Here I present: Amy Tan, “Saving Fish from Drowning”, 2005 which was “ghost story” written by Chinese-American, Amy Tan.
A quote from the book to explain the title is what I will cite now.
“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 flip 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 sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.”
I cited ABOVE a quote to explain the title of Amy Tan, “Saving Fish from Drowning”, 2005 which was a “ghost story”. The protagonist is “Bibi Chen” who narrates the story. “Bibi Chen” planned a trip to the Burma & China region (shown on the Map ABOVE) for a group of friends. But now is tagging along as a ghost after her sudden, mysterious death.
The Burmese people eat 500 pounds of rice per capita annually. This is the highest consumption of rice in the world. However, Myanmar (Burma) is a country of rivers, and freshwater fishes are eaten. Yes, “saving fish from drowning” is a tongue-in-cheek phrase; but, “fishing” for a Buddhist nation is the issue.
Amy Tan is a Chinese-American writer based in California who has many other books on the Burmo-Tibetan (China) region.
