> Debut novel
> British author
> Fiction, collection of memos, e-mails, and journal entries about a project proposed by a Yemeni sheikh to introduce salmon fishing in Yemen
> Characters: Alfred Jones (scientist approached to develop the project), Sheikh Muhammed (Yemeni, owns Scottish castle and sees the project as a metaphor for the journey from skepticism to hope and belief, risks assasination from Al Queda for introducing this frivolous Western activity), Mary Jones (Alfred's wife, an economist, detached and distanced and thinks all things about faith are basically frivolous), Peter Maxwell (communications director for the Prime Minister, perpetual manager f image), Harriet (consultant acting as liason between the Sheikh and the british fishery experts, fiance fighting in Iraq)
>Politics: project undertaken to balance negative image of British-Yemeni relations
>Money: project seen as a great way to bring millions into the coffers of the various departments working on the project
> Class: the Sheikh sees salmon fishing as a sport to be shared across social classes in Yemen
> Faith: the Sheikh equates the time spent fishing in hopes of a catch to hope which he equates with faith
> bringing water to the desert....a symbol of transformation
> other "insane ideas where belief has overcome reason and judgement: the Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China - the Milleniium Dome.....we arre not the first and will not be the last people to defy common sense, logic, nature."
> p.57 - "I have spoken to many scholars and imams about my dream of salmon fishing, I have told them how I believe this magical creature brings us all nearer to God - by the mystery of its life, by the long journey that it makes through the oceans until it finds the waters of its home streams which is so like our own journey towards God....".
> p.195 - "The same God who created me, created the salmon, and in his wisdom brought us together and....."
> p.214 - "I am in another world, a world where faith and prayer are instinctive and universal, where not to pray, not to be able to pray, is an affliction worse than blindness, where disconnection from God is worse than losing a limb." - Fred while in Yemen. At home, on sunday, he goes shopping!
> p.229 - "That is why some of our people hate the West so much. They wonder what the West has to offer that is so compelling that it must be imposed upon us, replacing our religion of God with the religion of money, relacing our piety and our poverty with consumer goods that we do not need, forcing money upon us that we cannot spend or if we do, cannot repay, loosening the ties that hold together families and tribes, corroding our faith, corroding our morality."
> - p.281 - The Fisherman's Rhyme - "Rod, reel,/Flask, creel/Net, fly book/And lunch"
> p.292 - "I had belief. I did not know, or for the moment care, what exactly it was I had to believe in. I only knew that belief in something was the first step away from believing in nothing, the frst step away from a world that only recognised what it could count measure, sell or buy."
> p.325 - "I believe in it because it is impossible."
> LibraryThing Review: Salmon fishing in Yemen? Impossible? One of the closing lines of this book is , "I believe in it because it is impossible." Paul Torday has written a lovely novel about transformation, faith, belief, and love. A Yemeni sheikh who loves salmon fishing proposes to bring the sport to his home country, and the relationship between himself and the fishery scientist whom he employs leads to transformation. The story unfolds as a collection of memos, letters, and e-mails and they reveal the role of politics, money, and personal ego in distorting and hiding the true meaning of the project. Torday is also able to make interesting observations about the nature of the differences between Yemenis and British society. I read this book during the course of a long, lovely day and hope that other readers will enjoy and appreciate it as I have.
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