If you’re a frequenter to the bookstores, you may have seen a copy of Amy Tan’s Saving Fish from Drowning, a novel clad in a light blue paperback cover. Although I haven’t read the novel itself, but the synopsis at the back of the book is something worth sharing.
Anyway, here it is.
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 scooped out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank where they flop and twirl. “Don’t be scared,” I tell those fish. “I’m saving you from drowning.” Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet sad to say, I’m always to late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to the market and sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes..
It was a few months ago when me and my family were at the Popular Bookstore book fair at the Permata Carpark. I found that same light blue book again and was tempted to read that except at the back of it ‘cos everytime it brings a smile to my face, accompanied by a vague feeling of calmness and how-do-you-describe-it. Perhaps it’s because it portrays the simple life of fishermen, and how they spend life through each day as innocent and humble as they can be. It also shows how the author sees fishing from a different point of view, which is somewhat.. cute..
Anyway, I hope this makes your day.