“Samon Fishing in the Yemen.” was a quick read. I sort of liked it but I just thought it could have been so much better. I have just ambivalent feelings about this book.I will just number what I thought.1.tSome characters, specifically Mary, did not seem to be real people to me either. I can understand why a woman can be so single-mindedly career-driven but Mary was just a cardboard cutout that I think Paul Torday wanted us to hate her. The sheikh character sounds like an overdrawn picture of a modern day Sufi Muslim. I don’t know maybe it was just me but any reader could just see from the get-go that the sheikh did not exactly point to a religious faith but to believe in the belief itself. The fishery scientist did not really have to experience an epiphany to see that.2.tWhen I read the answers the characters gave to the interrogators in the book, I thought how stupid it sounded. No one would talk like that in interviews with investigators and no interrogator would allow getting sidetracked.3.tIt was thought-provoking to read that an immature, self-absorbed and complacent men like Peter Maxwell have such great impact on the policy makers of a country like Britain but is there any country where politicians aren’t swayed by their advisors, top aides etc…4.tA writer who makes his characters give overdrawn answers in an investigation deems it necessary that an old, cold and cautious scientist should get divorced and he can’t have a relationship with someone who is 20 years younger than him. Torday may have thought that if the fishery scientist and Harriet were to have a relation, Harriet’s love for her soldier would lose its credibility but I still think he could have thought something richer in detail.5.tAs a Muslim, I don’t think there is such a clear-cut difference between the West (consumerist) vs. East ( faith-based),at least not as clear as the writer seemed to reflect…This may sound harsh for you but let me ask a question; is there so much difference between living promiscuously until settling down and living in monastic frustration until you [can] marry more than one woman? For me, there isn’t much difference. Islam allows men to have more than one wife under exigent circumstances but many polygamous Muslim men do not really care about the exigent part.[ In secular Muslim countries like Turkey, polygamy is strictly verboten but it’s still practiced actually]Torday’s characters believe it’s really biblical to offer water to strangers while you don’t have so much water yourself. Is this really true in a Western country like Britain? The writer must know something. He’s been to the Middle East many times. He can surely make comparisons but is that a fair comparison? Did humanity really die in the West? Is that so simple? Or is the writer being naïve and does he just glorify the East out of proportion?Torday writes “Faith is absolute and universal. The choice, if there is a choice, is made at birth. Everyone believes. For these people, God is a near neighbor”I know that not everybody who is defined as “Muslim” does actually believe. That they can’t openly deny the existence of God is because of the fact that in some Islamic countries, people face discrimination including lack of legal status or even a death sentence in the case of apostasy. If you ask me some ultra-conservative branches of Islam are surely less peaceful than atheist Easterners. Take Wahhabists, for instance. It’s practically the regime of Saudi Arabia today. It was founded by a man named Wahhab who made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Muslim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated. Most of their so-called reforms are marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; that these people destroyed many buildings associated with early Islam, in Saudi Arabia from early 19th century through the present day is wanton. Just because they disapprove of veneration of the historical sites associated with early Islam, doesn’t mean fellow Muslims actually worship these buildings!Torday’s fishery scientist fails to observe how diverse and varied an Islamic country can be. While Torday satirizes a British communications director who naively believes he will change the region with TV, he lets the imagination of a strait-laced scientist go wild.
A very good book, indeed. But what's best about it is not the plot but the fact that Torday knows both cultures, his British culture as well as the Middle Eastern culture (though I have to add that a few aspects are not correctly portrayed), very well.I do like the personae of Sheikh Muhammad. He represents us when it comes to faith and belief: 'We believe that faith is the cure that heals all troubles.' However, he does not represent us when it comes to drinking wine, which is one of the terrible things a Muslim can do. However, I have to admit that Torday did portray his character correctly when it comes to this aspect; no matter how we, Arabs (I don't know about the rest of the Middle-Eastern region), do mistakes (judging by the fact that we're), our faith *never* leaves us. There's an inside joke famous among us regarding this aspect - when a thief is on a 'mission', he would ask God to help him do what he's doing. Such a thing, of course, makes repentance always close. Also, I have to add that I'm referring to both, Christian Arabs and Muslim Arabs when it comes to faith.As for wine, it's prohibited in Islam because it reduces the elevated state of a human being into something very, very small since it cancels the only thing that distinguishes him from other creatures - the mind. It was, gradually, prohibited in Islam because it would have been difficult for those who converted into the new religion to give up something they were very much used to overnight. So, at first, God ordered them not to pray when they're drunk. They have to be in their full state of mind when they're standing before God, out of respect. Later, it was, completely, prohibited along with gambling.Another thing, I found the part in which Peter Maxwell is reflecting on how young Arabs are very influenced by the West very interesting. I am an Arab. An Egyptian. But I have watched Western cartoons, read Western books, and have been introduced to the Western culture from as long as I remember. Same goes with my parents and my grandparents. Of course the Disney cartoons and things as such are 'universal'. But, aside from them, I have been raised to take from other cultures what suites me and what would be useful for me and leave everything else. I have been taught, though never with words or do's and don't's, to interact with people from all sorts of cultures but never to lose my identity.Peter Maxwell doesn't lie to readers, though. There *are* some people here in the Arab world who are influenced by the Western culture to a great degree. Though I have to add that, unlike what he says, these are usually the financially satisfied people.Bottom line, despite the few minor points which do not give very accurate information, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a wonderful book and a must-read.
