Salmon Fishing In The Yemen By Paul Torday
52 Books In 52 Weeks: #17 of 52
Consider the quirkyness of the premise: a millionaire Yemeni sheik contacts a mild-mannered British fisheries scientist to devise a way to bring the sport of salmon fishing into the arid Yemen. As in transplanting salmon into a Yemeni river and ensuring they survive so they can be fished by the local population.
A vision of pure madness, one immediately surmises, as did said fisheries scientist Fred Jones in the opening pages of Salmon Fishing In The Yemen; and I was honestly expecting to get into some sort of comedy of errors situation where a strain of foolhardy decisions and quiproquos would lead us to the inevitable failure of the salmon Yemen project. You know, a “it’s not about the outcome, it’s about how you get there” thing.
But then I found myself believing that the project could work. For the book, in essence, is a testament on faith, and how faith is conciliated in our modern Western lifestyle. And as the main characters of the book, rational, career-driven, normal people, begin to find sincere conviction in the success of the project, I followed as well. What was once too grand, too immense to even consider had become plausible, feasible, if not logical then definitely conceivable. Fred Jones discovers the meaning of faith, one of personal ideals and passions free from doctrines, just as he discovers the natures of those who surround him. Such uplifting aspirations are complimented with a deft satirical exploration of Western politics, in all its frustratingly wry nonsense and obviousness.
Book: Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Publisher: McArthur & Company / Orion Con Mm
Next: 365 Days
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