Big Fish: A Mythological Tale of Epic Proportions

Sabyn: This is my all time favorite movie. The book is just as quirky and even in its own way, a bit better!

United States on Sep 16, 2023

Obsessive Traveler and Documentary Addict: I recently revisited Tim Burton's film "Big Fish" and enjoyed it so much that I decided to read the novel by Daniel Wallace that the film was based on. The book and its characters are such a joy and so imaginative. I didn't really connect with the film when it first came out, but couldn't have loved it more, and the book is even more wonderful. One can see why it connected so deeply with Burton.

Wallace's novel tells the story of Edward Bloom, a larger-than-life figure who tells his son, William, exaggerated stories about his life. As William grows older, he becomes skeptical of his father's stories, but he eventually comes to understand the importance of storytelling and the power of imagination. The novel is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping back and forth between Edward's past and William's present. This structure allows the reader to see how Edward's stories have shaped his son's life, and how William's own understanding of his father evolves over time.

The novel is full of humor, magic, and adventure. Edward's stories are both fantastical and believable, and they often have a moral or philosophical message. The novel also explores the themes of fatherhood,...

United States on Aug 24, 2023

Martin M.: Ein wundervolles Buch, welches die fantasievollen Geschichten eines Mannes aus der Perspektive seines Sohnes erzählt und es ist genau gut wie der Film davon. Außerdem ist es auf Englisch sehr angenehm zu lesen.

Germany on Aug 16, 2023

Brian Wilkes: Loved the film. Enjoyed the book

United Kingdom on Jul 18, 2023

K. Sellin: As Edward Bloom lies on his deathbed, his son William remembers his father's stories and jokes, always meant to entertain, yet always keeping him at arm's length. In the final moments, he tries to get his father to be serious for once. But that is just not in his DNA. However, there is something in his DNA... something very strange...

United States on Jun 10, 2023

Kristan Leroy: Great story of a man full of life however unwilling to share it with his son. I gained a new meaning to the words Big Fish, and fully enjoyed this cleverly crafted book.

France on May 01, 2023

Nik Valen: The movie is one of my favorites of all time. It seems they took the core story, which I found rote, bland, repetitive and ultimately unsatisfying and transformed it into a linear story that was delightful and engaging. The movie made changes to add meaning and relevance to the book that IMHO was missing.

The book was a big "Why?" to me. Why mythologize a man with really no special or even endearing qualities and many unendearingly ones. What made Edward Bloom special, let alone worthy of his mostly self-adulation but at the last moment, also adulation from his son? The book leaves this unanswered which made me feel that reading it was an empty investment. Fortunately, I did skip one chapter so I felt vindicated there.

It seems many loved the book. I don't see why but I'm happy for them.

United States on Feb 22, 2023

Leda Meireles: Comprei para meu filho e ele gostou muito

Brazil on Nov 20, 2022

Oswaldo Fabila: Great novel, I’d had only seen the movie so far and really enjoy it. Easy to read and good letter size.

Mexico on Jan 05, 2021

Steve Schwartz, Greenville: I'm a sucker for the supernatural done well -- by which I mean an accommodation between the supernatural and the dominant realist tradition. Henry James finds one way to do it in The Turn of the Screw, James Joyce another in Ulysses, Thomas Pynchon yet another in Against the Day. Wallace has found his own way -- a mix of Twain and perhaps Faulkner. The novel concerns the relations between an extraordinary father and his son, Edward and William Bloom. The novel's present concern is the father's dying and eventual death. That gives the novel its narrative spine. However, most of the novel spends its time in a comic past. Corn and theatrical sentimentality have no place here. The book proceeds largely by outrageous and snappy anecdote. Wallace's prose, like Twain's, performs little miracles without losing its colloquial qualities. Indeed, a good deal of the book's success with the mythological comes from the matter-of-fact tone. Yet Wallace trivializes nothing. There is still a sense of the amazing in all of it. Edward has performed his own small-town labors of Hercules, which establish him in his son's mind as a classical hero. A fine father is usually looked on by his children not...

United States on Oct 08, 2018