 pages and then put it down. I had no interest in continuing. So I walked away. Coming back into it I realized that it is because the characters aren't really likeable. The only likeable person is BiBi and then you end up asking why is she friends with these rude people?

This book just has a lot of self interest and deception, but the story line and culture was really interesting to read. It took me until the last 100 pages to get into page turner mode. I do thing Amy's writing is still really strong here, just missing that something. I would probably not recommend this book to a friend.. but it's nice to read more of her work.

I say this with nothing but love: Oriental Bel Canto

Hmm, had trouble deciding between a 3 star rating or a 4 star rating.

Let's put it this way: I really had fun reading this. It's very different for Tan, as many have said, and is flawed in many aspects (most notably for me, the characters are not well-nuanced and really are stereotypical, and many of the plot turns, especially toward the end, are quite silly and unbelievable).

Note I didn't find the conceit of a deceased narrator at all problematic; it worked for me. That's one of Tan's fortes. The above-stated problems were more of a stumbling block.

I did, however, really enjoy the exotic setting and liked learning all I did about China and Burma, the blend of the political and au currant into the narrative, and the large, colorful, and noisy cast of characters. I really was interested in what happened to them, despite them being quite 'predictable' characters, and how the story would be resolved.

It's a fun read; meatier than the usual 'beach read', but light enough to string out over a number of days or weeks (it's long, over 400 pages). Good summer reading.

I read this book a long time ago and should have written this review a long time ago.
What a wonder this book is!
Having read all of Amy Tan’s books, I expected good writing, serious cultural and gender themes, and disturbing realities.
What I did not expect was this book.
It is side splittingly, laugh out-loud, hilarious!
You get the usual significant wit, wisdom and writing chomps of Amy Tan, along with Swiftian satire, that is stand up comedian funny. Think Robin Williams relaxed.
Every bit of this book is entertaining. The first half most so, where the scene is set: The San Francisco cultural elite, hook up with a famous British dog trainer, and other assorted perfectly spoofed politically correct characters, to go on an “authentic travel experience” to Burma.
The San Francisco, Chinese, female, opera-loving main character is dead, but don’t worry, she is still the main character, and she took good care of her dog “poochini” in her will.
I loved the “wind instrument symphony” in the hotel the most.
If you want to have fun, read this book.