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Where was I when this came out in 2007? When I discovered this title recently in someone else’s TBR list, I immediately added to my own. The novel is an absurdist romp with a heart of gold (and romance). I belly-laughed through the first bits, looked askance at the portion where the Prime Minister’s aide imagines a quiz show in Pakistan, and couldn’t wait to find out the result of the ridiculous, bound-to-fail salmon fishery in Yemen. I wanted to believe, as the sheik says.This worthy novel has already been made into a Golden Globe-nominated film starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt which was released in 2011. I look forward to seeing what Director Lasse Hallström has done with the absurdist concepts, poking fun at government spending on dubious projects which serve only to keep current officials election-worthy. Torday captures the dueling-memo mentality of government bureaucracies competing for limited funds, and the stilted, unsexy email correspondences of working spouses.And yet, there is more than mere farce in the developing faith our fisheries expert has in the doomed project, and in his blossoming love for his “estate agent” colleague. I listened to the 2007 Orion production of the audiobook supported by a full cast including Downton Abbey star Samantha Bond (you’ll recognize her voice immediately) along with John Sessions, Andrew Sachs, Andrew Marr and many more. The audiobook is a brilliant success as each character is enunciated by actors with great skills. This audiobook production ranks among the best I have heard in recent years and is well worth seeking out.I look forward also to seeking out more of Torday’s titles. And I adore the covers for his books. I note the publisher remains an imprint of George Weidenfeld & Nicholson throughout his list. These exceptionally fine covers could be done in-house at the publishers, but more likely they are created by a friend. What a great gift to the author, and to us, to see two artistic talents melded. Kudos Torday, et al!
—Trish
The book got off to an interesting start, and held my attention, but I found it, ultimately, disappointing. Its biggest weakness was its lack of subtlety. For me, satire relies on an insidious subtlety that helps to separate it from outright farce. In this case, the satire would have been much more effective if it hadn't been applied so thickly. Some characters, especially Mary, never seem to be real people and are more like cartoon characters or pantomime dames - overdrawn and 2D, with their faults exaggerated beyond the bounds of plausibility. And some of the book was just plain weird - what was up with the sex-or-sleepwalking-or-something between Harriet and Alfred? The format of the book made a change, but further undermined my ability to believe in the reality created within the book. No one talks like that in interviews with investigators. Some of the emails, however, were quite funny, as were some of Peter Maxwell's writings.Parts of the book were very predictable. I didn't forsee what happened in the end, but I found it quite a flat ending. It was almost like the author got bored and didn't want to write a nice happy ending, but didn't quite know what else to do. Perhaps in the end Alfred found greater peace with himself, but most other threads were hacked off short or just unravelled. Overall, it seemed like the author had one interesting idea but struggled to actually make an story from it or develop any of the characters beyond stock-figure goodies or baddies.
—Rose
A lightly satirical novel about a rational scientist who unwillingly gets involved in an absurd fishing project at the request of the British Prime Minister. This project brings him into contact with a sheikh from Yemen whose simple, faith-inspired wisdom gradually melts the scientist's attitude.However it is not a book to answer the questions it raises by pointing in any one direction, it only effectively stirs up thought about things which are complacently taken for granted in the western world: materialistic rationalism, quaint humanitarianism, unprincipled political ambition, and personal relationships constricted by selfishness.The story-line is not developed logically, neither events nor relationships progress as one might expect. But this lack of predictability in the narrative perhaps makes the questions above echo more loudly.The situation of the protagonist is not the best, he is in a somewhat unhappy, pragmatic marriage and it is his new female work companion who makes him realise that there is more to life and love than what he has known. One episode is implied in the context of a dream, with no description, but after that things don't progress as you would expect.Again, rather than the reader being carried on by the plot, they are instead left surrounded by questions about contemporary attitudes which they can't help but ponder. These attitudes, usually stemming from realities of the western way of life, are presented in all their unflattering reality, making the book less suitable for younger readers.Overall it might not be a strong enough work to set every reader thinking about the important things in life, and since no real answers are given some may get lost in the questioning, or lack patience with the satirical political nonsense that pads the story. But it is possible that for some it may generate interesting discussions about things which we would do well to reassess. www.GoodReadingGuide.com
—Clare Cannon
