Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

Published: 11:23 AM September 21, 2006 Updated: 8:49 PM February 22, 2021

I HAVE struggled to get into a couple of books recently only to find they paid dividends. Saving Fish From Drowning is the exact opposite. I loved the opening chapters, I was intrigued by the mysterious death of the narrator Bibi, who died on the eve of a

I HAVE struggled to get into a couple of books recently only to find they paid dividends.

Saving Fish From Drowning is the exact opposite. I loved the opening chapters, I was intrigued by the mysterious death of the narrator Bibi, who died on the eve of an expedition to Burma. Her mixed bag of odd acquaintances and friends were left with inadequate guides, a botched itinerary and scope for hilarious and unfortunate encounters.

The highlight of the book was the explanation of the title, which seemed to sum up every mistake and debacle made by the western world in other countries for the last umpteen centuries. I thought it concise and telling.

But the plot soon went off the boil. The charming Bibi became mannered and the characters were awkward caricatures I found I had no patience with.