"Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" by Paul Torday

A whimsical read with some moments of light-hearted humour.

Dr. Alfred Jones is a fisheries scientist working for the government. He has been "forcefully" inducted into a project to introduce a salmon population in the dessert-like climate of Yemen. Initially skeptical and downright dismissive of the project, he eventually comes to believe in the creation of this miracle and finds a sense of inner peace and contentment that he never used to have, back before his involvement.

The story is told in various ways, from the "direct" perspective of Alfred, his diary, various accounts of interviews, letters written by various characters in the story and even selected email communications reproduced in its original form (complete with email addresses, signoffs et al).

Political satire underlies much of the book, in a world where the media are cast as newshounds/purveyors of "newsworthy" stories, and easily manipulated by politicians out to get good news published.

It is also a commentary (of sorts) on modern relationships. In Alfred and Mary's relationship, we see the dying embers of their marriage. Childless and each pursuing diverse careers, they spend much of time living apart, in 2 continents and 2 different worlds. In choosing to portray much of their interactions with each other via the email channel, Torday certainly meant it as a side commentary on modern relationships and the institution of family. In Harriet and Robert's inability to be together, it was the underlying sadness of what could have been but didn't, because they were separated by death and war.

In totality, Salmon Fishing is an easy read, if a bit disappointing in terms of its ending. I was kinda expecting a whimsical ending to the story, but surprisingly Torday chose to return to the cold hard world of reality in closing the book by depicting the whole Project as a failure. For this disappointing ending, I give it 3 stars out of 5.