Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday

ISBN:9780156034562

About the book:
What does it take to make us believe in the impossible?
For Dr. Alfred Jones, life is a quiet mixture of civil service at the National Centre
for Fisheries Excellence and marriage to Maryan ambitious, no-nonsense
financier. But a strange turn of fate from an unexpected direction forces Jones
to upend his existence and spend all of his time in pursuit of another mans
ludicrous dream. Can there be salmon in the Yemen? Science says no. But if
resources are limitless and the visionary is inspired, maybe salmon fishing in
the Yemen isnt impossible. Then again, maybe nothing is.
About the author:
PAUL TORDAY studied English literature at Pembroke College, Oxford, before embarking on a business
career. He lives in Northumberland. This is his first book.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does Torday use different kinds of textse-mail, diaries, magazine articles, government
reportsto tell the story of the Yemen Salmon Project? How do these different formats fit together and
complement one another? Why do you think Torday chose to tell the story in this way? How might the
novel have been different had it been written in a more conventional and uniform narrative voice?
2. What does the Yemen Salmon Project mean personally to the various charactersthe Sheikh, Alfred,
Harriet, Peter Maxwell? What does each character hope to get from the project? What do they get that
they dont expect? How does the meaning of the project change for them over the course of the novel?
3. On page 196, the Sheikh says, "I want to present God with the opportunity to perform a miracle, a
miracle that he will perform if he so wills it." What is the Sheikhs motivation for undertaking the Salmon
Project? Discuss this quote in the context of the actual outcome of the project. How is the Sheikh
submitting (or not submitting) himself to God? If the Sheikh had known what the outcome was going to
be, do you think that he would have gone forward with the project?
4. On page 54, the Sheikh observes that in the UK, "No one seems to know what class they belong to.
Whatever class they do belong to, they are ashamed of and want to appear as if they are from another."
Is this true in the United States, too? How are class structure and class anxiety different here? The
Sheikh also observes that fishermen "in their passion for their sport ignore all things to do with class."
Do you agree with the Sheikh? What other sports or activities transcend class in this way? If the Sheikh
had survived, do you think that the Salmon Project could have had the transcendent effect on Yemenites
that he hoped for?
5. Compare the Salmon Project to Peter Maxwells Prizes for the People TV pilot. Both involve exporting
Western culture to Islamic societies. How are the two projects different? What is the difference
between the Sheikhs goals and Peter Maxwells?
6. For many of the characters, the Salmon Project is about images and symbolism. What is the symbolic
importance of the project to Peter Maxwell, to the Sheikh, and to the Al-Qaeda militants who are trying
to stop it? Discuss the Sheikhs rhetorical question, "What difference does one more mosque or one
more hospital make?" (page 196). Are symbolic projects sometimes more useful than practical ones?
Can you think of any symbolic projects in the real world that are comparable to the Yemen Salmon
Project? Were they successful? What does success mean for a symbolic project, as opposed to a
practical one?
7. How does the plight of Harriets fianc, Robert Matthews, affect the tone of the novel as a whole?
How does the inclusion of a plot involving the fate of an individual soldier in Iraq relate to the novels
larger theme of the tensions between the West and the Middle East?
8. Discuss Alfreds relationship with Mary. How does it evolve over the course of the novel? Why dont
Alfred and Mary get divorced in the end?
9. How does the Salmon Project change Alfred? Is he happier at the end of the novel than at the
beginning? In what ways is he better off, and in what ways is he worse off?
10. The tone of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is hard to pin down; it sometimes seems to be pure political
satire, but a few pages later it reads like a more cerebral novel. Which parts of the book did you find the
funniest or the most effective as satire? Which were most emotionally affecting? How does Torday
balance these elements? Did you prefer one to the others? Do you think the novel benefits or suffers
from such a mix?
11. On page 144, the Sheikh tells Alfred, "Without faith, there is no hope and no love. Faith comes
before hope, and before love." Do you agree with this? Why or why not? Later, when he is in the Yemen
and the project has advanced further, Alfred reflects, "The word he had used was faith, but what he
meant was belief. The first step was simple: it was to believe in belief itself . . ." What is the difference
between faith and belief, as defined here?
12. There is a cinematic quality to Tordays writinghis characters are fully realized, his settings easy to
visualize. Can you picture Salmon Fishing in the Yemen as a movie? Who would you cast in the roles of
Alfred, the Sheikh, Mary, and Harriet?